The Art of Exaggeration – Anatomy of a Successful Caricature

Satire, like the press, is one of the corrective forces that serve the development of society in democracies. Satire is also closely linked to the press – where the media oversimplifies matters, cultivates the fallow fields. Democratic societies need satire; visual satire is a form of satire that reaches a great many people, but whose "anatomy" is as complex as society itself.

When is a caricature successful?

The caricature, like any satire, is successful when it draws the viewer's attention to a social injustice, encourages reflection on a negative development, places outdated conventions within the framework of reason, and thus reveals their complete absurdity.

Since such grievances, negative developments, and (self-)destructive habits can only be changed through the actions of many people, a satirical image always aims to reach as many people as possible – it may and should pursue this goal because serious cartoonists are genuinely interested in discordant notes in human coexistence.

Cartoonists work at the core and on the core of society – a cartoon is successful when it fulfills its purpose of touching the people in this society and transforming “old certainties” into doubt.

A successful caricature

• contains a statement on a socially relevant topic,
• for good reason, highlights a largely unknown, collectively ignored/suppressed
• with an exaggerated, humorous drawing that attracts the attention of many viewers,
• who are stimulated to think by the message of the image.

For most people, a satirical image particularly successful when it not only exposes grievances but also presents the viewer with options to remedy these grievances.

So simple, so difficult, here are a few milestones in the development to become a cartoonist :

The foundation: Learning to draw

The first requirement for a satirical image to be well received is the visual language .

Because in a satirical drawing, the image conveys a message that is usually not about trivialities.
If this message is to reach and attract the attention of as many people as possible, the image should be easily understood.

The cartoonist should visual language , know how to express what and how.

The skeptic can be recognized by their eyebrows and the position of their upper eyelid ; a broken person expresses their misery in their entire posture; only a nuance distinguishes the friendly, radiant smile of the confidently proactive individual from the smug , self-assured grin of the egoist. A threatening, ominous mood can be created by dark hatching or deep clouds; cheerfulness hovers, and silliness runs rampant.

It's all very intricate drawing work ; anyone who a caricaturist has to learn to draw. Since (visual) satire always relates to human interaction, at the very least, one must learn anatomical and facial drawing – anyone who exaggerate must first be able to portray them very accurately.

No special drawing skills for the actual "exaggeration" – the respective features are simply drawn thicker, larger, more intensely, or otherwise emphasized. However, what's essential for satirical drawing isn't this simple emphasis, but rather the decision of which details to highlight – and that belongs to the content, which will be discussed in the next paragraph.

A good caricaturist knows how to evoke moods and feelings through hatching and accents; and they have explored all forms of drawing expression in order to develop their own style. Incidentally, if you don't want to spend a lot of time learning the high art of caricature drawing to create a humorously exaggerated portrait of good friends, family members, or colleagues, you can also have a caricature drawn for you. All you need to do is send in a photo as a reference.

A very good cartoonist will continually develop this style, creating new forms of expression for which satirical drawings were previously unknown ( cf. Banksy ) .

Face – Caricature – Likeness | Learn to draw easily

In the following video tutorial for beginners, Sebastian from artistravel shows how to identify the most distinctive features of a face and reproduce them in a caricature. He explains how to make the caricature look particularly like the original.

The content: A statement that takes a stand

Since (visual) satire deals with the difficulties that come with people living together, the artist must explain what difficulties he sees and why; and ideally also what can be done about them.

The prerequisite for this is that he notices these difficulties, can describe them accurately, and can translate this description into an appropriate image composition .

In this process, the mind is far more important than the pen, and this mind needs knowledge from which to draw: knowledge of human nature and the known motivations behind human actions (a degree in psychology would certainly be good preparation for a cartoonist ), knowledge of biology and ecology, and history and contemporary history to recognize the misguided paths of society, and knowledge of futures research to point out possible solutions.

Therefore, young artists, who naturally lack the overview of the "great caricatures of contemporary history," should focus their attention on details. This allows them to simultaneously practice close observation, learn caricatural drawing, and develop their critical thinking skills, because critical detail always requires a critical context

Teenagers  who take a critical look at consumer-naive  influencers don't need great drawing skills , because they all look very similar. After the influencers articulate  writer turns their attention to advertising, a vast field of nonsensical and even idiotic statements.

More knowledge and an initial understanding of the connections lead to the environmental, social , and health damage caused by rampant consumerism . Eventually, the now highly critical  cartoonist arrives at the large corporations that steal groundwater from entire regions, and the politicians who cover up such fundamental and human rights violations.

The last sentences describe the practical “training” of a cartoonist quite well, up to the royal discipline of “political caricature”, a stinging weapon against social parasites, stupidity and ignorance.