Wherever you are, I hope your new year is starting off well for you.  Upon requests from two different artists, I have made a short video here on expressions.  I will develop a lengthier video in the near future on the topic, but I wanted to provide some useful tips that might help when studying the expression that will prevent them from stiffening up or looking forced.

A few tips to try:

 

  1.  Hold your drawing implement differently than in a writing grip
  2. Use your entire arm to capture the line flow
  3. Set a time limit, somewhere between 5 – 10 minutes max
  4. Do not erase mistakes, work with them
  5. Avoid using reference that feels like forced expressions, you’ll have to work harder to get them to feel convincing
  6. Use traditional media over digital sketching
  7. Avoid formal design lines

Here are the drawings I create in the video.  Scroll down for the video.