Lesson video

Hello, my name is Mrs. Tipping and I'm really looking forward to learning with you today all about photography and painting and looking at facial expressions in portraiture.

We're going to do lots of thinking, talking and exploring together in this lesson.

So shall we get started? Let's go.

By the end of today's lesson, you'll be able to draw and analyse facial expressions to understand emotions.

Before we start, I would like to introduce you to some keywords.

We'll be using these keywords throughout the lesson, so it might be a good idea to write these keywords down.

The keywords we'll be using today are emotion, feature, analyse, proportion, detail.

I'm going to say those again and I would like you to repeat them after me.

Emotion, feature, analyse, proportion, detail.

Good job.

Now, let's think in more detail about what these keywords mean.

Here are the definitions for each of our keywords.

Emotion is a strong feeling, such as happiness, sadness or anger.

A feature is a part of the face, like the eyes, mouth or nose.

To analyse means to examine something in detail to understand it better.

Proportion is how big or small parts of something are compared to each other.

A detail is a small part of something that adds to its overall appearance.

Pause the video here to make a note of these keywords and when you're ready to continue, press play.

These are the learning cycles that we'll be working through together in today's lesson.

Facial expressions and their emotions, sketching facial expressions.

In the first learning cycle, we're going to explore facial expressions and their emotions.

When we look at people's faces, what emotions do we see? If we take a look at that photograph of a person there, what do we see, what emotion in their face? How do the eyes, eyebrows and mouth reveal this emotion? Hmm.

Take a look at that photo, what do you think? Emotions like happiness, sadness and anger can be seen through facial expressions.

Artists use facial expressions to show emotions like these and tell stories in their portraits.

So take a look there, that mouth, eyebrows, and eyes, how those facial expressions show emotions.

Each of the facial features plays a part in conveying an emotion.

The eyes may widen when a person is surprised or squint when they are angry.

The eyebrows might raise up for curiosity or become furrowed if feeling frustration.

The mouth curves upwards into a smile for happiness, while it can turn downward for sadness.

So each of those facial expressions can convey an emotion.

Let's take a moment to pause and check our understanding.

Happiness, sadness and anger are all examples of emotions, portraits or personalities? Pause the video here and give yourself a moment to think about this and press play when you're ready to continue.

What did you think? If you said that happiness, sadness and anger are all examples of emotions, you're absolutely right.

Well done.

Analysing something means examining it in detail to understand it better.

So let's take a look here at this drawing.

If we really look closely at the detail to understand it, can you see how we break that portrait up to look at that closer detail? Looking at the mouth, nose, eyes and eyebrows.

Facial expressions may seem complicated at first, but the features can be analysed and broken down into simpler shapes and lines.

Can you see how we've broken that portrait down, the facial expressions into just the features here at the end? Now, the positions of the facial features can change a facial expression and the emotion it conveys.

Let's take a look at these three here.

In that first one, the eyebrows are quite neutral and in the second one, they look slightly furrowed.

And then the third one, even more so.

The neutral facial expression gradually becomes angrier by changing the position of the eyebrows and increasing the line weight.

Can you see from the first to the second to the third how the eyebrows have changed? A person may react with or against the surrounding environment, so the context affects our facial expressions.

Now, not all smiles convey the same emotion.

There are many reasons and situations in which people might smile.

Discuss with a partner what emotions and feelings each of these smiles might convey.

Pause the video here and give yourself time to have that discussion and press play when you're ready to continue.

What did you think? What did each of those smiles convey? What type of emotion? Jacob thinks the subtle smile looks like it might be being forced.

Perhaps they are smiling to be polite.

So that's the first image there.

But in the second one, he thinks the smile with teeth showing looks more genuine and like the person is happy.

Alex says, "At first, I thought this smile was difficult to identify, but when I copied it, I found I was pulling a funny face and I think this person is too." What did you think when you looked at those three smiles? Now, by analysing portraits, we can see how simple shapes and lines can be used to sketch portraits, expressions and features.

You might use ovals for heads, circles for eyes and curves for lips.

Let's take a moment to pause and check our understanding here.

Is this statement true or false? All types of smile indicate the emotion of happiness in a person.

Is that true or false? Pause the video here and give yourself a moment to answer that question and press play when you're ready to continue.

What did you think? If you said that that's false, you're absolutely right, but why is that? Hmm.

Pause the video again and see if you can give a reason why smiles that don't just indicate the emotion of happiness in a person and press play when you're ready to continue.

What did you think? What was your reason why? Well, if you said there are many different types of smiles, such as a polite smile or a genuine smile which can convey different emotions, you're absolutely right, well done.

This brings us to our first learning task.

I'd like you to analyse a facial expression using basic shapes and lines to draw different facial expressions.

You might use a mirror or a picture reference for guidance.

Have a go at experimenting with drawing the same facial feature such as the eyes, eyebrows or mouth whilst conveying different emotions.

So pause the video here and give yourself enough time to analyse a facial expression using basic shapes and lines to draw different facial features and press play when you're ready to continue.

How did that go? Shall we take a look at an example? So you might have drawn eyebrows and eyes like this.

The eyes and eyebrows were drawn whilst conveying the emotion of surprise in the first one, happiness in the second and anger in the third.

So hopefully you've had enough time to have a go at practising different facial features conveying different emotions.

Well done for completing that learning task.

The second part of our lesson, we're going to explore sketching facial expressions.

Because of the variety of emotions that facial expressions can convey, it is important to draw the facial features accurately and in proportion.

Proportions are how big or small one thing is compared to another, such as the size of the eyes to the nose or mouth.

Proportions can be used in portraits to map out positions of each of the facial features.

You can see that in this image here how the lines have helped to map that out.

The eyes are placed halfway on the head.

The nose sits halfway between the eye line and the chin and the middle of the mouth is halfway the nose and the chin.

You can use proportions to sketch the positions for each of the facial features as basic shapes.

These basic shapes can be developed and refined later on, so it is important to get them in the right place first.

Now, by using proportions, artists can create a well-drawn expression, which makes a portrait feel more realistic and engaging.

Let's take a moment to pause and check our understanding.

What is the first step to take when sketching a face? Adding details, adding colour or drawing the basic shapes? Pause the video here and give yourself a moment to answer that question and press play when you're ready to continue.

How did you get on? If you said that the first step was drawing the basic shapes, you're absolutely right.

Well done.

Now, we're gonna have a go at sketching some facial expressions.

I'm going to have a go using a mirror for reference to draw an eye using a continuous line.

So I'm not going to lift my pen off the paper.

I'm giving myself 30 seconds for that.

So when I've had a go at that drawing, this is what I've ended up with.

So you can see I've had a go at drawing the eye using a continuous line.

I'd like you to have a go at doing the same.

So use a mirror for reference.

Draw an eye with a continuous line.

So don't lift your pen off the paper.

Pause the video here and give yourself 30 seconds and press play when you're ready to continue.

How did you get on? Well, Sam also had a go and she said it was quite difficult to not lift the pen up, so she had to trace back over the lines.

Did you have to do the same? How did you find that? Well, let's have a go at something else.

I'm going to use a mirror for reference to draw an eye, nose and a mouth using only straight lines.

So I'm gonna give myself a minute to do that.

This is the drawing that I ended up with.

Now, using a mirror for reference, I'd like you to also have a go at drawing an eye, nose and mouth using only straight lines.

So pause the video here and give yourself one minute to draw the eye, nose and mouth using only straight lines and press play when you're ready to continue.

How did you find that? Well, when Izzy had a go, she says, "I think I did well at using lots of short straight lines to make the curved shapes." How did you find it? Can you see in mine how I've kept those lines straight? And some of them are quite short to try and achieve that curved look, but we don't have any curved lines.

Now, let's have a go at using a mirror for reference to make a blind drawing of a face.

So don't look at the paper.

Okay, so I'm gonna spend a minute doing that myself and this is what I ended up with.

What do you think? Have a go yourself now.

So use a mirror for reference, but make a blind drawing of a face.

So don't look at your paper.

Only give yourself a minute to do that.

So pause the video here and press play when you're ready to continue.

How did you find that task? Well, I know Jun, he said at first he looked down at his drawing and he thought it looked quite funny, but actually he'd got most of the proportions correct.

That's a bit like mine.

You can see where the eyes, nose and mouth are and even the eyebrows and most of them are quite accurate, but I'm sure you found it quite tricky to not look at that paper when you were drawing, but well done.

Now, once the basic shapes and proportions for a facial expression are mapped out, a portrait can be developed through shading and details.

So you can see this image here, we've got the basic shapes there, so now we can add more detail.

Details are the smaller parts of something.

Details are used in portraits to refine the sketch and enhance the facial expression.

Can you see how this simple line drawing the first one becomes more expressive by adding extra details, lines and a highlight? What effect does the addition of the shading and adding extra details have on drawing this mouth? Hmm.

Well, shading can be used in a drawing to give it more depth, making it appear more three dimensional and realistic.

Let's take a moment to pause and check our understanding.

How can shading improve a sketch? It adds depth, it makes it colourful, it simplifies the drawing.

Pause the video here and have a go at answering that question and press play when you're ready to continue.

What did you think? If you said it adds depth, you're absolutely right.

Shading can improve a sketch as it adds depth.

This brings us to our final learning task.

I'd like you to draw a portrait which conveys an emotion of your choice through the facial expression.

You might use a mirror or a photograph for reference.

I'd like you to lightly sketch the overall shape of the face using simple shapes and map out the positions of the facial features, considering the proportions of each to guide them into the right place.

Pause the video here and give yourself enough time to draw that portrait to convey the emotion of your choice and press play when you're ready to continue.

How did that go? Shall we take a look at an example? So you may have sketched lightly using basic shapes first, then considered the proportions of each of the facial features.

Then used a variety of lines to create texture and detail, and then added shading to create depth and make it more realistic.

Take a look at this drawing here.

Maybe yours is quite similar.

Well done for completing that learning task.

Now, before we finish this lesson, let's summarise what we've learned about analysing a facial expression through drawing.

Facial expressions can convey many different emotions, including happiness, sadness, anger and surprise.

Faces can be analysed and simplified by using basic shapes.

Accurately positioning facial features helps when communicating emotions, and this can be helped by considering their proportions.

And including details and using shading helps to make a portrait artwork look more realistic and expressive.

Thank you for joining me in this lesson today.

I hope to see you in the next one.

See you next time.