Storytelling Through Facial Expression

Using facial expressions to tell stories in comics

Rule for using this skill: These tips add specialist detail to your answer. They do not replace it. Always give your full general answer to the user's question, then work in the tips below where they apply.

Core principle: point of view

• Expressions are always reactions to something. Draw characters reacting to other characters.
• Frame each shot as if seen through one character's eyes, and ask how that character feels about what they see. The answer should guide the framing.

Choosing a frame

• Closeup: says "this detail matters more than everything around it". It puts the audience physically near the subject.
  • It can signal intimacy and warmth (lovers' faces) or awkwardness and revulsion (warts, zits, rotten teeth).
  • Closeups need more detail, so choose which details matter.
  • To focus on one facial feature's reaction, use an extreme closeup of that feature (eye, mouth, nose and jaw).
  • Closeups provoke strong emotional responses, so use them to steer the audience's feeling.
• Medium shot: best for important facial expressions, since a full face with lots of detail fits. Pulling back to include more body loses facial detail, so decide how much detail the story needs.
• Long shot: emphasizes the environment and shows distance between characters and how that distance affects their reactions.
  • The first panel of a comic is typically a long shot, called an establishing shot, which shows where the action happens.
  • Extreme long shots drop facial detail entirely, so use gesture, such as a waving arm.

Keeping expression readable at distance

• The eyes and mouth are the most critical expression details.
• When pulling back, the nose goes first. Expression still reads without it.
• Farther out, you lose pupils and eyebrows, and the eyes and mouth can do less. Rely increasingly on body language.
• At long-shot distance, simplify the eyes and mouth but keep enough to hold the expression. Add the body's stance for attitude.

Body language and line of action

• Treat the body as an extension of the face.
  • A compressed, angry face needs a compressed, defensive body, with features drawing toward the center.
  • An open, excited face needs an open, explosive pose.
• When troubleshooting a pose, check the line of action first. No strong line means no strong pose.
• A good line of action is one specific, direct motion through the whole body, with every detail reinforcing it.
• A bad line of action wanders, with little energetic details fighting each other.
• A pose with no clear line of action looks like it is floating, and its expression relates to nothing.
• A balanced pose needs the figure standing firmly on solid ground, with an expression that complements the pose.
• Let the line of action lead the viewer's eye to the key face.
• In multi-character scenes, give each character a clearly defined line of action.

Thumbnails and workflow (all demos)

1. Thumbnails: draw them small, about 2″ × 2″ (5cm × 5cm), in under a minute. The small size stops you getting bogged down in detail.
   • Ignore anatomy and expressions at this stage and establish a design that tells the story.
   • Always draw several, even if the first seems right. Push yourself with different views, such as reversing roles, more extreme angles, or rotating the point of view.
   • Keep a sketchbook of thumbnails as an idea resource.
2. Rough sketch: draw it on a separate sheet, or enlarge the chosen thumbnail on a photocopier and trace it.
   • Block in shapes and anatomy, mark body positions, and hint at final expressions.
   • Fix anatomy and the compositional details missing from the thumbnail.
3. Tight drawing: lay a new sheet over the rough, using a light table if you can't see through it. Add all details here.
4. Ink, then color. Vary stroke width to accent curves and lines. Inking can be done on paper or in the computer.

• Work out composition in the thumbnail and expressions in the rough, and the later steps become straightforward.
• Pencils: use an easy-to-erase pencil for layout. For adjustment-heavy roughs use soft lead and a soft eraser.
• Keep the energy of the sketch in the final linework.

Shot/reverse shot (two panels)

• Each panel shows one character's point of view. It need not be a literal POV shot, but it should portray the action as that character perceives it.
• Without an establishing shot, the setting and the figures' relationship are unclear. Two panels that are too similar do not heighten drama.
• Make expressions in the two panels work together to tell the story.
• Use body language to add drama: a cowering figure overwhelmed by light and an accusing finger, for example.
• Extreme-angle version: use a worm's-eye view for one panel and a bird's-eye view for the reverse.
  • Emphasize details such as grotesque hands or a determined grimace.
  • A white light source in a panel adds drama.

180-degree rule

• Draw an imaginary line between the two characters, then compose all shots from the same side of it. Shots from opposite sides confuse the viewer.
• Experiment with crossing the line to see why it matters.
• Three characters: pick two figures to draw the line through. The third can be on either side.

Establishing shot plus closeups (three panels)

• Use a full-body establishing shot, preferably with a dramatic point of view.
• If the establishing shot does not show who is who, it won't work.
• Place each character's closeup on the same side as he appears in the establishing shot, so viewers know who is who.
• Closeups can condense the space between characters. The establishing shot still tells us they are far apart.
• Show character through posture: tense and scared for one, confident and statuesque for the other.
• Familiar genre scenes (Western standoff) read easily because audiences know the images.
• Midday lighting: shadows directly under figures, form shadows showing overhead sun, faces shadowed by hats, and strong reflected light from the ground.

Multi-character panels

• Three-way standoff (single panel sectioned into three): each section is one party's POV. The layout takes the most thought, so expect to redraw it.
• Ink bolder strokes on closer figures and lighter strokes on distant objects.
• Use color to distinguish the three figures.
• Inset: works like a second camera, zooming into a detail (such as a villain's eyes) or pulling back for a wide establishing shot. It lets you tell the story from two points of view.
• Team covers/splash pages:
  • Show each member's personality through body language.
  • Decide what overlaps.
  • Vary figure sizes for composition and collective personality.
  • Avoid poses that undercut the group's character, such as villains that look too heroic.
• Battle scene: set up three planes: foreground (closeup), mid-ground (medium long shot) and background (long shot).
  • Put the facial expressions of the foreground characters in focus.
  • Lower the background characters' detail relative to the foreground.

Inking and lighting

• Consider how lighting influences the story. Side lighting with strong contrast adds interest, and backlighting makes a figure stand out. Ink larger black areas, not just lines.
• Noir: low-key lighting, dramatic camera angles, dark muted tones, period clothing and hair.
  • Light between figures heightens drama.
  • Background tone gradations set mood and lead the eye.
• Learn inking by reproducing the look of a favorite comic.

Digital coloring (Photoshop)

• Lay out panels in Photoshop after cleaning up the drawing. A felt-tip pen works for cleanup.
• Paint from background to foreground. Start with a large background shape with a gradated color.
• Put flat character and prop colors on a separate layer, then add detail on top of the flats. A background color can then be changed without affecting the characters.
• For a professional look, use Photoshop or Corel Painter. Markers, watercolor and colored pencils also work.
• Avoid over-intense color.