15: Racing characters - caricature 'blokes'

My first drawings taking on the Festival were concerned with caricature. I decided to look at how to I could represent the ubiquitous male 'bloke' race-goer, a staple of the Festival, and underrepresented in my drawings, partly because they are everywhere and almost form part of the scenery. I drew this grim-looking chap from my imagination: 

This was somewhat inspired by the sinuous weirdness of Feliks Topolski's drawings. Topolski had a fine knack of bridging the gap between caricature and observational drawings by employing a free, fluid line when drawing figures from life. 

The drawing on the left was an unfinished study from life drawn at the races. I liked the face which was well observed and tried to fill in the gaps and simplify into cartoon: 

An illustrator I have looked at previously for inspiration for my children's book and publishing projects in second year is Armin Greder. Swiss illustrator Greder has a sombre, expressive style especially suited to portraying alienation and loneliness - his book The Island is about a stranger who washes up on an island and is treated with prejudice and hostility by the inhabitants: 

His burly, dark-clad men more than a little bit remind me of the 'jeans and black jacket' crowd at the Festival - large, hostile looking men drinking pints and looking gradually more threatening as the day wears on. Here are a pair of them: 

Drawn again more boldly in pen and ink with goache and in a more simplified manner. The aim is to portray latent menace: 

...

14: Change of direction

With my FMP assuming priority during the build-up to the Cheltenham Festival, and the Portfolio and Promotion module soon after, there was a bit of a Research Experiment hiatus. When I returned to it, the shopping concept had become a bit stale. I decided that since the races were fresh in my mind, I would approach them with the same set of objectives.

With a few weeks of reflection on events I felt I had an angle on the Festival worth exploring. As my drawing during the event was at least partially directed by looking for what I considered suitable material for Cotswold Life magazine, I steered a little clear of overt satire during race week. The crowds actually made it difficult to be able to see people clearly enough to draw them.

There are several journalistic 'angles' one might take with the Festival. A racing insider might want to look at the horses and grooms, stables and parade-ring. I am not a racing insider. A topographical draughtsman might survey the crowds and enormity of the occasion. I felt more comfortable with a satirical - even moralistic - take on the Festival and its culture of excess. It can easily be seen as a big excuse for over-indulgence.