How to Draw a Mouth

 

The face is a very important element in character drawing, as all a person's emotions pass through it. In this article, we will see how to draw a particular element: the mouth. However, if you wish to learn more about the face, I encourage you to visit our article on how to draw a man's face, found on our blog :)

While the eyes are very important elements for reflecting emotions, the mouth is just as important. A well-drawn mouth can show at a glance the state of mind of a character as well as their character itself. You will also see that there are several styles of mouths depending on your drawing style ...

 

 

 

 

CONSTRUCTING THE FEATURES OF A MOUTH

 

 

 

 

To start, you will make a horizontal line.

The length of the line represents the width of the mouth.

Then draw a vertical line in the middle of the horizontal line to make a cross.

 

 

 

 

 

You will define the size of the lips, whether you want them plump or thin.

For my part, I chose to make quite thick lips, but you can follow this tutorial by modifying the thickness or style, the steps remain the same.

 

For the upper lip, you will draw a curved line to make the Cupid's bow.

This line will be the height of the upper lip.

 

For the lower lip, draw a slightly curved line.

 

 

 

 

 

DRAWING THE MOUTH STEP BY STEP

 

 

 

Now you will connect the corners of the lips to Cupid's bow.

To do this, start from the corner of the lips, draw a curve that goes down then up, curve your line upwards then down again to connect it to the Cupid's bow.

Do the same thing on the other side.

 

 

 

 

The line in the middle will separate the two lips.

To do this, you need to create the same curves as the upper lip, but subtler.

So you start with a curve downward, then slightly go up, then down again to make a curve at the bottom which will be the middle of the lip, and you do the same thing on the other side.

 

 

 

 

The lower lip is the simplest. You just have to connect the corners by making a large curve.

 

 

 

 

 

ADDING SHADOW AND LIGHT TO THE DRAWING

 

 

 

To make our mouth a bit more realistic, we will add shadows and hints of light to give it some depth and make it more alive and aesthetically pleasing.

Personally, I decided to do it in shades of gray, white and black. But nothing stops you from doing it in color.

To begin, you will fill the mouth with a medium shade color.

So, I chose a medium gray.

 

 

 

 

 

With a slightly darker shade, you will accentuate the shadow areas, that is, the hollow zones.

Add your color on the corners, at the Cupid's bow, below the parting of the lips, and along the edges.

 

 

 

 

With an even darker shade, you will go back over the same areas, but with finer strokes to really emphasize the hollows and shadows.

 

 

 

Take an even darker shade and this time apply it only in the corners of the mouth, in the middle of Cupid's bow, and under the line that separates the lips.

Then make the lip cracks. To make them, start from the inside of the lip towards the outside while curving your line to indicate a relief.

The further towards the middle of the lip, the larger the crack will be.

 

 

 

 

With a light shade, redo the cracks, but with a finer and shorter stroke, always starting from the inside of the lip towards the outside.

 

 

 

Add light with a very light color (I chose light gray, almost white.).

Go little by little.

At first, spread your color well over large areas, then the harder you press on your pencil, the more you intensify the color, the more you will color on a smaller surface.

The lightest area should be in the middle to create a gradient.

 

 

There, you've drawn a mouth! But as I said earlier, there are as many styles of mouths as there are styles of drawing. I can't show them all, but let's look at some together...

 

 

 

 

 

DRAWING A MALE MOUTH

 

 

The simplest way to draw a male mouth is to suggest the lips without actually drawing them. Indeed, most of the time, when drawing a male mouth, one should avoid drawing the lips as they can give a feminine aspect.

This rule applies to almost all drawing styles.

 

 

 

 

MOUTHS FOR COMICS

 

Women in comics are always curvy and well-proportioned. So much so that they have mouths worthy of Angelina Jolie.

Mouths in comics are generally very well defined, both for the upper and lower lip, and are drawn with quite "straight" and simple lines.

 

 

 

 

DRAWING A MANGA MOUTH

 

 

It is certainly the simplest mouth in terms of style and features, yet, the emotions it conveys are clearly understood.

In manga, the mouth is rarely drawn with lips, unless the artist wants to show that their character, usually female, has a full and sexy mouth.

The designers go straight to the point and it works perfectly well.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Finally, you should understand that the best model for drawing a mouth, or even a face, is yourself. Find a mirror and simply draw what you see. Make different expressions and redraw them. Your pocket mirror will become your best friend!

Me, I never go out without it! ;)

 

The best way to learn to draw is to draw reality as we see it.

 

 

 

Illustrator and writer: Coralie