Mark Simon, owner of A&S Animation Inc, and Animatics & Storyboards Inc, recently had his third book, Facial Expressions, published. A photo reference guide for artists of all disciplines, the book will appeal to student and professional artists alike. For more on the book, and recommendations, follow this link:

Facial Expressions: A Visual Reference for Artists

Photographing over 50 male and female models, Mark Simon had them each hold a range of facial expressions. Each expression is photographed from multiple angles. The models range from 20 to 83 years of age and cover most races. “No other book has ever offered artists this variety of human reference,” states Simon. “Most books use just one or two young, fit, white models. I photographed all ages, races and size.”

Simon produced the book out of his own needs. “I was building a reference library for myself of different faces to draw when I realized that I was not the only artist to need this type of reference.”

In addition to photos of expressions, Simon also included sections on skull photographs, the skull with muscles only, a couple kissing, hats and headgear and phonemes. Phonemes are the shapes our mouths make as we speak. Four models were photographed to make the phoneme references. Each model is shown from the front as well as profile. This is an invaluable reference for animators. Simon should know, he owns an animation studio.

Besides the 3,600+ photographs included in the book there are sample sketches, paintings and sculptures from artists around the country which used the book photos as inspiration and reference. “I’ve used this awesome book many times over for my comics artwork on Spider-Man and The Phantom, as well as for my advertising clients,” says Alex Saviuk, 25 year veteran of the comic book industry.

Travis Blaise, Disney animator and co-director of the award-winning series Timmy’s Lessons In Nature, agrees, “This book is a must-have for students and professionals alike.”

Facial Expressions is available at bookstores and online and is published by Watson Guptill.

Mark Simon has been a professional artist for over 25 years. He has worked on over 1,800 different productions for film, TV and multi-media and has won over 35 international awards for his work. Simon recently won Grand Prize in Nickelodeon’s first ever Nicktoons Film Festival with his series Timmy’s Lessons In Nature. He also the author of Producing Independent 2D Character Animation and Storyboards: Motion In Art.

His books, lecture schedule and a sample page from Facial Expressions may be found at MarkSimonBooks.com.