Caricature

A caricature is a frequently comical drawn image that uses pencil strokes, sketching, or other artistic techniques to simplify or exaggerate the attributes of its subject (see cartoon). Caricatures can be drawn purely for amusement, for political purposes, or for a combination of the two. They can also be offensive or complimentary. While caricatures of movie stars are frequently found in entertainment magazines, political cartoons of politicians are frequently used in newspapers and news magazines. A caricature in literature is a skewed portrayal of a person that oversimplifies certain traits and exaggerates others. A caricature is a frequently comical drawn image that uses pencil strokes, sketching, or other artistic techniques to simplify or exaggerate the attributes of its subject (see cartoon). Caricatures can be drawn purely for amusement, for political purposes, or for a combination of the two. They can also be offensive or complimentary. While caricatures of movie stars are frequently found in entertainment magazines, political cartoons of politicians are frequently used in newspapers and news magazines. A caricature in literature is a skewed portrayal of a person that oversimplifies certain traits and exaggerates others.

A Caricature Group
John Hamilton Mortimer, 1766

The term "caricature" was used in the 18th century to describe any image that used distorted or exaggerated features. This included comedic portraits of particular individuals as well as general social and political comic illustrations like the satires of James Gillray, Thomas Rowlandson, and numerous others. This usage is best illustrated by the title of the British Caricature Magazine (1807-1819). The more recent term "cartoon," which gained popularity in the 19th century due to its use in Punch magazine, is used for any other type of comic image, including political satire. In contemporary usage, "caricature" is primarily used for a portrait of a recognizable individual (much as it was originally used to describe the works of Pier Leone Ghezzi).

Ancient Pompeiian graffiti caricature of a politician

Leonardo da Vinci aggressively sought out individuals with deformities to serve as models, and his works contain some of the earliest examples of caricatures. Offering an impression of the original—which was more striking than a portrait—was the goal. The work of Annibale Carracci (who, in early modern discussions, has been mistakenly ascribed with the origin of ritrattino caricato or caricature) demonstrated caricature-like drawing and portrait exaggeration. In European aristocratic circles, caricature gained popularity, especially because to the works of Pier Leone Ghezzi, an Italian Rococo artist. They shared caricature portraits for each other's amusement.[citation needed] and the trend was brought to Britain by tourists returning from the Grand Tour; the English press's far greater flexibility allowed it to be used in scathing political satire and advanced its growth as a separate art form. The work of Annibale Carracci (who, in early modern discussions, has been mistakenly ascribed with the origin of ritrattino caricato or caricature) demonstrated caricature-like drawing and portrait exaggeration. In European aristocratic circles, caricature gained popularity, especially because to the works of Pier Leone Ghezzi, an Italian Rococo artist. They shared caricature portraits for each other's amusement.[citation needed] and the trend was brought to Britain by tourists returning from the Grand Tour; the English press's far greater flexibility allowed it to be used in scathing political satire and advanced its growth as a separate art form. 

James Gillray's The Plumb-pudding in danger (1805), which caricatured Pitt and Napoleon, was voted the most famous of all UK political cartoons.

London was a hotbed for the emergence of contemporary forms of caricature in the eighteenth century due to England's liberal political traditions, relative freedom of speech, and expanding publishing sector. Satirical art was made popular by William Hogarth (1697–1764), and it was further developed by a group of gifted artists who followed, including James Gillray (1757–1815), Thomas Rowlandson (1756–1827), and Isaac Cruikshank (1757–1815). Both Gillray and Rowlandson made a name for themselves as caricaturists acting as "hired guns" during the 1784 Westminster election, and caricature became a useful instrument for political propaganda. Their abilities were in great demand; during the tumultuous times of the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars, caricature emerged as a crucial form of communication. Their abilities remained in great demand; during the stormy times of the Napoleonic Wars and the French Revolution, caricature grew in importance as a communication tool. While Rowlandson's extensive output employed caricature for both political and social caricature as well as comic book illustration, Gillray rose to prominence as the most prominent political caricaturist of his era and became well-known throughout Europe. Vanity Fair, a weekly magazine published in London from 1868 to 1914, gained notoriety for its parodies of well-known figures in society. Ted Harrison, a British caricaturist, stated in a presentation titled The History and Art of Caricature that a caricaturist might choose to either wound or mock the subject with an excellent caricature. Caricatures can just be drawn for fun and pleasure.

Caricature of a French military officer by Denis Dighton, 1812

Some attempts have been made to use computer graphics techniques to automatically or semi-automatically create caricatures. For instance, a method put forth by Akleman et al. offers warping tools made especially for creating caricatures quickly. Very few software applications are made expressly to generate caricatures automatically. When designing a caricature using a computer graphic system, different skill sets are needed than when creating caricatures on paper. Therefore, a thorough understanding of the program's functioning is necessary when utilizing a computer to produce caricatures digitally. Rather than being a more straightforward approach to caricature creation, it can be a more intricate way to produce images with finer coloring textures than are possible with more conventional techniques. Some attempts have been made to use computer graphics techniques to automatically or semi-automatically create caricatures. For instance, a method put forth by Akleman et al. offers warping tools made especially for creating caricatures quickly. Very few software applications are made expressly to generate caricatures automatically. When designing a caricature using a computer graphic system, different skill sets are needed than when creating caricatures on paper. Therefore, a thorough understanding of the program's functioning is necessary when utilizing a computer to produce caricatures digitally. Rather than being a more straightforward approach to caricature creation, it can be a more intricate way to produce images with finer coloring textures than are possible with more conventional techniques.

A Group of Vultures Waiting for the Storm to "Blow Over"—"Let Us Prey." by Thomas Nast, Harper's Weekly newspaper, September 23, 1871.

The 1982 master's thesis by Susan Brennan was a significant contribution to the formal definition of caricature. The technique of emphasizing deviations from a typical face was the formal definition of caricature in her approach. For instance, if Charles III's ears are more noticeable than those of the ordinary person, they will be significantly larger in his caricature. This concept was largely automated by Brennan's system, which required the operator to enter a frontal drawing of the intended individual with a standardized topology (the number and arrangement of lines for each face). A comparable drawing of a typical male face was sent to her. The specific face was then caricatured by simply deducting the matching point on the mean face from the specific face.

Even though Brennan's formalization was first presented in the 1980s, it is still applicable in current research. Mo et al. improved the concept by pointing out that it is important to consider the population variance of the characteristic. For instance, compared to other characteristics like the size of the nose, the distance between the eyes changes less. Therefore, whereas a correspondingly modest change in nose size relative to the mean would not be exceptional enough to warrant exaggeration, even a small difference in eye spacing is unique and should be exaggerated. Even though Brennan's formalization was first presented in the 1980s, it is still applicable in current research. Mo et al. improved the concept by pointing out that it is important to consider the population variance of the characteristic. For instance, compared to other characteristics like the size of the nose, the distance between the eyes changes less. Therefore, whereas a correspondingly modest change in nose size relative to the mean would not be exceptional enough to warrant exaggeration, even a small difference in eye spacing is unique and should be exaggerated.

A modern, street-style caricature of a man (c. 2010), with the subject on the right

Conversely, contend that a single definition of caricature is insufficient because it varies depending on the artist. Given training data in the form of several face photos and the matching caricatures by that artist, their method uses machine learning techniques to automatically learn and emulate the style of a specific caricature artist. One may argue that computer graphic systems have not yet achieved the same level of quality as human artists. For instance, while many or even the majority of caricatures created by hand select an off-center "three-quarters" angle, most algorithms are limited to precisely frontal postures. Brennan drew his caricatures using frontal-pose line drawings. Direct geometric distortion of photos is one of the many forms of caricatures that more contemporary technologies are capable of producing.

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