6 degrees of seperation - Oliver Reed, Robert Downey Junior and Alan Hermosillo

People look like other people. The obvious family resemblances go without saying, kids will have a look of one or both of their parents, and hopefully not the milkman or Uncle Ian!!! But resembling somebody goes a lot further than family. In fact its an industry as you can hire David Beckham look-a-likes, Bono look-a-likes etc. My Dad still likes to tell a wee story about how somebody once (and only ever once!) mistook him for Harrison Ford!

This all relates to a caricature trade I'm in the midst of with an extremely skilled artist, Alan Hermosillo. He did a fantastic interpretation of Jeff Bridges as 'The Dude" from The Big Lebowski. I was so taken with it I emailed Alan proposing some sort of trade. He sent me "The Dude" and in return I'm creating a caricature of him. Here are two of the sketches I've done of Alan:

Whilst doodling away at this over the weekend Alan started to resemble several people, in fact he looked like a whole bunch of different famous people. Starting with Oliver Reed:

and Robert Downey Junior:

Others include Javier Bardem and Jimi Goodwin (singer with Indie band Doves). Its one of the most fascinating things about being a caricaturist. Recognising resemblances, embracing them and yet retaining a certain individuality. I'll pop colour comparisons on in a couple of weeks once I've taken my crayons to Alan's chirpy visage!