This webcomic artist's expressions guide

So apparently this guide has been doing the rounds on webcomic sites. To me, it looks like a good explanation of how to avert a lot of problems in webcomic art, and since I'm sure some people here want to draw webcomics, I'd like to hear their opinions on it.

Now I want Flounder Face to redirect to Cheeky Mouth. :V

I shall watch people hard in the future.

Done.

BUT IT DOESN'T TELL ME HOW TO DO CHEEKBONES NOW DOES IT D:<

That wasn't the point. She was trying to teach us how to look at people and what that would do to help us with expression drawing. She was trying to teach us how to teach ourselves.

While this tutorial has some great tips and advice, I would take some of what it says with a grain of salt. I love Lackadaisy Cats, it's one of the highest-quality webcomics out there, but it's not secret that Tracy is something of a perfectionist, and takes a very long time to finish comic pages. Tracy also has a lot of skill and experience in drawing that many aspiring young comic artists aren't near achieving.

First, having 'stock' expressions, like emotes and simplified faces. It's a good tip to avoid using them as a crutch, and to do your best to expand your abilities and create unique 'real' expressions. However, I think that 'emote-faces' do serve a purpose, and even with some very good artists that don't skimp on their art, many still use some simplistic and 'stock' expressions; Fullmetal Alchemist, for example, or the creator of Dramacon, and I'm sure many others. Emote-faces can be great for comedic effect, or light-heartedness in general.

'Chronic C Mouth' has a good point, but it's not as though it can't be used effectively; Oo TS is a huge offender, for example. Learning how to avoid this, especially if you're looking toward a detailed and well-drawn comic, is ideal, but not everyone is going for that.

A few things that this tutorial fails to account for, and that I feel is important when it comes to real-life practicalities, is the amount of work that applying this amount of skill and effort to expressions is compared to more 'energy-efficient' 'cheats'. Trying to be a perfectionist and creating the 'best' creation is something that holds many, many would-be creators back, and sometimes you just have to sacrifice some quality for the sake of quantity—actually producing something. If that means using a few simplistic or stock expressions when necessary, sometimes it's best to be a realist and do that.

Putting that aside, one thing that people interested in the subject might appreciate learning is that the human face creates 6 universal 'stock' expressions. These expressions are ones found in every culture and are recognized even as a baby, so it's believed there's a biological basis for them. These expressions can also be created with different intensities, so in reality, each 'expression type' can be exaggerated or toned down for different emotions.

The six are: Joy, Anger, Sadness, Shock, Fear, Disgust

Plus 'Neutral', if you want to 'count' that ('neutral' can also look like many things; for example, pensive, thoughtful, blank, etc.) . Expanding on expression 'intensities', Joy could be a slight smile, a wide grin, or a full-out laughing face.

The book 'Making Comics' by Scott Mc Cloud (highly recommended if you're interested in doing so) explains this basic information about expressions, and also elaborates on ways to combine features of these basic expressions to create even more unique ones. He has a lot of great things to say on this subject, as well as body language, and a great many other topics.

<3 ali

Almyki, I agree with basically everything you said there. Lackadaisy has some great-looking art, but if you want to update a mote faster, I agree that you have to accept some slightly lower quality stuff.

I admit, when I saw the section on BD face, I did actually ask out loud: "But how else do you draw a mouth sideways-on?"

Jane: But I need to know how to draw cheekbones NOWWWWW.

Look at skulls. Draw them.

Look at people's faces. Draw them.

That's how you learn to draw cheekbones well.

If people could learn just from looking, expression guides wouldn't be needed as much now would they, eh?

Sure you can.

I mean, how are you using the expression guide?

Right. By looking.

The whole point of the guide is to observe the expressions human beings make carefully for their levels of nuance. Followed by the consequences of not doing so. With some advice on how to make observing easier.

Plus, how do you think he came to this information? I mean, it's possible he used another expression guide, like Loomis's or someone else's. But if he did, he'd just post up images of that.

And even if he did, eventually, you've got to trace it back to observations from nature.

edited 5th Feb '11 2:35:58 PM by Roman

You misunderstand. People make guides because sometimes it's not so obvious to other people. By saying 'look at other people' is rather pointless, especially when clearly people lack the ability to do so to the point they need to be instructed not to do a fish face.

Sometimes people need extra help that's all.

Use your fingers to feel your own face while you look in a mirror. Find the cheekbones. Feel where they are in relation to the other bones that give your face its structure, feel whether they're flat or jut out, how they fade into the bottom of the eyesocket, where they blend into the temple, what effect they have on your upper jaw. Look at a skull or a photo of a skull (Or better, several different skulls) then at a picture of a face. compare the structure of the skull to the face, the same way you would compare the skeleton of a hand to a complete hand if you were having trouble with fingers or knuckles.

He mentions THE FACE

^She, actually.

And observation really is the key to being able to draw. Most people who are able to write have the fine motor skills necesarry to draw, they simply need to learn how to see beyond stock "icons" people have for things. In fact, even though that is an expressions 'guide' you'll notice 99.9% of it advising you to avoid "icons" and observe actual facial expressions along with a few common observations and information on the anatomy that create facial expressions... but even those also avoid leading to icons (knowing that irises drawn straight ahead looks more 'spaced' than those drawn together isn't going to create an icon or stock eye but give you a tool to build new expressions depending on what you're trying to communicate).

As for drawing "cheekbones", observation is going to be your greatest ally, but I can say they are formed by the zygomatic arch which runs from about where the ear is towards the area below the eye and is its thickest below the outer egde of the eye socket and flattens into the face towards the middle and inner edge of the eye socket, most of the volume there is from cheek muscles and fat and is more prominent when the subject is smiling.

Observe!

edited 9th May '11 8:00:44 AM by TheFedoraPirate