Drawing people is hard. You’ve probably spent hours sketching a face only to realize the mouth looks like a flat sticker pasted onto a ball. It’s frustrating. Most beginners treat lips as two distinct shapes—a top one and a bottom one—separated by a line. This is exactly where the trouble starts. If you want to master lips drawing step by step, you have to stop thinking about lines and start thinking about flesh, volume, and how light hits a wet surface.
The Anatomy Most People Ignore
Before you even pick up a 2B pencil, you need to understand what’s actually happening under the skin. Human lips aren't just pink patches on the face. They are muscle. Specifically, the orbicularis oris muscle.
Think about the "Cupid’s bow." Everyone knows that part. But did you know about the five primary fatty masses that give lips their pout? There are three on the top lip and two on the bottom. When you look at a professional sketch, you aren't seeing an outline; you’re seeing the artist acknowledge those five little cushions of volume. The middle one on the top lip is called the tubercle. If you don't draw that tubercle correctly, the mouth looks like a cartoon. It’s that simple.
Honestly, the biggest mistake is drawing the "outline" of the lips first. Don't do that. Your lips don't have a hard black border in real life (unless you're wearing heavy liner). They are a transition of color and texture. If you start with a heavy outline, you’ve already lost the realism before you’ve even begun.
Lips Drawing Step by Step: Getting the Structure Right
Let’s get into the actual process. Forget everything you learned about drawing "M" shapes.
Start with a horizontal line. This isn't just a straight line; it’s the "aperture" or the crack where the lips meet. This is the darkest part of the mouth. Why? Because it’s a "crevice" where light can’t reach. Instead of a flat line, make it slightly wavy. It should look like a very shallow "V" or a bird flying in the far distance. This line defines the character of the mouth more than anything else.
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Next, place three circles. Two sit on the bottom, side-by-side. One sits right in the middle on top, nestled into that shallow "V" you just drew. These circles represent those fatty masses I mentioned earlier. This is your map.
Mapping the Cupid's Bow and Philtrum
Now, you’ll want to connect the top of that middle circle to the corners of the mouth. Use soft, curving lines. Above the top lip, there’s a little dip that leads to the nose—that’s the philtrum. Most people forget the philtrum exists, but without it, the lips look detached from the face.
Draw two faint vertical lines rising from the peaks of the top lip toward the nose. This creates the "philtrum columns." By adding these, you’re grounding the mouth into the facial structure. It’s these tiny, anatomical details that separate a "good" drawing from a "photorealistic" one.
Shading for Realistic Volume
Shading is where the magic—or the disaster—happens.
The top lip usually tilts downward. This means it’s almost always in shadow because the light source (usually coming from above) can’t hit it directly. The bottom lip, however, tilts upward. It acts like a shelf that catches the light.
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Pro Tip: Keep your top lip darker than your bottom lip.
- The Core Shadow: Use a softer lead, like a 4B or 6B, for the center line where the lips meet.
- The Reflected Light: Don't shade the bottom lip all the way to the edge. Leave a tiny sliver of light at the very bottom where the lip meets the chin. This represents "reflected light" bouncing up from the chin.
- Texture Lines: Lips are wrinkly. Use vertical, slightly curved "flick" marks to indicate the skin's texture. But don't overdo it. If you draw every single line, the lips will look 100 years old. Just a few near the center and the edges will suffice.
Dealing with the "Corner" Problem
The corners of the mouth are tricky. Most beginners draw them as sharp points. Look in a mirror. The corners are actually soft, dark pits. There’s a tiny muscle junction there called the modiolus.
Instead of a sharp point, shade a small, soft circle at each corner. This gives the mouth depth and makes it look like it's actually wrapping around the cylinder of the teeth. Remember, the mouth isn't on a flat plane. It’s sitting on a curved surface. Your shading should follow that curve.
If you're drawing someone smiling, those corners get deeper and the "smile lines" (nasolabial folds) start to activate. But even in a neutral expression, those corners need to be dark and soft, never sharp and thin.
Common Pitfalls and Misconceptions
One of the weirdest things about drawing lips is that the "red part" (the vermilion border) isn't the only thing that matters. The skin around the lips is just as important.
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I’ve seen so many artists nail the lips but fail the "mustache area" or the "chin dip." There is a soft shadow right under the bottom lip. If you skip this shadow, the lip will look like it’s floating. That shadow defines the "labiomental groove," which is that little indentation between your lip and your chin.
Another big mistake? Making the teeth too white. If you’re drawing an open mouth, the teeth should be slightly shaded. If they are pure white paper, they’ll look like they’re glowing in the dark. Use a light grey for the teeth and save your brightest white for the "highlight" or the "glint" on the wet part of the lip.
Materials Matter for Detail
While you can draw with a yellow #2 pencil, it's not going to give you the range you need for lips drawing step by step.
You need a variety. Use a 2H for the initial "circle" mapping because it’s easy to erase. Move to an HB for the general shading. Then, bring in the 6B for those deep, dark corners and the center aperture.
Also, get a "kneaded eraser." These are those grey, squishy erasers that look like putty. You can mold them into a sharp point and "pick up" graphite to create highlights. This is how you get those realistic "wet" glints on the lower lip. You aren't drawing the highlight; you’re removing the shadow.
Practical Steps to Improve Today
Practice doesn't make perfect; informed practice does. If you keep drawing the same wrong shapes, you'll just get really good at drawing bad lips.
- Sketch the "Three-Ball" Method: Do ten pages of just the three-circle skeleton. Don't even finish the drawings. Just get the proportions of those three fatty masses right.
- Study Different Angles: Lips change shape drastically when viewed from the side (the "profile" view). In profile, the top lip usually overhangs the bottom one.
- Value Check: Take a photo of your drawing and turn it to black and white on your phone. If the top and bottom lip are the same shade of grey, your drawing will look flat. Adjust until there’s a clear contrast.
- The Tissue Blend: Use a blending stump or a piece of tissue to soften the edges of the lips. Real lips have a soft "transition zone" where the lip color fades into the skin.
Mastering the mouth is about observing the subtle shifts in plane and light. Stop looking for lines and start looking for shadows. Once you understand that the mouth is a three-dimensional object wrapping around a curved skull, your portraits will immediately feel more alive. Focus on the volume of those five fatty pads and the darkness of the corners, and the rest will fall into place.