Sarah Palin Caricature Development

One of the ways that I work up a caricature is to first try to capture the person in portrait form. This is more of a straight drawing style, until I start to understand the various technicalities of the face & which features I can exaggerate. So far, with Sarah Palin, those features seem to be her hair, her glasses, and her eyes. She's quite an attractive woman, and her inner strength also shows in her face. I was drawing her last night as she gave her speech, and I liked the second sketch so much, I decided to work up a more finished portrait in Photoshop (see below).

I've posted the entire process from the initial rough sketches, to inking, and on to the final application of color, so you can see how I worked it out. She'd be fun to draw for four years, and make up for that bland, old, white-guy she's currently propping up in the polls. Enjoy.

Oh, one more thing...she may have Ronald Reagan sensibilities, but she's also got George Bush ears.