Written by CLUTCH Vol. 4 participant, Joanna Sevilla
Nothing starts off a Saturday afternoon better than drawing! The feeling of pressing a stick of charcoal against a stark white page and seeing the thick and dusty line appear…it’s absolutely thrilling. Saturday, October 22, 2011 the Clutch Vol. 4 girls experienced such a thing as they participated in a Caricatures Workshop hosted by Omar Wisam.
Omar Wisam is student in his final year at Sheridan Institute of Technology of Advanced Learning studying Animation. Being a student in animation it was clear that Omar had a deep passion for understanding the human body and the environment it occupies. He gladly displayed the guidelines to drawing a basic human head, using live models to demonstrate the structure. I found this method to be particularly useful because it helped us to have a greater understanding in what we are seeing. So often we draw what we think we are seeing, Omar taught us to look closer and observe the details in things such as: the planes, the shadows, the angles and the shapes.
These are aspects that can quickly get overlooked but are in truth the pieces that truly show the characteristics of an object. The details are what set one object apart from the other. Omar delighted us with stories of his experience in the Caricature business, as he took the time to sketch out each Clutch member pointing out the details that make one Clutch girl different from the other. Engaged at the quickness of his hands as he continued to sketch, he explained that creating caricatures is about finding the unique features, however subtle, loved or hated they are and highlighting them. By doing this, one captures the essence and spirit of their subject, as Omar was able to do with us.
As his session came to end we giggled and swooned at his final masterpieces, we looked upon each drawing and the lesson of the day resonated in the air. We are all made different, it is the unique and odd characteristics in each of us that we should find empowering. To feel empowered for who we are, well that is something to embrace and celebrate about.
