How to draw a Good Enough look of surprise

[blockquote source=”Camille Pissarro”]It is only by drawing often, drawing everything, drawing incessantly, that one fine day you discover to your surprise that you have rendered something in its true character.
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I am fascinated by the art of capturing facial expressions in drawing…and I am always amazed by cartoonists and illustrators who are able to capture the essence of a facial expression in the fewest possible lines. I even have the Grimace app on my smartphone so I can play around with creating facial expressions while I wait in between meetings and appointments!
 
Surprise is a constant in our worlds and lives. If we’re going to draw a Good Enough facial expression, I figured that surprising you with this one could be a really good move!
 
So when you want a dose of surprise in your day, or need to shake things up a little, why not try drawing out your idea with a bit of surprise? Here’s how:
 

How to draw a Good Enough look of surprise

Three Tips

When we’re surprised, the eyes get wide open and round, and our eyebrows raise up high into arcs over our forehead. You’ll notice that the way you draw your eyebrows communicates a lot…even though they’re simple lines. These three faces have the same eyes, nose, and mouth. Only the eyebrows change, but that single change communicates a range of expressions:
 

When we’re simply surprised – with no other emotion involved – our jaw drops and our mouth opens into a straight-up “O” shape. However, just as you can communicate a lot in the eyebrows, you can mix surprise with other emotions to get different mouth expressions. Take a look below:

 
Each face has the same eye expression…only the mouths change. But what a range of surprised faces you get when you go with straight-up surprise, surprised mixed with joy, and surprised mixed with sadness. Play with how you can change the flavor of your surprised expression by adding different emotions to the mix…you might be surprised by what you come up with! ;^)

 
What does YOUR look of surprise look like? Draw yours up, Tweet it out to @jeannelking #goodenough, and see what happens next!
 
Looking forward to seeing what you draw forth,

P.S. Want to have fun drawing AND inspire others to pick up the pen at the same time?  Got something you wish you could draw, but you’re not sure how to approach it? [highlights color=”ffea00″]Tweet your drawing or idea to @jeannelking and tag it with #goodenough: it could be featured in an upcoming “how to draw Good Enough” blog post![/highlights]