Karen Caldicott is well versed in the finer points of coaxing, manipulation, negotiating and seduction. Oh dear, please let me explain – the British illustrator has been living in New York for many years but I promise you she is not taking her cues from former New York governor Elliot Spitzer (however, if you click on the picture to the left you will see the idiot Spitzer appropriately turn red in the face thanks to Caldicott’s animation skills). Caldicott coaxes, manipulates and seduces her materials, in this case plasticine clay, to the delight of the always-curious public who read the magazines and newspapers where her illustrations appear.
Caldicott’s clay portraits are so life-like that New York magazine commissioned her to do weekly portraits of the famous and infamous for the magazine. Each celebrity was shown in several poses enjoying all that New York City has to offer. She sketched out her ideas, then sculpted small busts (only 6-8″ high) and here’s where it gets interesting: Caldicott photographed the clay heads and then added the color in Photoshop. Nice.
Her clients include ABC News, TIME magazine, Forbes, The New Yorker, New York Magazine, Los Angeles Times, NY Times, Rolling Stone magazine, Newsweek, Wall Street Journal, Sony Music, MTV, Harpers Bazaar (UK) and the New York Sun.
[Edited 7/8/08 to add this note from Karen: "These days I'm not Photoshopping the color, I'm actually painting them in acrylic and then photographing the model." A good example of this is her bust of James Frey, seen on her home page.]
Caldicott on Dripbook
[...] Caldicott has been busy since we visited her in July. The illustrator’s plasticine heads now grace the pages of Crafts magazine (UK), where [...]