By Cherisse Moe, HER Magazine
Caricature are not for the faint hearted. If you’re thinking of having one done, don’t expect it to look anything like the selfies you post on your social media.
According to caricaturist Joanne Harnarine, it takes a level of maturity to really appreciate this unique art form. A caricature is a picture, description, or imitation of a person in which certain striking characteristics are exaggerated in order to create a comic or grotesque effect.“Only the brave, fun and adventurous types would want a caricature,” the mother of one says jokingly during our interview. “Because they have to accept the fact that I may exaggerate their faults that they are trying to hide. I have to explain to my subjects before I start that it’s not going to be a portrait, so please don’t get angry with me after, okay. Some people feel offended when they see their drawings, but would eventually laugh it off”.
Then there are those who require a little more time for it to sink in.
“Of course, I get bad reviews! Maybe because everyone wants to look pretty and not ridiculed. They always look shocked and surprised at the end result. It’s all part of the fun. I remember the time when we had to draw portraits of each other in UWI art class. My subjects laughed till they cried. One student said I was wicked. My drawing teacher said that I will make a good criminal artist,” Harnarine recalls.
Caricatures first became a popular genre of fine art in the 16th and 17th centuries and were created by satirists to ridicule public figures and politicians. Though there aren’t many caricature artists locally, internationally they remain popular, as the art is widely used in publications and newspapers. An artist for most of her life, the Freeport resident started dabbling in caricature drawings about two years ago. She had more time on her hands, due to the pandemic, and decided to explore more creative adventures on her to-do-list. She looked at YouTube videos and soon got the hang of it.
“Then I joined an online caricature group with other artists, and submitted my art to have some fun with them,” says the Couva Government Secondary school past pupil, who holds a Certificate in Visual Arts from The UWI.
Last Sunday, Harnarine, secured her first hired caricature job to do drawings of guests at the Veuve Clicquot Champagne Tea Party held in St Clair. “I did three hours of five to ten minute caricatures of the brave souls
“Approximately 14 guests approached me and sat in the chair. Most of them looked shocked, but they still laughed.”
How exactly does Harnarine go about drawing her caricatures?
“I look at the person for ten seconds to find their most prominent feature and make it even bigger. If it’s small, then I will make it even smaller. I play around with the features, face shapes and hairstyles, all while using the economy of a few lines. If I have extra time, I try to bring out the personality they displayed while sitting for me to draw them. I prefer to do some colour rather than black and white.”
The 44-year-old is a full-fledged creative. She also specialises in illustrations and what she describes as “happy art”. She believes she inherited her artistic genes from her maternal grandfather – a professional tailor, who had natural talents in sketching and drawing. He died before she was born. Her inspiration comes from “anything that catches my attention” – nature, flowers, books, food, fruits, fashions, dogs “and even people’s behaviour and personalities”. She expounds, “I can be alone watching stuff and imagining designs I’m going to do. I like to do cartoons, grotesque and a little surrealism. However, my family critiques my art as childish. The thing is that I can also paint, but it depends on my mood. I prefer to focus on happier things in life because life and society are already too depressing, so why spread even more sadness? We need more uplifting, happier moments in life.”
Harnarine’s hands aren’t only used for art – she’s also a make-up artist who’s been doing faces professionally for the past 16 years. She tells us, “the most joy comes at the end when I give the clients the mirror to hold and they say ‘wow, I love it’. I also love just simply seeing all the colours on my eye shadow palettes and I wish there was a need to use every single colour!”
