I’ll be teaching a 5-week course on The Art of Caricature this summer at the Evanston Art Center. The class will be held on Thursday evenings from 7 – 9 p.m., starting June 14. Due to an email glitch, the class is not listed in the printed summer catalog, but it will be listed online at www.evanstonartcenter.org
Here’s the blurb: “For intermediate & advanced portrait artists. Seeing through the “caricature lens” enables you to heighten your subject’s expression and will develop your personal style. A good caricature is a stronger likeness than a “realistic” portrait or even a photo. As you develop your ability to see in this new light, you can decide to what degree you want to “tweak” the features and still maintain the likeness. The notebooks of some of our great artists (Leonardo, 
Picasso) reveal that they were, at heart, caricaturists. This course broadens the view of a much-misunderstood art. The class is set-up so that students can see the instructor’s drawing as it emerges, step by step. “
That last part is important. I tack a long sheet of brown paper on the wall and draw with black markers so that everybody can see. Every student will have an 8½ x 11 printout of the face we’re working on and I will have the same face taped to my brown drawing paper on the wall. We go at it. How do you look at this? What feature will you push and pull? How do you enhance the expression? All this, while keeping the likeness. In fact, the likeness will be enhanced by our pushing and pulling. A good caricature looks more like the person than a photograph. It’s fascinating. I will also sit next to individual students and draw along with 
them. I provide the copies of the faces but students can also bring in their own choices. Hmmm, friends and family. Of course, the class is fun, but it’s also serious work and very challenging.
The number at the Evanston Art Center is 847-475-5300
(To see my caricatures of political and cultural luminaries: http://facefame.wordpress. You’ll find the above caricatures of John Updike and Joyce Carol Oates in that blog.
The photos from an actual Art of Caricature class were taken at the Indianapolis Art Center, summer 2010, where I gave a weekend intensive to some very enthusiastic students/artists.)
All contents copyright (C) 2010 Katherine Hilden. All rights reserved.
artamaze by Katherine Hilden 