Facial Expressions: A Visual Reference for Artists

by Mark Simon

All artists are tired of persuading their nearest and dearest to look sad...look glad...look mad...madder...no, even madder...okay, hold it. For those artists (and their long-suffering friends), here is the best book ever.

Facial Expressions includes more than 2,500 photographs of 50 faces--men and women of a variety of ages, shapes, sizes, and ethnicities--each demonstrating a wide range of emotions and shown from multiple angles.

Who can use this book? Oh, only every artist on the planet, including art students, illustrators, fine artists, animators, storyboarders, and comic book artists.

But wait, there's more! Additional photos focus on people wearing hats and couples kissing, while illustrations show skull anatomy and facial musculature. Still not enough? How about a one-of-a-kind series of photos of lips pronouncing the phonemes used in human speech? Animators will swoon--and artists will show a range of facial expressions from happy to happiest to ecstatic.

Genres: Art, Drawing, Reference, Nonfiction, Comics, Design

256 pages, Paperback

Published June 1, 2005

About the author

Mark Simon is considered to be the Godfather of Storyboarding, working on more than 5,000 Hollywood productions including The Walking Dead and Stranger Things. He is also a best-selling author of film and art industry books. His latest book is the memoir, Attacked!, which is about when he was bullied and his family was attacked. He fought back with the law and became the first person in the country to hold parents responsible in court for the actions of their kids.

Reviews

[Anna Morgenstern · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm torn about this one, one one hand, it can be very helpful but on the other, it lacks explanation, showcases too many photos on one page which causes you to feel as if you're looking at a series of mug-shots, besides, the abundance of images can render it harder to find what you need. Being in black and white doesn't help either.
However, if you tab it ahead of time and find the expressions you need, it could be a good reference source, I liked having both female and male from a variety of ages.

[Jenny · Rating 4 out of 5]

I got this book because it looked like it would be SO useful. Though it hasn't come of use yet... and I've tried. So summary: its a lot of faces. As it should be.
I want a book with the same idea but with hands...

[Steve Atkinson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cons: small black and white photos, dated hairstyles.

Pros: can help you get an expression quickly without having to take a photo of yourself or a friend. An excellent way to do lots of quick drawings /doodles to get better at sketching.

[Denise · Rating 5 out of 5]

This beats having to stare in the mirror and is nice for times that I don't want to search google images. I'm using this book for sketch practice and so far it is working beautifully.

[Gissel Claus]

"Facial Expressions" by Mark Simon is an outstanding visual guide that every artist should own. It offers a detailed range of human emotions, captured authentically to serve as a powerful reference tool. Interestingly, the book subtly reminds us how even small aspects, like exfoliation, can influence the clarity and detail of a facial expression, enhancing the depth of character portrayal.

[clari · Rating 3 out of 5]

it comes in handy if you haven't done anything in a while and want to do a drawing session, as a warm up, but other than that i don't find myself checking this book often

[Joe Grochowalski · Rating 4 out of 5]

The photos are somewhat small, but still useful.

[Petrie Serrano · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've "read" this book several times. It's headshot after headshot of facial expressions on adults, most of which are exaggerated. I felt I needed a mental reboot on illustrative cartooning so I pulled it out again along with a few others.

This book in my opinion is only good for cartooning and possibly short random visual writing prompts. I use it for the former, hence the stars. It might be useful for practicing facial figure-drawing with no other source available, but it would be difficult to manage many final works from it.

(Someone with the right series project may be able to manage it, but the faces are really, REALLY cartoonish!)

[Ari Chand · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great range of all-angle photos of the face and expression to assist every Character Designer and Artists out there trying to build authentic expression into their illustrations, paintings and concept art.

The book shows great examples based on the photos from a range of artists that can help you understand how to anthropomorphise and embed expression into the drawn/constructed images.

[Tracie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent book for artists. I bought this book for my husband for Christmas and he loved it. It is a great selection of references of all different types of people and the expressions that they make. It has been really helpful in his figure drawing and with his webcomic.

[Brad · Rating 4 out of 5]

I draw comics and magna and needed a go-to book for expressions. This does 80 percent of the job. There are a good number poses, both mail and female of various ages. I would like to have had more from children and teens, but you can't have everything. Overall, a good solid four stars.

[Aaron · Rating 5 out of 5]

Exhaustive, but sometimes you need that when you're searching for reference material. Also, all of the models are adults.

[Liz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent resource! Now if he would just do one of these with children at various ages....

[Scott Kroll · Rating 3 out of 5]

You don't exactly "read" this. It is a great reference for drawing faces.