How to make a proper eye, nose and mouth?

[victornecromancer]

The title says all. I tried in many ways but obviously unsuccessfully, always getting a "comic" or "too serious" expression. At the moment I'm looking for a neutral expression suitable for the position of the head itself, any help about proportion, anatomy etc. will be of great help.

[MysteryMeat]

with  this pose I'm getting a vague sense of confusion so I'd go with that. raised eyebrow, slight pursed lips to the side... make faces in the mirror and try to study and replicate what you see!

[Vinik]

I might sound silly but I would suggest that you try drawing on paper before tackling this with pixels. Pixel art might be a completely different beast from pencil drawing, but if you feel so unsatisfied with your attempts that you posted a blank face, ask yourself if you feel comfortable with how you would draw it at a similar scale if you weren't limited to the pixel grid in the first place, and if you are not, then work on it. The way you render stuff with pixels will always be somehow tied to the way you capture the shape of things in your mind and the way you instinctively draw stuff on paper when not stressing about it. Perhaps you might find that what you would like to change isn't how you rendered with pixels but how you are imagining the lines, volumes etc.

[Retronator]

I second that (drawing on paper first). Here's my process for a similar portrait setup:



It was my first time doing this, so you can see I struggled quite a lot at the start. At one point even Fool did a paintover to help me in the right direction. I also used a lighting reference (and experimented with a shading technique that I threw away at the end). Some early steps of this process are captured here:



But yeah, if you're after realism, I suggest a realistic reference to guide your process. Again, I'm far from experienced in this area so take it with a grain of salt. Here are some more expressions from the game:

[Samaramon]

I always do a rough paper sketch first, no matter if it's a face or just a building. Just to give me a sense of where things go. If it's for some more complex facial expression, or even posture and hands, I just...use a mirror. Seriously try it out! No better way to convey a facial expression that you're after than doing it yourself. I usually take a quick pic too then use it as a reference.

[pistachio]

Also worth it here is construction. Learn how to build something from the ground up, and how all those pieces connect. Master this and not just your faces, but everything you draw in 3D, will rock.

Proko doing Loomis
http://www.stanprokopenko.com/blog/2009/05/draw-head-any-angle/

Ron Lemen.
http://www.anticz.com/drawing1.htm

Of course if you stick just some center guidelines there now and place the features on that, it's already gonna improve. But it's also not gonna be thorough, and pretty much faked compared to serious construction. Study the links in this post in your spare time. Faces might be THE hardest thing to nail, any effort you put towards this is worth it.

Other than this the standing pose looks wonky for a neutral one, I would straighten the arms a bit and lean him forward more...