Favorite Things Card

• 1). Create a contour drawing of your man's favorite things to put on the front of a birthday card. Find an image of a hobby or item that he favors. For instance, if your guy likes football, look for an image of his favorite team's logo. If he enjoys woodworking, look for a picture of common wood tools.
  
  
• 2). Print the image out on high-quality printer paper.
  
  
• 3). Cut a 5-inch-by-7-inch rectangle out of a sheet of card stock. Fold the card in half horizontally.
  
  
• 4). Draw the image on the card. Sit in a well-lit area and position your printed image close by. With a dark-colored drawing pencil, begin to draw the outline of the picture on the front of the card. Draw lightly so you can erase mistakes easily. Position your image with enough space at the top or bottom of your card to write a birthday greeting.
  
  
• 5). Finish the contour. Darken the lines of your drawing by tracing over the outline of your image. Use colored pencils to fill in the values of your image. Print "Happy Birthday" in pencil and include the name of your guy.
  
  

Caricature Card

• 1). Give the guy in your life a laugh with a cartoon card that features him. Print off a profile picture of the man in question.
  
  
• 2). Fold a 5-inch-by-7-inch card in half.
  
  
• 3). Look at the photograph. Drawing a caricature involves exaggerating specific facial features while rendering a somewhat realistic portrait. Make a note of the head shape, the contours of the eyes and the form of the mouth and nose. Look at what features are disproportionate to the face: whether the nose seems a little big, or the forehead is long.
  
  
• 4). Draw the shape of the head on the front of the card. Rough in a basic geometric shape of your man's head -- but change one detail. If he has an oval-shaped face, make the forehead area extra long. If he has a diamond-shaped face, exaggerate the point of his chin and jaws.
  
  
• 5). Fill in the facial features. Make eyebrows extra heavy or ears big like an elephant. Play around with exaggerating different features on a scrap of paper before you draw your final decision on the front of your birthday card.
  
  
• 6). Shade in the details. Make your caricature come to life by shading in darker and lighter values to create depth. Use soft-grade pencils to create darker shadows, and harder-grade pencils for light shadows and details. Write a birthday message in the front and inside of your card in colored pencil.