In the land of facial expressions, there are many, many facial actions that are easy to confuse and difficult to tell apart. Among the contenders for most-difficult-to-distinguish-facial-actions are two upper lip elevators known as upper lip raiser and nasolabial furrow deepener. (These terms are defined by the Facial Action Coding System – FACS.)
Many facial movements look similar but differ in core ways. When we read faces, we rely on subtle differences to interpret expressions and their meaning. Because your audience will be likening your character’s facial expressions to what they already know and have experienced, you want your character to be readable – to be relatable.
We are generally familiar with frontalis’s work as an eyebrow elevator; however, it is often neglected knowledge that frontalis also works as a hairline depressor. Though this idea may seem counterintuitive, once you are familiar with some muscle basics, things will start to make sense.
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In FACS, there are three main brow actions: inner brow raiser
outer brow raiser, brow lowerer. These actions and their combinations deform our brows into particular patterns, allowing us to identify different expressions.
If you’re an artist getting into the finer details of action-based wrinkles, here are some new terms for you to know.
