AS A SCHOOLBOY, Terry Pontikos was prone to doodling. The doodles then became caricatures of his schoolmates and teachers in his native Australia, when he realised the popularity mileage he could exploit from them. When he entered high school, his art turned from hobby to passion and something he wanted to do as a career. Against his father's wishes, Pontikos didn't go on to university and a safe career in a bank 'that would have equalled death for me', but, instead, opted to join a tabloid newspaper in Sydney, where he could learn from his heroes, whose caricatures and cartoons he'd admired from afar. Today, at 35, Pontikos is the South China Morning Post's caricaturist and his takes on the famous and infamous are in the paper on a regular basis. Sometimes he's quite nice to his subjects, other times - he's not. Foreheads and noses are stretched, pock marks and wrinkles emphasised, ears widened, politicians embarrassed. This week, Pontikos' work is on show at The Newsmakers exhibition at the Rotunda in Exchange Square, Central. In time for the WTO meeting, 12 caricatures of the makers and shakers of regional and world politics and economics can be seen in all their glory or ignominy. 'My father was a good artist and draughtsman, so if things are genetic then I get it from him,' Pontikos says. 'But I come from a classic migrant family where he had to support the family, so his art came second. He resisted all my mother's entreaties to do more illustration work. With his background, he just didn't see it as responsible. To that end he was disappointed I didn't go to college.' Despite his father's protestations, but with his mother's support, Pontikos joined the now-defunct Daily Mirror tabloid in Sydney as a copy boy, finally having the opportunity, as if by osmosis, to glean every scrap of artistic know-how these old-hand caricaturists had to offer. While Pontikos began in black and white, these days he works on a computer using composites of photos to build up his faces. Chief Executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen is one of the subjects of the exhibition, as is Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan. 'You start off with a dozen photos, grab an eye from here, a nose from there,' Pontikos says. 'People don't look the same in every photo, some photos don't really capture them. It's like doing an Identikit image. And from there you do a distortion.' Pontikos is known to his artist colleagues as The Elongator as he has a tendency to stretch the face, pulling out the forehead and chins. 'There are two types of faces,' he says. 'Long and thin and short and fat. 'Once I've done the distortion and am happy that I've got the humour into it, I then render it. If you translate it to paints, then that's the painting process.' Which Pontikos admits is not his strong point. 'It's a legacy of lack of formal training and starting in black and white and only later graduating to colour.' Not all caricatures work out though. They start off well and then go awry during the process. 'Yeah, that happens,' says Pontikos. But what do you do when you have a community leader who's hugely popular - even if they have great faces for caricature? 'Someone like Mother Teresa has an excellent face for a caricature with all the wrinkles, but you have to do it in a manner that's glowing and that's a challenge. It's the same with [East Timorese president] Xanana Gusmao. He's a much loved and respected figure,' says Pontikos. Call it chivalry or plain fear of the fairer sex, but Pontikos does tend to go gentler on women 'unless they're Imelda Marcos or Margaret Thatcher, in which case I'm a bit rougher on them'. 'The bigger the personality or the character of the person, the more you're interested. If I'm told to do a page on George W. Bush, I'm rubbing my hands.' Pontikos openly admits he's biased. If he likes his subject, they get an easier deal. Australian Prime Minister John Howard never fares well. 'I tend to be a little bit rough on Johnny Howard. And I try to make George Bush look as ratty as possible. When I see Rupert Murdoch or Alan Greenspan I just think 'jowls'. Rubbery faces are a cartoonist's best friend. The more he looks like a puppy dog, the better. With Greenspan's rubbery face, you'd be negligent not to make fun of him. 'Some have a face that only a mother could love, but your job is not to play God but to draw it as you see it.' Pontikos is never quite off duty, even when he's at the pub. 'It's an occupational hazard, you're constantly seeing a face that you want to draw.' Don't miss your chance to own a portrait of yourself, a friend, or a loved one by award-winning SCMP artist Terry Pontikos - and help a good cause at the same time. The exhibition of caricatures - which appear every Saturday on the Post's Newsmakers page - is being held at the Rotunda in Exchange Square until Saturday, December 17. The caricatures will be on sale for between $3,000 and $5,000, with all proceeds going to Operation Santa Claus. We are also holding an auction of a portrait by Terry Pontikos. The winning bidder - or the subject of their choice - will be immortalised in Pontikos' distinctive style. Auction details are at osc.scmp.com/auction.asp where you can submit bids and see the real-time highest bid online. Or you can e-mail your bid (in $500 multiples) to osc.auction@scmp.com ; we'll send you regular updates of the top bid. The auction closes at 11.59pm on December 17, and the winner will be announced on December 19. For details, go to osc.scmp.com or call 2565 2673. Bidders must give name, number and e-mail address for confirmation