Caricatures are drawn portraits of a person or a thing that is unique in that they are distorted images, either exaggerations or oversimplifications.

The word caricature is derived from the Italian word caricare, which means to charge or load, quite apt since caricatures are loaded with undertones or meaning.

These goals range from the trivial to more serious ones. The most common intent behind caricatures include:

• entertain
• compliment / flatter / praise
• insult or put down

Caricatures can be powerful due to the fact that they really do grab peopleпїЅs attentions and are very sticky and easy to remember. Although most are seen as simply entertaining the subtlety or lack of it of caricatures can help persuade people to see things a specific way without them realizing it.

As a negative example, before the holocaust happened, the Nazis used caricatures of Jewish people drawing beak-like noses to help spread derision and dislike of the race.

• Observe your subject closely. Look for physical characteristics and personality quirks that you can exaggerate.
• Draw the face. Begin with the eyes, then the nose and then mouth. Make sure you exaggerate each feature. Whether this means making the extra large or small will depend on your subject and what you wish to convey with the portrait. After drawing the three parts draw the chin and the rest of the face ending with the ears.
• Add the hair. If your subject has thinning hair, draw a few wisps of hair on the top or side of the head. If the subject has big hair, exaggerate and fill the top of the page with hair.
• Add the finishing touches including eyebrows and facial lines (wrinkles) to add character.
• If you wish to add a body, make it more interesting by making the body disproportionately smaller or larger than the head.
• Add appropriate accessories to reflect the personпїЅs sense of fashion or personality.