Back to
bottom of
Home Page

Back to
original
sample
page

Back to
in-depth
description
page

Then, about two weeks later: the "finished"
version of the caricature (in this case Mr. Hefner ),
arrives in your e-mail box

(I quote "finished" because caricatures
can always be distorted again and again):

8 June 2000

************************************************************************
Final of Hugh Hefner
(Picture at the bottom)

************************************************************************

Hi Everybody!



What's different in the final

Here's the latest: It's the final of Hugh Hefner. What's different? Check out the last Hugh in the archives or in the Art Gallery and I think the progression will be clear. I'll list feature by feature what I did in comparison to the original. (See the realistic sketch in the upper left hand corner.)

1) Shape of the head: I tried to maintain a sense of a broad forehead by
keeping it domed - i.e. rounded at it's edges. Overall, I really exaggerated
what I perceived as a "pear-shape". (You might choose square and get 10
times more hilarious results.)

2) The hair: Maintained the "wispy" thinning look by keeping lots of
highlights - especially where the hair meets the edges of the forehead. Lots
of thin stragglers on the top of the head. Didn't quite maintain the
highlight nor the receding line at the hair's "part".

3) Eyes and eyebrows: I kept these fairly realistic but enlarged the dark of
the eyes (makes them friendlier), and made them closer together. (Recall
eyes are proportionately one eye-width a part in an "average" face.
"Sight" - that is measure how wide the eyes are apart in terms of
eyewidth (like a half or 2/3rds of an eyewidth). The shape of the eyelids
and the folds under the eyes stayed virtually unchanged.

4) The nose: I forgot to mention in the original progression series e-mail
how much filling of the nose I added - er, broadening of the main body
(the middle section) I worked in. Hef's got this slightly spoon-shaped nose
with a deep "v" at it's base. I played that up quite a bit. You can also see
I put the very tip of the nose almost into the upper lip - right on top
of "Cupid's Bow".

5) Cheekbones: just made them a little rounder with sharp, angular edges.
Hef also has this small bridge of cheek that spans the little space between
the nose and the main round part of the cheek - makes the cheeks look like "9"'s.

6) The mouth: really played up the flat "W" shape of the mouth and the
triangular shadows at the corners of the mouth - adds just a wink of "smirk"
to the expression.

7) Cheeks/jowls/jaw: as you can see, blew 'em right out of the water.
Kept strong and sharp angles at all the curves. This keeps him from
looking fat.

8) Chin: Mirrored the original shape and shadowing, just hyped it out (made
it bigger).

9) Neck: longer and skinnier. (That's a pattern I definitely use often.)

10) Clothes: just used the typical bathrobe Hef sports in most of his
press releases.

So until next time, keep on drawing, send any questions, requests, and if
you feel really strong about getting the inked version, let me know. (If I
get in a another time crunch, the pencil drawings pop out 10 times faster!)

Warmly,

Jeff k.

Here's Hugh: