PaulEberhardt at 10:37AM, Dec. 12, 2020

My main character uses her skills of deception as part of her job and I can draw this kind of thing quite effectively (or so I'm told), but I couldn't explain how I do this if my life depended on it. It's one of those things where you just have to let yourself be guided by your instincts. Showing deceptiveness in the body language only is a great way to create dramatic irony, you know where the deception is blatantly obvious to everyone but the one who is deceived. I can't stand this in anything other than comedy, though. Anywhere else it either feels too unrealistic or it makes the other character look so stupid that it positively hurts.

BitterBadger at 12:15PM, Dec. 10, 2020

This was something I grappled with recently with one of my comics. It was so, so tempting to have my characters talk during dinner and the main character seeing the boyfriends' face giving hints that he had something to hide, but I ultimately decided to cut that part out and keep her in the dark regarding this. All I did in return was to show a slight expression of concern in a single panel so as to make the moment she finds out what he hid from her much more of a surprise to both she and the reader when things do come to a head.

Avart at 11:11AM, Dec. 10, 2020

Unless I want the reader knows that a character is lying, I help the reader with some things like you said Banes, either a different speech balloon or something like that. But, the good (and hard) part is to make this stuff with images and body language ;)

Kiddermat at 8:20AM, Dec. 10, 2020

I do it very simply in my comic- when a character is lying their words arent "Filled in". instead they're white- indicating emptiness to what they're saying.

bravo1102 at 12:15AM, Dec. 10, 2020

You covered it very well. It's in the facial expression and body language. Honesty usually opens up the face, deceit closes the face. Eyebrows up and eyes wide for truth telling-- lying and sarcasm -- eyes narrowed and brows arched. There's also body language. Amazing how we humans pick up on the clues because when posing the figures for a scene I instinctively know the pose to put them in. Look through the lens and the director says "I don't believe you-- more insincerity! Act dammit!"