What is a Caricature? Caricature Definition & Explanation
- Kathy Buskett
- Mar 19
- 5 min read
Updated: 2 days ago
According to the dictionary, the definition for caricature is:
"A drawing that makes someone look funny or foolish because some part of the person's appearance is exaggerated." (Britannica)
But if you just wanted a caricature definition, you wouldn't be here would you?
A picture is worth 1000 words so let's look at some caricature examples.
Below, you'll see a piece of art by the best caricaturist in the world by many people’s standards, Al Hirschfeld. Hirschfeld used to draw for the New York Times, Broadway and many movies, and he even inspired the Genie from Aladdin and later the "Rhapsody in Blue" segment from Fantasia 2000.
In fact, the phrase "You got Hirschfelded" meant that if you got a Hirschfeld, you officially made it in show business. You can learn more about him here
Image courtesy of the Al Hirschfeld Foundation
Can you tell who it is immediately?
If you can’t tell who it is you probably don’t know who that is.
If you can you know who it is. (Spoiler: It’s Ringo Starr from the Beatles)
Which brings me to the first part of what a caricature is :
1. A recognizable representation.
We caricaturists call that a “likeness”. Without a likeness, it isn’t a good caricature.
A caricature doesn’t have to be a person by the way. It can be an animal - I draw a ton of dog and cat caricatures - or even an inanimate object.
Ever seen the movie “The Brave Little Toaster?” Toy Story would be another example. (Actually the brave little toaster was a precursor to Toy Story - just a little bit of cartoon history for you.)
As long as it actually looks like what it’s supposed to represent, it fulfills the first quality of a good caricature: LIKENESS.
But wait. Portraits have a likeness too, don’t they? Yes. Yes they do.
And that’s what brings us to point number 2.
The definition of caricture by Britannica that I mentioned at the beginning used the word “exaggerated”. And that is the second key to a caricature.
2. Exaggeration.
It’s a common misconception that caricaturists exaggerate one thing on a person's face.
What’s actually true is that caricaturists exaggerate EVERYTHING about a person. From your poufy hair to Your tiny ears to your mischievous cockeyed smile to your huge hoop earrings to your long tapered neck.
We catch and exaggerate it all.
Exaggeration is a tricky thing. There’s a balance that must be reached in any drawing. For instance, if someone has a large nose, as an artist, you would of course, exaggerate that.
But you would also need to UNDER exaggerate other features in order to create a good drawing. (And meanwhile, also maintain a likeness at the same time!)
If, for example, I made all the features on a face exaggerated, all I would get would be a large drawing.
Which brings us to the last feature of a good caricature:
3. Balance.
If you look at some of Hirschfeld’s other work, you can see that he doesn’t always exaggerate heavily. But he does always get a likeness.
Case in Point:
Nothing is exaggerated in this piece except the eyes.
Even the teeth and the gap which you would expect
to be exaggerated is not. Yet Hirschfeld achieves a
perfect balance and you know immediately who this is:
David Letterman.
Which is more important, likeness or exaggeration?
The answer is neither. Much like a caricature itself, an artist's style must have a balance between the two to be successful.
Which one takes center stage more depends on the individual artist and their personal style and outlook.
There are three styles of caricaturists/caricatures in a broad sense.
The extreme exaggerated style (which you might have seen on TikTok)
These are the drawings that scare people away from getting a caricature. I am constantly having to assure people I dont draw that way - unless they ask for it.
I believe consent is important.
Here's one someone did of me without consent.
yea, its funny - but would you want this hanging in your living room? They also never told me who they were so I can't give them credit.
But Just so you know, It wasn't me.
You can read the story about how this drawing changed my life here : www.caricaturesbykathy.com
2. The cartoony style -
Many cartoons from the old days and even today caricature famous people. Think
Bugs Bunny cartoons, Disney (which often uses celebrities as their inspiration), and the Simpsons. Here's a sample of one of my cartoon caricatures I drew in the style of Chuck Jones:
3. And the portrait style (which is more realistic)
Here's one of me by my friend and mentor Ben Burgraff who passed away some years ago:
Which is best?
You must make that decision yourself.
In the caricature world, there always seems to be the argument that extreme exaggerators are somehow "better' than caricaturists who draw like I do - with a less exaggerated style.
But reportedly, Hirschfeld (the artist from the beginning of this blog post) was extremely flattering, and most of his sitters loved his work.
The extreme exaggerators might be popular to watch, but not a lot of people like to get drawn that way. It takes some serious self-esteem to be able to handle that kind of drawing and most people just don’t have it.
I heard an extreme exaggerator once say that only about 5% of a crowd gets one of his drawings.
I would imagine Hirschfeld would have a line of people out the door and every last one of the guests would want a drawing.
Which would you prefer at a party?
You decide what kind of caricature you like best.
I personally love the perfect meld of cartoony, portrait and exaggeration of Al Hirschfeld.
Don’t you?
Let me know In the Poll Below!
Which kind of caricatures would you most like to hang in your home?
0%Portrait-Like (Looks like the person)
0%Cartoon
0%Extremely Exaggerated
____________________________________________________________________
My Name is Kathy Buskett and I've been a professional caricaturist for 26 years. I travel all over, delighting people with my artwork at parties, weddings, trade shows and conventions and more.
If you want me to come to your next event and put smiles on everyone's faces, contact me now! My calendar really does fill up quickly. you can reach me at kathybuskett@gmail.com
You can check out more of my work at the rest of my website www.caricaturesbykathy.com
Please Follow Me to read interesting true stories about my adventures as a professional caricaturist, watch people's outrageous reactions to their caricatures,
and so you can find me again!
Thanks!