Position:Home>Visual Arts> HELP!!!! drawing tips for emotions??? ?

I am a professional artist and illustrator and I don't know your age but I really appreciate that you understand that art is not only about technical skills but also the emotions and connecting to someone's life and feelings!. I can tell you will be a good artist!.

I worked on a series of artwork called!.!.!.!."We are all born from our tears!." They were basically teardrops with images inside them!.
Images and pain that helped us become who we are today!.

I have also done pictures of women whose eyes, mouths are sewn shut!.!.!.!.for censorship or controlling a woman and not giving her a choice or hurting her!.

Child Abuse!.!.!.!.I did a picture of a young girl cowering in the corner and a shadow approaching!.!.!.!.a broken doll thrown and broken next to the girl symbolizing what the girl will feel and possibly be like after the hits!.

Rape is a hard one!.!.!.!.!.!.The fear in a person's eyes or a shadow or person reflected in her eyes!. A hand covering her mouth and a very close up to make it feel more dangerous, more claustropobic!.

Suicide can be what is going through the person's head, so many images overcoming a person with her/his head in his hands!. Why is this person suicidal!? Family issues!? Boyfriend/Girlfriend!? school!?
Have something in the background or hidden images about why this person wants to commit suicide!. Is the image before, during or afterwards suicide!. It may be shocking but that is ok!. You want people sometimes to feel uncomfortable!.

People looking in mirrors and seeing something different than what is really there!. Maybe the anorexic sees a fat person!.

I have many more ideas!.!.!.!.!.but I think you have the talent to work with some of these ideas and make them your own!.
I hope I helped!.

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You can't over-think it!. if your an emotion drawer then it's supposed to be what you feel!.!.!.when you think of those words, what do you picture in your head!? like without thinking about it, just close your eyes and think the word and draw whatever image pops into your head!. that's what makes an artist a great artist!. :) Www@QuestionHome@Com

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Marie P's answer is first rate but I just thought I'd mention something my last drawing teacher pointed out!. Art is a visual expression!. That means it is a visual language!. You definitely want to connect to emotions and a mirror is a good thing, but a book like John Buscema's How to Draw Comics the Marvel way has a couple of pages of expression, as does, I believe both of Jack Hamm's books Drawing the Head and Figure and Cartooning the Head and figure (at this point I do recommend both!. They are about eleven bucks each)!. While the conditions you describe are considerably more complex than the expressions they depict, they are also expressed visually in many ways, and there is no shame in using the simple tricks those books offer to get in touch with the visual expression of these feelings!.
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Personally I always thought rape and suicide, and many of the other emotions you have mentioned, in any medium, work best when viewer is not aware of the meaning at a first glance!. E!.G!. The picture looks happy and ordinary, but there is a hint of the said emotion, or a trail of hints that leads the viewer to figure out the true meaning!. I think it i also more rewarding for the viewer!. This approach works also on another level, as these are emotions people keep hidden, and do not reveal to the outside world until it is too late!. Hints could exist in the person's gesture, expression, or through a second shadow, for example!. Keep in mind this is just my opinion, and art is always subject to interpretation, so do whatever you think is right, and don't care about what anyone says, unless you think they have a valid point, but the latter is your own choiceWww@QuestionHome@Com

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