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Facial Expressions: A Visual Reference for Artists Paperback – June 1, 2005
| Mark Simon (Author) Find all the books, read about the author, and more. See search results for this author |
| Price | New from | Used from |
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- Print length256 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherWatson-Guptill
- Publication dateJune 1, 2005
- Dimensions9 x 0.73 x 10.73 inches
- ISBN-100823016714
- ISBN-13978-0823016716
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Product details
- Publisher : Watson-Guptill; 1st edition (June 1, 2005)
- Language : English
- Paperback : 256 pages
- ISBN-10 : 0823016714
- ISBN-13 : 978-0823016716
- Item Weight : 1.96 pounds
- Dimensions : 9 x 0.73 x 10.73 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #197,697 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #53 in Art Portraits
- #99 in Human Figure Art (Books)
- #179 in Figure Drawing Guides
- Customer Reviews:
About the author

I have worked in the entertainment industry for 30 years and have been a professional artist for over 40 years. My background includes live action and animation production, print, writing and teaching.
I was also bullied in high school. That's the subject of my memoir, Attacked! After brutal attacks on my entire family, I became the first person in the country to hold parents responsible for the actions of their kids in a court of law.
I now own Storyboards & Animatics, Inc., based in Atlanta, a company which provides storyboards, illustrations, cartoons and comic book illustration to the entertainment and print industries. We are now the largest storyboard supplier in the Southern United States having worked on over 5,000 productions, ranging from feature films to television series, live action, animation, commercials, industrials, books, magazines, newspapers and more. Our clients include Stranger Things, The Walking Dead, Black Lightning, Dynasty, Woody Woodpecker, Disney, Universal, Viacom, Sony, HBO, Nickelodeon, Steven Spielberg, Fox, USA Networks, ABC, AT&T, Yamaha, NASA, and many, many others.
I also co-founded www.SellYourTvConceptNow.com with my producer wife, Jeanne. We help people to develop, package and pitch their TV concepts.
My animated shorts have won over 200 international awards. We also animated Disney's iconic character, Tinker Bell, for the hugely successful Disney Cruise Line.
The series of animated shorts, Timmy's Lessons In Nature, which I developed (along with Travis Blaise and Jeanne Simon), directed and produced, and won Grand Prize in Nickelodeon's and Animation Magazine's first-ever Nicktoons Film Festival.
I am also the author of 12 entertainment industry texts.
My book Storyboards: Motion In Art, 3rd Edition, is used around the world to train storyboard artists.
Facial Expressions is a photo reference guide for artists of all disciplines.
Prior to storyboarding and producing animation, I was an art director in live-action film and TV in Los Angeles, CA and Orlando, FL. While in Los Angeles, I designed many feature films, music videos and commercials. I then became the second art director at the new Nickelodeon Studios in Orlando, FL in 1989.
I have also done Second Unit directing for Nickelodeon and on Steven Speilberg's seaQuest DSV as well as working as a Special Effects Supervisor for NBC and Fox networks.
I currently storyboard on Stranger Things, Black Lightning and The Walking Dead and lecture around the world at major conferences, conventions and schools.
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Learn more how customers reviews work on AmazonReviewed in the United States on August 12, 2021
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That out of the way, I clearly bought this because I'm am artist and this is a must have reference for anyone who does really any medium of art that has ant semblance of a human face in it, or monsters or character animals etc. It helps with gestures, expressions glasses sun glasses, hats/headgear of literally any means (ethnic headdress, Sombrero, sports face masks, hats, visors and helmets, snorkel and scuba headgear, safety masks such as gas masks, COVID/medical masks 😷 etc. And it shows them in different positions).
There is even a section of two people kissing, a few full pages of them in different types of embrace from the shoulders up which also shows their hands and that's so helpful.
There's a section for phonemes. The way different people look when making the sounds words make. Especially vowels. And there's expressions showing different types of emotions, yelling, grimacing anger, laughter, you name it.
The book is absolutely packed with 3 pages for each model (sometimes 2) and then examples of absolutely astounding ways artists have used their likeness from one or more of their pictures in their sculpture, comic, painting, drawing...
253 pages of non stop headsets from all different angles with all different expressions from the skull with muscles and without which is really cool all diagramed hen with a page of pictures for each.. And models of all ages of very uniquely different people young and old.
The only thing I didn't see was children.
That would probably fill another book this size if done by this amazing author.
He was VERY kind as to not only thank the models in the front of the book, but he listed all of their contacts should anyone want to use them for more of their work. He also listed all the artists and their websites and contacts and gave them very kind praise for their skill and talent of imagination and creativity.
So....this is one heck of a reference that EVERY artist should have on their shelf (mine rarely gets put away which accounts to a lot of the wear you might see in the pictures). Although if your groove is painting watercolor meadows full of beautiful flowers, or oil paintings of giant landscapes, maybe you could pass on this. Otherwise, if you can, don't pass this one up. If I could, I would give it 10 stars. It's absolutely fantastic.
By Six Anne Mercer on August 12, 2021
That out of the way, I clearly bought this because I'm am artist and this is a must have reference for anyone who does really any medium of art that has ant semblance of a human face in it, or monsters or character animals etc. It helps with gestures, expressions glasses sun glasses, hats/headgear of literally any means (ethnic headdress, Sombrero, sports face masks, hats, visors and helmets, snorkel and scuba headgear, safety masks such as gas masks, COVID/medical masks 😷 etc. And it shows them in different positions).
There is even a section of two people kissing, a few full pages of them in different types of embrace from the shoulders up which also shows their hands and that's so helpful.
There's a section for phonemes. The way different people look when making the sounds words make. Especially vowels. And there's expressions showing different types of emotions, yelling, grimacing anger, laughter, you name it.
The book is absolutely packed with 3 pages for each model (sometimes 2) and then examples of absolutely astounding ways artists have used their likeness from one or more of their pictures in their sculpture, comic, painting, drawing...
253 pages of non stop headsets from all different angles with all different expressions from the skull with muscles and without which is really cool all diagramed hen with a page of pictures for each.. And models of all ages of very uniquely different people young and old.
The only thing I didn't see was children.
That would probably fill another book this size if done by this amazing author.
He was VERY kind as to not only thank the models in the front of the book, but he listed all of their contacts should anyone want to use them for more of their work. He also listed all the artists and their websites and contacts and gave them very kind praise for their skill and talent of imagination and creativity.
So....this is one heck of a reference that EVERY artist should have on their shelf (mine rarely gets put away which accounts to a lot of the wear you might see in the pictures). Although if your groove is painting watercolor meadows full of beautiful flowers, or oil paintings of giant landscapes, maybe you could pass on this. Otherwise, if you can, don't pass this one up. If I could, I would give it 10 stars. It's absolutely fantastic.
And boy, she didn’t fail me.
This book has young adults to elderly, each model having three pages of worthy expressions that are fun to sketch. All photos are from the neck up, giving different perspectives and facial expressions. They even have a little gallery of kissing, wearing hats, and mouths showing certain ways of how to say a vowel or consonant.
My only consis that I was hoping for them to input children expressions in, but I will take what I got with all the other models.
The photo quality could be considered average if you are looking for in-depth details of the face to be clear. Not the best, but I manage with it just fine.
Another thing would be that they don’t identify which facial expressions are which, but I don’t mind since I can tell through common sense on most.
Other than that, I fully recommend getting if you are looking for visual references of expressions to use! :)
By Selena Amaro on August 9, 2021
And boy, she didn’t fail me.
This book has young adults to elderly, each model having three pages of worthy expressions that are fun to sketch. All photos are from the neck up, giving different perspectives and facial expressions. They even have a little gallery of kissing, wearing hats, and mouths showing certain ways of how to say a vowel or consonant.
My only consis that I was hoping for them to input children expressions in, but I will take what I got with all the other models.
The photo quality could be considered average if you are looking for in-depth details of the face to be clear. Not the best, but I manage with it just fine.
Another thing would be that they don’t identify which facial expressions are which, but I don’t mind since I can tell through common sense on most.
Other than that, I fully recommend getting if you are looking for visual references of expressions to use! :)
Unfortunately, though, the black-and-white photos aren't of particularly good quality and it's difficult to see some detail that would be helpful in many of the photos. There are 16 photos to each page which definitely limits their size; but even viewing them under some of the professional magnifiers I own, the detail is not sharp enough in many cases to be helpful.
This is actually the only negative I have of the book -- in every other aspect, I'd rate it 5-stars. But, poor photo quality in a book that is only comprised of photos is a BIG negative. My 3-star rating is actually an "okay" -- which is what I feel the book is. There's a lot of good stuff in the book, but it's offset by the photo quality in my opinion.
Despite the photo quality, there is much to love about this book if you're an artist attempting to convey some form of expression of the human face. There are LOADS of faces (2,500 apparently -- I didn't count them, but that's what the book promises). The best part of all of these faces is that they're making various expressions--some typical, some bizarrely exaggerated--and they show that person's head/face from all different angles (the various angles of the same expression is very beneficial for sculpting the human head). There are front views, various angles of side views, views looking downward at the face, and others with head tilted back so you're seeing the chin stretch (and, frankly, looking up the nose). The photos are of both males and females, include various ethnicities, and are broken into age ranges of 20s through early 80s.
Besides the expressive faces, there are also a few pages that show sequential expressions, the position of the mouth/lips while expressing phonemes, kissing positions, and various types of hats and headgear. There's also a small section at the beginning that shows the skull as well as the underlying muscles of the face (but, again, the photo quality isn't very good there).
I was initially disappointed when I received the book and considered returning it. However, I've decided that I'll likely find some benefit from some of the photos. I'm hopeful that Mr. Simon may decide to publish some version of it again with better photo quality. If he does, I'll buy.
Top reviews from other countries
Also at the end of the book, there is a gallery of sequential expressions, kissing, hats & headgear and phonemes (for those not in the know, these are the shape your mouth makes when you say certain letters. Dead useful for animation).
Definately great reference for any artist, but it would have been better in colour, hence the 4 star rating.













