How to Draw Lips Step by Step

You can learn to draw lips.

Learning to draw human faces can be easier if you study the features individually and master the shapes and shading for each feature. One way to draw lips is from a three-quarters view, as when the person is facing away at a slight angle.

Things You'll Need

• Pencil
• Paper
• Eraser
• Artist's "stump" (optional)

Instructions

1. Find a reference photograph.

2. Trace or draw the outline lightly to get the general shape, then shade in the lips.

3. Insert the main creases in the lips with some sketchy lines. If your creases are misplaced a bit, just erase and try again.

4. Shade the upper lip; the shadow on the upper lip will be darker than the lower lip. Use your crease-marks as guidelines, and shade the darkest areas first.

5. Shade in the dark, slim shadows between the upper and lower lips. Pay close attention to the shapes of the lighter areas.

6. Shade the lower lip, paying attention to the highlights, or the light that reflects most brightly from the shiny surface of the lips. Use the eraser to sharpen and brighten the highlights to define them with precision.

7. Draw the shading on the face around the lips. Notice the shading at the corners of the mouth, and the cast shadows from the lips themselves on the chin below. Shade lightly.

Tips & Warnings

• Use the eraser to make small corrections as you go.

• Continually compare your image with the photograph.

• Artists often use a "stump" to smooth the shading. This is a rolled-up strip of soft paper with a cone-shaped point. As an alternative, you may consider using a scrap of folded paper or cardboard to smudge and smooth the shading. Practice this technique before using it on a finished drawing.

• Pay attention to the aspect of shading. The dark areas of shading often have a lighter band or patch of color where light bouncing off a form below creates soft back-lighting in the shadowed area. With a little effort and examination, you will be able to identify these areas and, with a combination of shading and soft re-touching with the eraser, draw out a dimensional form. Artists of the Renaissance called this "Chiaroscuro," meaning the interplay of light and darkness in an artwork.

Resources

• Read this Article in Spanish