How to Make a Human Mouth in Illustrator

Draw a human mouth in Illustrator by using the "Ellipse" tool to draw ovals representing the mouth's lips, and then using the "Line" tool to represent the teeth inside the mouth. This project will produce a line drawing of the mouth, to which you can add color to increase the mouth's appeal. Add color by first selecting the mouth, and then clicking a red swatch from the leftmost drop-down gallery above the canvas.

Instructions

1. Click the "Oval" icon from the tool palette to run the tool for drawing ovals, and then click and drag near the canvas's center to draw an oval that's about three times as wide as it is high. This shape forms the outline of the mouth.

2. Click the "V"-shaped icon from the tool palette to run the tool for converting straight segments to curved ones, and vice versa. Click the left and then click the right endpoints of the mouth outline. This action makes the mouth taper for a more realistic shape.

3. Press "Ctrl" and "C" simultaneously, and then press "Ctrl" and "V" simultaneously to duplicate the mouth. The duplicate will form the gap between the two lips.

4. Click a corner handle of the bounding box surrounding the duplicate, and then drag toward the duplicate's center to shrink the duplicate. Release the mouse when the upper and lower lips reach a plausible size.

5. Click the left endpoint of the duplicate, and then drag left until this point reaches the left point of the outer mouth outline. Connect the duplicate's right endpoint to the outer mouth's right endpoint in the same way. This action completes the upper and lower lips.

6. Click the tool palette icon shaped like a straight line segment to run the "Line" tool, and then drag between the lips to form approximately six vertical lines to represent the divisions between the mouth's teeth.

7. Drag from the left to the right endpoint of the inner oval to illustrate the seam from the upper and lower sets of teeth.

8. Use step 1's instruction to re-enter oval-drawing mode, and then press and hold "Alt" to indicate you want to draw an oval from its center. Click a point about a mouth-width above the mouth to define the oval's center, and then drag to grow the face outline. Release the mouse when the space between the lower lip's lower edge and the face outline's lower extreme is about three-quarters of the mouth's width.

References

• Illustrator CS5 Bible; Ted Alspach
• How to Draw What You See; Rudy De Reyna