What's Lies Beneath Subtext?

It's a fact of communication that you can say one thing and mean something completely different.

For instance saying "What did you say?" to someone who has just threatened to kill you doesn't carry the same subtext as saying the same thing to someone handing you a piece of cake.

With the first example you might be thinking, "I need to buy some time!" while your face contorts and your heart races, your breath shortens, your body language becomes defensive, and you begin to mentally prepare yourself for the next few moments of your life.

In the second example you might slightly bow forward with a smile, think "this looks good!", breathing naturally, hands held out as a receiving gesture, enjoying the moment, maybe making eye contact depending on your personality.

In both instances the phrase didn't change, but the thought changed dramatically. The same form of communication is a powerful tool in illustration, but it requires a mind invested into the character's personality, thoughts, imaginations, desires, etc. . . You ever looked at a painting and related to the image saying, "Yeah! I know exactly what s/he's thinking!"

The trick to creating believable subtext in an illustration is to distinguish what you want to say in subtext first, and then decide what you want to be said verbally. Of coarse the expression should follow the nature of the subtext. Voila! A character that appears to be self motivated!

It's a technique I find too few and far between with any given comic illustration which is why there are the greats. If they can guess what I'm thinking, there's a good chance I'm going to relate to their characters and that's a mouth full!