Following on from my last post about how the designs of the characters in my graphic novel, Oh Brother, have changed over the 7-ish years I’ve been working on the book, this post is about my absolute favourite thing: drawing emotions!
Once I’d settled on the redesigns, I wanted to make sure that I could draw these characters experiencing lots of different emotions but still remaining recognisable, even when their faces were squashed or stretched out of their neutral positions. Drawing emotions is something I’ve always enjoyed doing for some reason, maybe it’s the power behind capturing feelings or emotions (which I can find pretty hard to describe with words but much easier to capture with drawings).
I love making an emotion chart for my characters as it really helps me practice keeping the character consistent (something that I think is important for easy reading in comics: you don’t want to be questioning which character is which while trying to enjoy a story). Making these charts also means that I’ve drawn the character’s heads at least 20 more times before I even start on the book (and each time I draw them, it helps me to really settle on their character design).
Here are the character emotion charts I made for the main Oh Brother characters when I first started working on the book (2016) and last year (2022) before I started working on the thumbnails.
2016
2022
Originally my character was older in the book, so I had longer hair. In the new version I have my beautiful early teen hairstyle (short, not-as-cool-as-I-wanted pixie cut).
2016
2022
Rob, although technically older in the original version too, didn’t change as much in design. Although, being younger, I gave him a softer, rounder face and nose.
2016
2022
Mum’s hair has and always will remain elusive for me. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to draw it accurately. I claim that it has a life of its own.
2016
2022
Dad’s design remains similar (he’s still got that sandpaper stubble) but because the book is now set when we were all younger, I was able to pay homage to what I thought of as my father’s most defining facial feature, his moustache (something that he had for most of my childhood but has now been without for much longer).
The only character who doesn’t have an emotion chart to compare is Callie, who is a new addition to this version of the book. Since doing this emotion chart for her and working on the pencils, I’ve decided to not give her a fringe (but I’ve kept pretty much everything else the same).
I’ve always enjoyed cartooning (in comics and animation) because you can really push how you draw emotions to clearly showcase how a character might be feeling or thinking. I find it much easier to connect to these more exaggerated characters. I’m also the kind of person who practices pulling faces in every mirror or any reflective surface that comes my way (often practicing how my smile looks - so I know what my face feels like when my smile looks right and I haven’t got mirror in front of me to check).
I love these little emotion charts; I find them super helpful to refer back to as I’m working on a project. I would recommend making them for your characters too (even if you’re not working on a big project and it’s just for fun). But be warned: you may find yourself pulling the faces you’re trying to draw!
Following on from my last post about how the design of the characters in my graphic novel, Oh Brother, have changed over the 7-ish years I’ve been working on the book, this post is about my absolute favourite thing: drawing emotions!