Words express only a third of the meanings in communication, and our brain extracts the rest from non-verbal signals - smells, body position in space, pantomimes. The human face reflects lived or suppressed emotions, positive and negative experiences, complexes and stable facial habits. All this is thanks to the facial muscles.
Who exercises their face?
Do you think anyone? - You're wrong.
Here is a little girl spinning around the mirror. And her mother reproaches her: “You can’t do this! Stop showing off! Decent girls don’t do that!” And then the girl does it on the sly. When no one sees.
Or maybe he never does it anymore, feeling forbidden.
What does facial beauty depend on? Read about this in the article...
I don’t know what parents are afraid of when they forbid their children to study their faces and practice facial expressions. Maybe parents are afraid that the child will learn to manipulate parents using his face? That the child will deceive them?
Show sadness on your face without being sad. Pretend obedience without disobeying. Maybe so?
However, parents are just accustomed to it this way. As children, they were taught to “make faces” in front of the mirror. And their parents weaned them off...
- So uncivilized! It's not supposed to be like that! You can not do it this way!
They even came up with a legend about Narcissus, who looked at his reflection for a long time and became a flower.
We draw an illustration where the main thing is the expression of emotions
Understanding the basics opens up unlimited possibilities for character stylization. Let's go back to the beginning of the article, where we looked at the basic geometric construction. The three main figures remain unchanged, but their proportions can and should be changed! This allows you to create stylized yet believable faces.
Working with simple geometric shapes also helps control the tilt of the head in perspective. For example, we want to draw a cute character with big eyes and a round face, who tilts his head back slightly. To do this, you need to increase the size of the parallelepiped, make the half-cylinder shorter, and take into account the perspective when constructing these figures. At the next stage, we draw a skull corresponding to these proportions, and on top of it - the face itself.
To make the smile look sincere, let's raise our eyebrows and slightly cover the lower eyelid with our cheek. Notice how the stretched mouth lifts the cheek and makes it more rounded.
What does facial beauty depend on?
I’m writing this article on my laptop in a cafe, drinking my favorite coffee with milk... Three girls are talking about something at the next table.
It was observing them that gave the idea for the article.
They seem to be beauties. But no.
Beautiful bodies. Wasp waists, emphasized breasts. Apparently, these girls are taking care of their bodies.
Maybe yoga, dancing, running, gym - I don’t know. Plus, probably, the diets are different. It’s obvious that they are working on the bodies, trying.
Wonderful hair, each has its own style. There were invisible traces of makeup on their faces; everyone tried to look good.
But I’m sure that none of them is working on developing and changing their faces.
One or two smiles on duty (for photographs) - that’s the entire arsenal of facial expressions.
Each of them could become a beauty. The kind of girl you would like to sit with in a cafe over a cup of tea or coffee.
Be enchanted... And fall in love...
And everything is there for this.
All that remains is to work on the face
Above the expression of lips, eyes, eyebrows.
And if they worked on their face, not only with the help of cosmetics, they would be beauties.
But... Alas...
Eye and eyebrow movements
As folk wisdom says, eyes are the mirror of the soul. This is truly an extremely expressive facial feature. The eyes alone are enough to show emotions such as fun, fear or anger. The eye is surrounded by numerous muscle groups. With their help, a person can, for example, open his eyelids wide, showing the entire iris. Another muscle contraction will cause the eye, on the contrary, to squint, and wrinkles will appear around it.
The eyebrows have separate, their own muscle groups. The outer and inner tips of the eyebrows are controlled by different muscles, so the eyebrows can not only rise and fall, but also take on a wave-like shape! There are also special muscles with which we bring our eyebrows together above the bridge of our nose.
The picture above shows examples of eyes (J1, J2 and J3) expressing the same emotion - joy.
The eyebrow is in a neutral position or slightly raised. It is also important that when we smile, the outer corners of the eyes squint and rise upward due to the displacement of the cheeks. By the presence of this squint, a sincere smile can be distinguished from a fake one.
Pictures A1, A2 and A3 show eyes expressing anger or disgust. The muscles above the bridge of the nose do the hard work here. They bring the eyebrows together and pull them down, thereby creating many wrinkles between the eyebrows and on the bridge of the nose. The eyes in F1, F2 and F3 express shock and fear. This is the only facial expression in which the eyelids reveal the entire iris. Depending on the shape of the eyebrows, wide open eyes can express different emotions - from surprise to horror.
How are faces formed?
Those people who are often dissatisfied develop dissatisfied faces.
Sad faces come from those who are most often sad. Closed faces, without emotions - in cautious, distrustful people. And cheerful faces appear on cheerful people.
It is important to constantly monitor your facial expression.
Always. Or as often as possible.
And do not allow dissatisfaction, disappointment, sadness. Even in the most ordinary situations.
When we drink tea in a cafe, for example.
And if it is allowed, then so that in this case the face remains beautiful.
(Well, even if it’s ugly, whatever you want!)
It is important to study our face in advance, how we talk, how we rejoice, are surprised, and admire.
Are we so offended?
Is this how we show dissatisfaction?
How are we offended? How do we express dissatisfaction?
And if we don’t like some emotion, it can be changed, developed, trained.
This is where I often hear criticism. That, they say, this is dishonest, unnatural, wrong. What, they say, to whom it is given is given, and if it is not given, then it is not given! You can't learn this!
Usually, I don't insist or argue.
Yes, some are more fortunate, and some are less fortunate.
I know beauties who, secretly from everyone, spend hours in front of the mirror, studying themselves, their faces.
Experimenting. Trying new emotions. Charming yourself. Talking to yourself, imagining your interlocutors and their faces.
But no one admits this.
Why? Because it is very intimate. Just like sex with yourself. Nobody admits to this either? Right?
But if you see a wealth of emotions on your face, beautiful expressions on your lips and eyes, this is most likely the result of training.
Smart girl!
It is clear that it is not only the face that needs to be dealt with
Moreover, do not go to extremes by doing only facial expressions.
It is important to learn other skills as well.
Including public speaking, of which I am a trainer.
- Read my Book “Oratory for Beginners”
I personally know such beauties who work on their faces.
I first heard about this when I was a student, and I couldn’t believe my own ears.
And then he bought himself a large mirror. - Guess what for? “And I even skipped the lecture and stayed in the dormitory so that no one would see me practicing my smile.”
Then there were gestures. The ones I have now.
Actors, artists, fashion models are involved in the development of facial expressions...
Have you seen the wonderful film “The Artist”? If not, be sure to check it out! I recommend. The film has no words, so everything is based on facial expressions, gestures, and emotions.
Time will pass…
I think time will pass and my article will become completely irrelevant.
The world of girls, and guys too, will be engaged in training and developing their faces.
There will be advertising for trainers in facial expressions, just like there are now for yoga, shaping and public speaking.
In the meantime, as they say: “Everything is in our hands”
Go to the mirror right now. Explore all your emotions!
All! And anger, and joy, and irritation - too!
And also very important: speak in front of the mirror! Learn to be surprised, beautifully. Learn to express gratitude. Interest.
After all, a face in motion happens much more often than a static one.
Smile from the corners of your eyes. Smile at the corners of your lips.
Learn to change your face and smile during a conversation.
Smile at the corners of your lips. Smile from the corners of your eyes.
And train, train, train...
And further. About women's faces. If a woman wants to please men, what kind of facial expression should she train? A?
Right. Men are attracted to faces that convey a desire for sex. Such persons also need to be trained, if this is important.
What faces are repulsive?
Fear and fright make their faces look so bad that you don’t want to approach them. This is a defensive reaction. Mask. And, unfortunately, these are the faces that people most often meet.
Fear, fear, discontent disfigure our faces. And, if such a condition is not uncommon in a girl, it leaves a reliable imprint on her face. And making such a face beautiful will be more and more difficult.
How to build a head?
The face is one of the most difficult subjects to draw. Firstly, like any other three-dimensional object, it has many bumps and depressions. But beyond that, the face must tell a story, evoke emotion, and create the illusion that a real person is looking at the viewer from a flat two-dimensional canvas. In the modern world, we are accustomed to seeing photos of some people on every corner. Imagine a time when photography did not exist - what an incredible experience it was to see a portrait of a person drawn! The art of conveying emotions has been honed over centuries.
Let's start by building the head. There are as many different ways to construct a human head on paper as there are artists. In life, the head and face are made up of two types of tissue. Hard and immobile tissue is the bones of the skull; soft and flexible tissue is muscle and fat. Magda proposes to build a skull from three geometric shapes: an oblong sphere, a rectangular parallelepiped and a semi-cylinder.
If you want to improve your portrait skills, you'd better learn the skull shape by heart. This part of the head changes little; it is more or less the same for everyone.
If you can draw the right skull, then the face can then be stylized in any possible way, and it will always look believable.
There is only one movable element in the skull - the jaw. She has a fairly flexible joint: it allows not only to open and close her mouth, but also to move her jaw forward, backward and to the sides. Try to imitate different bites with your teeth or just grind them, and you will understand what we are talking about. This is possible due to the fact that our jaw joint has a very clever working mechanism.
When we open our mouth, the hinge that allows for rotation doesn't stay in one place—instead, the entire jaw moves forward a little! Place your finger against your cheek where you can feel the joint move. Now open and close your mouth and you will notice a slight movement of your jaw back and forth. How does this relate to drawing? It's very simple: if you draw a person with an open mouth, his chin will have to move forward a little. Otherwise, you won't be able to achieve a believable look.
By improving our character we improve our appearance.
Our behavior and emotions are connected with our appearance, our face. The most common emotions shape character and shape our face. Therefore, there is a direct connection between our character and our faces. So be kind! Avoid irritability. By improving our character, we improve our appearance.
I led the practical psychology club for eight years. We conducted many different classes and trainings, completely different. But there were also activities aimed at inner and outer beauty, at harmony. And I saw how people “bloomed” and their faces changed.
There is a wonderful poem on our topic of human faces.
About the beauty of human faces. The poet, Nikolai Zabolotsky , perfectly revealed the theme of the beauty of human faces. Comparing faces with house facades is a wonderful metaphor, you’ll agree...
About the beauty of human faces
Nikolay Zabolotsky
There are faces like lush portals, Where everywhere the great appears in the small. There are faces - like miserable shacks, where the liver is boiled and the rennet gets wet.
Other cold, dead faces are closed with bars, like a dungeon. Others are like towers in which no one has lived or looked out of the window for a long time.
But I once knew a small hut, It was unprepossessing, not rich, But from its window the breath of a spring day flowed onto me.
Truly the world is both great and wonderful! There are faces - similarities to jubilant songs. From these notes, shining like the sun, a song of heavenly heights is composed.
There is one more poem. Vladimir Vysotsky. Still the same topic, but presented differently. If you are not interested, you can scroll through and read the article further.
Mouth movements
The lips are also surrounded by many muscle groups, giving them the ability to take on an infinite number of shapes. This allows us not only to express emotions, but also to pronounce various sounds. Have you ever wondered why we draw little vertical lines on the sides of our mouths? The corner of the mouth includes a ganglion (N) to which many muscles are attached (Figure S1). This knot has a spherical shape, which creates a small curved shadow in the corner of the mouth.
The pictures above and below show some of the lip shapes used to express joy, fear and anger. When drawing the mouth, do not forget that when the teeth open, the chin should be lowered. The upper lip tends to tighten and expose the teeth. If this occurs when smiling, the lip curl will be slight (Figures S2 and S3). But to convey anger or disgust, the lip will curve more aggressively, as shown below (G1, G2 and G3).
The muscles of the mouth can work asymmetrically, for example, we can smile with one corner of our lips. To understand what possibilities this opens up, experiment in front of a mirror.
MASKS
Vladimir Vysotsky
Laughing out loud among the distorting mirrors, I must have been cleverly played: Hooked noses and grins from ear to ear - Like at the Venetian carnival
What should I do? Run, but quickly?
Or maybe have fun with them? I hope I am under the mask of animals. Many have human faces.
Everyone is wearing masks, wigs - all as one. Who is fabulous, and who is literary. My neighbor on the right is a sad harlequin, Another is an executioner, and every third one is a fool.
I join the round dance laughing, But still I feel uneasy with them, - What if someone likes the executioner’s mask and doesn’t take it off?
What if the harlequin becomes sad forever, Admiring his own sad face? What if a fool forgets his stupid appearance on his normal face?
A ring closes around me, They grab me and drag me into a dance. Well, well, my usual face. Everyone else took it for a mask.
Firecrackers, confetti! But everything is not like that... And the masks look at me reproachfully. They shout that I’m out of step again, that I’m stepping on my partners’ feet.
Evil masks laugh at me, Cheerful ones begin to get angry, Hiding behind a mask, as if behind a wall, Their true human faces.
I'm chasing the muses, But I won't ask any of them to open up: What if the masks are thrown off, and there are still the same half-mask, half-face?
I finally got into the secret of the masks. I am sure that my analysis is accurate: And others have a mask of indifference - Protection from spitting and slaps.
But if you were a scoundrel without a mask, wear it. And you? Everything is clear to you. Why hide under someone else's face, When your own is truly beautiful?
How can I not miss a kind face? How can I guess the honest ones for sure? They decided to wear masks so as not to break their faces on the stones.
Nose movements
When it comes to expressing emotions, the role of the nose is underestimated. However, he is able to bring subtle but important nuances to a facial expression - if you draw it correctly, of course. Notice that in Figure N4 the nostrils extend along with the mouth. And when a person inhales deeply, they open wider than usual. This will help draw a tense facial expression, like in Figure N5. When we are angry or disgusted, we wrinkle our nose (N2 and N3).
Facial expressions with the corresponding nose: N1 - neutral, N2 - disgust, N3 - angry disgust, N4 - surprised, N5 - tense
We advise you to experiment more, mix different emotions and create unique expressions on the characters' faces. The main thing is to observe nature as much as possible! The Mirror is an essential tool for any character designer.
How to pose beautifully for children for photographs?
Why do you think children look beautiful in photographs? Because they do not worry about their appearance, children are inherently open to the world, to people, to everything new. We should learn from them.
Some ideas for photographing children:
I can’t show up in photos: what should I do?
Professional photographers say you don’t have to be handsome to look good in photos.
People with sharp features or uneven facial contours often look good in the frame. And attractive people with the right features for some reason look unattractive or do not stand out from the general background.
In order to please yourself and your loved ones in photographs, you need to find a suitable angle and work on your facial expressions.
How to look good and beautiful in photographs: poses
Learn to change your emotions
Various poses in the studio
Poses for pregnant women
Options for lovers
How to pose for a photo outdoors?
- When taking photos outdoors, avoid sunlight in your face, otherwise your eyes will squint.
- Foliage can cause shadows on the face.
- When photographing near landmarks, try not to stand at attention, otherwise the monument will not be in your background, but you will become the background.
- Don't forget about straight posture.
- Legs should not be cropped in the frame if a full-length photo is meant.
Successful shots on the street:
About the author:
Magdalena Proszowska, or simply Magda Proski, is a German artist of Polish origin. Known primarily for her stylized, eye-catching portraits and illustrations. She works as a senior concept artist at the German studio Ubisoft, which is developing the building strategy The Settlers. It is noteworthy that as a digital artist, Magda is self-taught. That does not prevent her from being a guest teacher at universities of game art in Cologne and Düsseldorf.
Original article in English
How to look good in photographs: simple rules
Before you take a photo next time, don't forget to learn 4 simple rules:
- Choose a pose . Stand in front of a mirror and experiment a little. Look at yourself from the outside. This makes it easier to understand which poses are successful for you and which ones you should avoid.
- Facial expression . Again, conduct an experiment: first look straight, then look away a little, tilt your head a little, smile or slightly raise your eyebrow. You can capture yourself at this moment so that later you can more carefully study the appropriate facial expression for the photo.
- Makeup . Regardless of the occasion for which you decide to take a photo, be it an ordinary weekday or a special event, watch your makeup. Avoid vulgar makeup (unless this is a themed photo shoot), give preference to natural shades. Don't experiment with new types of makeup if you're not sure they suit you.
- Cloth . It is customary to wear the most elegant and festive clothes for a photo shoot. In fact, you can look much better in photos in your usual everyday clothes. The most important thing is that it suits your figure, color scheme and is neat. How you feel in your clothes is also important. Often many people do not feel comfortable in business suits, in which case your stiffness will be visible in the photo. Even if you need to take a photo in business clothes, try to relax as much as possible.
What kind of facial expression should you make for a photograph to make it beautiful?
If a beautiful smile can be rehearsed or created with the help of teeth whitening and original lip makeup, then with facial expression everything is much more complicated. No matter how playfully you smile for a photo, your eyes and general facial expression can ruin everything. What kind of facial expression should you make for a photograph to make it beautiful? Some tips:
- A special look - look just above the lens. The eyes will appear more expressive. You can direct your gaze through the camera, then the look will be deep. Professional models have this technique: you need to look away to the side or to the floor, and at the photographer’s command, lift them up and look into the camera.
- A smile is not necessary for a good photo. Any facial expression is important: serious, playful, neutral, cheerful.
- Facial features and nose - being photographed clearly in profile or full face is not suitable for everyone. But everyone suits the classic 3/4 head turn.
- Don't be afraid to show your sexuality on camera. This is especially suitable for creating interesting photos for young girls.
What kind of facial expression should you make for a photograph to make it beautiful?
Relax and use your imagination. Many people do well in photographs because they can relax in front of the camera. If it helps, talk to her like you would a friend. Models are not afraid of the camera, so they take great photos.
