Facial expressions

Below are a variation of different styles and examples of different facial expressions. Along with body language, I feel this is one of the main ways we can physically convey emotion.  It was fun to try to capture different emotions and also a useful excersise to practise with line and movements of the face. I think this excersise also helped me to really explore and capture personality when drawing people. This is something I have struggled with. Sometimes drawing people can be difficult and al lot of my drawings will look generic, instead of like individual people with individual personalities. This practise with movement and the different shapes faces can make has definitely helped me capture different personalities and physical traits. Which is an unexpected bonus.

I started off by drawing some generic faces, focusing on the different aspects of each face that change the overall expression.

As a warm up to this excersise I told my boyfriend to pull various funny faces so I could draw them. It was a fun start and actually really useful in helping me to understand the physical elements and movements of faces. I'd usually worry too much about proportion and lining everything up. Whereas drawing funny faces gave me more freedom to explore what works and what doesn't.

I then did the same with my own face in order to practise masculine and feminine features.

I also tried to draw some quick faces. For most of these I haven't used visual reference in order to see where I'm at with my knowledge of facial features.

This is a page from my sketchbook. There where some interesting faces on Pinterest that I found whilst browesing for research and I drew a few of them in styles I felt suited the emotion. I actually really enjoy capturing emotion in close up photos. I think it's because there is always someone out there who will recognise that emotion and the work will appeal to them. It seems like quite a personal thing to draw someones face up close when they are expressing an emotion physically. I think it is so powerful as it is something we would usually see so close up. People tend to turn away or keep their emotions in their heads to some extent. So I think it is a meanigful thing that evokes a lot of empathy.

This is also a page from my sketchbook with the same aim as the page above. It's surprising how much faces can vary. Not only by ages and gender but also by the expression that is being made.

I've started to really enjoy drawijng older people. I think there is a lot of life in their faces and for a drawing it makes it easy to convey so much emotion and life. Every line and feature is made more interesting by the expression they are making too.

I tend to not use a wide variety of media, but even just using a biro instead of fine liner pen for this drawing made a diffeence. I found it easier to draw in but prefer the result of using a fine liner or dip pen and ink. The edges are thicker with biro and it's nice for softer tones but over all I prefer the darker line you get with ink or fineliner.

Seeing as I was experimenting a lot with older faces I decided to draw a really young face too. This was also a commision for a friend.  It is interesting to compare the techniques used to convey an emotion with an older face and a younger face. Despite all the extra elements I actually find it easier to draw old faces. The older faces are so unique. It's a bit more of a struggle to capture the individuality of a very young child. But a good challenge in focusing on the finer detail and individual aspects.

Salvador Dali (research into surrealism and the mind)

As my research project is based on emotions, I have considered experimenting with surreal elements to convey what is happening in the mind. As it is based on the mind, we can imagine anything, and there are no limits. Much of Dali's work is very surreal and also takes inspiration from the mind. It is interesting to look further into the meaning behind some of his work.

''Much of Dali's work with his own identity took place within the surrealist movement, which he joined in 1929. Surrealism rejected the pragmatic, rationalist approach to life and art and initially basing it's ideas on Sigmund Freud's work on the unconscious, sought to revalue the dream and the imagination as central rather than marginal to human thought.  Through their writings, poetry, the visual arts and in other ways, the surrealists blurred the boundaries between the rational and irrational, reality and fantasy, objective and subjective. Dali was welcomed as a powerful new imagination: 'It is perhaps with Dali that the windows of the mind are opened fully wide for the first time,' proclaimed Andre Breton, the movement's leader, in his preface to the painter's first Paris exhibition in 1929.''

                                  'Salvador Dali A Mythology.' Dawn Ades (Author) and Fiona Bradley (Author), Tate Publishing (1st April 1999)


This paragraph is from the Introduction to the book mentioned above and adequately describes the relation between surrealism and the mind.  It is interesting that surrealism was initially based on Freud's work on the unconscious mind. Surrealism was never intended to be completely random but to delve into the human subconscious and express feeling and emotion without the limitations of realism.  In relation to my work I am interested in Dali's paranoiac-critical method. This is a surrealist technique that was developed by Dali in 1930. One of Dali's paintings he created using this method is 'Metamorphosis of Narcissus 1937'.  The story of Narcissus originates from Greek Mythology where Narcissus, a young beauty who broke many hearts, fell in love with his own reflection in a pool of water. He could never have his love and the Gods turned him into a flower as a result.

Metamorphosis of Narcissus - Salvador Dali  (1937) - Oil on Canvas

The painting above depicts Narcissus in a pool of water, infatuated with his own reflection. In the background you can see how Narcissus used to be before he saw his own reflection.  The stone hand holding an egg and a flower convey what the God's turned Narcissus into. This painting is incredibly surreal and is like two paintings alongside each other. This painting depicts Narcissistic Personality disorder.It is interesting to look into surrealist methods used to portray personality disorders. I think surrealism is a good way to portray mental health issues because it has no limitations and can express certain feelings and emotions that are within the mind and the way we think instead of just from the reality around us.  Dali's Metamorphosis of Narcissus is a powerful painting that adequately conveys the length of time Narcissus gets consumed by his own reflection by turning into stone.  The painting is clever because the stone hand is the same shape as Narcissus' body.

Dali wrote the accompanying poem:

Narcissus,

in his immobility,

absorbed by his reflection with the digestive slowness of carnivorous plants,

becomes invisible.

There remains of him only the hallucinatingly white oval of his head,

his head again more tender,

his head, chrysalis of hidden biological designs,

his head held up by the tips of the water's fingers,

at the tips of the fingers

of the insensate hand,

of the terrible hand,

of the mortal hand

of his own reflection.

When that head slits

when that head splits

when that head bursts,

it will be the flower,

the new Narcissus,

Gala - my Narcissus

 Another artist to paint Narcissus was Caravaggio during the baroque art movement. He used an entirely different approach. These are quite good examples of what effect using different styles has on the subject matter. I would normally thinnk that realism would convey something better as it would make something feel more'real'. But in this case I feel Dali's interpretation is more powerful. I'm not sure why. Possibly because it shows the consequence for Narcissus. He and the stone hand seem sturdy and grand and it is quite powerful that he becomes the stone. The composition and facial expression ini Carravagios painting are very powerful, though. Narcissus is conveyed as a young boy and seems more vulnerable.

Narcissus (1599) Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio - Oil on Canvas

References:

Books:

Salvador Dali A Mythology.' Dawn Ades (Author) and Fiona Bradley (Author), Tate Publishing (1st April 1999)

Websites:

https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/dali-metamorphosis-of-narcissus-t02343

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metamorphosis_of_Narcissus

http://www.artble.com/artists/caravaggio/paintings/narcissus

Other experiments with conveying emotion

The Lone Cosmonaut

     A friend of mine who studies media in Newport asked me to sketch out an idea for his final major project for a film he is making called 'Lone Cosmonaut'. This film is about a cosmonaut who is stuck in space and in the sketch below he is imagining his wife.  I felt this is relevant to my research project as it shows emotion and surrealism, hopefully I captured the right emotion in her face and the poses. These are the rough sketches. I will use Photoshop to put the figures onto a space background and make it look as though they are floating through space.

Lone Cosmonaut sketch. Pencil - Sophie Bishop

Lone Cosmonaut. Watercolour - Sophie Bishop

Photoshop edit

     The sketch below is one I did during a workshop at uni where we had to imagine we worked for a magazine, choose a quote and design an image to suit the style of the magazine. The idea was to use an 'in your face' style.  The magazine was one that uses controversial art and tackles relevant issues within society. I chose the quote 'teach my son how to use a gun' and went for the most extreme version of that quote that I could think of. This was a useful workshop that helped me to think about pushing the boundaries and produce work that is outside of my comfort zone. This is useful to my research project as I want to evoke emotion with my work, whether it be good or bad. I hope to offer an insight into mental health issues and want to learn to work with a more 'in your face' style in order to achieve this effectively.

Teach my son to use a gun. Workshop. Pencil. - Sophie Bishop 

Pablo Picasso

When it comes to conveying emotion through art work an artist who comes to mind is Picasso.
Picasso's work changed a lot throughout his lifetime. A lot of his work is very strong and passioate. One of his earlier works 'Science and Charity' is particularly powerful. It is a painting of a sick man in bed. A doctor is sat one side of the bed and a woman and child are on the other side. I find the name 'Science and Charity' interesting as it is focusing on peoples reaction to the ill, rather than the ill person in this painting. The ill person is right in the middle, drawing our attention to him. The doctor is looking at a watch, recording his pulse. Although it is almost as if he is counting down the time the ill man has left to live. The ill man is being offered a drink but is showing no reaction or attention to the people around. The ill mans pose could work if no one else was in the room. The sad, blank stare of the ill man only amplifies his fear of death and loneliness. This realistic style draws you in and makes it feel 'real'. The green colour of the bed sheet reminds me of a sickly, ill feeling.

Science and Charity 1897. Pablo Picasso - Oil on canvas

Another one of Picasso's paintings that I find interesting is 'The Rape'. It was done a lot later and is not in the same realistic style as, 'Science and Charity', yet just as powerful.  The use of colour is much more obvious and vibrant. The red colour of the peoples skin shows aggression and lust. The paler background colours make the red much more powerful with the extreme contrast. There is less detail in the surroundings than the people, making the people in this painting the sole focus. This also amplifies the severity of the situation.

The Rape 1920. Pablo Picasso - Tempura on wood

Picasso's Cubism work did not fail to evoke emotion either. Picasso did a series of work called 'The Weeping Woman' in a lot of different styles. In his most popular 1937 version, there are a lot of vibrant colours. This painting is modeled on Dora maar who was close to Picasso at one time. He knew her as the woman in tears. In the painting the edges of her facial features are very jagged and sharp - perhaps to signify sharpness and pain. There is a definite sadness in her eyes. She looks distressed and worried. The tears seem to have stripped away the colour and left a blue coldness.

The Weeping Woman. Pablo Picasso 1937

All of these examples are interesting and useful to my work.  They are all made up of completely different techniques to convey emotion. The use of colour, shapes, layout and detail are all very vital in portraying the right emotions in the right way.

I tried to experiment with cubism and tried to convey the emotion 'sadness'. I used acrylic paint. The edges aren't really jagged enough to express ainful emotions without just looking randomly abstract and the features are off. The shape of the mouth is okay and the colours aren't too bad. It was interesting to experiment with a style completely out of my comfort zone.  It is definitely possible to convey any emotion with this style. The composition, colours and shapes just need to be more thought out instead of relying on an obvious facial expression.

Sources

Images

http://www.wikipaintings.org/en/pablo-picasso/science-and-charity-1897

http://blog.mailasail.com/beezneez/1302
http://www.inminds.com/weeping-woman-picasso-1937.html

Books and information

Picasso and Modern British art, James Beechy and Chris Stevens

Capturing facial expressions and emotions. (Fan art)

As an excersise to explore into different facial expressions, I created some fan art of some characters from different TV shows. This was an interesting thing to do and it makes a difference when you really know the characters personality that you are drawing. This will be useful for my own work and characters. I chose facial expressions that were quite complex and really captured the personality of each character. I chose characters from Breaking Bad and Dexter.

Gus Fring - pencil

These are drawings of Gus Fring,a character from AMCs' Breaking Bad. He was an important character and in this episode he had been tricked to his death. He was very proud and wouldn't show much emotion. Even in this situation.




Breaking Bad character, Gus Fring. From the episode (Face Off) Just after an explosion - pen and water colour

Gus Fring - I also created a much more cartoony version to compare the effect it has on portraying the emotion. I used entirely ink for this illustration. I think it still actually work quite well and it works well with the brighter colours in a way that wouldn't work for the more detailed pieces.

Breaking Bad character Walter White (Heisenberg) - Pencil

The skecth above is of the main character form Breaking Bad. The way his charcter develops throughout the series is incredible. His mannerisms and appearence change dramatically and it is interesting to study the differences. In the skecth above he has become quite evil and I tired to capture this in his expression. Whereas he started off as a quiet family man.

These are some of my sketchbook notes regarding character development in Breaking Bad

The images above shows some examples of the character development. The facial expressions have changed and also his appearence. It's surprising how much a face can say.



Dexter from Dexter - pencil and watercolour

The work above is of the main character from the TV series Dexter. He is a blood splatter analysisit and also kills bad people without anyone knowing. I don't think I captured the severity of the emotion in the drawing above and the colours are quite pale. I think he looks a bit washed out although it does make the blood stand out more.


This was a useful exercise that allowed me to capture emotion in more detail with familiar faces as visual reference.  I also tried to use different styles in order to experiment with style and subject matter. They all have a slight unrealistic edge to them apart from the Breaking Bad sketch of the main character. I think this was a good choice of style for the particular character and expression. You are instantly drawn to look into his eyes and it feels very serious, real and deep seated. Whereas the other images sort of speak for themselves.

Experimental drawings for character design

I want to take a look at sequential art, and create a small piece of sequential work myself in order to experiment with conveying an emotion with narrative.  

These are some of my first rough ideas for my short graphic story. The main character design and some experiments with wordless sequential narrative. I chose for it to be wordless because it will put more focus on the main character,(her body language and facial expressions) instead of ever being able to rely on text. I also experimented with style and colour.  When it comes to conveying a certain emotion through art, it is probably more powerful when there is a narrative. This is because there is time to build an emotional connection with the character(s). That being said, there are some powerful pieces of artwork that work on their own. The interesting thing about TV series/comics/illustrated books etc is that a character can develop and change over time. Be it physically and/or mentally. This can be a very powerful thing; watching your favorite character slowly change for the worst or better. I will research more into narrative later. The images below are character designs for my short narrative piece. I mainly wanted to focus on drawing my character with certain body language that makes her look troubled.

I feel that, depending on the length of the story,  the main characters appearance may change as the story goes on. This way I will be able to further emphasise how she is feeling. I will be studying how our posture and mannerisms allow an insight into how we are feeling, and will use this in my graphic story to make my character more realistic and convincing.

In this instance, the narrative itself is almost uninportant. What I want to experiment with is empathy with a character, and creating a convincing character that expresses the right emotions.

Character deign - pencil

In the sketch above, my character is at her worst. Her situation and background help to convey this and I also tried to show it through the way she is laid.  Almost as if she has passed out. She doesn't look 'peaceful' in the typical sense but she does look in a deep sleep. The way she is almost curled up, but not quite, is supposed to make her look vulnerable.

Character design - pencil

Character design - pen

The body language in each of these is supposed to convey that she is lost and alone. Distressed in some way. This relates to my final major project as it is almost a representation of some of the people I want to try to reach out to with my final major project. Although the age is slightly different.

Character design - pen and water colour

Character design. Poses - pen and water colour

Character design. Experimenting with style - pen

The drawing above is a quick experiment I did with style. I quite like this style yet I do think it can potentially effect your emotional engagement with the character. At least as a stand alone piece. The simpler it is, the less of the emotion you capture. Although I'm sure there are ways around this.

Character design - Pen and watercolour

The image above is a close up of my characters face from part of my sequential piece. It is the moment she realises she has lost her mind. It isn't very extreme and I'm undecided on whether to make it a more dramatic expression. It is seconds before she breaks down. It is supposed to convey a mixture of shock, fear and sadness/disappointment. It's hard to create a specific facial expression and I will have to practise them further.

Sequential - pencil

These are the pencil versions of my short sequential piece. The narrative is essentially that she wakes up to a lot of load construction noises outside her house. She doesn't think much of it and goes to make tea. Then there is a loud crashing noise right infront of her window, shaking the entire house. At this point she goes to the window, draws back the curtains, only to find that there is nothing there. And suddenly everything is silent. I know this may not be obvious by the way I have dcreated the story. Yet the storyline is merely a platform to experiment with my own character, body language and facial expressions in a sequential way.

Sequential - pencil

Part of sequential - Pen

Part of sequential - pen

Rough experiment with wordless sequential. Colour experiment. Blue and purple.

These are two of my first colour/tone experiments.  I quite like both, although the colours I chose above (blue and purple) just make it look as though it is night time. Which is a useful thing to know. I quite like the effect of just using black water colour (below). Somehow it seems to give it more depth, despite only being one tone not two.

Rough sequential. Black and white 1

Rough sequential. Black and white 2 

Overall this has been a useful excersise. I had to think of the facial expressions and body language instead of just recording other people's. This forced me to think about how we portray ourselves and how to convey different emotions.

Observational figure drawing

To start off this project I wanted to study human mannarisms such as body language.  Sometimes I tend to draw in a rigid style and miss out important details. This time I paid extra attention to the details and tried to use a looser line in order to capture the variations in different people and the way they behave.

These are some of my observational drawings from Cheltenham.  I mainly used pen in order to practice my confidence with drawing the human figure. I spent the day observing the public and trying to capture the situations with quick sketches. When I got back I added some water colour to some of the drawings from memory and tried to capture certain moods. This is something I need to do often as it will help with my aim of capturing mood and atmosphere in order to convey emotion. Also, just as importantly, my ability to tackle the things I find challenging when drawing the human figure.

Cafe - observational drawing - pen

Most of the people in these situations are quite relaxed. I tried to capture body language and the way they interact with each other. 

Cafe - pen

 

Cafe - pen

Pub - pen
 

The drawing below obviously portays a mother and her son. He seems curious and unaware of any time restrictions. His body language shows that he is interested in looking else where as his mother walks ahead of him, pulling his arm as if to hint at him to hurry up.

Arcade - pen

Cafe - pen

Town - Pen

Cafe - pen

Cafe - pen

Cafe - pen

Arcade - pen

Cafe - pen

Cafe - pen and water colour

Cafe - water colour and pen

Cafe - pen and water colour



Cafe - pen and water colour

This was a useful exersise that has given me practice with drawing people and the natural, every day poses that people do depending on how they are feeling. I was hard to capture any intense emotion so quickly and with an outside view, but the way people move and interact always shows small signs of how they are feeling. And this is very useful to my project.