Expressions - Tumblr Posts
Smooching notes~!
So the people on Twitter seemed to find my notes very useful, So I am sharing them to you guys as well
have fun!
Do you need some facial expressions references? đđđđđđđđŤđŹđĽşđ
I have an Expressions Pack!
You can now get a $0+ preview in my Ko-fi that has 25 expressions from three different angles.
Or you can grab the full 399 image pack with 133 expressions for $12USD
HAPPY DRAWING! đąâ¨
POSE REFERENCE #2: Pushed up against a wall kissâ¤ď¸ (additional images below cut)
okay so my other post has gotten circled around from hell and back , but now I just want a better, cleaner version to get a chance to get around so HERE YA GO
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!
AnglesÂ
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.
Symmetry vs asymmetryÂ
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:
TeethÂ
Donât forget to add the gum when the mouth is open to its full potential!
Squinting and folding
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.
and so on..
Pupils and irisesÂ
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, sweatingâŚÂ
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
Over exaggeration!!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!
Practicing!!Â
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!
And thatâs about it!
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!!! â¨đ¨
Hereâs some tips, of course nothing professional, but things Iâve learned myself.
Hope it helps some of you guys. ovo
I put this together since Iâve gotten a few questions on how I go about designing and um⌠yeah! I really hope itâs helpful to someone out there. Edit: This tutorial is going to be featured in Facility Magazine, a magazine chalk full of amazing artists and resources from all over the internet! The first issue is currently in the works. You can keep your eyes peeled for when you can buy your own copy here: http://facilitymag.com/index.html
I get asked a lot about how I draw expressions the way I do and what methods I use. Expression-drawing is one of those things you really need to fool around with and practice and loosen up with.Â
These are mainly tips for cartoonists but a lot of the methods I discuss can be applied to more naturalistic drawing as well.
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!
AnglesÂ
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.
Symmetry vs asymmetryÂ
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:
TeethÂ
Donât forget to add the gum when the mouth is open to its full potential!
Squinting and folding
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.
and so on..
Pupils and irisesÂ
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, sweatingâŚÂ
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
Over exaggeration!!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!
Practicing!!Â
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!
And thatâs about it!
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!!! â¨đ¨
Get some extra classes with the 11-page Clean up your Acting supplement~
This tutorial is about acting for comics! Itâs not a subject people talk about a lot, at least compared to art and writing, but Iâd argue that great character acting is one of the reasons we fall in love with fictional characters⌠and horrible character acting is why we stop believing in the characters, the story, and possibly the creator?? Fortunately, learning to spot bad acting is an easy way to correct it in your own work.
I was maybe a little snarkier in this tut than I needed to, but weâre friends here, I donât need to pretend with you that I love every work equally. What I really do love tho, is when people learn to turn their criticism into corrections, which is the whole point of making and sharing these tuts! I hope you enjoy it :] You can also check out a bunch of human, monster, and alien crab acting in my own comics The Meek and Mare Internum.
My recent tutorials on Tumblr:
coloring with masks
writing for webcomics
researching for comics
All of my tutorials are released in lower-res format to the public 6 months after publication at the Shingworks Patreon. You can access the full tutorial archive, as well as nearly 1.5 years worth of bonus content, by becoming a Patron :] The recent tutorial is about Worldbuilding, so feel free to stop by~
and! thanks a ton in advance for not removing my text <3
How to show expression with the mouth!
This was a request and at first I wasnât sure if I had anything to provide with, but as it turn out it got a little longer than I expected because there were actually things I had to say!! Wow!!Â
Anyway, this is some guidelines I follow when I try to make the face expressfull, more specifically the mouth! It is often neglected, since itâs actually pretty hard, Iâll admit. But Iâm here to help (hopefullyâŚ)! A mouth expression tutorial as per request. Enjoy and hopefully it will help some a little. Ęâ˘á´Ľâ˘Ę
Draw the teeth at the right angle.Â
This is super important. The upper jaw follows the angle of the head, and the lower jaw will depend on how open it is. Make sure you have a rough estimate of where the teeth are, and how much of them youâre going to see!
The lips will VERY roughly follow the same angle as the teeth. It really depends on the character, but it gives you a sense at least.Â
If you DONâT do this, youâre going to lose so much volume and the mouth is going to end up looking unrelatable. I showed this example in this tutorial:
Itâs not just the lips!Â
The cheeks, chin, and tongue play a role too!Â
Try look at your own mouth or references! I have a very pliable and large mouth, so thatâs one reason why my characters have it too lmao.
ASYMMETRYYYYY (ŕ¸ Í Â° ÍŮÍ ÍĄÂ°)ŕ¸
I cannot emphasize how important asymmetry is when drawing expressions. It applies not only to the eyebrows to achieve the Dreamwork Faceâ˘, but also the mouth. Seriously if you draw a symmetric mouth I will deliver myself to your mailbox and then shout at you until you fix it.Â
Look at the difference between these two for example: which one has more âlifeâ?Â
I think you get the idea.
Push and squish - give it flow
Hereâs an old drawing I have but it illustrates how I think when I squish the mouth, and use folding and wrinkles to my advantage.
Look at your own face and see where skin bundles up, where it creases the most and when bumps appear on your chin. Subtle details makes all the difference!Â
One VERY effective detail is illustrated in the first sketch, where I pull upwards on one side, and downwards on the other. Thatâs a good detail to use when the character is making a skewed expression, or is extremely frustrated. I encourage you to play around with that concept bc itâs ~super effective~!
EXAMPLES:
Happy: Your entire mouth is pushed upwards, not just the corners of your mouth!
I tend to draw a :3 mouth bc Iâve been drawing Lance too muchâŚ.. You donât have to but itâs basically imprinted in my motor memory by now.Â
Pouting/frowning: corners are pushed down, middle pushed slightly up. Sometimes, thereâs a slight dip in the middle too. It can give a sense that the character is biting their lips.
Showing frustration/intimidating/is intimidated: basically showing a lot of teeth. The corners are as open as possible and the middle sorta more squished. An extremely important detail here is showing some of the gums, and open space between the cheeks and teeth. That way it looks like the mouth it open to itâs full potential. Here is also where you basically MUST add folds and bumps, or else itâs not going to look relatable.Â
(Here I am again with the pulling upwards on one side and downwards on the other, as illustrated on the last sketch)
And then again, hereâs just another doodle showing how important it is to show the gums. Itâs the same face twice, but the second one looks slightly more frustrated doesnât it?
(from my other tutorial on how to draw facial expressions)
As you can see, this last one is very versatile and I draw it a lot. Play around with the basic shape and see how much subtle details makes a lot of difference!Â
Thatâs it!Â
I hope that cleared some things up and was somewhat helpful! Enjoy drawing â¨
Hello, friends!
Itâs Meg with Part 2 of our two part TUTOR TUESDAY, where we look at expressions. If you missed it, you can find Part 1 here where we discuss specifics of the mouth.  If you have any recommendations for a tutorial, let me know here or on my personal blog! Keep practicing, have fun and Iâll see you next week!
How to show expression with the mouth!
This was a request and at first I wasnât sure if I had anything to provide with, but as it turn out it got a little longer than I expected because there were actually things I had to say!! Wow!!Â
Anyway, this is some guidelines I follow when I try to make the face expressfull, more specifically the mouth! It is often neglected, since itâs actually pretty hard, Iâll admit. But Iâm here to help (hopefullyâŚ)! A mouth expression tutorial as per request. Enjoy and hopefully it will help some a little. Ęâ˘á´Ľâ˘Ę
Draw the teeth at the right angle.Â
This is super important. The upper jaw follows the angle of the head, and the lower jaw will depend on how open it is. Make sure you have a rough estimate of where the teeth are, and how much of them youâre going to see!
The lips will VERY roughly follow the same angle as the teeth. It really depends on the character, but it gives you a sense at least.Â
If you DONâT do this, youâre going to lose so much volume and the mouth is going to end up looking unrelatable. I showed this example in this tutorial:
Itâs not just the lips!Â
The cheeks, chin, and tongue play a role too!Â
Try look at your own mouth or references! I have a very pliable and large mouth, so thatâs one reason why my characters have it too lmao.
ASYMMETRYYYYY (ŕ¸ Í Â° ÍŮÍ ÍĄÂ°)ŕ¸
I cannot emphasize how important asymmetry is when drawing expressions. It applies not only to the eyebrows to achieve the Dreamwork Faceâ˘, but also the mouth. Seriously if you draw a symmetric mouth I will deliver myself to your mailbox and then shout at you until you fix it.Â
Look at the difference between these two for example: which one has more âlifeâ?Â
I think you get the idea.
Push and squish - give it flow
Hereâs an old drawing I have but it illustrates how I think when I squish the mouth, and use folding and wrinkles to my advantage.
Look at your own face and see where skin bundles up, where it creases the most and when bumps appear on your chin. Subtle details makes all the difference!Â
One VERY effective detail is illustrated in the first sketch, where I pull upwards on one side, and downwards on the other. Thatâs a good detail to use when the character is making a skewed expression, or is extremely frustrated. I encourage you to play around with that concept bc itâs ~super effective~!
EXAMPLES:
Happy: Your entire mouth is pushed upwards, not just the corners of your mouth!
I tend to draw a :3 mouth bc Iâve been drawing Lance too muchâŚ.. You donât have to but itâs basically imprinted in my motor memory by now.Â
Pouting/frowning: corners are pushed down, middle pushed slightly up. Sometimes, thereâs a slight dip in the middle too. It can give a sense that the character is biting their lips.
Showing frustration/intimidating/is intimidated: basically showing a lot of teeth. The corners are as open as possible and the middle sorta more squished. An extremely important detail here is showing some of the gums, and open space between the cheeks and teeth. That way it looks like the mouth it open to itâs full potential. Here is also where you basically MUST add folds and bumps, or else itâs not going to look relatable.Â
(Here I am again with the pulling upwards on one side and downwards on the other, as illustrated on the last sketch)
And then again, hereâs just another doodle showing how important it is to show the gums. Itâs the same face twice, but the second one looks slightly more frustrated doesnât it?
(from my other tutorial on how to draw facial expressions)
As you can see, this last one is very versatile and I draw it a lot. Play around with the basic shape and see how much subtle details makes a lot of difference!Â
Thatâs it!Â
I hope that cleared some things up and was somewhat helpful! Enjoy drawing â¨
Practicing some character expressions.Â
Agent Snow Expressions - by ME
You can fake a smile, but you canât fake your feelings.
(via lovelainex)