When you draw cartoon facial expressions, it’s not long before you get deep into subtle details and nuances. If you’ve been digging into that, here are a couple of ‘advanced’ observations that may help you.
First up…
Did you know that when you draw cartoon facial expressions, the face can get shorter…
… even though the bone structure of the head never changes?
While it’s not something you use every day, some expressions literally seem to compress the face vertically and then all the features move a bit towards the nose. Test it out for yourself: look in the mirror and give a big scowl while also pushing your chin forward and pursing your lips. You’ll see how all the face muscles pull your features towards the centre of the face.
Here’s what that looks like in an example:
Compare the vertical distance between the eyebrows and the bottom lip. In the ‘scrunchy face’ all the features are compressed towards the middle of the face, so overall the face looks much shorter.
Next up: the position of the neck, vertically
Now you may think, “The neck? Erm… how much can its position really vary?!”
But this is worth being aware of and even doing some experimenting with: the position of the neck (vertically) in relation to the chin.
For example, if you were very taken aback by something, you might pull your chin down and back towards your chest, but still keep your head level… and you can see that that gives a very particular look.
Work towards being able to replicate the “chin tucked in” look on demand requires experimenting with the neck position.
Here’s what that looked like when I tried it out:
Is this level of detail even necessary?
I get it. This level of expression creation can be like a constant game of Spot the Difference, always trying to figure out exactly what you missed.
And it’s definitely down to to tiny things like the curve of the eyebrow, the space between x and y… and so on.
You can just stick with the simple stuff when you draw cartoon facial expressions
Of course you can; this is Cartoonland after all! Cartooning is something you get to do, not a hectic obligation.
And at the same time, as you progress and want to draw cartoon facial expressions that are subtle rather than exaggerated, you’ll find you get a huge kick out of getting them right. That’s part of the fun.
So yes, it’s definitely worth it 🤓
If you’re looking at improving your ability to draw cartoon facial expression with subtlety, you’ll probably like this Blog-post too:
Cartooning Expressions: Harnessing the Power of Memes
And you’ll find heaps of references on my Pinterest board here: