Facial Expressions: A Visual Reference for Artists

If you are having trouble understanding physiognomy this is the book for you. This books has multiple subjects viewed from not only the head on, profile, three quarters, and back view, but also technically dynamic angles and a range of expressions that range from the mundane to the sometimes strained/ laughable expresions. the "Facial Expression" book varies between male and female, young (21) and old (78), and someone who is portly vs. someone who is thin. My only qualm with this book, the reason why it's four stars instead of five, is in how it addresses race. Of the 48 participants I'd say roughly 8 are non-white, it's a guesstimate because the pictures are black and white, so some people people appear to be non-white when in actuallity they just have a tan or are red in the face. While you truly don't need people from different races to show the range of facial expressions it couldn't hurt. If they at least had a non-white or two in the +50 age range it wouldn't bother me so much, but they don't, and I believe that people from different races ages differently (some people might get more pronounced jowls, deeper wrinkles, sun spots, thinning out of hair, etc.)

Besides that it's a good buy.

On recieving this book I have instantly used it as my reference material as a flash animator and designer. I needed a granny face and i just flipped to the back and found one! Although it is missing kids faces, it is a great book and Mark Simon has yet again supplied the industry with some more support and reference. Thank you!

Some useful photos and information. Much more a reference book than instructional, and I have to agree with the reviewer that said this is more for cartooning than portrait drawing.

That being said, it's not useless. I will definately refer to it, and there are some more natural poses and useful information. I didn't think the faces were ugly, certainly intresting, but then most figures in paintings that are enjoyable to look at aren't classicly beautiful. It's not a stand alone book, but certainly one to add to your library of reference material.

I was hoping that this extensively revised second edition would be a useful addition to my modelling library. No such luck.

I found the models in this book ugly. There is nothing on mesh topology (which must be modelled right before expressions are started), and very little information to help with production workflow.

Skip this one and look for something realy good like 'Stop Staring' by Jason Osipa.

This is a very well thought out book with superb photos. If you need reference material this book has it. I am using it for practice. One exercise I do is I try to draw the photo reversed, for example if the head is turned with the right side facing the camera I will try to draw the left side facing the camera. Also I will try to foreshorten an expression at a different angle. The only draw back to this book is that it doesn't have any children in it. I am guessing that it would have been difficult to get children to exhibit the expressions found in the book. Overall the book is well worth the price.