Loading...

Can it communicate without speaking?

The mouth communicates emotion as strongly as the eyes do, so it is important to get it right when drawing a portrait. The mouth is also very pliable. This can make it difficult to create an accurate drawing. Look at the following images and try to copy them in your sketchbook. Click on the image to enlarge it and study the caption for drawing tips.

When drawing relaxed lips, the inside and corners of the lips are going to be shaded darker than the middle and outside of the lips because those areas protrude out slightly. Don't focus too much on the texture of the lip. Only imply the lines that appear; otherwise, you run the risk of making the lips look cracked or flattened.

Teeth are often a struggle for many beginning artists who feel that they need to draw each tooth separately, but that only flattens the image. Create the areas where the teeth meet with shading, not with a line. Draw the entire outline of the teeth and then shade in the areas in between. When drawing a smile, don't make it too big. Even when smiling, the edges of most people's mouths do not go too far past the middle of their eyes.

Lips become very small seen in profile because they don't protrude very much. If you look closely, you will notice that the lips form a small heart shape. The size of each side depends on the person, but usually, the bottom lip is larger than the top lip.

Now that you have practiced some basic mouth shapes, try creating mouths that communicate emotion. Practice drawing the following images that show the same person with different mouth positions. What kind of emotion is being portrayed? Click through each tab and read each of the drawing tips.

Sticking out the tongue in a playful way can create a silly or funny mood in a drawing. The tongue can be difficult to draw, as can the lopsided nature of the mouth, but observe carefully and draw lightly as you work. Remember that the tongue is rounded, so it will be lighter in the middle and darker at the edges.

A surprised mouth is usually open, but not as widely as a screaming or yelling mouth. A surprised mouth looks almost like a circle, as the lips tend to spread upwards and downwards instead of going out to the side like they do in a smile.

The angry or yelling mouth is actually quite similar to a surprised mouth, except the lips tend to pull back more. That makes more teeth and the tongue visible.

Now, go find a live model and have them express some sort of emotion for you to draw. Make sure to draw just their lips.