You say, "This week we shall be going over emotions, and how they are expressed on the face.
You say, "Emotions can be expressed in a variety of ways - but the face is how the majority of people get their main input to the type of feeling a character is expressing - and there lies a problem for us."
You say, "The problem being that, as furry artists, we have a problem - conveying human emotions in a readable way on a subject that may not have the human features to pull it off properly."
You say, "Some creatures also convey their emotions in different ways. Smiles are friendly gestures to humans, but are signs of warning or threat in such species as dogs."
Sherri says quietly, "Just wanted to add that even animals similar to us, like some primates and other apes use it differently"
Sherri says quietly, "So research your species ^.-"
Piccillo nods to Sherri. "Quite correct." he says.
Sslaxx hisses, "More an observation, with regards to the use of smiles as warnings/threats. Looking at the row of smiles along the bottom, the fourth one along would be good at conveying a threat, perhaps."
Piccillo nods to Sslaxx, "Good point." he says, "Which we will be discussing in a few more minutes." :)
Piccillo continues, "So while you are making your characters, you will have to make some desicions as to what you are willing to trade off - realilism or readiblility in your characters. A realistic dog (both in attitude and build) would not smile when happy as a human would. They'd open their mouths with their teeth barely showing, maybe loll their tounge out a bit, and wag their tail. Some creatures, like birds, may be physicly unable to move their mouths in a way that can suggest a smile if you make them truly realistic."
You say, "Once again, all I can really say as far as that goes is that it's up to the artist in question to decide what he or she wants to do. The more human-like you make the characters, the easier it will be for people to read their emotions."
You say, "Now as you can see, I have only drawn two features on this page - the eyes and the mouth. These are the most expressive parts of the face, and are what are used to show the majority of emotion in a character."
Sslaxx hisses, "Another observation. Animals can also be somewhat expressive using their ears - horses, I believe, convey a lot of body language through their ears."
Piccillo nods, "Many animals do use their ears, but that's a lesson for another time. We are going to stay focused on the eyes and mouth for this one."
Rhan'lav just wanted to say I actually did a worksheet like those on display. Found it very helpful to get emotions across. It was a bit more detailed, but still the same overall stuff.
Piccillo nods to Rhan'lav, "It's good practice, indeed."
You say, "Now notice the sheet - there are only 13 different features on it, 6 mouth types and 7 eye types. "However, just by combining those two features in different ways I can come up with a wide array of emotions that are expressed."
You say, "It is probably a good idea for all of you to try and make a sheet like this, built around the characters *you* like to draw. You might like to make your muzzles more pronounced - so how would that effect the way one smiles? Would the eyes change? Ect ect. That does, in fact, bring us to this week's homework - which is in two parts.""
You say, "The first part, which you may have noticed I left out of the lesson, is to label what types of emotions you feel go with each face. Does one look surprised, happy, scared? Or a mix of several types?"
You say, "The second part is to try and make a sheet of such emotions, in the stages I've shown, for your own type of drawing style. It's an excellent reference tool to have about when you are done with it. It can help unblock you if you are stuck - sometimes just looking at all the expressions will give you an idea for a picture."
*end of lesson*
