How to Draw Lips - The Best Way

1. Intro: Hey, how's it going today in this video? Siri's I'm gonna teach you how to draw the mouth or lips. That is probably one of the most commonly badly drawn things I've seen online Would be somebody's lack of understanding of the foundation of what the mouth is made up of on. Because of that, you get stuff that looks really weird and strange, but we're gonna correct that today. This is four total beginners. So if you've hardly ever drawn anything or if you have never drawn in your life, that is kind of what this is for. This is for somebody to really wants to understand portrait, drawing and kind of all the parts that make up of it. So this is one of the most vital things would be drawing the mouth. So I'm gonna go over what this lesson pertains. So first thing I'm gonna do is I'm gonna go with supplies that you need to use. You don't need to use them, but these air suggested supplies that you can use. And then I'm gonna go over some structural shapes that the mouth is made up of. So you understand what you're looking at? No, matter what face type you're looking at, you will understand what lips are made up of, and then we're gonna go the parts of the mouth. And then after that, I'm gonna go over a demonstration over some different views, right? The mouth from side view, the mouth from up and down view. And then lastly, I'm gonna go over as a bonus, I'm gonna go over. What are some things that you can do to keep yourself motivated to keep drawing in practicing? Because that's just a little bonus. And it's something that a lot don't touch on. So that's kind of it. This is straight, very direct for beginners. So if you're any of that stuff and you want to learn, let's get started right this minute. 2. Tools: All right. So let's go with supplies really quick. The supplies are very easy. I'm gonna be going over this. I'm gonna be using a graphite pencil. A graphite pencil is the same thing as you know, the number two pencil that use in school. So it's really simple. Uh, you can grab these at any art store. These are more artistic style pencils where they don't have an eraser on the on. They usually come in a box. If you're going to get them in a single format, I would recommend getting anything from to be to maybe, like, five feet. And I'm gonna be using a five feet if you want to use one. You can also use, like, a bunch together, which is recommended. Sorry. Have a little bit cold. Um, and that's kind of it. So graphite pencils are probably the best thing you could do. Grab the bees, though. There are ages. And those air more for kind of buildings and mawr architecture. These air more for shading, you know, organic figures and portrait. So they always get the B. Aziz Well, in terms of paper upside. Whoops. Let me go over Eraser first eraser my favorite eraser is the kneaded eraser. It is literally this Plato looking thing you could that's very malleable than you could move it around. I think because of that you can erase into small little crevices, and you can also maybe kind of carve out highlights with it, which it's It's so malleable and it's awesome. Uh, it doesn't also, you know, it doesn't leave this gross stain like some of the If you're see the school erasers there, you know they're pink. That'll stay in the paper so it doesn't do that. This thing is is just amazing. Used that, and also don't forget. Let's not forget paper. The paper and amusing today for these examples for your practice is I would straight up used computer paper for your practice. It is easy to use its cheap, extremely cheap Aiken by an entire ream of this. This one is up and 1/2 by 11 just regular paper, but I also use 11 by 17 computer paper, and you can buy massive reams of that stuff for a certain price. So I like a really cheap price, and it could last year, like half a year, even if use it actively. That's that's my case. I use it all the time and it's last me like 67 months, so that's really great also. But for Riel finished drawings, if you want to, like, do a family portrait, I would use Bristol board. Bristol Board is at any art store. That's just a really high quality paper on it. Well, it's great for graphite s. Anyways. That's kind of it for pay for supplies, so let's kind of move on. 3. Lip Shapes and Structure: Alrighty. So let's go over the structure of the lips. So what I'm gonna do with the lips is I'm gonna go over generic lips, right? Like generic, like, usually from European style lips. And you can take that and kind of alter it to anybody you want. So we're going over the structure of the general basically lip lip type. Um, so that's why we kind of learned this. So basically, think about simple polygon shapes when you learn something and understand it in a simple form, that's kind of what builds into complex for So when I think of, like, the lip type looking up front, I think of it as thes two mountains that's the upper lip and in the lower lip is kind of this little bar essentially, and that's kind of how I think about it right off the bat in really simplistic form. And, uh, that is kind of huge. So let's take that kind of work into that. So let's just take it even further in like think of it. And like, uh, what is it like PlayStation one graphics? Uh, let's take that upper lip and then divided. So we're making a little bit more living, more complex. You have that center portion of the lips and the lips. The upper lip test be broken up into three segments. Uh, you know, when you kind of look at it closer and let's look into it even closer than that. So we're gonna have an arc shape in between here, arc on the outside. See, this represents the filter. Um, I think I believe it was called kind of upper lip. Here. It's this little dividend right here. Little con cave section on above your lip. If you feel it like below your nose up, you're on top, your list, and then we're gonna have that center section of the lip, and then the bottom lip is split into two kind of fat pads, essentially to round shapes stuck together. This is as we keep progressing, right? Keep this understanding. So let's kind of go up even further than that. Let's let's ah, going on more beyond that. So with that that that kind of curve shape of the top of the center of the upper lip still have these arches, and then this center shape is going to dig into the lower lip a little bit pushing into that lower lip or the lower lip, you will see some of those kind of fat pads kind of push up. So they call the upper lip and all shade it in. So you know, they call the upper lip this they call us the Cupid's bow shape. The upper lip has, technically, a Cupid's bow shape. I'll just feel it in general s. You know what we're talking about? Kind of the upper lip, that shape and that shape can be extreme. If you ever look at stuff like Betty Boop, if you ever look at stuff like, uh, just, some people have it more than others. You know, depending on attractive female type, they will exaggerate that Cupid's bow shape. So let's take that Cupid's bow and exaggerated, squishing it together more. Then again, you could make that one or two. It's usually too fat Pat stuck together. That would make kind of, ah, you look up here really extreme Cupid's bow shape. So that is some really important structural elements to keep within lips. Remember that, uh, like I was gonna say, If you want to think of the lower Lipa's two balls stuck together. Maybe, Like maybe at a mom A You know, like those beans that are stuck in a pouch together on the inside. There essentially is to beans and right of any mommy. Now, that food that you eat, that food, the people I needed to and, uh, yeah, that's kind of the way you want to think of that lower lip at it, Mom. A squishing up here. So those air kind of, ah, the most important points I think into kind of like forming, uh, the actual mouth, But let's move on to the next thing. 4. Lips Different Views: All right. So let's go over kind of some different viewpoints of the lips. Let's go with side view the up view in the down view. So in the side view, it's very similar to if you saw the I, uh, instruction video. If you haven't seen the I V, I recommend that you go to that video as well and watch that the lips let's say they're facing this direction. You will have, uh, essentially come like 1/2 kind of version of the lips. So that would be the mouth here in the lower chin ago Rolls into you would have essentially that that shape a little bit of value here just to kind of weaken. Tell that part that would be kind of the lips in this, uh, this kind of left point viewpoint. Uh, and so the idea is that you're gonna have these little bumps form when you have the part. In the middle of that bump that's we draw, I think for 1,000,000 these ah kind of ridges, these kind of the point where the lips roll into the actual kind of, well, you know, the difference being the lips and the actual part that line right there, I believe, is a vermillion border. They call it for 1,000,000. You don't have to remember that, but it's cool to do that. But you're always gonna have these bumps on this side view. And I would say It's kind of up to you whether you want like an overbite, right? If someone has an overbite so that one of those bumps is going much more out than the other right here, someone has a new overbite are over here where someone has mawr, let's say an under bite, which is kind of what I have. So where the lower bump comes out much more forward than the upper? I'm kind of exaggerating, of course, and everything in between. Excuse me. So that's kind of a side view of the mouth and essentially, just kind of remember those two bumps and that part in the bumps? It's really easy thing, like an M. Uh, so if we're talking about the lips in the lower and the upper looks like what the let's say if you look down and you're looking up, let's say you're looking you're shorter than something. You're looking up at their lips right Let's change paper for that. So something important to remember when were talking about that is just like with the eyeball that eyeball sit the eyelid. Writeth ei sits on the eyeball, right. It's very similar with the mouth they call something this something called the Tooth Cylinder, and that's the way we kind of visually define an area of the mouth. So if someone's jaw, someone's ah kind of lower mouth will represent kind of almost like a tin can kind of jammed kind of into your face. It's kind of like the role of your teeth are round right there, cylindrical, and you have the lips that are parted and they're open. They're lying on this kind of round form. It's not just kind of flak pressed against your face. It is kind of it's lying on this rounded area. If that makes sense, it's not gonna be on a flat sheet of paper. It will be more like on a can because your teeth kind of do that. So, for example, for example, when you smile right when it like, you're if you look at your like, let's just say you take your teeth out, For example, your teeth are not just, ah, flat a complete flat row of teeth. If you look down on it. You know, you were seeing those like shattering teeth as toys. It has more of this sheep to it. It's more like again, like half a can and the teeth wrap around it. So that's gonna come off with the lips as well with the lips, they're gonna be rounded on there. So because of that, when you're looking at the lips, let's just say from down below it's gonna curve that center of the mouth is going to curve . You're going to see more, probably a little bit less of the lower lip because it's just kind of wait is you see less of a lower lip. Is your looking up? And what you're going to do is you're gonna Seymour of the upper lip. Of course, it depends if someone has a, um, overbite or under bite. But usually it's like this. You're gonna look that Cupid's bow shape is going. Mawr kind of stretched out Seymour kind of angle that direction. Cubans both shape of upper lip, and you're gonna be looking right into that upper lip. So this would be kind of you're looking up at it at the mouth shape. If you're looking downward at it, it's gonna be opposite. See, it's sitting on that tin can write. Let me draw that half tin can around it. Let me, uh, race that area right here just to kind of make it more clear. And then if you're looking down, I would say the lift someone's head is angled downward. The lips will make the opposite shape the opposite direction. Right, Because it's that tin cans aiming downward now and you will see less of the upper upper lip . Significantly less. Sometimes in some cases, barely anything. And then that lower lip is gonna be more pronounced. You're gonna be able to Seymour of it. There's more space. You're looking at it. And to illustrate that, we're gonna draw that flat portion of the head The face there again, that rounded downward. Um, yeah, a couple of things to remember when it gets to the part of the mouth. Sometimes this is kind of sometimes when we're drawing the mouth here, drawn lips when it reaches the end, you know where the mouth kind of ends. Uh, there's these kind of underneath of these nodes where all the muscles come together almost like being shapes, and they're kind of under the skin. But because of that, you're going to see kind of that shape coming, especially when you're older. And I want some of this, you know, with their mouth. You'll see these shapes kind of travel up into the last line, but you'll see remnants of that shape, but yeah, hopefully that makes ah good sense right here. Now we're gonna do is we're gonna going through, uh, going to have an actual demo and you're gonna see this stuff as I'm working with it, So let's start. 5. Demonstration: Okay, so let's go over the demonstration, and, uh, let's get into it first, I had using this start with kind of the left and the right. Well, I'll start this side. Start with the left and the right, where the lips they're gonna end off. Those lines were kind of the part that side of the mouth happened. And what I'm gonna do is I'm gonna start kind of not using straight uh, the tip of the pencil. I'm gonna just mostly slightly right. And I'm going to start with a part right there, and then I'm gonna draw up, put that center portion where the filter is gonna be. Find that Cupid's bow shape again, mostly using the kind of side of the pencil for the most part. And then I am going to find right here. The center portion were that small kind of arrow sheep. The bottom of the Cupid's bow is gonna come out down, and I'm gonna find the plum Penis, that lower lip. Uh, this side's a little bit longer than that side, but it's not a big deal. I could move it over a little bit, so I'm gonna fill in the top lip with value, just kind of using the side of my pencil. The reason I use the side of my pencils because it just doesn't dig into the paper the way the tip of the tip would. The tip of the pencil would really dig in. The paper would be harder erase and give a little bit of value just a little to the lower part of the kind of lower lip. And so I'm gonna use the tip of my pencil now and starting turn to figure out where the dark areas or the dark areas, the dark areas Ah, the dark areas are gonna be kind of right here on the edges here. The reason the edges will be dark is because they're pinching, so they're gonna be dark and they're gonna float into dark. And I'm gonna float into light very dark, and they're gonna gradually going to like, kind of a lighter section of the lips dark pushing the light. Then I'm gonna put another dark over here toward the centre of the lips and it's gonna be dark. Also appears to be a pinching as it goes down, and that's also gonna have its own. It's gonna roll in tow light as well, not into direct like, but it's gonna roll into lighter area. So it's pinching toward the center as pushing down into that, too. Fat pads of the lower lip, and it's gonna roll into light as it goes up. Let's try to make that part a little bit more defined here, kind of using the tip here, Um, kind of defining that upper filter, Um, kind of shape. There's a ridge right here. These regions of the fill trump. Excuse me, A little bit of a cough. Kind of a little bit of value here, Kind of like it's rolling in a con cave way and you can have the upper tooth cylinder here . It's kind of rolling around again, just very small values to kind of, you know, make that obvious. So let's get into this more. Lets get to that upper lip and really trying to finish that off. I'm gonna make that a little bit darker, but not too dark. I don't want to make it look like the lift has lipstick on it. That's ah, don't make it too sharp. I just want to make like a bit, a bit of a value there so that it's obvious that there is a difference in color between that upper lift and above the upper lip. And then there's, ah, line of I think that's called the Vermillion. Her 1,000,000 I think the Vermillion border yes, the Vermillion border. That's kind of that right on the edge of the lip, where it gets a little bit darker and then you finally go into kind of different value the skin. And then let's do that down here as well. And now let's go here and mothers to fat pads. I mentioned, like, kind of like, uh, edit Mommy. Think of any mommy. There's these two beans, like in a pouch. So I'm using the side of my pencil and I'm slowly darkening it, but it's very gradual. I'm not kind of like, just like coloring it in like a coloring book. I'm very gradually building that value up, and then I'm gonna go right here against the vermillion line and then right here kind of putting around the edges. So anything that happens to since the lip Issa buoyant is, uh, it's gonna cause a cast shadow we're gonna cause like a cast shadow toward underneath the lip so I can usually make this pretty dark as well. In that cast shadow is gonna roll into the chin. It's not really gonna roll right into the chin because there is this kind of section before under the chin, and that is gonna kind of role in the actual chin right here and then do a little bit of great Asian for those nodes Little side of the mouth here. It was not too harsh, going a little bit more darkness right here where it's pinching all righty and make a little bit more. I want to make a little bit more obvious right here. So I'm gonna use kind of the tip my pencil and make the part and the lips more obvious and all right, that's pretty much the front view of the lips. That's kind of a demonstration of that. We could do the side view as well. So let's go over that side view like I talked about those two bombs here, parting of the mouth. I'm using a lot of the side of the pencil here. I'm kind of drawing that line little bit thicker than I should, but we'll be fine. I can round it out. It's simpler because it's a side view. And you have, like, half the information you need to put in there again. Putting a little bit value is gonna roll into the chin here. And what I'm gonna do is I'm gonna throw a little bit of information here, a straight line for the edge, throwing in a little deeper of a line here and also going to use more of the side of my pencil side like kind of medium side area Teoh to give this vermillion line on the bottom mawr. Kind of like just so it's there more. Anyways, that's pretty much it. Uh, I didn't have use eraser a whole lot, but, uh, yeah, that's pretty much the front view and the side view demo. Thank you for watching and watch the next video. I'm gonna give you kind of some tips on how to put this all together 6. How to Stay Motivated: All right, This is a little bonus track, and I'm gonna talk about kind of how to stay motivated. I'm going to be three ways to stay motivated in art. First, I'm going to say that you're probably doing this because I'm assuming you are a beginner or at least near beginner, or you're just brushing up on the basics as an intermediate or advanced even. But I would say staying motivated is one of the most important differentiators I've seen with people that get just kind of okay at this. And people get really, really good at this. Uh, so I'll give you these three ways that I personally stay motivated to kind of keep going. Number one. I actually look at other artwork. I know that sounds like a very common thing to do, but it's surprising that people don't I look throughout instagram I look, I have actual collections of books from certain artists that I absolutely love. And I will skim through those books once a day. Not all of them. I will pick one book off my bookshelf and I will skim through it Just kind of absorb it. I can't look at it. Enjoyed as a viewer and then kind of imagine what they what do they have to do to get to that point? That could be any book that you want, but having a collection right of different art that you really love kind of surrounding you . It's almost like I was Moses. And it will kind of help keep you going number to realize that everyone is human. Everyone is starting from the same position when they're starting to draw. It is not an in grain born talent. It is really not that at all. I started drawing at 19 years old. I started. You know, some people would consider that late. Some people get there that early, which is kind of crazy. But most people I think we consider that late. Most people start drawing at what, three years old? How often have you heard people say that I've been drawing so I can hold a pencil? That was completely not my case. It took me two years of training before I was able to work in art and that's because I put in the time and I was super interested in it and I was still motivated the whole that that entire way, even until now. Uh, so I would be the 2nd 1 number three in terms of staying motivated. Look at people. Save your old art. If your brand new I understand that maybe you might not have this yet, But save your art because when you look back in, let's say a few months, maybe a few years at your art. Currently, you're gonna look back on and be like, Oh, wow, you're way better. The mind tends to trick you into thinking that you're not getting better for a couple of reasons, and I'll talk very briefly about what that is. So when you're developing as an artist, especially at the beginner stage, you're going to develop so rapidly at the beginner stage, probably mawr than in any other stage. You know, by the time you're a working professional, you're just you're trying to fine tune little things, so it's not quite the same as when you're the beginning. Your beginner, you just trying absorb anything like a sponge and then later on a little bit different. The learning curve a little bit different when you're a professional or even intermediate to professional. But toward the beginning. You just try to absorb anything. And so because of that two things happened, your your hand develops like meeting your writing hand. You know things. The lines you can pull with your hand that's developing at the same time your eye is developing. Your ability to see mistakes is getting better. And because of that, you have a competing kind of thing going on. Uh, you have your hand that's getting better, and you have your eye that's getting better than detecting mistakes. So usually what happens is that your eye, your ability to see things and see mistakes that progress is much faster than your hand normally. So because that it appears you're making more mistakes because you can spot them now. But you might actually be better on and start going over this if your brand new you're gonna see this phenomenon probably the span of like a year or even six months. If you're drawing a lot, uh, you're going to see it. You're going to take a while. This sucks. And then you look back at something you first did that you thought was OK. And you're gonna be shocked. You like Okay, That's really bad. You actually discovered you've come a long way, but that certainly is. That feeds into keeping you going. Is this improvement? Eso? Like I said, save your your drawings. You're gonna want to do that. Everybody throws him out. I don't know why, but I mean, I know why. Because they're painful to look at. Right? Old drawings. But save as much as you can. You don't say every single little practice sheet, but save it. Thank you so much for participating in this If you got to this point. Thank you. You're amazing. And I love to teach people like you and I hope, see even more lessons in the future and be posting every single week. So thank you, guys. Love, skill, share.