Caricatures
Caricatures of various UFC fighters and other public figures.
Late 2015 saw me make a commitment to improving my skill at drawing the figure. I've spent a bit of time reading, watching tutorials, and sketching naked people. There's a growing stack of drawings in one of my apartment cupboards, gathering dust. I knew I was getting better, but I wanted something to show for my efforts. It seems a bit odd to post even a nice drawing of a nude stranger without any context. So I decided to do some caricatures. The idea being that it would force me to understand the structure and anatomy better, and apply what I was learning, in order to exaggerate and retain likeness.
UFC Heavyweight beast "Cardio" Cain Velasquez.
There are some really interesting faces in the fighting world. You don't get a contract for being pretty so different characters make it onto the screen than you might expect in a hollywood production. Yet there are a lot of common traits. Years of combat often results in crooked noses and hard lumpy ears from wrestling. Add to that a buildup of scar tissue around the brow, and the pronounced, animalistic look of the mouth once a mouthguard is in... you get some pretty amazing faces.
There might also be some underlying genetic component. Maybe all these guys have elevated testosterone which affects their bone structure. Possibly there is a genetic combination that results in good functionality for fighting. I don't know. While there are some really unique faces, the similarities can make it difficult. If you play up any of the common traits it starts to look like a fighter, sure, but the wrong fighter! It has been a really interesting challenge so far.
Nick Diaz, an entertaining fighter and a polarising personality.
This was a really quick one of 'Screech' done for a challenge over at Sketch Dailies