In this step by step drawing tutorial, we are going to draw a smiling mouth. There’s nothing better than a face with a smile on it. However, it can be difficult to draw a mouth that’s smiling. Some people opt to go the “cartoony” route when anybody can draw a more realistic smile by just following a simple step by step procedure. I would suggest that whenever you draw a smiling mouth that you look at some kind of photo reference, or better yet, the actual person. You can still follow the steps, just apply them to the smile that you are trying to draw.
Step 1
Begin by drawing a slightly curved line for the bottom of the upper lip and a line like the one in the picture for the top of the bottom lip. Some people start their drawing of lips by drawing the outside lines first. I think it’s easier when you draw the inside outlines first.
Step 2
Now you can draw the outside outlines of the top and bottom lips. Notice that the top line for the upper lip looks like a mashed “m”. Also pay special attention to the fact that the bottom lip is larger than the top lip and that the top and bottom lips don’t meet up at a point at the corners. There is a little bit of space there and that should be included in your drawing.
Step 3
Now we can concentrate on the teeth. This is the step where many people make mistakes. To help me find where the teeth should be positioned, I will draw a mini grid down the center, both horizontally and vertically.
Step 4
Now that you’ve got an idea where the teeth should be, you can go ahead and draw them in.
Step 5
Now, you can go over your lines with ink and erase any lines that you no longer need. To make your lips look more realistic, be sure to add some cross contour lines around the lips and add some shadowing in the corners.
