Free Reference Sheet for Learning to Draw Eyes and Expressions

Learn to depict different emotions and expressions in your character designs and make your comics unique

A few years back, when thinking about comics, you would inevitably imagine superhero stories. With the advent of social media, the variety of themes and styles of this genre has become remarkable. The possibilities are endless when mixing illustration techniques and imagination.

The same thing happens with the characters. There are so many out there, so how do you ensure yours will captivate the readers? Expressing their emotions is key for creating a closer bond and an interesting image. For this reason, the expressions sheet shared by illustrator and cartoonist Rocío Diestra (@rociodiestra) will be an excellent reference to help you draw how your characters feel at any given time.

Before discovering the content of the Rocío Diestra download, we invite you to check out some comics examples to help you expand your knowledge.

15 Examples of Amazing Comic Strips to Inspire You

Creating your first comic is an exciting challenge but can also be quite daunting. This post shows cartoonists' work to get your creative juices flowing and inspire you to create your first comic.

Also, check out how to download 15,000 free comics, and watch a Domestika Live video showing a Marvel illustrator at work. With these essential beginner resources, you will have the confidence to startf creating your first comic.

Character Design Tutorial: How to Draw Manga Eyes

The EUDETENIS (@eudetenis) duo, formed by Giovana Serafim (illustrator and designer) and Paulo (scriptwriter and editor), specializes in manga comics. In this article’s tutorial, Giovana gives you tips on how to draw different types of eyes.

The expressivity of a character's gaze has always been and continues to be very important in reinforcing the features and emotions typical of this style.

Download an expression reference sheet for your characters

Rocío Diestra has worked with brands such as Absolut Vodka, Nestlé, and Kaiku Sin Lactosa. She has also published the book This Book Is Not About You, through Penguin Random House. Although much of her work revolves around romantic relationships, the artist also deals with the world of friendships and or self-reflection.

Therefore, if there is a recurring theme in her cartoons, it is her characters’ emotions. This is key to connecting with people.

What expressions does the download include?

The eyes are the most expressive part of a face. Rocío's style consists of drawing them as dots. However, when emotions are more complex, she adds other details. The sheet shared by Rocío (in spanish) will help you when drawing the following moods:

- Neutral
- Worried
- Happy
- Sad
- Tired
- Surprised

As only eyes appear in the first part of the expression sheet, you can see how it shows how important they are for expressing emotions. Then, Rocío shares the entire facial anatomy to show full expressions. By paying close attention to the lines she draws, you will learn to depict a neutral, happy or annoyed state.

Tips for drawing expressions

Keping a mirror close by when drawing helps our illustrator a grat deal. You can see which parts of your face are pulled when you change your expression and then transfer it to the page.

The reality is that you don't need to know a lot about drawing faces to achieve expressive characters. It is simply a matter of observing the imaginary lines that are formed with each emotion. You can also get inspired by emojis. Despite being very simple elements, they have great communicative power. What is your favorite?

After clicking on the button below, you will find a file in .pdf format in the Downloads folder on your computer containing the Expressions for comic strip characters reference sheet, by Rocío Diestra.

This download is only available until September 10, 2021. If you want to access the material after this date, you’ll need to sign up for the course Digital Comic Illustration for Social Media, by Rocío Diestra. You can transform a client's brief into a digital comic strip by learning how to illustrate original cartoons.

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