Marching Thru 30 Famous Faces - Number One: George Washington

It's that month again! For 30 of the 31 days this March I will draw and post a caricature of a famous face that has meant something to me over the last 50 years. Now to be clear, these faces don't necessarily hold the same importance to me that they once did and there are lots of not-so-famous faces that have had and have much greater meaning to me than any of these ever will. But what fun is it for me to draw faces that you wouldn't recognize? So, check out my blog this March for a famous face each day … except for one.

Today's famous face is George Washington from a U.S. 25 cent coin. Why George? Because in art class in 7th grade I drew his caricature and I got it! It clicked! Using just a quarter as my reference I drew a caricature that I really liked. It captured the face of George Washington in a funny way and my teacher and classmates liked it. I'd drawn other people's faces before, but something special happened with this one. And I've been drawing caricatures ever since, looking for that special feeling of capturing a humorous likeness and loving it.

 Here's to you George! Thanks for the memories and the beginning of a very rewarding caricature drawing career. I've drawn this George Washington caricature trying to recall a little bit of how I drew it back then. I believe I still have that first George Washington caricature buried in a box somewhere in all my papers. I'll post it someday, if I ever do find it.