Making Faces

I have discovered that anytime I want to learn something--about history, science, art, or anything else--one of the best places to start is the kids' section of the library.

Sometimes when I go right away to the resources intended for grown-ups, I can get overwhelmed with information or frustrated with the complexity of the subject.

Just the other day, while browsing through the art section for kids, I came across the book Drawing and Learning About Faces, by Amy Bailey Muehlenhardt.  It took me back to when I was a kid, wanting to learn how to draw cartoon faces, but so desperate to be perfect that I just ended up tracing the pictures at the end.

 Well, this time (thirty-plus years later, ahem), I decided to try my hand at honestly following through with all of the directions to create the eight faces in the book.

(That's another reason to love kids' books:  Eight faces...that's it! I can definitely handle eight faces, and then feel the achievement of making it through the whole book.  Mind games...they work every time!)

The author provides step-by-step instructions for drawing the ovals and adding each of the features to create a face that expresses a particular emotion.

There is happy:

Embarrassed:

Angry:

Surprised:

Excited:

Sad:

Bratty:

And scared:

I kind of love these fun little cartoon pages in my sketchbook, and I'm looking forward to my girls giving some of the faces a try for themselves.  I think they'll be amazed to discover that eyes are actually situated about halfway down the head! And excited to see how that one simple change brings a better result to their drawings.

Now, I think I'll head back to the kids' section to see what other drawing books they have!