Lesson

The objective of the lesson is to gain a greater understanding of human facial expressions. The seven universal facial expressions are characterized by various features. Simple breakdowns of these elements are shown below. After looking at these micro-expressions, the class will pair up and each person will spend 10 minutes sketching their partner to get a proportional face to work with, though they may choose to work with a detail if they wish. The focus of the class is not portraiture and identity or accuracy is not essential. 45 minutes will be spent developing the face into one of the seven universal expressions below. This lesson is a technical development of expression and does not emphasize other elements of the portrait like value, texture, composition, etc, though the artist may choose to push these as a way of increasing the emotional and communicative power of the drawing.

TEST: A drawing easily recognizable as one of the seven universal emotions is effective and earns a B. One recognizable as a human face but lacking expression earns a C. A drawing which pushes expression to the obtainment of personality and true feeling earns an A.

Letter to Art III

The pattern of education when it comes to school is one of structure. A high school art class throws phrases at you like "composition", "elements of design", and "components of art". There is a quest for order and simple definitions, the breaking down of a finite machine into its levers and gears. If you wish to continue art into some capacity of your later life, it is important that you grasp the inadequecies of this perspective. It is a feeble mentality we must, by situation, humor and tolerate, but never buy into because, as artists, we know our work will never truly be subject to rubrics and numbers. That is not to say a methodical approach to art is without value; the greatest thing I have ever learned from my high school classes was to think through my work before and during production. As with anything in life, only a balance, between the deliberate and spontaneous, will yield beautiful work which preserves natural meaning. I simply ask that you not approach your art as the sum of a few parts which, if accumulated with proper precision, will create something of any significance. Evaluators and teachers must, to some degree, quantify our work to grade it, and certainly their input is usually valid and occasionally even instrumental in our development as artists. But an obsession with grades and a checklist of elements which define "good art" will only eclipse one of the greatest beliefs I have arrived at over the last few years; the most beautiful and wonderful things in this world are those which are created for their own sake.

I have explored human expression from a number of different angles. Piece 1 is a self portrait which uses multiple expressions to display how the face portrays the layers of one's personality. In Piece 2 I combined the faces of people as they wish to be seen by others, resulting in a study of human expressions when they are broken down and simplified. Pieces 4-7 observe the same subject with different expressions. I used ink and hard line to show the definite substance behind human expression, and softer use of charcoal to create range and depth of emotion and mood, illustrating how human expressions have power beyond the specific characteristics of each face. Piece 8 and 9 reduce the face to these basic elements using details of the subjects. The effect is to demonstrate these factors despite their lessened communicative ability relative to the human form in its entirety. I removed the face for Piece 10 to convey expression using the entire body rather than just the face. Pieces 11 and 12 similarly remove expression and rely on the basest forms of body language to describe human interaction and emotion, describing the many ways, both good and bad, people communicate with each other.

My understanding of art is as an extension of humanity's constant determination to communicate and truly connect with the world around us. To this end, I concentrated my work on a study of human expression. There is beauty in the details of our faces and our smallest gestures; subtleties which define our emotions and interactions, and develop a physical voice. It was my aim to explore, understand, and illuminate these nuances which show the meaning behind everything we do.