Dubai artist Adeel Saeed on his journey to live caricatures: ‘I want to make my living from art’

Dubai: Dubai-based artist Adeel Saeed has spent more than a decade turning strangers into exaggerated, smile-inducing sketches, one face at a time

For Saeed, the road to becoming a full-time caricature artist began with a 10-year-old boy who simply refused to go home from school.

Growing up in Northern Cyprus, Saeed would stop every day to watch a street artist working under a tree in Nicosia. He would stand there for hours, fascinated by the artist turning faces into playful drawings.

Eventually, the artist noticed him. “He called me and said, ‘Come here. What is your problem?’” Saeed recalls with a laugh. “I said, ‘I like this. I want to learn.’”

The artist invited him to sit down and learn. That moment stayed with Saeed, eventually becoming the starting point for a career he would build years later in Dubai.

Today, Saeed has been based in the UAE since 2004, working as a live caricature artist at everything from corporate events and gala dinners to weddings, private parties and so on.

And he is fast. What once took him eight or nine minutes can now take as little as one or two. “I’ve practised a lot and brought it down to one to two minutes,” he says.

Unlike traditional portraiture, Saeed says caricature gives him the freedom to exaggerate and that is exactly what attracted him to it.

“For me, portraits are a bit serious and boring,” he says. “I do like to recreate the face in a funny way so that it brings a smile to people’s faces.”

But there is more thought behind those quick sketches than meets the eye. Saeed says he studies each person before putting pen to paper, looking for the feature that can become the starting point of the drawing.

Someone bald? Start with the scalp.

A particularly prominent nose? That comes first.

Distinctive teeth? Those could become the centre of the entire caricature.

“Most of them I start from the eyes,” he says. “But for a really fun caricature, I prefer going through that specific feature.”

From there, he builds the rest of the face around it, exaggerating just enough for the finished sketch to remain recognisable. And Saeed doesn't believe in giving everyone the same caricature.

“I do various styles. It’s not only one style,” he says.

Part of that, he explains, comes down to reading the person sitting in front of him. Someone constantly fixing their hair, for example, might prefer a more flattering version, while someone else may be willing to go completely over the top.

His personal favourite? The extreme caricature.

Those are the drawings that get the crowd watching, laughing and waiting to see just how far Saeed will take the exaggeration.

Although there is one rule he follows. “Never take risk with ladies,” he says. “Always do pretty ones. Mostly, I would say 90%, more than 90%, go with the pretty one and you are safe.”

Saeed didn't arrive in Dubai with a ready-made career in caricature. He came with a dream.

After moving to the UAE alone in 2004, he initially worked in the event industry as a graphic designer and 3D visualiser. At one point, he was living with 12 people in a room.

But the city offered something he was looking for: a chance to test himself.

“Dubai provides you an opportunity to take a challenge and prove your skills,” he says. “If you really have a skill, you can prove it here.” The turning point came during a meeting at an event company in Motor City.

His boss needed a caricature artist for an event, but couldn't find the right person. Saeed put his hand up.

His boss was surprised. The challenge was simple: prove it.

“He gave me a paper and pen, and I drew him within minutes,” Saeed says.

The impromptu audition landed him the job. He began doing live caricatures alongside his regular role. After a year of building up experience and exposure, he decided to take the leap and leave his 9-to-5 behind.

His boss supported the decision. More than a decade later, Saeed is still drawing. “I’m making my living from my childhood hobby and passion,” he says. “So no more 9-to-5 and all those things.”

Not every artistic obsession has been quite so cheerful.

At one point, Saeed became fascinated with drawing zombies. He immersed himself in references, illustrations and films, studying everything from gruesome facial details to horror effects.

The research followed him to bed. “In those days, I was literally seeing nightmares,” he says.

He learned how to create everything from popped-out eyes to weapons passing through mouths but there was one problem with his newfound speciality.

“I love to draw zombies,” he says. “But it’s not sellable.”

So, for now, Saeed sticks to the faces that come to him, transforming them from ordinary snapshots into exaggerated souvenirs in a matter of minutes.

And somewhere behind every quick sketch is the same fascination that began with a 10-year-old boy sitting under a tree in Cyprus, refusing to walk away from a street artist.