Drawing Tutorial: How to Draw Lip Shapes

Learn how to draw all kinds of different lip shapes with this free, in-depth tutorial!

Whether you want to draw a playful pout, a charming smile, or a dramatic lip curve we've got you covered with this in-depth tutorial! Perfect for beginners and seasoned artists alike, this guide will have you sketching stunning lips with style and confidence.

Step 1
The basic shapes to look out for in constructing the lips are these:
1. Creating volume on the top and bottom lip with the help of circles and ovals
2. Drawing the line between them that gives the expression of the mouth (as shown in the third drawing)

Step 2
With those principles in mind we can begin to play and create unique variations.

Step 3
Things that make a lip shape distinct are:
1. The shape of the Cupids bow. The Cupids Bow can be rounded, sharp, or even absent.
2. The angle of the corner of the mouth. You can have downturned lips or upturned, or just straight. Helps a lot when you want a specific look for a character. Maybe the character is usually grumpy or mean, or happy.
3. Top/bottom lip ratio. Lip’s don’t have to be perfectly balanced, you can easily choose to make one bigger than the other, and achieve a unique look.

And there you have it! After following this tutorial you will be well on your way to creating awesome drawings with the perfect lips to give your creations character and fun facial expressions.

We have also attached the PDF and video versions of this tutorial, making it even easier to follow along!

You may also find these links interesting:
Online Drawing Courses
How to Draw the Human Body: 19 Free Tutorials for Beginners, an article by Arturo Torres Landa
Anatomical Drawing of Limbs, Hands and Feet, a course by ZURSOIF Miguel Bustos Gómez