Have you ever noticed features human face on a wood surface, in electrical outlet or on a crispy, delicious sandwich with melted cheese? Aside from the fact that you might have taken a cough syrup right before this, this is explained by the fact that people by nature are machines for recognizing familiar images. With a special penchant for recognizing faces and the information they display. Our brain automatically notices them even where they are not there.
As a character artist, it's a big oversight to not be able to give life to inanimate object with the help of an expressive physiognomy; convey the feelings and thoughts of its owner; make us feel for this character, empathize with him and even with age continue to feel special sympathy for ordinary drawings on paper. It’s akin to magic (and maybe even a little absurd).
...However, since you're reading this, I guess there's no point in me advocating the benefits of making characters emotional. Instead, I will make some snarky comments about myself as I present my chaotic notes and subjective judgments regarding the drawing process.
WHAT YOU SHOULD UNINFORM FROM
There are many tricks that allow you to avoid painstaking work over the character's emotionality. Not that they're all harmful, but if you call yourself a character artist, you have to decide how much you'll limit yourself (and your characters) by relying on these tricks. Some examples:
Zauria-zheniya
Yes, I understand that they are “fashionable” (like the plague in the Middle Ages), but besides this they are absolutely monotonous, which makes them look like emoticons, and not real emotions.
Instead you can use distinctive features your characters to make their emotions unique. Or you can continue to plaster these mediocre smiley faces right on their faces, every time you need to revive them. And I will remain passive-aggressive in everything related to this topic.
Permanent “C” shaped Mouth(1 picture) .
Emotions created by an open mouth save incredible energy and time... but they also look incredibly boring and monotonous.
Flounder-faced commotion(2 picture) .
I am familiar with the practice of having some of a character's facial features, like a majestic flounder, placed on one side of the face. It's terribly sexy. In low-budget animation, they sometimes resort to drawing the mouth in profile in order to avoid animating the lips and chin. This is by no means a separate style and certainly not an excuse for not learning how to draw an emotion in profile.
HOW TO LEARN TO DRAW
A couple of controversial pieces of advice (It all comes down to observation).
TIPS FOR BEGINNERS
Think about everything you study! (It may not have much benefit, but it's worth it.)
Think about the structure of the character: what three-dimensional figures it consists of, and how they are connected to each other.
This is incredibly helpful in understanding how to draw a character under different angles with a face deformed from emotion.
(A.) Don't forget that all facial features are simultaneously involved in creating emotion. And the eyes, and eyebrows, and mouth compress, stretch, shift and twist at the moment when emotion appears on the face.
(b.) When recreating such compression and stretching, animators resort to deliberate violation of the anatomical structure of the body. The more they exaggerate, the more cartoonish the emotion appears.
A small change in the focus of the gaze already significantly changes the facial expression. The pupils drawn in the very center of the eyes depict surprise, as if the character is staring blindly into the distance.
Pupils drawn closer to each other look as if the gaze is focused on a close object, the face looks more fascinated, alarmed.
Practice. And as often as possible.
It's best to start with a rough sketch. Most emotions can be depicted with just a few lines, so there's no need to draw in detail to experiment with facial expressions.
Such quick sketches are good help to create more detailed drawings like the ones below.
(Just in case, below, in addition to everything else, I have also included notes on expressions that can debatably be called useful.)
To tone your muscles, invent various situations for your characters. This will make you think about how to portray emotions more seriously than habitual emotions happiness, sadness, anger, etc. A specific situation usually requires a specific kind of emotion: feigned curiosity, slight notes of rage, irritation, a sardonic grin...
(lackadaisycats)
Translation of the article from English. language:
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We see millions of eyes, mouths, noses, ears and chins in this world, and each one is special. At the same time, to draw cartoon faces, knowing the basics is enough. Once you've mastered these, add an understanding of depth, then make sure your head drawing looks three-dimensional (3D), and master the technique of drawing from any angle. If you can do all this, great! However, if you really want to get attention for your art, you'll have to master a technique that allows you to bring characters to life through facial expressions!
Anyone can draw a face. Draw a circle, add a few dots and lines - and anyone who looks at your drawing will say that this is a face. On the one hand, it seems so easy to do, but on the other, it can be very difficult when feelings and emotions appear...
Human facial expressions
A person's facial expression, as well as their tone of voice, can be easily changed. Expressions appear on the face not only as a result of the contraction of certain muscles; in fact, some muscles contract at the same time, while those opposite them relax. For example, the same muscle groups are used in both laughter and smiling, but with different intensity.
If I asked you to name exactly all the feelings you see in the picture below, what would you say?
I know what you will answer. You will probably say that you see an image of calm and reflection. Perhaps he was thinking about something. In reality, everything is not like that! In this picture we see a complete absence of emotion, since not a single muscle is involved. Since there are no emotions, probably the most best description the words “calm” and “relaxed” will become.
It's completely natural to use this expression in your drawings. Why not? - 80% of people have this exact facial expression most of the day! However, people only have this expression when they are alone. After all, when a person looks at another person, or when he finds himself in a certain situation, a reaction inevitably occurs. And it will have its own reaction! In animation, we inflate this effect to the maximum so that our audience can clearly see what emotions are expressed on the face.
Primitive emotions
Primitive emotions are those emotions the occurrence of which we, human beings, do not particularly control. This means that such an emotion is not easy to stage. Let's say it arises suddenly, in response to a primitive stimulus.
Primitive emotions are expressed regardless of our culture, nationality or age. Below I will give you examples of the most basic ones:
- Joy (1): the corners of the mouth are raised, the eyebrows are raised, the eyes are wide open.
- Anger (2): the corners of the mouth are drawn down, the eyebrows are raised at an angle, and the inner edges are drawn down, the eyes are wide open.
- Fear (3): the mouth is slightly distorted, the corners go down, the eyebrows are raised up, while the eyebrow line is uneven, the eyes are wide open.
- Sadness (4): the corners of the mouth are rounded downwards, the inner corners of the eyebrows are slightly raised, the upper eyelids “hang” over the eyes.
These are primitive facial expressions that appear on our faces quite often throughout life. To draw cartoon characters, you need to master these four expressions. From them we can create all other emotions.
There are a couple more expressions, they are less often classified as primitive, but they are also included in the group of basic expressions.
- Surprise (5): the mouth is small, half open, the eyebrows are raised, the eyebrow line is slightly uneven, the eyes are wide open.
- Annoyance (6): the mouth is twisted, skewed, the eyebrows are lowered, the inner tips of the eyebrows are directed downwards, the eyes are closed.
"Why on earth are you separating these two from the first group?"- The answer is simple: If you pay attention, each of these expressions is a combination of expressions from the first group.
Now that you're familiar with the basic expressions, you're probably wondering why there are so few of them. It's simple: we have primary colors, and there are enough of them to mix any colors you want. In the same way, other facial expressions can be made from primitive emotions! Take a look:
To create a sleepy facial expression, we took the eyebrows from the expression joy and added to them half-closed eyes from sadness. Great, isn't it?
Related Emotions
That's not all! You can create related emotions, just take the most similar emotion and change only one element in the face, and a another one emotion!
Note that in these two drawings, only the mouth has been changed. We can express two types of disgust by changing one single part of our face! (captions on the picture: “Damn!” and “Stink!”) Below is another example:
Let me remind you that all we had to do was change the mouth to create the necessary emotion. (Captions in the picture: “amazed”, “afraid”.) This time we slightly redraw the mouth and eyes to complement the variation of the main emotion. (Captions on the picture: “amazed” “confused”).
Emotions can be drawn not only on the basis of basic ones. You can draw a third level of emotions based on the secondary ones. Look:
As before, it was only necessary to redraw the mouth. (Signatures: “sleepy”, “in love”). Amazing, right? With this technique, your designs can be brought to life with dozens, maybe hundreds of emotional faces!
Emotions expressing physical state
Physically based emotions rely on the same concept of basic emotions, but they differ in that they can take different unpredictable forms.
Note that physical state emotions are also drawn based on primitive emotions. Fatigue taken from sadness. An emotion can be expressed using an additional element, such as drops of sweat (Caption: “heat”):
Let's look at another example of a spontaneous reaction that we don't really know how to control. This time our character was electrocuted! In short, he has no control over his reaction!
When we experience shock, it is difficult to control, which gives us an advantage in drawing cartoon characters - we can exaggerate this expression as much as possible and achieve the desired effect. In this case, we have significantly enlarged the mouth.
Please note that primitive emotions always dominate. Shock, even in its uncontrollable form, is nothing more than fear. Regarding the emotions of the physical state, it is interesting that in real life we express them without really thinking about how they arise, since we are susceptible external factors and other conditions.
The power of emotions and additional elements
Cartoon facial expressions can also change depending on the strength of the expression. By changing the intensity, we achieve very interesting results:
Vegeta? (If you don't know, he's a Dragon Ball character). (Captions under the pictures: “shock”, “huge shock!”) In addition to intensity, additional elements can be added to enhance the effect. In the first image we added a few beads of sweat flying off the face to emphasize the expression of fear. In the second, the tongue will stick out to enhance the desired effect.
Returning to fear, let's look at how to draw a stronger feeling - panic!
We increased the size of the eyes and “forced” the character to cover his face - the result was an amazing effect! Congratulations! (Caption under the picture: “scared to death”). Changing perspective
To make a facial expression make a deeper impression and to achieve a more dramatic effect, you can change the angle. That is, change from which point you look at the scene: you can create unusual situations. If you place the point of view from an unfamiliar angle, you will put your character in an "uncomfortable" position. This will give the scene more dynamics.
Here's an example of how changing perspective affects the power of expression. Please note that with a top-down perspective, the effect of the character’s humiliation is automatically created, we seem to “force” him to shrink, he looks more fragile compared to the threat. In contrast, from a bottom-up perspective the character appears more menacing. A jutting chin, a grin and a wild look create the perfect atmosphere for intimidation!
In cartoons, bad characters often have large lower jaws and small eyes. In this case, a weaker character will have large eyes and a more expressive, but small lower jaw, and the mouth is usually located lower at the chin. Try this technique in your designs to see for yourself!
Playing with conventional stereotypes and context
To create a stereotypical character, you can add minor elements that complement the context of the scene. Some of these methods can create an immediate effect, since we are accustomed to holding stereotypical information throughout our lives. This is influenced by many factors, in particular: cinema, television and certain people from Everyday life.
Let's take a drunkard for example. Tangled hair, unshavenness, heavy eyelids, lack of teeth - and we have before us a classic drunken slob. We grow up and get used to the fact that such traits distinguish a person who has been abusing alcohol for a long time. The sick person is depicted as older and has a swollen nose. Closed eyes and drops of saliva indicate that something is wrong with his health.
Here's another example. The picture below fits in different contexts. On the one hand, the person above may be in serious pain, while the person below is torn by rage.
Let's add a few details to make a real difference. See what happened? All you had to do was add tears and a handkerchief, and it became obvious that both were crying.
Additional items change the context of the scene. Signal exchange
If we add to all of the above the numerous ways in which we exchange specific signals with other people, our face holds many surprises for us. This happens because, like physical conditions, we have no special power over such “signs”. Because of this, we sometimes react completely unexpectedly to ourselves, often succumbing to the will of our feelings.
Below is an example of "signal exchange". Lovelace fixed a fatal gaze on the girl in order to woo her with his magic of seduction. She responds with a look filled with passion. Do you think she fell in love with him?
Let's look at another example. The picture below is quite typical in cartoons: a pretty girl "makes eyes" so that she always gets what she wants and looks very cute at the same time.
Well, who can resist such a pretty face? Let's change the context. We change the direction of her gaze, and now she is already looking away from the character in front of her. Now she looks more timid. Great, right?
In addition to the new direction of the look, we added a little blush to the cheeks, and now we have a completely shy girl. Conclusion
If you find it difficult to draw feelings and emotions in your characters, one of the the best ways learn to do it - try it yourself imitate these emotions. This way you will train your personal perception and add new techniques to your arsenal.
The expression of emotions and feelings in animation is a vast topic to study and goes far beyond facial expressions. As stated above, we are completely in control of our emotions until we lose control of them; for example, until a dog bites us.
Want to do an experiment? Invite your family to take a photo together and notice how they all smile the same - this controlled emotion, we know how to express feigned joy if necessary. Now give them a good scare, and you will see how differently fear is reflected on their face!
I hope you're now inspired and ready to try out what you've learned here - drawing different emotions on your characters' faces. Don't forget that in animation we exaggerate most of these expressions; It is also important for you to understand at least the basics of how emotions are expressed on the face - this way you will help your viewer see what you want to convey.
Well, who hasn’t at least once used the power of temptation in an attempt to win someone’s heart with the help of a glance? It is very important for a cartoonist to be able to draw faces and facial expressions. But your knowledge will not be complete if you cannot draw huge world animals in all its diversity - fish, birds, domestic animals, wild animals - each animal with its own unique characteristics. Therefore, in this lesson we will learn how to draw cartoon animals.
1. Creating the Foundation
The cartoon is very useful. Children are delighted to see the intricate details of human forms presented in a simple and attractive way. By exaggerating the facial expressions of our characters, we not only entertain them, but also teach them how to deal with the adversities of life. For a child, the world of cartoons without animals would not be complete. TO a cartoonist who lacks the ability to draw various animals on paper is not an artist. Today we are going to change that. We will draw animals using mostly circle.
Let's place the eyes optimally in our first drawing and will use them for all our animals.
See also the lesson “How to properly draw faces from cartoons” and the lesson “Creating emotions of cartoon characters.”
You will see key elements drawing animals, and also get some useful tips by modification original design into something new.
Now we have a template, let's move on to drawing the first animal.
2. Draw a cartoon cat
The cat's face is quite easy to draw, it is well rounded and follows the shape of our template.
Cool, isn't it? Now let's draw the cat from different angles:
Rules for drawing a cat:
- Large and pointed ears - slightly separated from each other;
- Tiny nose - almost glued to the face;
- Large whiskers (tactile hairs).
Let's see what it takes to make this cat a cat?
We just changed the eyebrows and drew the eyelashes. That's all! Now we have a cat!
3. Draw a cartoon pig
Let's start with the muzzle:
The secret to drawing a pig is drawing the ears and face. The muzzle must have rounded shape, the chin disappears. The ears point slightly forward, the nose connects directly to the head:
The technique is quite simple. Take these features into account and you will be successful.
Is it possible to make an elephant from a pig? Certainly! Small changes can give life to completely different creatures!
4. Draw a cartoon horse
We use the same template for all animals.
Let's draw a horse. Please note that the horse's skull is thinner, the muzzle is extended forward, the jaw is round with large teeth.
Finishing the corners:
Notice that the mane goes down the neck.
Horses have wide and strong necks, their nostrils protrude upward, and their ears have regular size compared to head size.
5. Differences between animals
We drew a cat, but an equally important animal remains...
Let's look at the main differences between a dog and a cat:
- A larger nose that moves forward with the jaw;
- The ears are closer to each other;
- Thicker than eyebrows;
- Less round face;
The length of a dog's ears can vary depending on the breed: the ears may fall onto the face or point upward.
Drawing different dog breeds can take all day. Unlike cats, dog breeds are quite different from each other.
Birds also have differences between their species:
The chicken has a round head, the eagle and the parrot have a flat head.
Well, now it's time for you to try it. Try redrawing the animals that were drawn above as many times as necessary until you can do it easily and simply. After this you will be able to draw other animals. Don't forget to note the characteristics of each animal and try to reproduce them on paper:
6. Lights, camera... motor!
Animal bodies are very flexible. It is not at all necessary to know the anatomy of an animal to draw it in motion. It is enough to simply highlight the main directions and understand how the body works in motion.
Learn to simplify the shapes of the animal you are drawing, but make sure that the position of the most important body structures, such as the neck, hips, tail and limbs, is correct.
The size of feline limbs varies depending on the animal.
Please note that lions and tigers are strong. In the lower right corner we have an example of a cartoon lion head.
Once you understand how animals move, you can play with them! In a cartoon style, you can even combine the body of an animal with a human one. This is a very interesting technique. Try putting the quadruped on two legs.
Notice how the sketch changes depending on anatomical structure character: everything is based on rounded shapes.
7. Ungulates in motion
Let's take a look at the anatomy of a horse and check out the main differences:
The front legs of a horse have a slight difference from other animals: in them they look like human legs (with a knee), while in cats and dogs they look like elbows (curved in the opposite direction).
All ungulates follow the same pattern as the horse, regardless of size or shape:
Not always, though:
In fact, anatomy is not that complicated.
So many animals in a short time!
Now you have the knowledge needed to draw almost all animals! Of course, the search doesn't stop there. Watch how animals behave in real life. Watch the Discovery Channel, make your own video and improve your ability to draw animals.
Animals have feelings and should be treated with respect, love and care. Be it in cartoons or in real life. Remember that pets are part of the family.
Translation - Duty room.
Project on the topic “ANIMAL EMOTIONS IN DRAWINGS AND PHOTOS” AUTHOR OF THE PROJECT: Lomtadze Kristina Student of 4th grade “B” SCHOOL No. 1173
Type of project: informational, creative. Goal: to reveal facts indicating the presence of emotions in animals and to show the role of emotions in their lives. tasks: Study and analyze literary sources, as well as materials on the World Wide Web devoted to this topic. Systematize the information received; Present information in the form of a presentation.
What are Emotions? Emotions are a person’s experiences in response to pleasant or unpleasant influences from the surrounding world. Emotions fill every person and his life, color it various colors and impressions. They can give a person positive impressions, happiness, or poison his whole life with suffering. Do animals experience emotions similar to humans? old theories attribute the ability to feel exclusively to humans, but new experiments prove that animals love, enjoy and feel depressed, just like us. Animals actively use emotions as a means of communication and influence.
In their study, experts from Oxford found that animals are able to feel anger when social norms are violated. For example, chimpanzees punish their fellows who violate the rules of behavior in the group.
Russian photographer Sergei Kokinsky began taking up photography as a hobby, but he soon began to notice something in common in his photographs. “Many of the subjects I photograph have human expressions of emotion: love, envy, hatred, greed, cruelty, cunning, compassion and much more,” says the photographer. Judge for yourself!
Healthy animals, running, jumping and playing, feel pleasure and show with all their appearance that they are happy. They often play simply for the pleasure of playing.
English primatologist Jane Goodale, who spent many years among chimpanzees, was able to observe in them emotions and feelings of a different nature, the most extreme curiosity and the most extreme tenderness, the most destructive aggression and grief over the loss of a close family member. One example: Flint, a young and healthy chimpanzee, was very dependent on his mother, matriarch Flo, who died at the age of 50. Flint was very worried and was unable to accept her death. He refused to leave his mother’s corpse and sat next to her for a long time, holding her hand and emitting a pitiful groan. Flint only left the corpse overnight to climb into the nest, where he was with his mother that last night when she died. He remained in the nest, staring at the corpse. He was so depressed that he even rejected the food his brothers and sisters brought him. He was losing more and more weight. Three weeks later, Flint curled up and died.
In Cameroon, a chimpanzee named Dorothy died of heart failure at a rescue center. What happened next was amazing: her chimpanzee friends hugged each other in solidarity and watched solemnly as their friend was buried.
Professional wildlife photographer Gaby Gayard has created a gallery of images showing chimpanzees expressing different kinds emotions well known to humans:
Many animals express their feelings openly, publicly, and can be seen by anyone. And if we are attentive, then everything that we see on the outside will tell us about what is happening in the head and heart of any living being. Don't both animals and humans rejoice when they play? Isn't an animal sad when it loses a close friend? When wolves meet, don't they wag their tails back and forth with all their might, howling and jumping and thus expressing their joy? What about elephants, who celebrate their encounters by flapping and twirling their ears, making a sound known as a "welcome rumble" - isn't that an expression of happiness?
Ecology professor Mark Bekoff, in his book The Emotional Lives of Animals, tells the story of two grizzly bear cubs who became inseparable after the death of their mother, who was shot near the Russian River. The girl cub was always next to her wounded brother, who limped, swam very slowly and could not get food on his own and therefore needed help. The observer writes: “She went somewhere, caught a fish and brought it to her brother for him to eat.” The young female no doubt cared for her brother, and this care proved crucial to his survival.
Elephants show a wide range of feelings: they are angry, sympathetic and grieving. When they come across the remains of their own species, they gather around and caress the skulls and tusks with their thick trunks. Not only do elephants show signs of respect for the skeletons of their dead comrades, but they also bury them in the foliage or bushes nearby.
Touching photographs from the lives of animals prove that boundless love and tenderness, sadness, resentment, rage, and fear are characteristic not only of people, but also of animals.
Knowing that animals have feelings - and having the ability to understand when they are experiencing joy, grief, jealousy or anger - we learn to communicate with them. Animal emotions are important to us because we need living things in our lives. They help us. We become attached to them precisely because they have feelings. In the absence of common language emotions become the most effective way communication. We can share emotions, understand the language of feelings. Thank you!
