Caricature 17/500: JAWS Part 1, Hooper

Today we start my three-part series on my favorite movie, Jaws. I was eight years old when it came out in 1975 and it was the first scary movie I ever went to. It scared the crap out of me. We lived 12 miles from Lake Michigan and I never set foot in that water as long as we lived there. It wasn't even the flippin' ocean. That was 36+ years ago and I still try to watch it once a year.


My first victim is oceanographer Matt Hooper, played by Richard Dreyfuss. Unless you live under a barnacle you have probably seen Jaws at least a few times so I don't need to waste any time on the plot but Hooper was the shark expert who helped identify and kill the "attacking squalus."

First I did a caricature of Dreyfuss from back in the day when he had some hair and then I drew a separate sketch of the hanging shark and his body with the yardstick. I did the body from memory but forgot about the jean jacket. I added the flip flops and watch cap for style points.


If I could make caricatures at this level consistently I would be pretty happy. It shows you how much props can work toward making a caricature come together. You might get Richard Dreyfuss from the head shot above and you might not but once I stick a chubby little body and a shark into the mix it is unmistakably Hooper.