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Drawing: Faces & Expressions: Learn to draw step by step

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With Drawing: Faces & Expressions, learn to draw detailed, realistic human faces in graphite pencil from basic shapes.

Perfect for beginning artists, Faces & Expressions offers a comprehensive introduction on how to draw faces and expressions—the most important aspects of an individual. First, learn everything about the tools and materials you need to get started, including selecting the right pencils, papers, and erasers for their work. Then discover tips for drawing and shading techniques, such as how to achieve volume, suggest depth, and render various hair and skin textures. With some knowledge of pencil drawing basics, begin mastering the art of drawing the human face through a series of helpful examples and easy-to-follow, step-by-step projects. Projects include a child portrait, an adult portrait, a senior portrait, and others that feature different techniques for capturing expressions and rendering features, including eyes, mouths, noses, and hands.

Featuring the stunning artwork of gifted artist Diane Cardaci, this title features artwork designed to inspire a classical approach to rendering faces in graphite pencil. With its wide-ranging instruction, plethora of artist tips, and beautiful artwork, Faces & Expressions is the perfect resource for any beginning portrait artist.

Designed for beginners, the How to Draw & Paint series offers easy-to-follow guides that introduce artists to basic tools and materials and include simple step-by-step lessons for a variety of projects suitable for the aspiring artist. Drawing: Faces & Expressions allows artists to develop drawing skills by demonstrating how to start with basic shapes and use pencil and shading techniques to create varied textures, values, and details for a realistic, completed portrait drawing.

40 pages, Paperback

Published March 3, 2020

About the author

Diane Cardaci

25 books2 followers

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5 stars
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3 (27%)
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
Profile Image for MischaS_.
785 reviews1,422 followers
January 10, 2020
***Advance Review Copy generously provided through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.***


I'm honestly disappointed. I already read several books from this edition most were a great hit with me others not so much. This definitely goes to the bottom of these books.

I believe this is one of the shortest I've read, which is rather disappointing. Mainly because there is not enough space for anything and this is trying to explain drawing not only faces but also different expressions. And I think it sort of fails at both. If this book were dedicated to only one of those, I would give it a better rating, but like this, I cannot.

Especially page 16, which shows different expressions meaning six is very bad. Those drawing are so bad that I have no idea why they are used to show anything at all! It features sadness, laughter, rage, fear, disgust and surprise, but it only includes a short description like "with this emotion, the eyes are enlarged etc.". So not really helpful. And then it closely shows how to draw different "faces" or whatever to call it. All Smiles. Deep in thought. At ease. Aging beauty. And all look very much the same with minor differences.

I do not believe this is good for beginners because it's so brief that it cannot teach them anything.
Profile Image for Annie.
4,140 reviews74 followers
February 16, 2020
Originally published on my blog: Nonstop Reader.

Drawing: Faces & Expressions is a book in the Learn to Draw Step by Step series. Due out 3rd March 2020 from Quarto on their Walter Foster imprint, it's 40 pages and available in paperback format. This appears to be a reformat and re-release of material first released in 2015 with the same title by the same author.

The titles in this series are all formatted in a similar manner and this one is no exception.

A short general introduction (10%) covers tools and materials including pencils, paper, blending tools, etc. The intro is followed by a group of non-specific tutorials on graphite techniques, shading, light, shapes and perspective. The following tutorial chapters are specific for different subjects (mostly faces) and include specific anatomy: eyes, noses, etc, leading to some full studies (aging beauty, at ease, deep in thought, all smiles). There is also a very abbreviated tutorial on rendering some surfaces and finishes in the form of accessories like earrings, ties, scarves, and hats.

I like these tutorial booklets, they're inexpensive and full of useful info for artists looking for improvement in their own work. It's nice to see them getting a re-release for a new audience of artists and learners.

Four stars - for what it covers and for a very short tutorial guide, it does the job admirably well.

Disclosure: I received an early eARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.
620 reviews17 followers
March 27, 2020
Another quick book on Faces & Expressions - 40 pages long.

Whilst the tools and materials sections include the same information as a previous book I reviewed on Drawing Faces, but is laid out differently. Plus it does include much more information on the different types of pencil techniques and shading.

The expressions drawn are quite detailed, plus there is a section on how to draw hair and accessories. It also shows a number of photographs of the subjects in different profile poses and how to capture them in a drawing.

Another interesting book that would be perfect for beginners. I certainly get both of these for my preteen daughter who is just starting out with pencil shading.

I received this book from Netgalley in return for a honest review.
Profile Image for Agnes Preszler.
165 reviews2 followers
March 6, 2020
This is one of those basic face drawing books that introduce beginners to portrait drawing, Tools and materials, various strokes and shading techniques, lighting the form, value thumbnails, so far so good.
What I didn't like: I wouldn't encourage transfer methods if you really want to master drawing, you learn from your mistakes. Only two pages for the facial proportions, nothing about the vertical alignment. Only two pages for facial features. Only one page for expressions, with ugly faces (otherwise the illustrations are OK). Who buys the book for the expressions (as it is in the title) will be surely disappointed. BTW, never draw teeth like this.
Profile Image for Melissa Overby.
191 reviews3 followers
September 9, 2020
I was unable to download this before it was archived, but I plan to buy this on Amazon. I am a seasoned artist, but always looking for new tips and tricks.
Profile Image for Amanda.
35 reviews1 follower
February 6, 2020
Note: I received a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

This book includes information, tips, and tricks regarding drawing the human face. Many people are successful at drawing the anatomy of the face, but have great difficulty capturing expressions and emotion. This book offers valuable steps to relating human emotion through the drawing of the face. I give this book a 5 star rating.
Profile Image for Witch-at-Heart .
1,464 reviews17 followers
January 22, 2020
This is a fantastic resource for learning to draw faces it’s extremely detailed and informative. I loved the drawings and instructions. I highly recommend this book. I received this book from NetGalley for an honest review.
Profile Image for Mechthild.
389 reviews7 followers
April 22, 2020
Drawing faces and expressions can be learned
In her book "Drawing: Faces & Expressions. Learn to Draw step by step" artist Diane Cardaci challenges the reader with the statement: "Think about a time you’ve photographed a loved one but felt the photo didn’t resemble the person at all. It isn’t the camera that’s to blame; it simply caught an expression uncharacteristic of the model. As artists we use intuition and skill to create images that capture not only the likeness but also the depth of an individual’s personality."
The book is one of the 40-page books from the "Drawing ... step by step" series, published by Quarto Publishing Group - Walter Foster. The fourteen chapters can be divided into three areas: 1) topics such as tools & materials, drawing process, and techniques, 2) topics that are dealing with the face such as proportions, shading, or facial features, and 3) four drawing exercises that are based on actual photos.
The book presents itself with great graphics and design. Tips and addition al instructions are included throughout the book. They are a great help for the budding artist. It is helpful and inspirational for beginning (and advanced) artists who are wanting to draw with graphite pencils. It would make a nice gift and I would recommend it for them. Readers need to be aware that it is a basic book, index and information where the needed materials can be bought are missing. It is also important to know that the book only touches drawing with graphite pencil, drawing with colored pencils is not included in the book. Furthermore, it would have been helpful if the reference photos could be downloaded since the are of small size in the book.
The complimentary copy of this book was provided by the publisher through NetGalley free of charge. I was under no obligation to offer a positive review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
#DrawingFacesExpressions #NetGalley
Profile Image for Nicki Markus.
Author 56 books287 followers
January 5, 2020
Drawing Faces and Expressions is a text that will be perfect for beginners as it covers everything you need to get started on portraiture. The only downside for me personally was that, because it also featured all the basics, there wasn't as much room left as I would have liked for sections concentrating on expressions. I think I would have preferred to see the work forgo all the introductory pages in favour of spending more time considering drawing different expressions, with tips and tricks. But, as I said, for art newbies it is a worthwhile read, so I am giving it 4 stars.

I received this book as a free eBook ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews

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