84 ideas

Mouth Drawing Ideas

One mouth to draw per press, in a view or a state, with the line to get right.

Mouth Drawing Ideas

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Drawn: A closed-mouth smileA closed-mouth smileOne line that dips in the middle and lifts at both ends. Add a small tick at each corner for the cheeks.

Next step A sheet of 25 expressions to fill in

All 84 ideas

Expressions 14

A closed-mouth smile One line that dips in the middle and lifts at both ends. Add a small tick at each corner for the cheeks.
A frown with the corners pulled down The line between the lips arches up in the middle. A small shadow sits under the lower lip.
A lopsided smirk One corner climbs and digs a crease into the cheek. The other corner stays level.
A mouth about to cry Corners pulled down and out, the lower lip pushed up in the middle, a wavering line between the lips.
A mouth holding back a laugh Lips pressed and pulled in, corners twitching up, cheeks puffed. The chin wrinkles.
A polite smile and a real one, side by side The same mouth twice. In the real one the upper lip thins, more teeth show and the cheeks crease.
A pout with the lower lip pushed out The lower lip rolls forward and catches the light. The chin bunches into small dimples under it.
A smile that lifts the cheeks to the eyes A smile that also tightens the muscles at the corners of the eyes is called a Duchenne smile. Draw the cheek creases.
A sneer with one side of the upper lip lifted The lip curls up toward the nostril on one side and shows a tooth or two. A fold deepens beside the nose.
A wide open laugh The upper teeth show as one band and the lower lip curves like a bowl. The tongue is a soft hump inside.
A yawn at full stretch The jaw drops straight down, so the opening is taller than it is wide. The lips pull tight over the teeth.
An O of surprise A tall oval, dark inside. The lips thin out as they stretch around it.
Clenched teeth with the lips drawn back Both rows show, edge to edge. The lips square off and the corners stretch wide and flat.
Lips pressed into a thin line Almost no lip shows. Small creases gather at both corners.

Angles and ages 14

A baby's mouth, small and rounded Keep it short and soft, with round cheeks pressing in from both sides.
A mouth and the groove above it The philtrum is the vertical groove from the upper lip to the nose. Shade its two ridges, not the dip.
A mouth front-on, built on its center line Draw the line between the lips first, then the upper lip above it and the lower lip below.
A mouth half hidden by the edge of a scarf The fabric covers one corner. Let its shadow fall across the lower lip.
A mouth in hard side light One half is lit and the other lost in shadow. The center line and the far corner nearly vanish.
A mouth in profile The center line is short and ends at a corner tucked into the cheek. Place that corner first.
A mouth in three-quarter view The far half is shorter than the near half, and the dip of the upper lip shifts toward the far side.
A mouth lit from above The upper lip slopes away from the light and goes dark. The lower lip catches it, with shadow beneath.
A mouth seen from below The center line bends like a frown, more of the lower lip shows, and the underside of the nose appears.
A mouth tilted down, seen from above More of the upper lip shows and it hides part of the lower. The center line curves like a smile.
A mouth turned almost away from you Only the near half shows clearly. The far corner disappears behind the curve of the lips.
A mouth with deep smile lines Two curved folds bracket the mouth from nose to chin. Draw them as soft shadows, darker at the top.
An old mouth with fine upright lines Draw the lips thin. Short creases cross the lip edge and folds run from the nose past the corners.
The same mouth at five ages From baby to elder, draw the lips a little thinner, the corners a little lower and the lines around them deeper.

Teeth, tongue and speech 14

A child's smile with one front tooth missing One dark square in the top row with a new tooth edge just showing. Small, even teeth beside it.
A full set of teeth in an open smile, front view The two front teeth look widest. Each tooth after looks narrower as the row turns away; shade the far ones.
A grin with a gap between the front teeth Leave a narrow dark space between the two front teeth. Draw the teeth as one band, not one by one.
A mouth blowing out air, cheeks puffed Lips pursed forward to a small opening. The cheeks balloon and push the corners of the mouth inward.
A mouth mid-word, teeth just parted The lips are loose and uneven. A sliver of dark between the rows of teeth says the jaw is moving.
A mouth shouting Wide and squarish, with the lower teeth and the tongue showing and the corners pulled tight.
A sheet of eight mouth shapes for speech One mouth for each sound: ah, ee, oo, oh, m, f, l and th. Keep the face around them the same.
A tongue curled into a tube The edges roll up to meet. Shade the inside of the tube dark and leave a highlight on the rim.
A tongue stuck out for fun A rounded tongue over the lower lip with a crease down its center. The upper teeth rest on top of it.
An open mouth from the side, the jaw swung down Swing the lower jaw down like a hinged lid and leave the upper teeth where they were.
The mouth shape for the sound ah The jaw drops and the lips relax. The upper teeth barely show and the tongue lies low and flat.
The mouth shape for the sound ee Lips stretched wide and thin, teeth close together, corners pulled straight back.
The mouth shape for the sound oo The lips push forward into a small ring. From the front it is a tight circle with creases around it.
The mouth shape for the sounds f and v The upper teeth rest on the lower lip. Show only the tooth edges and the lip tucked under them.

Lips 14

A one-line mouth, pen never lifted Start at one corner, trace the top edge, cross at the far corner and come back along the bottom.
A page of twelve lip shapes Vary the bow, the fullness and the corners: peaked, flat, wide, heart-shaped, downturned.
The Cupid's bow drawn as a flattened M The double curve of the upper lip is called the Cupid's bow. Draw a wide, low M and round off its points.
Dry, chapped lips Short broken creases run up and down. A few small flakes lift at the edges and catch the light.
Full lips and thin lips side by side Keep the width the same and change only the height. The center line stays where it is.
Glossy lips in pencil, highlights lifted with an eraser Shade the whole lip mid-gray, then lift two sharp-edged shapes out of the lower lip.
Lips as five flat shapes with no shading Two shapes for the top, one in the middle and two below, cut from the outline like panes.
Lips built from three circles One small ball in the middle of the upper lip and two larger ones side by side for the lower. Outline around them.
Lips drawn with only upright hatching lines No outline. Let the hatch lines bend with the roundness of the lip and bunch up where it is darkest.
Lips lit from one side The lit half shows its creases and the far half merges into one dark shape.
Lips on toned paper with white chalk highlights Let the paper be the middle tone. Add the darks in pencil and only the brightest spots in white.
Lips reflected in the bowl of a spoon The bowl flips the image and stretches it. Curve everything along the edge of the spoon.
Lips with a crisp edge at the bow and a soft edge at the corners The line where lip meets skin is the vermilion border. Sharpen it at the bow and let it fade at the corners.
Matte lips shaded with a soft pencil No highlight at all. Shade the upper lip darker than the lower and let the creases follow the curve.

Lips with fruit 14

A blueberry balanced on the lower lip A dark ball with a tiny crown on top. Its shadow is a short crescent on the lip.
A cherry held in the lips by its stem The stem pokes out between the lips and the cherry hangs below, round with one small highlight.
A grape held between the front teeth A smooth oval with a soft highlight. The teeth just dent it and the lips are drawn back to show it.
A mouth about to bite a watermelon wedge Open wide, upper teeth showing. The wedge is a triangle with a thin green edge and a few seeds.
A mouth made from two strawberry halves Lay the cut halves point to point. The seeds become texture and the cut edges become the center line.
A peach with a bite gone and a drop of juice on the lip Shade the wet flesh inside the bite. One drop sits on the lower lip with a bright dot of light.
A pomegranate seed held between the teeth A small glassy seed, darker at its core, with one hard highlight. The teeth barely touch it.
A raspberry held between the lips A cluster of small round beads, each with its own dot of light. The lips close gently around the middle.
A slice of lemon and a pucker The lips squeeze into a tight knot with creases fanning out. Hold the bitten slice beside them.
A strawberry with one bite gone, held at the lips A scalloped bite mark shows the pale inside. Seeds sit in small dimples around the red.
An apple with a bite out, held up to a smile The bite is a scoop with tooth ridges across it. Put the smile just behind, half hidden.
An orange slice as a grin Tuck a wedge of orange behind the lips, peel side out. The grin is all rind.
Lips stained dark by blackberries The stain is strongest along the center line and fades to nothing at the outer edge of both lips.
The same lips with six fruits in a row Cherry, grape, raspberry, orange, lemon, peach. Change only the fruit and how far the mouth opens.

Animal and fantasy mouths 14

A cat's mouth, closed, like a small w A short line drops from the nose and splits into two curves. Whisker dots sit on the pads either side.
A crocodile's jaw shut, teeth still showing Draw the teeth as uneven cones along a wavy jaw line, some pointing up and some pointing down.
A deep-sea fish with needle teeth, lit by its own lure Long thin teeth of uneven length curve inward. The lure hangs above and lights the top row.
A dog panting, tongue out to one side A long flat tongue with a crease down the center hangs past the lower teeth.
A dragon's mouth with smoke curling out between the teeth Keep the jaws nearly shut. The smoke leaks through the gaps and gathers above the nostrils.
A duck's bill, slightly open Two flat spoon shapes, the top one longer, with a sliver of dark between them.
A flytrap plant with its two toothed lobes open Two hinged lobes edged with long bristles that would mesh like fingers. Shade the inside darker than the rim.
A frog's wide mouth, shut One long line from cheek to cheek, turned up a little at the ends.
A hippo's yawn The jaws open like a suitcase. Thick peg teeth at the front and a huge arch of mouth behind them.
A horse reaching for an apple with its lips The upper lip stretches forward toward the apple. Big flat front teeth show behind it.
A robot's mouth: a speaker grille A rounded rectangle of slots or dots. Light a few of the slots to show it talking.
A shark's mouth seen from below A wide crescent set back under the snout, edged with triangles.
A snake's mouth wide open Draw the jaws at a very wide angle, with a forked tongue, two curved fangs and a pale lining.
A vampire's smile with two long fangs Ordinary teeth except the two pointed ones, which reach just past the lower lip.

How it works

A mouth is one line with two soft shapes around it, and the line does most of the work. These mouth drawing ideas give it a job each time: a smirk, a yawn, the sound oo, a bite of strawberry.

Read the full guide

Start with the line between the lips

Its shape is the expression: lifted at the ends for a smile, arched for a frown, pulled straight when the lips press shut. Draw it first and darkest, then set the upper lip above it and the lower lip below.

Lips drawing ideas, with and without fruit

The Lips group is pencil practice: the Cupid's bow as a flattened M, lips built from three circles, a page of twelve shapes. Lips with fruit adds a prop that explains the pose, such as a cherry stem, an orange slice or a raspberry.

Draw teeth as one pale band and mark only a few gaps. Outlining every tooth makes a fence.

Questions and answers

What is the Cupid's bow?

The double curve along the edge of the upper lip, said to look like an archer's bow. The groove that runs from it up to the nose is the philtrum.

What are easy mouth drawing ideas?

A closed-mouth smile, an O of surprise, a grin with a gap between the front teeth, or a cat's mouth drawn like a small w. The Easy level, under More filters, holds 30.

How do you draw lips step by step?

Draw the line between the lips. Mark the two peaks and the dip of the upper lip, then the lower edge as one wide curve. Shade the upper lip and leave a light patch on the lower.

How do you draw a mouth from the side?

Slope both lips forward from the face and tuck the corner back toward the cheek. Only half of the mouth shows, so the center line is short.