How to Draw a Smile

Portrait drawing usually includes drawing smiles on faces.

Drawing a smile is an important aspect to drawing a face, and a good place to start is by drawing cartoon smiles. This will help you see how the movement of the mouth changes the way a smile looks, and it is a fast way to practice closed- and open-mouth smiles. After you have some samples of different smiles it's time to work on drawing a more realistic smile. This is not difficult if you look at the smile as a series of shapes.

Things You'll Need

• Tape
• Drawing paper
• Scratch paper
• Pencils
• Eraser

Instructions

1. Tape a sheet of drawing paper to the drawing table. Place scrap paper nearby to practice lines before trying to draw them on good paper.

2. Sketch the top edge of the upper lip as an outline. Notice how the lips change when a person smiles. The upper lip will thin out and elongate to each side as the muscles pull the lips outward.

3. Draw the underside of the upper lip. The lip should have the same contours on both lines but the lower side will rise more at each end. Draw the bottom lip in the same way. The bottom lip is fuller than the top lip and most people smile with their mouth open enough to show their teeth. The center of the bottom lip is wider than the ends, which rise quickly to meet the top lip corners.

4. Sketch in the teeth line. Measure three-quarters of the way down between the bottom of the top lip and the top of the bottom lip. Draw a curve similar to the shape of the bottom lip. This represents the tooth line. Fill in the corners of the mouth to indicate shadow areas.

5. Find the center line of the mouth and make a light line. There are two large teeth on the top row, one on each side of the line followed by smaller and differently shaped teeth receding on each side. Shape the teeth by looking at mouth images. Sketch in the bottom row of teeth taking care to keep them in scale with the top teeth.

6. Add shadow lines below the top lip and below the top row of teeth. Add a smaller shadow line above the bottom lip. Add contour lines representing gum lines and shadows under the top lip and above the bottom lip. Sketch in the vertical lines common to lip skin. Shade the top and bottom edges of each lip to give them a rounded shape.

7. Add tone to the teeth and use an eraser to bring out highlights, as if the teeth are wet. Add darker tone values to the lips. Finish any details.

Tips & Warnings

• Practice smiles with open and closed mouths and all kinds of grins. Often the shape of the mouth contributes significantly to the overall character in a face.

References

• Draw Faces Now: Smile