Napoleon Dynamite had skills. He knew nunchucks. He knew bowhunting. He even knew computer hacking—sorta. But for most of us who grew up in the early 2000s, there is one specific "skill" that stands above the rest in the pantheon of awkward cinematic moments. I’m talking about the Napoleon Dynamite Trisha drawing.
It was supposed to be a romantic gesture. A masterpiece. A ticket to the dance with the most popular girl in school. Instead, it became a cultural touchstone for anyone who has ever tried way too hard and failed in spectacular, pencil-smudged fashion.
Honestly, the drawing itself is a work of art, just not for the reasons Napoleon intended.
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The Shading on the Upper Lip: A Three-Hour Labor of Love
If you’ve seen the movie, you can hear the line in your head. Napoleon tells Trisha on the phone, "It took me, like, three hours to finish the shading on your upper lip."
That one sentence perfectly captures the delusion of the character. He isn't being ironic. He truly believes that those three hours of graphite-smearing labor resulted in a likeness that would sweep any girl off her feet. In reality, the portrait is... well, it’s a lot.
The Napoleon Dynamite Trisha drawing features a wide-eyed, slightly startled version of Trisha. Her hair is a chaotic mass of scribbles. The neck is questionable. And yes, that upper lip shading—which Napoleon is so proud of—looks less like a subtle shadow and more like a very prominent, very dark mustache.
Who actually drew the Trisha portrait?
Here is a fun bit of trivia: Jon Heder, the actor who played Napoleon, actually drew the portrait himself.
Most people assume a prop master or a hired illustrator whipped it up to look intentionally bad, but Heder was a real-life art student. He attended Brigham Young University and eventually graduated with a BFA in Illustration. In a 2024 interview reflecting on the film's 20th anniversary, Heder confirmed he did all the drawings for the movie.
Because Heder actually knew how to draw, he had to purposefully lean into a specific type of "high school amateur" aesthetic. It takes a certain level of skill to make something look that specifically, earnestly mediocre.
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Why the Scene Still Hits Different in 2026
We’ve all been there. You have a crush. You want to impress them. You decide to use your "talents" to get their attention.
In Napoleon’s world, "girls only want boyfriends who have great skills." This advice comes from Pedro, who is arguably the only person more confident and less self-aware than Napoleon. When Napoleon delivers the drawing to Trisha’s house, the cringe factor is dialed up to eleven because Uncle Rico is already there, mid-pitch, selling "Bust Must Plus" to Trisha’s mom.
It is the perfect storm of social disaster.
- The Intent: Pure, unadulterated romance.
- The Execution: A charcoal nightmare delivered in a plastic sleeve.
- The Reaction: Trisha’s look of genuine horror.
Trisha, played by Emily Dunn (then Emily Kennard), doesn't say much. She doesn't have to. Her face does all the heavy lifting. Interestingly, Dunn wasn't just some random extra; she was an art student herself at BYU alongside Heder. She later went on to work as an art manager at Disney. There is something incredibly poetic about two professional artists collaborating on the most famous "bad" drawing in movie history.
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The Secret "Liger" Connection
Napoleon's artistic portfolio isn't limited to human portraits. Before the Napoleon Dynamite Trisha drawing made its debut, we saw his rendition of a Liger—a lion and tiger mixed, bred for its skills in magic.
The Liger drawing set the stage. It established that Napoleon views the world through a lens of fantasy and "warrior" energy. When he draws Trisha, he isn't trying to capture her likeness for a yearbook; he’s trying to capture her soul, or at least his version of it.
Why the drawing "failed" (and why it worked)
From a technical standpoint, the shading on the upper lip is the biggest offender. In portraiture, the area between the nose and the mouth is notoriously difficult. If you go too heavy with the pencil, you give your subject a beard. If you go too light, the face looks flat.
Napoleon went heavy. Real heavy.
But within the context of the film’s "retro-awkward" aesthetic, that drawing is perfect. It fits the mid-2000s Idaho setting where time seemed to stand still. Everything in Napoleon’s life is slightly off-kilter—from his Moon Boots to his 1% milk—and his art is the ultimate reflection of that.
How to Get Your Own Trisha Sketch
Believe it or not, people still want this drawing on their walls. You can find "shading on the upper lip" prints all over the internet.
If you are looking for a replica, here is what you should look for to ensure it’s "authentic" to the movie:
- The Paper: It shouldn't be high-quality cardstock. It needs to look like it came from a standard spiral-bound sketchbook.
- The Smudging: The graphite should look like it was rubbed with a thumb that was recently holding a tater tot.
- The Framing: Napoleon didn't frame it. He gave it to her raw. But if you're putting it in your house, a simple black frame helps the "mustache" pop.
Actionable Tips for Aspiring Napoleon-Style Artists
If you actually want to recreate the Napoleon Dynamite Trisha drawing style, you have to unlearn your professional habits.
- Don't Use a Blender: Forget those fancy paper stumps. Use your fingers. The natural oils in your skin will give it that authentic "I spent three hours on this in my bedroom" look.
- Focus on the Eyes: Make them slightly different sizes. It adds a level of "deer in the headlights" intensity that defines the character.
- Over-Shade the Philtrum: That's the technical term for the upper lip area. If it doesn't look like a shadow cast by a solar eclipse, you haven't shaded enough.
- Ignore Proportions: The neck should be just a little too long, and the hair should look like a textured cloud of chaos.
The legacy of the Trisha drawing isn't that it's bad art. It’s that it’s honest art. Napoleon didn't have much, but he had three hours and a dream. And honestly? That's more than most people give to their crushes these days.
Next time you're feeling nervous about a project or a gift, just remember: as long as you didn't spend three hours making someone look like they have a handlebar mustache, you're probably doing just fine. Or, better yet, embrace the "Napoleon" in you and lead with your skills.
Whether you're looking for a nostalgic gift or just want to appreciate the work of Jon Heder, the Trisha portrait remains the ultimate symbol of awkward, earnest teenagehood. Keep your nunchucks close and your sketchbooks closer.