Drawing people is hard. Drawing faces is harder. But if you really want to test your sanity, try to figure out how to draw a smile with teeth without making your subject look like a terrifying wooden nutcracker or a shark mid-frenzy. It’s the ultimate artist's trap. Most beginners approach a toothy grin by drawing a big white shape and then subdividing it into a dozen little white chiclets. Please, for the love of all things holy, don't do that.
It looks weird. You know it looks weird.
The problem is psychological. Our brains are hardwired to recognize teeth as individual units because we use them to eat and, occasionally, to judge someone's hygiene. When we sit down with a pencil, we try to draw what we know (individual teeth) rather than what we actually see (a collective mass of ivory reflecting light). To get this right, you have to unlearn your instincts. You have to stop drawing teeth and start drawing the shadows between them.
The Anatomy of a Grin
Before you even touch the paper, you need to understand the architecture of the mouth. It isn't flat. The teeth sit in a horseshoe-shaped arch called the dental arcade. This is the "Aha!" moment for most artists. Because the jaw is curved, the teeth at the front—your central incisors—are closest to the viewer. As the smile moves toward the corners of the mouth, the teeth recede into the distance. They get smaller. They catch less light.
They disappear into the "buccal corridor."
That’s a fancy dental term for the dark space between the corners of the lips and the teeth. If you don't include those dark corners, the smile looks like a flat sticker pasted onto a face. It lacks depth. Real smiles have shadows at the edges because the cheeks cast them.
Think about the lips, too. When someone smiles wide enough to show teeth, the skin stretches. The upper lip usually thins out, sometimes almost vanishing, while the lower lip creates a cradle. According to legendary facial anatomy expert Gary Faigin, author of The Artist's Complete Guide to Facial Expression, the "zygomatic major" muscle pulls the corners of the mouth upward and outward. This creates those characteristic folds in the cheeks. If you draw the teeth but forget the cheek folds, the person looks like they’re wearing a mask.
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Stop Drawing Lines Between Every Tooth
This is the biggest mistake. Honestly, it's the "uncanny valley" speedrun. When you draw a hard, dark line between every single tooth, you’re basically drawing a picket fence. Humans don't have black lines between their teeth unless they’ve been eating oreos or have some serious periodontal issues.
Instead of lines, use value.
The gaps between teeth—the interdental papilla—are tiny triangular shadows. That’s all you need to hint at. A small, soft "T" shape where the teeth meet the gumline is usually enough to signal to the viewer's brain that there are individual teeth there. The rest of the "line" should be suggested by a change in tone or a slight highlight.
Keep the edges soft.
If you look at the work of master portraitists like John Singer Sargent, you’ll notice he rarely defined every tooth. He’d use a single swipe of lead white paint for the highlight and maybe one or two subtle shifts in temperature to suggest the separation. He let the viewer's eye do the work. Your brain is incredibly good at filling in the blanks. If you provide the shape of the mouth and a few key highlights, the brain says, "Oh, cool, a smile." If you provide every single detail, the brain says, "Why is that person's mouth full of piano keys?"
The Gum Line Dilemma
Gums are tricky. In a "social smile," you might not see them at all. In a "Duchenne smile"—that’s the spontaneous, genuine one named after neurologist Guillaume Duchenne—the lips pull back further, often exposing the upper gums.
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If you're going to draw gums, keep the contrast low.
The transition from tooth to gum should be a soft curve, not a jagged cliff. Use a lighter touch with your pencil here. If the line where the tooth meets the gum is too dark, it looks like the teeth are falling out. Not the vibe we're going for. Also, remember that teeth aren't pure white. They’re slightly yellow, grey, or even bluish depending on the lighting. If you leave the teeth the pure white of the paper and shade the rest of the face, the teeth will look like they’re glowing in the dark.
Tone them down.
Give the teeth a very light grey wash and then use an eraser to "pop" a single highlight on the wettest part of the tooth (usually the front incisors). That tiny white dot does more for realism than ten minutes of detailed shading ever could.
Perspective and the Center Line
The "center line" of the face is your best friend and your worst enemy. It runs right between the two front teeth. If that line is off, the whole face looks broken. When a head is turned in a three-quarter view, the center of the mouth shifts.
The teeth on the far side of the mouth will appear narrower due to foreshortening.
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You’ll see more of the side of the teeth closest to you and almost none of the side of the teeth furthest away. It’s basic geometry, but it’s easy to forget when you’re staring at a reference photo. A good trick is to sketch the "gum line" and the "biting edge" as two parallel curved lines first. This creates a "ribbon" that follows the curve of the jaw. Then, you just slot the teeth into that ribbon.
Lighting the Interior
The mouth is a cave. It’s dark in there.
The tongue often sits behind the teeth, creating a dark backdrop that makes the translucency of the enamel stand out. You should treat the inside of the mouth as a series of receding planes. The back teeth should be significantly darker than the front ones.
Don't forget the "occlusal plane"—the surface where the upper and lower teeth meet. If the mouth is slightly open, you’ll see a sliver of darkness between the rows. This gap is vital. It provides the "relief" that makes the teeth look like 3D objects rather than a flat white block.
Common Pitfalls to Avoid:
- The "Lipstick" Outline: Don't outline the teeth in a dark color. The "outline" of the teeth is actually just the shape of the lips around them.
- The Symmetry Trap: Human teeth aren't perfectly symmetrical. One might be slightly crooked or a bit longer. Adding a tiny imperfection makes the drawing feel human.
- Over-shading: If you put too much lead in the mouth, it looks like the person has been chewing on charcoal. Keep it clean.
Practice Makes it Less Terrible
You won't get this right on the first try. Or the fifth. Drawing a smile with teeth is a rite of passage for artists. Start by sketching small. Don't commit to a massive 18x24 portrait until you've filled a sketchbook page with just "mouth studies."
Use a mirror. Smile at yourself. It’ll feel stupid, but look at how your lips stretch. Look at where the light hits your canines. Notice how the bottom teeth are often shrouded in shadow by the lower lip.
Actionable Steps for Your Next Sketch:
- Map the Arch: Sketch a curved "U" shape to represent the dental arcade before placing individual teeth.
- The "Two-Tooth" Rule: Focus your detail on the two front incisors. Let the other teeth blur and lose detail as they move toward the corners of the mouth.
- Shadow over Line: Use a 2B pencil to softly shade the corners of the mouth (the buccal corridors) to create immediate depth.
- Highlight Last: Use a kneaded eraser to tap out a single, sharp highlight on the "bulge" of the front teeth to simulate the reflection of light on wet enamel.
- Check the Midline: Ensure the split between the two front teeth aligns with the philtrum (the little notch under the nose).
If you keep the values soft and focus on the "mass" of the teeth rather than the "lines" between them, you’ll stop creating monsters and start creating portraits. It takes a bit of patience, but once the "horseshoe" concept clicks, everything changes. Stop overthinking the individual teeth and start looking at the mouth as a single, complex, light-catching shape.