Illustrative Caricatures: Art by Cindy Scaife
Nanaimo Bar, acrylic on canvas
Painter Cindy Scaife has a special talent for illustrative caricatures, and a unique style with which she often depicts anthropomorphized foods. The artist’s painting style is smooth and detailed, with bright colors that harken to vintage advertising illustrations.
Orange Juice, acrylic on canvas
In our previous feature of Cindy’s adorable anthropomorphized foods, we looked particularly at her cartoons, and snacks, condiments, and other edibles imbued with given human characteristics. I’m strangely drawn to these cute foods – they seem innocent, yet perhaps because of the blend of subject matter they also have a slightly creepy sensibility that reminds me of some of the works of illustrative painters like Megan Majewski.
Cindy also works on a commission basis, and some of her commissioned works are available for viewing on her portfolio website. A couple of these paintings, of dogs and human subjects, showcase the artist’s talent for straightforward realism, a revelation that makes her cartoon images seem all the more inviting. I can start to see small detailed elements in each of the artist’s works that speak to an eye for photographic detail, even when painting faces on food, flowers, and trees.
