Chapter 1 | FACIAL EXPRESSIONS

In this drawing lesson you can draw facial expressions and make up your own. What do you think of my first three examples? I think you can come up with texts that fit the facial expressions much better.

Exercise 1: Draw the sample face below. A human’s head is egg-shaped with the eyes about halfway (see the lesson Heads and Faces, Chapter 1). Eyes, mouth and nose are simplified to a few lines, that’s all you need now. You can add the arrows and texts as neatly as possible (to remember everything well).

Now I’m going to show you more facial expressions with the eyes and mouth as simple as possible.

Exercise 2: Try to redraw a few and make up a suitable text for each of them. While drawing you may notice that the smallest differences already make the face say or think something different.

     

In the 17th century, the French artist Charles le Brun made dozens of examples of facial expressions that fit a certain feeling, such as anger or surprise. You see four of them here. From top left to bottom right: admiration, surprise, shock and anger. Especially with the latter he drew extra lines to show the facial muscles.

Exercise 3: Try copying one or more of these four faces.

In this drawing by a pupil the two figures ook angry and indignant. I like it how the rigid angular bodies are added to the faces. Of course, anger isn’t that flexible either.