INNISFAIL -- Dean Foster is determined to draw the biggest caricature faces the world has ever seen -- large enough to fit the area of a football field.
In fact, his two faces will be big enough to be listed in the Guinness World Records.
"I am just hoping enough people will get exposed to my name," said Foster, a 53-year-old professional cartoonist and illustrator from South Africa who moved to Canada in 2011 with his family. He now resides on an acreage 15 kilometres east of Innisfail.
Foster was originally going to use a country singer as a subject for the world's biggest caricature but then he heard about a contest at Calgary's CJAY 92. The radio contest is called Spread the Word, and whoever comes up with the best ad for the new Morning Show with Jesse & JD wins $25,000.
He quickly noted the radio station's imagery included logos along with two digital DJ images, which are classified as caricatures. He had already registered with Guinness World Records. It was time for Foster to draw big.
"The prize money was very tempting so I thought I would try. I entered the competition and decided to draw the two DJs. I figured they would give me some good radio coverage," said Foster, a truck driver who recently rebooted his past 25-year cartoonist and illustrator career in Canada.
However, his planned new creation had one problem to overcome. It was early spring with the ground still covered with snow and mud. He called every government agency in Calgary to find the right open space he needed for the project but he could not get any approval. As a last resort he looked at his property from Google Earth and he found the right spot that would work for his massive creation.
The current world's largest caricature, drawn by Uruguayan artist Federico Delgado Herediain in 2011, is 91.35 metres in length and 60.90 metres wide. That is a total area of about 631.20 square metres, or just over 6,794 square feet, about the same area as a football field.
Foster's goal is to draw images of the two CJAY 92 DJs to fit an area of 10,000 square metres, well over Herediain's world record.
He began his creation at the acreage yesterday (April 8). He would like to finish it in five days. CJAY 92 will announce the winner on April 19. It is certain there will be plenty of unique entries to choose from. Already there are creations from buttons, flags, tattoos and even a book. Foster's idea, however, appears to be genuinely unique. He's hoping it will be good enough to collect the $25,000 prize and he will be financially set to give his once lucrative creative career a huge boost in his new country.
"I will be ecstatic. It has cost me more than $30,000 to immigrate here which I still have not yet paid off. If I could just get that money back I would be just over the moon because I could settle my credit card and just have a little bit of money," said Foster. "I got no pension. I got nothing. I walked away from South Africa. I left my farm and came here with a suitcase with my family. I fought tooth and nail to stay here."
