FACES . EXPRESSIONS . SYMBOLS
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Drawing faces . Drawing expressions . Universal facial expressions
Super Smiley . Gloomy face . Angry expressions . Face of fear
One way or another, fear is part of almost any dramatic scene. If you're painting or drawing characters in action, whether for cartoons, anime, fine art or whatever, you need to know the elements of a frightened face.
There are of course many degrees of fear, from stark terror to a vague sensation of worry. Oh well. If you want to draw a frightened face, we might as well jump in at the deep end. Let's start with drawing the most extreme form of fear, reduced to its elements in cartoon form.
Knowledge is power. So what are the reasons for the symptoms of fear that can show in somebody's face?
Fear produces the famous Fight or Flight syndrome.
The seven faces of fear |
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Let's say you're walking along, humming a happy tune, when a terrifying monster leaps out at you. |
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1. Help! An instant shot of adrenaline marshals the blood to your vital internal organs and your face goes white . |
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2. Your heart pounds. Your jaw drops open. This allows you to breathe in and circulate extra oxygen to feed your muscles for action. |
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3. Your eyebrows rise, ready for... |
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4. ...the most important sign of serious fear in your face. Your eyes open wide and staring. You show the whites of your eyes. The white is revealed above the iris. Your optics need to take in the best possible view of approaching danger. Notice the tiny pupils. Our pupils contract when we look at something we hate or fear. |
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5. All muscles are now tensed up ready to spring or run. It's doubtful if this really includes the follicles of your hair. However, if you happen to be a cartoon or emoticon, at this point your hair is liable to stand on end . |
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6. You may already be cold, but you start to sweat. This cools you down some more, and drives yet more blood from your skin to where it's needed. Adrenaline has meanwhile increased the ability of your blood to clot. These two primitive reactions mean possible surface wounds could produce a less gory outcome. |
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7. Finally, as if all that weren't enough, you start to shake. In fact you quake with fear. The shivery lines on the chin are a graphic pun. Do they symbolise shivering on a static page? Are they prize goose pimples? Who knows. Either way, having created him, I'm beginning to feel really sorry for poor Freddy the Frightened Face! |
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FACES . SYMBOLS . IPHONE/IPAD/IPOD FINGER PAINTING . DRAWING
DOWNSIZING IMAGES . PHONE PICS . ICONS
(c) Valerie Beeby 1998 - 2010
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