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Buggin out eyes

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Saturday morning cartoons we watched as kids wouldn't be the same without someone's eyes bugging out! This is a trait usually reserved for characters who see something they can't believe they're seeing, like a ghost or monster, or a picture of a really pretty girl. You can see this technique in Bugs Bunny cartoons from the 1940s as well as the SpongeBob SquarePants cartoons of today. It's a classic technique and one that's just plain fun to watch.

To draw this effect, you need to exaggerate your character's facial expression so that the mouth is wide open. To draw the bugged-out eyes, draw two oval shapes that look like eggs extending out past the face so that they appear to be popping out. Bugged-out eyes work best when your character is in profile. This allows the reader to see the bugging out effect to its full extent. Figure 6-12 shows an example of bugged-out eyes.