The complexity of artistic work with the profile of the lips, as the most mimic active part of the face, is due to several factors: a large variety of shapes of this part of the face, the choice of the appropriate mimic position of the lips in the absence of the possibility of fixing them statically, the difficulty of applying a tonal and microcomponent pattern to the surface of the lips due to their pronounced physical relief.
For the image of the lips, it is also required to prepare a pencil with a hardness of H - for drawing a contour, 2B - for applying halftones, and a hardness higher than this - for marking edges and sharp shadows.
Choice of lip shape and philtrum
It should be remembered that the model will be able to "keep" the lips motionless only in a state of complete calm. If it is necessary to depict a smile or some other mimic grimace on the lips, the artist is required to remember this state as clearly as possible in order to clearly reproduce it with further drawing. To do this, you can prepare for yourself an auxiliary labial-facial sketch before you draw the lips in stages with a pencil. The sketch consists of eight straight lines repeating the outlines of the lips.
Another necessary condition for a successful portrait or copy is the correct selection of lighting and applying it to a preliminary sketch. An example is shown in the image below.
How to draw lips and accurately convey highlights on their wet outer shell? To do this, use pencils with a hardness of 4B and an eraser.
The role of the muscular frame and the philtrum in the construction of the contour and plane of the lips
The lips, together with the philtrum, form the most mobile component of the human face. The concentration of the muscular frame around them suggests the presence of specific folds and, consequently, individual tones and midtones that form unique portrait qualities.
The circular muscle of the mouth, which creates their elevation, completely surrounds the lips. The pits on either side of them are created by the large zygomatic muscles, the muscles of lowering the mouth, and the muscles of laughter. The cavity under the lip is formed by the muscle of lowering the mouth and the muscle of lowering the lower lip.
So how to draw lips in stages?
Specificity of the image of mimic lip wrinkles
Wrinkles as deformations of the skin due to its regular movement are formed in childhood. If only the deepest and most obvious wrinkles are depicted on the groove and the skin around the lips, drawn as a full-fledged micro-depression with penumbra, then drawing wrinkles directly on the lips according to their planar and dimensional features will give the lips a lively expression, a healthy realistic look and bring the artist closer to understanding how to draw beautiful lips.
It should be remembered that it is necessary to depict such irregularities on rounded planes without cutting through them with lines, but by creating an outline of an additional layer, from which the folds are then carefully molded.
Building a lip contour
How to draw lips, "tied" by their position to the face? To do this, it is necessary to construct several additional planes in the figure.
Asking how to draw lips with a pencil, and starting drawing coordination lines on paper, you must remember first of all the required angle and turn of the face. To do this, the axial line of the face is first drawn, according to which the semi-axis of the inclination of the lips is drawn next.
The figure below shows how the two lines that outline the boundaries of the philtrum form their maximum elevation above the line of the mouth. These lines, following through the lips, descend to the lower edge of the labial halo and are attached to the chin along the facial muscles. If facial features are required, these vertical blocks are separated by one or more horizontal faces. It is necessary to build similar lines, dividing the rest of the lips in half and reducing them to the muscles of the chin, indicated in the figure by a cupped elevation. Next, lines are built that limit the corners of the lips.
Now, according to the drawn facial structural grid, the labial-facial sketch is transferred to it.
Applying tone to the labial planes
First of all, it is necessary to highlight with a pencil - 4B and above - all the edges that are extreme to the viewer: the connection of the upper corner of the lip with the edge of the groove, the front and middle circles of the lower lip and the border of the upper in the foreground.
The imposition of tone is carried out strictly with the definition of the angle of incidence of illumination. It is necessary to remember about the culture of the stroke, the slope of the strokes in 85% of the tone should be directed in one direction, preferably parallel to the lighting. First, a shadow is placed on vertical planes: nasolabial folds, folds of the corners of the mouth, a deep vertical labial furrow and two faces of the philtrum. The nose is shaded.
With a pencil of medium softness from 2V to 4V, the upper lip is shaded to the center in the foreground - a tonal stretch is made towards the light with the tone receding into the background. The lower edge of the lower lip is highlighted in tone at the junction with the muscles leading to the chin. With semicircular strokes to the desired plane, a tone is applied to the lip lapel, also making the far corner pale. With a soft pencil, the front protruding plane of the lips is emphasized. The halftone is superimposed on the muscle folds.
With an eraser, shiny surfaces on which light falls are selected and wiped. The planes of the lips closest to the viewer are emphasized, creating a contrast with the darkened edges.
Study of small details and various decorative attributes for the lips
Together with the task of how to draw lips, the question of their decoration and drawing is determined.
In general, wrinkles are applied to the plane of the lips in the very last turn. If the portrait is supposed to have a mustache or any other hair that is directly related to the lips, in the recommendation on how to draw lips in stages with a pencil, the step of applying shadows is skipped - they are added with a few strokes to free planes. If it is required to draw a piercing on the lips that passes directly through the upper or lower lapel, as well as teeth that go to the lapel, a recess is drawn under them according to the dimensions of the required accessory, which is distinguished by a few strokes with hardness H.
Lips are hard to draw on paper, just like eyes or noses, because they are too individual, too dependent on the features of the face and your drawing technique, too unusual. If you read this lesson to the end, you will learn how to draw almost any lips without difficulty.
We start drawing with a sketch. Carefully study and sketch on paper a line that separates the lips. The line will almost always curve up and down. Like any sketch, this line will not be accurate, but a pencil sketch can always be corrected. Also outline the cupid's tubercle - the middle, protruding part of the upper lip. Since it forms the tops of the upper lip, we simply need it.
We continue to draw a sketch, outlining the contours of the lips. We draw characteristic depressions similar to the middle line. All are concave. The base on which we will build our drawing is ready.
Let's finish the sketch. Connect the upper lines to the ends of the lips, do the same with the lower ones. Remember, they will vary depending on the shape of the lips.
Look at the side view of the lips, which is shown in the figure, remember the shape and imagine how a shadow would fall on such lips. The lower lip will be the brightest and most illuminated, the upper lip will be in the shadow, as well as the sharp corners of the lower lip will be in the shadow. The shadows on Cupid's tubercle will be located in a special way, as on the most protruding part.
Let's move on to the next step. We will draw what is around the lips and in the lower part of the face. A noticeable space between the lip and chin will be in the shade, there is also an unusual area above the upper lip that needs to be worked out. These are two bulges connecting the tops of the lip to the nose, with a concavity between them. It is also worth noting the facial wrinkles around the lips.
Everything, it remains to bring our drawing to the end, removing all unnecessary lines, shading the line connecting the upper and lower lips and once again processing the shadows. After practice, you will be able to draw the lips as they really look.
Finally, we will teach you how to draw teeth. Forget that teeth should be white, this is a big mistake for young artists. If you want to emphasize their brightness, it is better to paint highlights on them. The front teeth will be the lightest, the subsequent teeth will be darker and darker. The gums should be slightly darker than the lips.
Video lessons
Good day, our dear readers, today we, i.e. YOU learn How to draw a person's lips using a pencil for this. In general, my sister and I conferred for a very long time on the topic of which lesson to publish today. I offered her to draw an owl, but she insisted on her own and offered to make another one for drawing anime! As a result, after a little reflection, remembering your positive feedback about our lesson on drawing eyes, we came to a common denominator and drew a lesson about lips :) And I think that we did the right thing, because there are plenty of different animals and birds on our site, Yes, and 2 posts in a row about anime would probably be wrong to spread.
And also *telling you this in a big secret* originally we wanted to give this lesson a slightly different name "HOW TO DRAW ... DUMPLINGS"!!! instead of normal and adequate "How to draw human lips"
But again, common sense won over our madness and we left the lesson with a normal name! Moreover, dumplings are better not to draw, but to sculpt or, even better, eat them !!! Although no one will answer this question better than you, our readers, can you still rename it? We'd love to hear from you in the comments on this post :)
Well, everything, you need to stop talking and start taking action. We hope you are ready for them! With you a pencil, an eraser, a blank sheet of paper and a little desire. Come on, you'll be fine How to draw human lips.
And don't forget to click on the picture :)
In order to show you how to draw lips with a pencil, I will turn to the owner of the most beautiful lips on this planet for help. Naturally, I personally did not ask her about this, she does not even know who I am. But I think she won't mind if I steal one of her pictures.
Dear Angelina Jolie, if you are reading this, I will be shocked, don't be offended by me!
My goal is just to show one of the many ways to draw lips step by step. And in the meantime, before the instruction, I will give you more food for thought:
- Lips are a kissing device. In terms of sensitivity, they occupy the second place on the human body. Yes, second.
- British scientists have proven that you can judge the character of a person by looking at the shape of the lips. And I also agree with this, for example: lips with a bow - a good-hearted person, naive; or a protruding lower lip forward - an arrogant, a broken lip - a bully. Well, do you understand the logic?
- Female individuals in their entire lives use up to 7 kilograms of lipstick, and they eat half of this amount. A third is eaten by a man, the rest disappears in an unknown direction.
- In order to draw the Mona Lisa smile, Leonardo spent about 12 years of his already not very long life! That's who will write later in the comments below something like - Hooray, I drew lips in 2 minutes, this is lightness - be afraid, Leonardo will roll over in his grave.
Pay close attention to your drawings. And follow this tutorial:
How to draw lips with a pencil step by step
Step one. Let's sketch out the leading lines for the elements of the face and hair. 
Step two. Let's draw the eyes, lips and teeth. 
Step three. Let's add hatching on the face and lips in order to show the shadows, this is a portrait after all. 
Step four. Let's remove the auxiliary lines and correct the contours. It should turn out like this: 
Do you want to learn how to draw other equally fascinating parts of the human body? Try here, for example.
Lips, like the whole human face in general, are difficult to draw. Each facial feature has its own secrets, its own parameters, which directly depend on other parts of the face. Lips, despite the fact that we see them every day, are also difficult to portray, like eyes, or hands, if! you don't know how to do it right. Well, if you study this online lesson well, you will no longer have problems with the image of the lips and lower part of the face.
1. Lesson how to draw lips You need to start, of course, with a sketch of the lips. The first thing we need to do is to carefully examine and draw the line that separates the lower and upper lip. Such a line almost always curves up and down. Initially, it may not be entirely accurate, in the process all this will be corrected: we will erase it somewhere, somewhere we will finish it. The main thing is to start with this. Also, at the first stage, you need to outline the contours of the so-called Cupid's tubercle. This is the most median and protruding part of the upper lip. A lot depends on it (it forms two vertices of the upper lip), so with light strokes we indicate it on the sketch, so that it would be easier to work later.
2. The second stage of our online lesson also belongs to the sketch. We continue to outline the contours of future lips. Here we have drawn characteristic depressions that look like a midline, all three are equally concave. So to speak, now the base lines are ready, on which we will build the drawing.
3. Finishing our sketch. We connect the upper and lower lines with the ends of the lips. Depending on the shape and line, respectively, different shapes are obtained.
4. To make it easier to understand the shapes, here I give a side view of the lips. So what are we doing now? At this stage, with light strokes, we apply shadows in the places where they should be. The lower lip is almost always exposed to the upper light, because it is the brightest and most illuminated. However, the corners of the lower lip go into the shadow of the upper. Also, the shadow from the upper part falls on the top of the lower lip. Pay attention to how Cupid's tubercle is processed! We have already said that this is the most protruding part and the shadows on it already play in their own way. The upper edge of the lips is also illuminated by the top light, if we paint over it, the three-dimensionality will be lost.
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5. In this step of drawing the lips, we draw the environment or what is in the lower part of the face. Look at the side view. The space between the lower lip and chin is very noticeable, which inevitably falls into the shadow, so there is always a shaded area in this place. Above the upper lip there is also a difficult area that needs to be worked out. This is the distance where two bulges connect the tops of the upper lip with the nose, and form a soft concavity between them. The corners of the lips almost always have some kind of muscle ties that stand out with light strokes (they are expressed more strongly when smiling or smirking). These lateral muscles are always present on the face, they must be inscribed so that the mouth does not fit into a flat face.
6. It remains to bring our drawing to the end, somewhere wiping the excess or with a soft pencil to accentuate some shadows and lines and lips. Pay attention to the line between the upper and lower lips, it is always the darkest. It remains only to practice so that what you draw not only looks like lips, but also looks like those that you draw.
7. How to draw teeth. A common mistake novice artists make is to think their teeth are perfectly white. This is wrong. In addition, they will look much more beautiful and realistic if they are of such a color that bright highlights can be shown on them. The front teeth should be the lightest, the further they go into the oral cavity, the more they go into the shadow. The gums should even be a little lighter than the lips and slightly contrast with them so as not to get merged.
That's all for today. Follow the releases of the site and in the next updates of the Articles section, there will be new tutorials on drawing parts of the human body.
Svetlana Levitskaya's studio offers drawing lessons for adults. Drawing courses will help you master the brush and comprehend the art of painting.
