World Policy Journal

A while ago I was asked by Nick Ditmore, Creative Director for World Policy Journal, for permission to use one of my caricatures with an article in their Spring issue. Permission was granted and the article, discussing how Australia rode-out the Global Financial Crisis, is now online.

(Kevin Rudd caricature - digital. 800x1000px. © 2010, Andy Dolphin)

Alf Stewart digital sketch

I started this one a couple of months ago. With a feature-loaded face, I thought Australian actor Ray Meagher would be an easy person to caricature but I found him incredibly difficult and my efforts either looked grotesque or like portraits.

So here's a not-so-caricatured-portrait sketch of "Alf Stewart" from Home & Away.

 ("Alf Stewart" - digital sketch. Original 1000x1300px . © 2010, Andy Dolphin)

Any caricaturists reading this - have a go at Alf and let me know in a comment how you fare.

Created with a Wacom Graphire 4 tablet and Photoshop CS.

Gerard Henderson digital caricature update

Still working on this. I have to be careful not to adjust things so much that it ends up looking like a portrait instead of a caricature. I think I'm near enough that I can start adding some colour...

(Gerard Henderson - digital sketch. 1000x1000px . © 2010, Andy Dolphin)

...and here he is with a bit more adjusting and some basic shading.

(Gerard Henderson - digital sketch. 1000x1000px . © 2010, Andy Dolphin)

See the earlier stages at - Gerard Henderson digital caricature

Gerard Henderson Digital Caricature

I caught The Insiders on ABC TV on Sunday morning and got the urge to have a go at doing a caricature from the screen. I grabbed a biro and scrap of paper and began doodling quick sketches of Brian Toohey and Gerard Henderson. The efforts weren't great (time was short) but gave me the urge to try and do a finished caricature of Henderson.

I was struck by his pouty expression which deserted him only momentarily during the broadcast.

Online photos of him are rare but I'm going to see how I go. Here's an initial sketch (about ten minutes work) based on a combination of photo reference and my Sunday morning sketch. It looks a little like Rupert Murdoch at this stage.

(Gerard Henderson - digital sketch. 1000x1000px . © 2010, Andy Dolphin)

Here's a follow-up sketch. About another 20 minutes work here and it's starting to look a little less Murdoch and a little more Henderson.

(Gerard Henderson - digital sketch. 1000x1000px . © 2010, Andy Dolphin)

Knockout caricature

When I'm not painting or blogging, I am the production manager at the Albany & Great Southern Weekender newspaper. Today, one of my caricatures adorned the front page.

(Tuckey vs Crook. Digital. Original image 25x25cm @300dpi . © 2010, Andy Dolphin)

 

Wilson Tuckey had been the political representative for the federal seat of O'Connor for thirty years. It was considered one of the safest seats in Australia until boundary changes were made prior to last week's election. As a result of those changes, The Nationals' Tony Crook became a legitimate contender for the seat. Following a notable pre-election battle, Crook eventually won the seat after preferences were distributed.

As with my other caricatures, this one was done in Photoshop CS using a Wacom Graphire4 tablet & stylus. With relatively short notice, and with Mr Crook not previously being a well-known face, I'm really pleased with the way this one turned out.

Everyone's an art critic!

Dirty Harry, a saltwater crocodile at Crocosaurus Cove in Darwin, was shown my recent caricatures of Julia Gillard and Tony Abbott.

It's hard to read a crocodile's mind so I don't know if snapping at Julia was a tick of approval for my digital painting technique - or a scathing critique.

Perhaps he found the complementary juxtaposition of the flaming red hair and neutralised green background just a little too contrived.

Okay, so it wasn't really an art competition. The real story is that Harry was asked to predict the outcome of this weekend's federal election, using two of my caricatures and some chicken carcasses.

It seems he took a liking to Julia's carcass.

The ABC has video here.

Tony Abbott: Digital caricature

Following on from my Julia Gillard caricature, and with the federal election now in full swing, I thought I'd better post an updated Tony Abbott caricature.

(Tony Abbott - digital. Original 1200 x 1200px . © 2010, Andy Dolphin)

See my first Tony Abbott caricature

Julia Gillard: Digital caricature

Looking around the web I found very few caricatures of our new Prime Minister, Julia Gillard. Those I did find focussed very heavily, and unsurprisingly, on her red hair and somewhat prominent proboscis.

For several weeks I've been attempting to capture her in a caricature without going for the obvious profile shot with the exaggerated nose as the focal point. Despite what this news story might imply, there's more to Ms Gillard than her nose.

Here's my latest attempt...

 (Julia Gillard - digital. Original 1200x1350px . © 2010, Andy Dolphin)

Here's a slightly revised version. Play 'spot the difference' if you like...

 (Julia Gillard 2 - digital. Original 1200x1350px . © 2010, Andy Dolphin)

SEE ALSO:
Kevin Rudd caricature 
Tony Abbott caricature
Tony Abbott caricature - original

Bones: Digital caricature

Following from my previous sketch and mono caricatures of Emily Deschanel and David Boreanaz (Bones & Booth), I spent this evening adding colour to my "Bones" caricature.

 (Emily "Bones" Deschanel - digital. 800x880px . © 2010, Andy Dolphin)

For this caricature, I added colour over the previous greyscale image. I thought this might be faster than colouring from scratch but now I'm not so sure. I spent a lot of time fighting the "dirtiness" of the grey. Next time I have a greyscale image, I think I'll only use it as a reference.

Image made completely in Photoshop CS using a Wacom Graphire4 (4x5") tablet.

Bones & Booth: Digital caricature

I did a caricature of David Boreanaz (Agent Booth) a few nights ago and one of Emily Deschanel (Temperance "Bones" Brennan) last night. Here they are as a "couple".

The styles differ very slightly as I'm still coming to terms with both caricaturing and digital painting but I think they're recognisable.

 (Bones & Booth - digital sketch. 900x850px . © 2010, Andy Dolphin)

Pop Caricature

I have been doing some oil painting but nothing to upload yet. So for now, I'll leave you with this digital caricature.

If you don't know who it is then either I've missed the mark or you're over 16.

(Pop caricature - digital. 800x870px. © 2010, Andy Dolphin)

Wilson Tuckey - Digital Caricature

This one was a lot of fun.

I'm messing with different styles as I do these. This method takes a little more work because it lacks the hard black outlines so details have to be "painted" in - but it does give a very nice result.

(Wilson Tuckey caricature - digital. 800x1000px. © 2010, Andy Dolphin)

SEE ALSO:
Julia Gillard caricature
Tony Abbott caricature 

Kevin Rudd - Digital Caricature

And now for something completely different.

I used to do a little bit of caricature during my time as a commercial illustrator but nothing too fancy. I haven't done any for a very long time, until this week.

Last night I tried doing a self-portrait caricature, with mixed results (according to my family). So tonight I had a go at our Prime Minister (update: ex-Prime Minister), Kevin Rudd.

(Kevin Rudd caricature - digital. 800x1000px. © 2010, Andy Dolphin)

This was done entirely in Photoshop. It's an interesting way to work and I might do a few more of these for fun. Maybe I'll work my way through parliament.

LATER...

I couldn't go to bed without doing a caricature of Rudd's parliamentary opponent so here's one of the Federal Opposition Leader, Tony Abbott.

(Tony Abbott caricature - digital. 800x1000px. © 2010, Andy Dolphin)

SEE ALSO:
Julia Gillard caricature