How to do âextraâ facial expressions!
Drawing basic facial expressions is not the hardest. Most people can draw a sad face, a happy face, angry etc., but making more multidimensional expressions is more of a challenge. I have gotten a lot of compliments on how I draw facial expressions, (specifically âangsty onesâ) telling me that they are very dramatic and well⊠expressive! And there are actually only a few things I think about when I draw faces that take them to the next level, so I thought iâd illustrate them all here!
SUPER IMPORTANT TIP BEFORE WE START: Look at your own face when you draw faces. Even making the face when you are drawing (you donât even have to look at it), will give you some sense of how the face muscles pull and where things fold and stretch, because you can feel it. You are the best reference when it comes to facial expressions!
Draw the head in an angle that matches the expressions you want to make. It is not a requirement, but is going to add to the effect.
A face is rarely symmetric. Unless the face the character is making is 100 % relaxed or even dissociating, the eyebrows, mouth and facial muscles will have different placements of their respective side. This image shows the dramatic impact asymmetry has on a face:Â
Thatâs the difference between a smile and a smirk!
The first oneâs like âoh yeah?â and the second is like âoH YEAH??â
The âballoon squishing principleâ
This is something I did subconsciously, and I didnât know about until I made this tutorial. And this principle goes hand in hand with an asymmetric face. Basically, if you squish one part of the face, you need to even out the empty space by âinflatingâ the other part of the face so that it doesnât appear shrunken. The picture hopefully explains it:
Donât forget to add the gum when the mouth is open to its full potential!
Adding folds around the eyes when a character is squinting makes a HUGE difference. It makes a smile more genuine and a growl more intimidating. Adding folds to the face in general makes your characters more lifelike and âvisually relatableâ. Like, they look human, and less plastic or fake.
The placement of the iris and pupil in relation to the eyelids is very important! The less of the white you see, the more relaxed the character is.Â
And then of course eyebrows and eyes go hand in hand!
Gestures, spitting, sweatingâŠÂ
Adding more elements than just a face is key to making the character actually look like they are feeling what you want them to feel. Just the tiniest sweat drop adds to their anxiety, spitting adds frustration to their rage, slouching shoulders, waving hands, a double chin, extreme angles, the list goes on! Add whatever and see what kind of impact it makes! Does it do the trick? Great! Add it!Â
Remember that you can almost always exaggerate more. Donât be afraid to do draw âtoo muchâ because youâre just experimenting. See what works and what doesnât. What do you like to exaggerate?
Now that you know some theory, itâs time to practice!
The 25 Essential Expressions (a classic! Iâve done it multiple times)
And the one I do when Iâm bored:
Fill a page with circles and fill them in with different expressions. Try and exaggerate as much as you can!Â
This is mostly for experimenting. They are quicker to draw than complete faces, but the same rules should apply!
I donât know if I covered everything in this tutorial, since some things might be obvious for me, and this post perhaps only scratches the surface. So feel free to send me a message if you want an explanation about something more in depth! Thank you for reading! And now DRAW!!! âšđš
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