Drawing Doppelgangers
 The article as it appears on page 18. | |
| Author | Tony Smith |
|---|---|
| Genre | Article |
| Published | EF Issue 2020.3 |
| Pages | 5 |
| Website |
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ISCA award winner Tony Smith looks at drawing similar faces and walks us through his process.
Article Transcript
According to Wikipedia, the word doppelgänger is a loanword from the German word combining the two nouns Doppel (double) and Gänger (walker or goer) meaning it is a biologically unrelated look-alike, or a double, of a living person. The similarities between the two congressmen pictured above were brought about when John Lewis passed away this past summer and many news agencies accidentally ran a photo of Elijah Cummings instead. Even Elijah Cummings’ widow asked people to forgive Sen. Marco Rubio when he made the mistake, saying Lewis and Cummings were friends and the two of them being mistaken for the other was common. But as caricature artists, what can we look for to avoid this confusion?
The primary goal of caricature is to exaggerate a person’s features in a way that magnifies their likeness. We exaggerate the combination of features that makes that person unique from other people. Well, what if we are tasked with drawing very similar subjects, maybe even twins? How do we make sure they stand out as an individual?
One of the keys to drawing people who look alike is to pay closer attention to the features’ relationships with one another, not just the facial components themselves. But sometimes the relationships are similar too. Both subjects may have eyes set far apart, or a high forehead, or a prominent chin. Then it would be best if you looked closer at the features themselves. It all comes down to developing your ability to “see.” The caricaturist becomes a facial analyst. We analyse the subject, deciding which features we think are prominent and which are not so important to capture the story you are trying to tell about that face.
Remember, here the focus is not on style or technique, but on “seeing.” Seeing is not just knowing what a person looks like but also why they look the way they do. When we grow as artists, I can understand that we start by seeing people in a very basic way. We see the features and significant spaces. We get a solid impression of the face. But this can cause us to overlook the differences in people who look similar. But as you continue to study the human face and exercise your perceptive ability, the differences become quite apparent.
Let us take the two men I have been given to compare, U.S. Representatives John Lewis and Elijah Cummings. While these gentlemen are by no means twins, I can understand how one may have difficulty making them distinctly different. They are both bald with similar head shapes. They have relatively similar eyes, somewhat large noses and rather small chins. Let’s have a little closer look, shall we?
While they both have relatively prominent noses, they are distinctly different. Mr. Cummings’ nose has a wider apex (point) than Mr. Lewis whose peak is rather pointy with more distinct wings. Although both have small eyes, Mr. Cummings has a more angular shaped eye structure than Mr. Lewis’s almond-shaped eyes.
Mr. Lewis’ has an eyelid line. Mr. Cummings doesn’t. While both men have prominent bags under their eyes, Mr. Lewis has double bags, which are much more apparent. When looking at the reference photos, both men’s mouths look somewhat similar, with the bottom lip being weightier than the top. But when they smile, there’s no comparison!
Mr. Cummings smile lines are far more profound and more distinct.
See pages 20 and 21 for art.
In my opinion, the main difference between the two subjects is in their forehead brow area. Not much is happening with Mr. Cummings except a single prominent forehead wrinkle. On the other hand, Mr. Lewis has a very deep, curved vertical furrow between the eyes and different folds and lines that set him apart.
Technically, the area between the nose and upper lip is similar to both men. Mr. Cummings has a more noticeable shape to me. For instance, it curves outward. Mr. Lewis’ is flat.
Another thing that can cause artists to draw people too similar is drawing overly simplified or formulaic features. Make sure to spend time practicing a large variety of eyes, noses, mouths, etc. This will help the artist develop a more accurate depiction of that particular feature. It is OK when just starting or when drawing a quick sketch but, it’s more challenging to achieve a strong likeness if everything is overly simplified.
Remember, when approaching a drawing, its not necessary to exaggerate everything. You look first at the significant features, eyes, nose, mouth, facial shape, and ears. Then you move to the relationship distance between them.
As you get better at “seeing,” you’ll recognize the significant features and relationships very quickly. You will start to see the differences, even minor ones, right away.
Finally, I feel it is essential to touch upon ethnic stereotyping. I realize its not something done on purpose or to be insulting. However, it results in a visual “laziness’ instead of genuinely analyzing the face in front of you. This seems to be more common when drawing African Americans or Asian people.
See the person as an individual with their own distinct features, not preconceived ideas. For instance, an Asian person does not always have to have super squinty or slanted eyes. An African American does not always have big lips or a large nose. Now I’m not going to get into the artist’s possible mindset, and many do have those features. Let’s just say we have to be careful to see each model on their own merits, not according to some formula you’ve learned. Don’t try to draw a black person. Draw THAT person. Don’t try to draw Asian eyes. Draw THEIR eyes. Work at seeing each person as a person, not just a race. Train yourself to see the unique beauty (and humor!) in each face.
Learn more about Tony at
http://caricaturesbytonysmith.com
https://www.facebook.com/caricaturesbytonysmith
See Also
External Links
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