How I Draw: Facial Expressions

welcome to part one of how i draw which may or may not become a thing on my channel depending on how confident i feel about my ability to explain my art style i frequently get asked if i can give art tips or make tutorial videos and i've always avoided making that sort of video because honestly there are countless tutorials and videos made by more skilled and knowledgeable artists which isn't meant to be me being like self-deprecating or anything it's just that there's a lot of existing resources and my style isn't always as consistent as i'd like it to be but i've come to realize that i'm not expected to deliver a ted talk level sermon on how to draw anime characters and some people are just genuinely curious about how i draw and the thought process behind it so i don't want anyone thinking this is the end-all be-all drawing guide this is just an explanation of how i personally draw anyways that's a big enough intro you get the idea let me show you how i draw facial expressions one of my favorite things to draw are facial expressions because there's so many ways to draw emotion and i feel like there isn't really a wrong way to do it number one use those eyebrows when i draw a face the eyebrows are usually the first thing i draw they can change the face a lot based on how you draw them for example let's take this normal eyebrows face you get a slightly different face with just the eyebrows and from there you can also change up the eyes and mouth to amp up the intensity of the emotion you're trying to convey take a normal happy face change up the eyes for an even happier face or raise up the eyebrows gloss up the eyes a little bit and make them out bigger to make the face look elated take the sad face add some tears to make them look sadder or if you want them to look absolutely heartbroken change up the eyes and mouth and add some big dripping tears now let's take an angry face you can make the eyebrows a little more dramatic and change the eyes to make them look angrier or open the mouth and the eyes to make them look pissed the more slanted the eyebrows are the more dramatic the expression you can play around with different mouth and eye combos to achieve different faces let's take a different default facial expression and we'll keep the eyes the exact same for each face with the eyes widened the neutral eyebrows and mouth make it look like a normal surprise face raise up the eyebrows higher and open the mouth and you have a pleasantly surprised or excited face scrunch up the eyebrows and turn it upwards and you have someone who looks like they saw something disturbing or scary and if you draw the eyebrows slant downwards and grit the teeth they look like they've just been insulted to the highest degree and are ready to throw hands the widened eyes and shrunken irises automatically make the face look more dramatic but the difference in eyebrows and mouths change up the mood of each one let's do an eye shape that's in the complete opposite direction here's a super neutral relaxed face where the eyes look almost partly closed i like to use these eyes when i go for a softer expression if i raise the eyebrows a little bit and give it a slight smile it turns into a warm and positive face raise the eyebrows upwards and give it a small frown and it becomes a slightly concerned or worried face or maybe their feelings were hurt a little bit and if you keep that same frown but make the eyebrows angry it turns into an irritated expression now you've probably noticed that every time i drew a sad expression i made the eyebrows look like this and when i drew an angry expression the eyebrows looked like this but that doesn't mean that those eyebrow shapes are limited to those emotions what i mean is i could take the same upturned crinkly eyebrows and use them to emphasize how hard a person is laughing or show an amused face or show someone sighing in relief or accidentally bonking their head against something likewise the eyebrows i usually use for an angry face could also be used to show a teasing expression a competitive expression or a prideful expression or remembering something important based on the intensity of the given scene or situation i switch up the mouths and eyes to match or exaggerate and the eyebrows play a big role in that however neutral eyebrows can also be powerful in their own way when you want the eyeballs to do all the talking you can leave the eyebrows in a neutral position when paired with eyes filled with tears and a neutral mouth it gives off the impression that the character is crying before they even realize it one dramatic technique i like to do with this is to draw them with a neutral crying expression follow followed up with an expression that says something like oh wow i can't believe i'm crying and then bam you hit him with the emotional let loose ugly cry it's a great face to start when you're trying to build up to a big cry neutral eyebrows are good for goofy faces like this one where they're so confused they don't even know how to feel or paired with a shocked face where they're just completely speechless and they're trying to process whatever they just witnessed or heard i also really like to use the neutral eyebrows for a blushing starstruck face in this expression the focus is all on the eyes and the blushing cheeks like the characters crush just confessed to them and they're left breathless for a moment the eyebrows are stepping aside and letting the rest of the face do the talking number two look at other artists expressions don't be afraid of looking at the way other people draw facial expressions the way i draw expressions is based a lot on the way faces look in manga specifically shojo manga i think that's why i enjoy drawing crying faces so much because it was something i'd always see in the shojo manga i'd read and i could refer to them whenever i needed to maybe you prefer the big eyes with the tears bubbling around the edges and the mouth purse in a cute little whimper or maybe you prefer the big gaping mouth with the snot dripping and it looks super messy or maybe you want to use both point is observing the way facial expressions are used in other works really helps especially since not everyone draws them the same way after all your art style is just to constantly changing mishmash of different styles that influenced you and that you incorporated into your own art number three even more exaggerated facial expressions i think this one applies more to if you're going for a more anime manga-esque style because again the way i personally draw over-exaggerated facial expressions is inspired from anime these are the faces you draw if you're going for a cartoony face or if you want to make the reaction more lighthearted and take the seriousness away from the scene these faces are especially useful for when you're drawing chibis you can get pretty creative with these faces if you'd like since there's so many ways to draw them number four character personality the personality of the character you're drawing can also affect the way you draw their facial expressions for example suppose you have two characters one being a friendly goofball and the other being a more stoic and less emotional type you probably wouldn't draw them with the same expressions even for similar emotions for a flustered face the stoic one would probably be visibly holding back a lot more maybe looking to the side and almost looking irritated if not for the blush whereas the friendly goofball might look more bashful or sweet the friendly goofball will probably be a lot more expressive and open-mouthed when he's happy or excited but the most the stoic character might give is a slight smile which is somehow just as powerful and one more example suppose they've both fallen asleep the stoic character probably just has his eyes closed and not much else to indicate that he's asleep but the goofball might be loudly snoring with an open mouth and a little bit of jewel dripping from his mouth there aren't any specific rules you need to follow for which facial expressions certain characters are allowed to show but it's a great way to differentiate the personalities of the characters if you'd like to practice consistency in drawing facial expressions for a specific character you have in mind there's an expressions challenge template that i'll link in the description where you can draw the face that suits the emotion listed under each box i filled two out using myself as an example for the first one i drew more detailed faces that would fit maybe a more serious scene and for the second template i drew more exaggerated chibi-fied facial expressions i thought it'd be a good way to show the different ways you can draw the same emotion i'll also include the full images of both of my finished versions if you'd like to look at them and there you have it this is how i draw facial expressions and maybe this will help you if it was something you were maybe struggling with if there's anything else you feel like i missed or if you have your own tips for this particular topic feel free to leave a comment below maybe i'll be able to learn a new thing or two myself i'd like to thank raycon for once again sponsoring this video you've heard it all before but just in case you forgot raycon earbuds give you six hours of playtime easy bluetooth pairing more bass and a more compact design for a comfortable noise isolating fit you can choose from a variety of fun colors and fit options and there's no dangling wires or stems to get in the way their earbuds start at half the price of other premium audio brands and if they don't end up working out for you raycon also has a 45-day free return policy so your satisfaction always comes first i use my earbuds for listening to music while i do the dishes or just lounging around in my room which i've admittedly been doing a lot more of recently i need a vacation click the link in the 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Channel: Emirichu

Views: 1,302,081

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Id: GWEte7NUmxs

Length: 9min 1sec (541 seconds)

Published: Thu Jun 03 2021