I watched Joe Bluhm (http://joebluhm.blogspot.com/) do a dog caricature on UTube. I was also inspired by the way Wallace Tripp does animal cartoons.

Can't forget 'ol Mitt.  He's getting more colorful too.

Newt becomes even more colorful

Taking a break from drawing a face allows you to see it more clearly when you come back to it.  Meanwhile, more practice drawing cutesy cartoon girls.

Politics always provides ample opportunity for caricature.  Currently, the focus seems to be shifting to Newt.

Here's Tom Selleck as Jesse Stone done using the same method described below.

 Watching U-tube demonstrations gave me a better way of working with color. 
First scan in your sketch. Then put a grey layer below it and set the sketch layer to darken. Make a new layer above the sketch and set it to dodge and another layer to burn. Put your darks in with one layer and lights in the other.  That way you can make adjustments in them without disturbing anything else.  Once you have all the darks and lights worked out, add a new layer and set it to color.  Paint in colors there. The tone will be set automatically by the dark and light greys below.
 Finally, combine them all to a flattened layer

 Do that by creating a new layer at the top, then hold down the option key (alt on some other brands of computer) and select "merge visible" from the layers menu.  On this last layer you can tweak the image by painting as you normally would, and apply filters where you want.  For flesh areas I like to add some noise and then a slight blur to give it a less plastic look. 
In case you are too young to recognize this guy, it's is Raymond Burr as Perry Mason.

CUTE GIRL CARTOONS

After enjoying the Disney film TANGLED I'm preoccupied again with drawing cute cartoon girls.  The animators make it look so easy to run them through a variety of appealing and amusing expressions.

Another sketch done while watching TV.
 She's disappointed because I couldn't let her do what she wanted.  Does it show?

The wife and I love Public TV.  Especially the mystery programs.  Far superior to the American offerings, all cluttered with car chases and gunplay.  Hope it doesn't fall victim to the 'culture war'.  Here are caricatures of Wyciffe and Frost.

A caricature of nobody famous.  But I wonder if the subject will recognize himself.

Some of the characters and creatures I've been creating suggest a story to me.  I don't know the plot, but each picture is like a puzzle peace. It may never lead anywhere, but it’s fun to imagine parts for them.

 Can't forget the guys, but I think they benefit from more character and less cuteness.  Makes them more fun to draw.

Chris Sanders is another excellent cute girl artist.  His work is a little more cartoonish than Dean Yeagle but just as charming.  He gets a good effect by putting the eyes at more of an angle.  Here's a little sketch of mine using the more angled eye line.  Check out Chris' work at http://www.chrissandersart.com/

This sketch is inspired by the style of cartoonist Dean Yeagle's Mandy. He's the best at creating a cute, sexy girl cartoon without being vulgar.  Check out his work at http://www.cagedbeagle.com/

This sketch is drifting toward a cartoon rendition. Cartoonists exaggerate and minimize certain features to make the face more appealing. Manga makes huge eyes and emphasizes the color and reflections till they are like jewels.  The nose becomes tiny, even nonexistent in front view.

What is it that makes a face appealing?  Here's a profile sketch inspired by the structure of Gene Tierney's face, one of the most beautiful women ever in my opinion.

Home remodeling projects have kept me away from art for a while, and the figure drawing group came to an end.  So I've been reduced to doodling images in front of the TV or from magazines.  Still trying to master faces and give them character.

I find that I like sketching with  VERITHIN or COL-ERASE colored pencils when I'm working small.  When sketching large, a simple brown Crayola cayon suits me well.  Otherwise I use Nupastel.