This and That – Caricatures of the Rich and Famous

I do pictures and caricatures for the hell of it or make a point about current issues.
Here are a few examples. They include the death of Prince Philip, American broadcaster Larry King and All Black great Brian Lochore. The tui bird was about changing New Zealand’s national bird from the Kiwi to the tui.

The reunion graphic celebrated 100 years of the New Zealand Parliamentary press gallery, where I was a member for a decade. Throw in Her Majesty, Rupert Murdoch (not deceased), The Boss and Jimi Hendrix, and you get the picture(s).

I have found depicting famous people sometimes the hardest caricatures to draw.

While they will all have distinctive characteristics (big nose, big hair, you get the picture) because they are famous, it’s incumbent on the artist to not only draw out these features but to maintain the person’s persona, personality—yes, brand.

But do I picture him as the handsome young naval officer who swept Lillibet (the Queen for those not in the know) off her little pixie feet; or as the grumpy old curmudgeon he became later in life.

So, for Prince Philip, for example, I wanted to do a quick sketch to capture the moments (day) after his death because it was so newsworthy. But do I picture him as the handsome young naval officer who swept Lillibet (the Queen for those not in the know) off her little pixie feet; or as the grumpy old curmudgeon he became later in life.

Well, this was a no brainer: of course, it was the grumpy curmudgeon because he was thin, his face lined with those excellent worry lines and wrinkles and, it’s how he will be remembered by those who do not follow the royal family’s travails closely.

The same for the picture of Queen Elizabeth. She’s pretty old now (in her nineties), so she was much easier to draw than the clear-eyed 25-year-old with the perfect English rose pink cheeks who became Queen in 1953.

So, if you seek a career as a caricaturist, here’s some advice: look for the older men and women with the lines of wisdom around the eyes, across their foreheads and around the mouth. Another tip: generally picture them with their mouths closed.