Hi ho gang! I got a new drawing book recently on how to draw facial expressions manga style since I felt like my ability to draw good character faces was starting to slip. And after looking through the book, I decided to test out these expressions by drawing characters for each expression.

Keep in mind, these are only test drawings, or quick sketches in more professional terms. So if they aren't proportional or clean, just take it with a grain of salt. They're also not colored, so don't expect anything to pop out.

The first set of expressions the book shows are ones relating to joy, and it has four sections displaying the different ways these could be expressed [in manga].

The first was of a simple smile. A gentle expression that conveys friendliness and even a sense of security. And for me, who better to represent that then the Maiden In Black from Demon's Souls. She may be off-putting, but even the characters in-game admit that she's a most comforting person despite being at least somewhat demon. I'm so happy she turned out alright here since I never managed to draw her sufficiently before, or at least in a way I was happy with.

Next was the expressions of enjoyment and delight, and what other little darling was perfect for this than Helltaker's own Azazel! Azzy is always a delight for me since her smiles and positive appearance always succeeds in brightening the room, so it makes sense she'd get a bit of delight herself here.

Next was laughter, a set of expressions the show a release of joy. One of the illustrations the book showed for this immediately reminded me of Joshua and his douchebag ways of teasing, so why not draw TWEWY's angel boy? I must say, I'm rather pleased to see Josh taking this so well. ^^

Finally the book showed hearty laughter as an expression. A phase that spills out and makes it hard to breathe due to the amount of sheer hilarity. By the time I came to this, I already had it solidified in my mind who I was gonna draw for this one, and that was none other then Villainous' Dementia. God I love her, and she was perfect for a crazy laughing fit. It was a bit difficult drawing her, but that might have been due to her being a cartoon character and not a anime/manga style character like Josh or Azzy. Still, love that I finally got back to drawing Demmie again.

There's several more expressions to go through in this book, so stay tuned for that soon! I can't guarantee I'll include OCs in this, but I might do a couple of repeat characters for these expressions. Who knows yet? And, as an extra heads-up, I might use these expression test sketches as my first posts on my Instagram, so I'll be sure to put out a link to that whenever I get that set up! Wish me luck on Insta, and cheers! 🐉