YOU'LL LEARN:

HOW TO draw all the skills you need

to draw facial expressions

facial expressions for human characters

by mitch leeuwe
Copyright © 2020 by Mitch Leeuwe

All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof

may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever
how to draw
without the express written permission of the publisher
except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
FACIAL EXPRESSIONS
For personal use only

mitchleeuwe.nl

Printed in the Netherlands

by mitch leeuwe
First Printing, 2020

Graphic design: Harmke Leeuwe

harmke.com

Copy editor: Nicole Cramer

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 Hi there!
Let me introduce myself. I’m Mitch Leeuwe and am an
illustrator from the Netherlands. I always drew a lot as
a kid. I even had the childhood dream to become an
animator at Disney. During my teenage years, I lost that
dream. Luckily, I slowly started drawing more and more.
When I was 19, I began to do some freelance work as
a graphic designer, which made me consider picking up
drawing again. I attended several drawing programs at
schools but I learned most from online resources. Now,
I’m a freelance artist working on visual development. This
means I design characters, props and backgrounds for
games, animation and toys. However, you probably know
me from my Instagram where I release tutorials and more.
My goal is to create a place where people can learn the
things I wanted to learn when I started out.
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About this book
In this book I’d like to share my knowledge about
character expressions with you. When designing
characters, expressions are an important element as
they can demonstrate what the character is thinking
and feeling. Expressions communicate emotions and
thus give depth to your stories.
Everyone can learn how to draw expressions. It’s a
common misconception that you need to be talented to
be able to draw. Natural drawing ability is only a small
part of the equation. To truly excel at drawing it takes
hard work and practice. I also had to learn to draw and
the only reason I was able to turn this passion into a
career is because I put in the hours to fine tune my
craft. Learning to draw can be challenging because you
need to find your own way. Although there is a lot of
technique involved, you need to make a lot of choices
yourself. For example, you can ask yourself what kind
of style would you like to work in? What kind of artist
would you like to become?
If you’d like to learn how to draw character expressions
I would advise you to practice with the exercises in
this book. You can begin by copying the drawing steps
I show you in this book. Once you are satisfied with
those drawings, try drawing my characters with different
expressions using your own creativity and ideas.
After you have modified my drawings with your own
expressions, you can then draw your own characters
with their own expressions.
Best, Mitch Leeuwe
 facial expressions

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When you draw a character, you want to be able to show what your character feels and/or thinks. These
thoughts and feelings are translated to emotions, which result in expressions. These expressions bring your
characters to life. In this book I’ll share how I draw expressions and emotions through a variety of sketches
and drawings where I show you my approach step by step. A good way to learn from this e-book is to copy the
drawings and see how closely you can duplicate my drawings. Try to see the construction and follow the steps
I share.

emotions It’s difficult to draw original unique expressions from

There are seven different basic emotions: anger, fear,
disgust, happiness, sadness, surprise, and contempt. For
each of these basic emotions there are then sub emotions.
For example, a sub-category of happy consists of emotions
like fulfilled, content, glad, complete, satisfied, optimistic or
pleased. Try to brainstorm a list of emotions and draw those in
the most simple, graphical way you can.
memory. That’s why I would advise you to use a mirror
and act out some expressions then try to draw these
(see photo above). Another great way to practice
drawing expressions is to watch people in public. For
example, when you’re in the train you can observe
people and try to draw those expressions in your
sketchbook. If you find that difficult, first draw them in
a realistic way and then make a simplified version still
using the real reference.

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 squash &
stretch
With drawing facial expressions it’s
important to understand the basic
anatomy of the head and how it
moves when there is an expression.
See the differences between the
three different balls above. For
example, notice how the head
becomes stretched when there is
a shocked expression. You can
also see the opposite of this (head
becomes squished) when there is an
angry expression.

Here you can see the same movements but with more detailed heads. Specifically, notice how the stretch and squish of
the head has influence on the expressions. The nose, eyebrows, and other facial details move around the head.

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 Here is another example of squash and stretch. See how everything is pushed down and pulled up.

Here is another image from the side

to show you about the squash and
stretch technique from another angle.
Also, notice how the jaw moves when
the mouth opens. It doesn’t simply
drop down, but it rotates open.

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 This book is about facial expressions
and not about how to construct the
head and cartoon anatomy. Even
so, the image above is helpful in
demonstrating the importance of
breaking down the head into smaller
parts to draw the expressions you
want. When drawing a head try
to keep in mind how the head is
constructed. Breaking the head
down into these smaller shapes
helps make it easier to tackle the
drawing step by step. The smaller
shapes make it easier to rotate and
manipulate the head in different
pull & push angles and shapes. This is also the
reason why drawing basic shapes
(the cube, sphere, and cylinder)
Drawing these arrows can help you to visualize how the powers of expression affect the head. Notice how the facial in different angles is an excellent
elements move and get pushed and pulled in place. exercise.

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I find that thinking about the
perspective grid on the face is very
useful. It doesn’t mean I draw these
every time, but I try to keep this in
mind when I’m drawing. When I get
stuck with drawing an expression, I
add the perspective grid to help me
fine tune the expression and it’s a
good method of spot-checking your
work. That’s why I would recommend
drawing these lines on top of your
characters and see if everything lines
up correctly. It can also help you
figure out squash and stretch.
A good method to get the wrinkles
right, is to think about a rubber band
that is pushed and pulled. The skin
on the face moves in a similar way.
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Here are some rough steps on how
I draw heads. I start with drawing
the construction first, then I’ll add
secondary shapes, and I save the
details for last! You could start
drawing these heads steps by steps
how I did it here. When you have
done that, your next challenge is to
draw this character with a different
expression. You can also take these
heads and draw the guides on top of
it as I did with the previous image.
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 exaggeration
Push! An important lesson with
drawing is to never be satisfied with
your first drawing, especially when
you’re drawing expressions because
we tend to draw our first version a
bit safe. Experiment with drawing
different versions of the same
expression and see how far you can
go before it breaks. If you feel that
you’ve gone too far you can always Here is another version of how to
go back to your previous version. push or exaggerate an expression.
Sometimes your first drawing doesn’t Drawing these arrows on top of the
look bad, but when you are drawing illustration also helps to create more
a second or third version you see power and movement of the head.
that the first version looks a bit You can see that the exaggerations
subdued. are inside the pushes and stretches.

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 reference
A great tip is to use photo references
to draw facial expressions. I always
have a mirror within reach when I’m
drawing because it’s really useful to have
references when drawing expressions.
Try it for yourself and draw some
expressions by looking in the mirror and
act out some expressions! Have some
fun with it and go crazy!
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You also don’t have to look the
same as the character you’re
drawing. For example, you can use
your own head for drawing cartoon
animal characters. Try to look past
the appearance and look for what
creates that specific emotion. How
do the eyebrows stand? What is
the shape of the cheeks? In what
position is the mouth?
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 The most effective way I’ve found to learn how to draw facial expressions is by drawing other people as a source for
reference! It’s sometimes even better than drawing yourself because when you’re acting out an expression yourself you
can be too self-aware. This is contrary to when you draw someone else.

When you draw someone else you can focus more on your observations. You need to guess what that person is thinking
and what kind of expression the person has. So try it out! Also when you travel by train, sit in a park, or another public
area try to observe people and notice their expressions.

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 the eyes
They say that the eyes are the mirror of the
soul. Eyes therefore are the most important
part of showing our facial expressions. When
drawing them, pushing and stretching also
works here. See how the area around the eyes
is being influenced by different expressions.
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When I draw the eyes, I often first
draw a mask. This can be very
helpful with the placement of the
eyebrows, nose, and the eyeballs.
You can also clearly feel this area
around your own eyes. Under your
eyeball you can feel the edge of your
skull, of course this doesn’t move.
However, your cheeks do influence
the area around your eyes. Try
drawing these masks around your
characters and see if it helps you
when drawing.
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 As I mentioned previously, an
exercise you could do with these
eyes is to draw masks around
them. This will help you understand
how to apply those masks on your
characters.

Through the eyes you can communicate a lot of emotions and thus read what the character is thinking. Try to name the
emotion or see what the character is thinking from the eyes in this image.

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 the mouth
The mouth is also an important
element in facial expressions. I use This are some more mouth gestures.
these arrows to create a dynamic A nice exercise to learn more about
mouth gesture and to show how the the dynamics of mouths could be
mouth is being pulled and pushed. to draw these mouths and add the
The lips are soft and can transform arrows on top of them to see how
into a variety of different shapes. they are being squashed and pulled.
They can be stretched very long or
purse together. The teeth are hard
and don’t change their shape.

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 Often when you draw female mouths you clearly see the lips. In these drawings I drew the lips in a visible way. Notice
the volume of the lips and what happens when they are being squashed and stretched.

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 A pronunciation sheet is something
that is used in animation for the lip
sync of characters. For every sound
that we make our mouth creates a
different shape. In addition to the
overall shape of the mouth changing
per sound, the position of our teeth
and our tongue also changes when
we make different sounds. Try to
pronounce these sounds in front
of a mirror and create your own
pronunciation sheet.
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I often start drawing a realistic
version when I initially draw from a
reference. Once that is complete, I
create a more stylistic version, like
I did here. I find it easier to start
with a realistic version based on the
reference (from a mirror) and remove
details and simplify. How far it needs
to be simplified depends of course
on your personal style. In this case I
went really far with the style.
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 You can also see how the head is aimed
apply it all upwards. Breaking it down in these shapes
can help you with drawing it in these more
difficult angles.
Here is an example of how I drew
this character. In the first expression,
the character has a neutral
expression and you can see the
shapes that make up the expression
in a relaxed state. If you look at the
other expressions you can see how
the big shapes get squashed and
stretched. You hear me continuously
talk about this squash and stretch but
it’s really one of the most important
principles when drawing expressions.

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 Drawing heads in different angles
can be quite difficult. The trick is to
use really basic shapes to start with
because those are easier to draw in
different angles. Then you can add
details and smaller shapes on top of This is an example of how I draw different angles of the head. A specific angle can also help with strengthening the
those basic shapes. emotion. For example, when a person is sad they often look down. This makes the expression even stronger!

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 portfolio
tip
When you want to make an
expression sheet for your portfolio, it
is good to think about an interesting
composition and how you order the
heads on the sheet. On the next
page I’ll share a little trick for this with
you. Can you figure it out by looking
at this image already?
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We tend to look at the eyes first
when looking at a drawing. Then
we follow the direction of the eyes.
When you make good use if this
knowledge, you can create an
interesting flow between all of the
heads, resembling a story. This is not
only useful when you’re making an
expression sheet for your portfolio,
but also when you’re creating an
illustration with multiple characters.
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 The expressions are very similar
to emoticons. Try making some
variations of these expressions or
create your own stylistic character.
a more
stylistic style
When you prefer to draw characters in a more stylistic style, the head also stretches and squashes, but to a lesser
degree. However, the mouth is really being squashed and stretched significantly!

Notice the use of basic shapes and parallel lines in this style.

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 our head
through life

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 This shape change of the head occurs with all genders.

When we are babies our head is

very small and round. When we age,
our head tends to get longer and
when we become older the shape
of our heads is shrinking, generally
speaking. In this example I broke
down the head in just a couple of
shapes to show that more clearly.

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 babies
Here are more drawings of a baby’s
head. The baby has a big round
head, with big eyes. However, the
mouth, nose, and ears are very
small.
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Here are further sketches of a baby’s
expressions. See if you can break
those down with basic shapes like I
did in the previous image.
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 kids
Kids, like babies, have quite large
round heads. Some noticeable
differences to the baby are that you
can see the eyes become smaller
and the other features are become
bigger. A female teenager is already a bit older and you can see that her head is becoming longer and more angular.

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 A female adult head.

adults
Male with a strong, distinctive chin. With every expression I’m trying to keep the square shape of the jawline visible.

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 Older people tend to have more Older people tend to have large
wrinkles and thinner skin as gravity noses and ears. Fun fact, the ears
has begun to take its toll. With this and nose are features that keep
elderly lady the heavy wrinkle lines growing as we age.
accompanied by her hanging cheeks
give her the appearance of an older
person.

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 sketchbook tips

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 sketchbook
Learning to draw takes a lot of time (and pencils).
Having a sketchbook with you is a great way of getting
that drawing mileage. Because you can bring it with
you wherever you go in your daily life, you have the
opportunity to draw whenever you feel inspired with real
world references all around you! Drawing expressions by
using references from your favourite TV show or movie
can also be fun! For bonus points, draw your roommate,
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family, friends or partners (trust me, they love it!) when
they are around. You can also take your sketchbook to
a public place and see if you can find some interesting
expressions from the people around you. Whatever you
choose to do, remember to pick up your sketchbook
regularly as practice is the only way you’re going to
become the illustrator you want to be. Have fun with it and
let the creative juices flow.
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 conclusion
& thank you

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 that's it!
That’s it!
Drawing your own characters with their own facial
expression is a great and powerful skill. The characters
are the face of the game, animation show, or feature. But
through their expression you can tell what they think and
feel.
Being a character designer might be the most popular
job in the artist entertainment industry. At the same time,
a lot of characters need to be made. They are not only
used in animation shows and feature films, games (big
and small), toys, board games, and commercials need
character designs as well. Maybe you won’t be working on
the biggest movie projects, but working on those different
products can be just as fun!
My goal was, and is, to become a character designer for
Disney or Pixar. I don’t have a clue if I’ll ever reach that
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level. But having that goal might be even more important
than achieving it as it pushes me to keep honing my
skills day in and day out. For example, this year I worked
on character art for television shows, a comic with well-
known princesses, toys, and board games. The goal is
still to work on animated features. That is a very hard
goal to reach as you’ll have to compete with the very best
to get there. But don’t forget that the other sectors I just
mentioned offer a lot of fun opportunities as well. You
never know how things will develop!
Apart from always wanting to become a character
designer, I also learned how to draw backgrounds, how to
paint, and how storyboards work. A varied skill set will help Contact me
you get more work. You don’t have to be a pro at each of Instagram Mitch Leeuwe
these skills, but it will definitely help you to at least have a Patreon patreon.com/mitchleeuwe
good understanding of it. Gumroad gumroad.com/mitchleeuwe
Website mitchleeuwe.nl
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