The figures depicting sorrow show^ the muscles of the face relaxed. In application the head should be inclined forward, the inner ends of the eyebrows are raised toward the forehead, the eyelids droop, while the pupil of the e3^e is raised. The lips are parted, somewhat as in joy, but the corners of the mouth are lowered. The general tendency of this emotion, because of the laxity of the muscles, is to lengthen the face. When sorrow, pity, pain, dejection, or melancholy, hold sway, man's face is proverbially long.
Pain, anguish and despair can hardly be separated from the general term of sorrow; to an extent they are analogous, synonymous.
Next, take the figures denoting anger. The eyes blaze (usually shown in a black-and-white drawing by a very dark iris and strong high lights), the eyebrows are contracted, with the inner ends downward, and the outer ends inclining upward. The lips are compressed at the center, with a tendency to parting at the outer ends of the mouth. Approximately, the same lines are used to express revenge, hatred, rage and fury; different degrees of intensity and rigidity of lines being used to suit the ideas of the individual.
The study of expression is so full of interest that the pupil is easily encouraged to go to nature in order to gather more than a slight smattering of knowledge on this subject.
The effect and force of nearly every drawing in which the human face appears depends very largely on the extent to which the artist knows how to give expression to the human features. The beholder of the picture can be guided only by the artist's interpretation; if it is false, the picture is misleading, therefore valueless.
The definitions that accompany these diagram-like outlines of the various emotions are conventional. They are not absolute, and are even interchangeable to some degree. They are offered as hints and suggestions to aid individual observation. For the real thing in the way of emotion no better aid can be had than a mirror. Let the pupil survey himself in that and sketch the changes in his own features. Let him make faces at himself and then sketch them. He should try to keep the
varying expressions in mind long enough to transfer to paper the principal lines by which they are formed.
Expression in the human face must be felt. It is difficult to teach it. There are so many minor points which go to make up the varied expressions that can be assumed by human features that detailed instruction is almost impossible.
Animation may be expressed by dark touches in the eyes and under the lids. The nose also has much to do with expression ; especially the shape of the nostrils and the direction of the lines of the sides of the nose running down to the mouth. Nostrils that droop downward at the outer edge give a serious expression; on the contrary, if the line is elevated, the tendency is towards a bright and animated expression.
The mouth, of course, is of great importance, and influences the expression more than any other feature. When smiling, the corners are turned upward and the lines or dimples are curved in an outward direction. In a sad face, the corners of the mouth drop downward and the lines grow straight.
Sections
- Action Drawing
- Advice To Teachers
- Beginners Instructions
- Blocking In
- Clay Modeling
- Copying By Triangulation
- Decorative Ornamental Art
- Drawing From Nature
- Early Exercises
- Elementary Lines
- Elementary Perspective
- Expression Emotion
- Foreshortening
- Geometrical Form
- How To Draw Animals
- How To Draw Cartoons
- How To Draw Charcoal Crayon
- How To Draw Flowers
- How To Draw Women Men Children
- Lettering
- Light And Shade
- Materials For Drawing
- Models Measurements Proportions
- Outlines For Beginners
- Paper Folding Cutting
- Pen And Ink Drawing
- Principles Of Composition
- Simple Story Pictures
- Solid Black Effects
- Stimulating Imagination
- Tracing Transferring
- Two Handed Exercises