This comprehensive visual index to the subtleties of emotion conveyed by facial expression is the only book of its kind. The Artist's Complete Guide to Facial Expression carefully explains and illustrates the role of the muscles of expression and the effects of these muscles on the face. The images presented, from the author's own work and from photographic and artistic sources, focus on the action of muscles in three key areas of the face - the forehead and brows, the eyes, and the mouth and chin.
Gary Faigin shows how the successful portrayal of the face is dependent on an understanding of the deep forms of head and skull. Faigin goes on to illustrate the expressive results of individual facial muscles. This structural information is then drawn together in a brilliant section, which is devoted to depicting the six basic human expressions - sadness, anger, joy, fear, disgust, and surprise. Each emotion is portrayed in steadily increasing intensity, from subtle signs of the emotion to full-blown expressions. Detailed renderings are supplemented by illustrations from such other sources as news photos, cartoons, movie posters, and art masterworks - complex, finished works that show the basic emotional patterns in use. An appendix features examples of each nuance of the basic expressions, including similar facial states of purely physical origin, such as yawning or the face of pain.
The Artist's Complete Guide to Facial Expression is a major contribution to the literature of art instruction. This is a unique work, highly intelligent yet lively and entertaining, on a subject crucial to the development of every artist.