Caricature 22/500: Magnum pi Part 1, Magnum

We were cleaning out the old junk in the office the other day to make a little room for the new junk when the wife came across an old leather billfold. She tossed it across the room to me and said "Have a look at this." I opened it and it was my 1986 Official Private Detective card given only to graduates of the California based Rouse School of Investigation. Sounds very Christmas Story - Annie Oakley Decoder Pen doesn't it? It would be if I hadn't been 19 years old in 1986. haha. I could have sworn I was only 12 or 13 when I signed up for that. 

My initial sketch

It did take a couple of years to get through it and was pretty informative. I bet my mom still has the course tucked away in a cedar chest somewhere in her attic. Why would a young impressionable teenager pay hundreds of dollars to take a shady correspondence course in private investigation you ask? One word... Magnum.


Growing up, Magnum pi was my favorite show on television. I never missed it. I loved everything about the scenery, fast cars, camaraderie and nonstop action. I wore Hawaiian shirts and sunglasses with the leather side shades and tried to grow a cool mustache. Who didn't? From 1980-88 that show ruled! I used my Rouse School lockpick set to open the padlock on our garden shed while self narrating "pick the lock, don't look at the dogs, pick the lock...." (it actually worked really well). I even got the Magnum pi commemorative team ring they sold in the back of the TV Guide.

The final caricature

Today we start a new caricature series for the show, and who better to start out with than the star, Thomas Magnum played by Tom Selleck. I really tried to get a good likeness on this one but he is harder than you might think. They are all hard for me but even googling it I was unable to find more than one or two decent caricatures by other artists. The obvious exaggeration is the mustache.


I have been noticing lately that sometimes I am able to come up with an initial sketch that I am pretty happy with but when I go in to line and color it, something is lost. It may be that I am still putting too much detail into the shading and wrinkles. Here are pictures of my initial sketch and the finished drawing. I think the sketch looks more like Magnum than the finished caricature. He looks less smirky and fun with the details added. That is something I will need to work on. I definitely plan to try this again when I get better. I know Selleck is very proud of the series and all kidding aside it may have helped me to get my behind on the right track more than I realized. Even before it was over I had joined the military where I did some flying around in helicopters and eventually got a Bachelor of Science degree in Criminal Justice. I never thought it had anything to do with Magnum pi at the time but who knows what you soak up in your formative years. Stay tuned for Part 2.