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YouCanDraw.com Insider's e-magazine

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Issue #1, 23 October 1998

Dedicated to You, the up and coming Caricature Artist

In today's issue:

1) A heartfelt welcome

2) "Name the Magazine" Contest

3) I'd love to hear from you!

4) Getting started: a goofy warm-up exercise.

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1) WELCOME!

I'd like to take a second to thank all of you for your interest in YouCanDraw.com - Thank you! It's very encouraging to me to see there's such an interest out there in drawing caricatures. I'm looking forward to a long lasting partnership with all of you. Welcome aboard.

2) Name the e-Magazine contest

This is the first issue of the YCD Insiders e-magazine and I haven't put a whole lot of thought into naming it. If you have a catchy name or a group of names to call this (other than the kind of sterile "YCD Insiders E-Magazine) please send me your ideas! ('course if you like that - let me know!)

I'll post the offerings and you can vote on your favorite name. The winner will get an as-of-yet undisclosed prize.

3) In order to tailor this for you, I'd love to know what you'd like to see addressed in this newsletter. Some people have asked questions like "how much can I make as a caricature artist?" or "how long will it take until I can draw at parties?" Others have asked specific things like "The pictures in lesson 8 have no text - what's that all about?" Or "what's negative space again?". I've even had a question about marketing.

If you have something specific you'd like to know about, or you find something in the ever-growing lessons that seems like it could use a little more explanation, don't be afraid to ask, or tell. (Call my attention to those embarrassing typos too!)

I'll try to answer as many questions as I can. If I don't know the answer, I'll find it. If you really liked this weeks caricature - or you've drawn a caricature of the caricature, I'll scan it and post it at the site. (That sounds pretty fun: letting you caricature the caricature, good practice too...)

I'd love to get your feedback. (mailto:jeffkaz@earthlink.net)

4) Getting Started

The biggest block for most people is getting started. For me, it's my own perfectionism that keeps me from getting going. "It's won't be as good as the last one" always pops up. "People will think it's stupid". And those are just the tip of the iceberg. (Is this at all familiar?)

In art, "quantity comes before quality". I know that's the upside down version of the adage we're all used to ("quality, not quantity"). It's through practice, practice and more practice you get better. And the biggest stumbling block to practicing is expecting the practice to be perfect! Nothing could be more unproductive.

Here's a great exercise I learned years ago: draw something bad! As Bad as you can! Draw with your non-drawing hand - left hand if you're right-handed, right hand if you're left-handed. Use both hands at the same time. Draw big. Get out a newspaper, throw it on the floor, get a marker or pen and stab it, draw giant circles, draw stick figures as fast as you can. Anything. Noses, ears, dogs, it doesn't matter...Just do it. Crumple it up, throw it out the window. Do this for 5-10 minutes or until you get a little pressure releasing laugh. Some of my best caricatures came out of this pressure releaser.

Guaranteed, you'll be more relaxed when you get back to "serious" practice.

Now get drawing! :-)

Warmly,

Jeff K.

Director