How to depict emotions in a deceptive way (bait and switch comic sequence)?

Hello, everyone. Due to medical issues, I haven't been able to draw in about 2 years, and now that I have some equipment to help me with those medical issues, I'd like to get back into drawing. Over the time since the last time I drew, I've had some ideas for specific pictures, and for the purpose of seeing how rusty I've gotten while also easing myself back into drawing again, I've decided to try drawing one of those ideas. Specifically, it's a comic sequence - something a bit more "cartoony," where fine details aren't necessarily as important as they would be for a single picture, and which would thus be less frustrating/depressing if I don't do so well at it.

I already have a pretty solid plan for the general layout, so that's not an issue. However, one of the things that I want this comic sequence to include is an emotional "bait and switch" with the two depicted characters, and this is where I'm not sure what I should be doing. Basically, I want the first few panels of the comic sequence to depict the two characters in a way that deceptively suggests that they're being hostile to each other, only for the final panel to reveal that the characters weren't being hostile at all, but rather, they've been flirting with each other in a "teasing" sort of way the whole time. I'm just not sure how to go about pulling this off.

Any advice or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Hello, Amarin Reyny, and welcome aboard. How are you doing tonight? To answer your question, in order to sketch out your facial emotions with a lot of observation and caricature, then you really need to capture the lines of action and acting of the expressions with lots of quicker gesture drawings, using your elbow. As a result, your ruff sketches will be the least stiffer and the most connected to your characters' internal thoughts and feelings related to your idea/gag. For furthest info, look up Understanding Comics by Scott McCloud, though I haven't owned a copy yet.

Kindly take this suggestion with a grain of salt, so hope this has been completely and absolutely supportive and encouraging.

Thank you for answering! I'll look up Understanding Comics when I can. If need be, I could try going to the library to see if they have it. That said, I was actually thinking that the first few panels of the comic would be done in a rather simplistic style, due to the planned layout, so quicker gesture drawings is a great idea for that.

As for how I'm doing tonight, well... same as always, more or less. Granted, that likely means nothing to someone I've never encountered before, so... I guess, things could be better? Due to some rather complicated and tedious-to-explain circumstances involving DID, life kinda feels like a Franz Kafka novel. However, getting back into drawing will (hopefully) make that easier to cope with.

Thank you again!

• Amarin Reyny edited this post on January 13, 2023 4:01am.