New Cartoon Journal Facial Expressions
When you need to discover more ways to draw emotions.
Are you always drawing the same expressions? No need to fear!
I enjoy practicing them in my cartoon journal based on photos found on Pinterest or earthsworld.com.
Have you tried it yet?
By overlapping them next to or near each other, you can turn your drawing time into an exercise in design and composition. If you read my posts regularly, you know that I like drawing with a micron or brush pen on paper. It’s difficult (there’s no delete button), but it feels great.
Using a variety of faces from photo references with challenging expressions can be tough, but trying them will help you grow.
If you decide to make it fun, it’s the best!
For the page above, I began with the figure on the upper left and filled in the faces from there, always keeping in mind to use a variety of sizes, face shapes, and expressions. If you follow me on social media, especially Notes here on Substack, you’ve seen this one before.
I will create most faces based on photos, but I also enjoy drawing some from my imagination. You start with a nose or an eye and keep making decisions until the face is finished.
Adding one or two colors helps make it more fun for me, and deciding which ones fit the “mood of the page” makes me feel like a true artist.
Trying out different versions of the one above was fun. Sometimes a second one, like the one on the right, isn’t better than the first. Of course, you could say they both have personality.
Lying a page flat is eye-opening, as it reveals how your cartoon journal pages look when viewed as one.
I love drawing men with mustaches and beards. It’s super fun! So, that means I try my best to do less, or all the pages will be full of them. Using a more cartoony style for some and a realistic style for others can also stretch your skills.
Are you ready to draw yet?
Assignment: Look for three different facial expressions online (you can try this page to start) and draw them in your cartoon journal. How about trying happy, surprised, upset, or bothered faces from various people?
Let me know how it goes in the comments.
Have fun!
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I also think left one works better, on the right one I feel like the eyes were a bit too small and the eyebrows a bit too exaggerated/emphasized. But nice work experimenting with different styles!
Thank you, Khalid! I've just started painting, and made sketching a daily practice. I'm intimidated by drawing faces...so I'm definitely going to give this a try.