Any good (well acted) references for facial expressions?

[El_Psy_Congroo]

I was once in a book store's art section and saw this book that was literally all photos of facial expressions. I want to be able to get subtle looks of emotion out of my characters so that the art can speak for the writing. Does anyone know any good free online references for this specifically? Obviously I can pause frames in movies or tv shows I like but that seems tedious...

[marygold]

There should be a source once you search for it, or do what I do. Read widely, and when you happen to come across an awesome expression, save the dam picture!

[J.Lovelace]

Hmmm. There was that meme once where artists would pick an OC/character and draw their face expressions showing various emotions. I'm pretty sure once you type "facial expression meme" in Google, there should be plenty of material to work with

[AnnaLandin]

You know, you could always use a mirror. : D It's what I do, whenever I have to do a tricky expression! The best thing about using your own face as reference is that it's always right there with you!

[El_Psy_Congroo]

@marygold
@jutawi

I probably should have been a bit specific - I've found some stuff on google search but a lot of people who take these pictures make there faces either a bit too contorted or just basic emotions (happy, sad, etc). What I'm looking for are more subtle emotions, possibly done by actors. The book I was talking about had interesting labels like "recalling a memory" and "homesick". Obviously this is interpreted by the model and may seem similar sometimes to other emotions but I am looking for subtlety, and I was just wondering if anyone knows any very extensive/professionally done libraries as opposed to members of deviantart (which are fine, I've used them but still). This is why I mentioned pausing movies and tv shows.

@AnnaLandin I'm a terrible actor haha.

[sarrowsmith10]

ou know, you could always use a mirror. : D It's what I do, whenever I have to do a tricky expression! The best thing about using your own face as reference is that it's always right there with you!

The number of selfies I've taken for this very reason... haha

But seriously, I can't recommend this generator enough:
http://www.grimace-project.net/

[El_Psy_Congroo]

This is so much fun and its based on... SCIENCE! Thank you =]

[Kayke]

oh my gosh this is so much fun!

[marygold]

If you ever need cartoon/drawing collections of expressions, the manga Tokyo Ghoul and it's sequel Tokyo Ghoul:re has a good collection of contorted, subtle, happy, sad, angry expressions in every, single, chapter. It gets better with the sequel.

Meanwhile I'm going to check out that website too...

[El_Psy_Congroo]

I love Ishida Sui sensei's work. He/she really knows how to draw emotion and mental states well. But I should add, I'm not looking for specific author's interpretations of faces but the faces themselves haha. His/her expressions are so good he definitely uses references.

EDIT: anyone do the grimace quiz? apparently I'm terrible at reading faces, I got it 56% of the time

[J.Lovelace]

Look up Colin O'Donoghue then. He has a very expressive face.

[El_Psy_Congroo]

So...

and I thought I'd share it with you guys:

Emotions and Facial Expression

[R.n.P]

You can try checking out original bleach drawings by the creator Kubo Tite cuz the way he draws eyes and faces really give off messages without him having to write much on what the characters are thinking or wanna say

[indagold]

what I do is take photos of myself on the computer using the computer's camera. Or photos online. Or anatomy books. Honestly that's the best place to look if you're struggling. I really do believe go to that first and when you're really confident in your work then use cartoons as inspiration.