Happy, Angry, Awed: Drawing Faces for Webcomics

Illustrating facial expressions in comic art is an essential skill and the best way to drive home your punchline. In this 40-minute class, Owl Turd cartoonist Shen shows you how to translate the range of human expressions into cartoon drawings.

Follow along as Shen demonstrates happy, sad, angry, tired, and infatuated in some of his own characters, using his favorite exercises and drawing processes. He starts with the basics of each expression, explains how to demonstrate each one through drawing, and breaks down how to merge each expression with your comic to create full-on characters in your work.

Plus, he shares additional insights on understanding context for your comics, changing the magnitude of expression between frames, and wrapping up a cohesive narrative with these expressions. Happy drawing!

• Introduction
• Assignment: Create a 3 panel comic with a facial expression as the punchline
• Basic Principles of Drawing Expressions
• Expressions Grid
• Expressions in Context
• The Comic
• Final Thoughts