How to Draw Character Expressions (20+ Expressions)

Name: How to Draw Character Expressions (20+ Expressions)
Rating: 4.9 (11 reviews)

Vary your face shapes, angles and expressions and learn the particularities of 5 different emotions!

Highest Rated

Created byLara Militaru

Last updated 9/2023

English

English [Auto],

What you'll learn

Learn the basic face proportions
Practice multiple head angles
Vary your face shapes
Learn what defines each type of feeling

Course content

1 section • 10 lectures • 1h 42m total length

Introduction1:50
Learn to draw 21 characters and master five feelings—joy, anger, sadness, surprise, and fear—across three intensities with practical drawing assignments. Watch lessons at your pace, submit expressions to the project, and connect with the instructor on Instagram for feedback and community.
Face Shapes10:14
Learn how to create diverse character faces by using oval, round, and square shapes. Add jawlines, eye sockets, and hair to emphasize each form.
Face proportions4:59
Master basic face proportions by drawing a front-facing head from a circle and vertical midline, then place eyes, eye sockets, eyebrows, jawline, and neck with simple guidelines and digital corrections.
Head angles16:06
Master three common head angles for portrait illustration, including the three by four head angle, downward and upward poses, using guidelines, eye sockets, and procreate techniques.
Drawing Expressions: Joy12:49
Learn to draw joyous expressions by creating three characters with different intensities, starting from circle-and-cross skeletons, refining features, eyebrows, eyes, and smiles to convey joy.
Drawing Expressions: Anger13:49
Learn to draw anger expressions with near-front angles, emphasize eye sockets, eyebrows, and open mouths, and refine sketches to avoid flat symmetry for a vivid result.
Drawing Expressions: Sadness13:03
Learn to draw three sad expressions by adjusting head position, eye direction, tears, and mouth shape, using features like tear streams, arched eyebrows, and subtle jawlines to convey emotion.
Drawing Expressions: Surprise15:29
Learn to draw a surprised expression by widening the eyes, shrinking the irises, raising arched eyebrows, and shaping an open mouth for dynamic character emotion.
Drawing Expressions: Fear12:53
Explore fear expressions by combining surprise eyes with angry mouths, adding tense eyebrows, tears, and dramatic lines; learn dynamic poses, front and asymmetrical portraits, and detailed hair to convey fear.
Final words + project1:26
Celebrate finalizing the class by drawing over 20 characters across five emotions, and submit at least one expression in the project section.

Requirements

The student should have a graphic tablet, a stylus and any drawing software. I am using an iPad Pro and Procreate, but you can use any tools you have at your disposal!

Description

What if you could learn to create interesting portraits, non-static and without repeatedly drawing the same face for all of your characters? By the end of this class, you’ll have the skills to do exactly that.

This is a comprehensive course with various emotions, shape language and even some basics. You can learn how to create five emotions, each lesson focusing on different intensities.

Besides all that, throughout this class, you’ll learn tips & tricks on how to optimize your artwork and add dynamism to your portraits.

So in addition to learning how to create professional illustrations in Procreate, you’ll also learn practical advice for marketing and monetizing your artwork.

You'll Need:

· An iPad or any other graphic tablet;

· An Apple Pencil or another stylus;

· Procreate or any other drawing software.

Optional:

· The class freebies are totally optional– you can use them in Procreate OR you can use your own favorite brushes. Either way, you'll wind up with a gorgeous Class Project! You can download my brushes from lesson 2!

Who this class is for:

· Beginners:

o Most of the process will be sketches, so you only need to know how to use your layers, how to choose your brushes, and the rest you will learn during the class!

· Intermediate illustrators:

o If you feel like you are always drawing the same character, this class might help you get out of the loop!

Who this course is for:

Beginner and Intermediate Digital Artists who want to learn more about drawing portraits!