Instincts

I once read a post on John K's blog that caricature is the cure for formulaic drawings. 

Feeling stuck in a cartoony rut, I did some today: 

Like ice cream, I can't choose a favorite. 

I didn't think at all, just let my instincts and observation guide me. That was a fun session, I'll do that again when I have the time.

“Refine your skills to support your instincts.”
- Linda Ronstadt

One of the things I found out is that caricature lends itself to spontaneity. Once an opinion of the subject pops in your head, immediately draw it using confident strokes. Another thing I learned is that John K was also absolutely right when he said don't caricature in someone else's style, a subject will show you how it needs to portrayed. Here's the complete quote in his own words:

"Don't impose your "style" of caricature upon the model. Or worse, Hirschfeld's.*

Open your mind and let the specific new information change the way you assume 

things should look. Otherwise you are looking at the world through thick gauze 

and missing out on the tons of interesting new information staring you in the face."

What can I say? The man is a genius. Other than that, I bought two new sketchbooks, one for realistic life drawing and the other is for what I've shown today- caricature. So I've got 4 active sketchbooks now, 2 for what I've mentioned just now, 1 for copying 40's - 50's cartoon drawings and the last one which is the smallest is for gesture drawing. I'm excited to fill these up again, and since I've organized them into subjects, maybe I can see my progress from the first page to the last. 

*note: John was taking about Al Hirschfeld - caricature genius, the inspiration in Rhapsody in Blue from Disney's fantasia 2000