This guide shows how to draw lips with an easy step by step breakdown. It provides simple illustrated line drawing and coloring examples along with quick instructions.
lips drawing step by step
The drawing is done in an uncomplicated beginner friendly style. The guide shows how to first create an outline of the lips with a shape characteristic for such a facial feature. It then explains how to apply some basic color in a way that makes the lips look shiny and moist to create a beautiful looking drawing.
While the tutorial is very simple, it’s still recommended that you start it using a regular pencil and make light lines that are easy to erase in case you wish to make some adjustments or to correct mistakes. Darken your lines after you have all parts of the lips outlined.
To color the drawing all you need is a red pencil crayon but you can also use paints if you prefer.
Step 1 – Draw the Mouth
mouth drawing
First, draw the opening of the mouth (pretty much defined by the bottom of the upper lip). You can think of it’s shape as a flattened letter “M”.
Outline each of the mouth’s sides with a smooth curves joined by a little “bump” in the middle. Draw the corners of the mouth to be slightly raised.
Step 3 – Draw the Upper Lip
top lip drawing
Draw the upper lip. The shape of it’s bottom was already defined in step one. Define the top with a similar shape but make it taller (as though it’s been stretched upwards). Also, make it slightly narrower so that the corners of the mouth go slightly past on each side.
Step 3 – Draw the Bottom Lip
lips outline drawing
Draw the lower lip with one continuous curve but make the bottom of the outline slightly flattened. Again, make it slightly narrower than the mouth.
Step 4 – Draw the Mouth Corners
lips line drawing
With the bottom lip drawn you should have the main shape of the lips fully defined. Once at this stage, trace over your drawing with darker lines (either press harder on the pencil or use a thin black marker). Also, add little darker bits on the corners of the mouth to make these areas appear more pronounced.
Step 5 – Outline the Reflections Along the Lower Lip
lips reflection drawing
Before coloring outline some reflections along the lower lip (light reflecting from it’s surface). This will help make the lips look shiny and moist (after you color). Make each of these roughly oval in shape. Also, add a little break into one of the reflections to help give a sense of the small folds/wrinkles in the lips breaking up the light.
Step 6 – Color the Lips
lips drawing
Finally, color the drawing. Make the lips either red (or pink if you want a more natural look). Pencil crayons or paints can both be good options for doing so. Make the upper lip a slightly darker variant of the red to make it look like it has a shadow over it. If using a crayon you can simply darken the upper lip by lightly going over the color with a regular pencil. If using paints you can mix some black into the red.
When coloring the lower lip, at first, leave reflections white. You can then go over them with a lighter variant of the red/pink. If using a red crayon simply apply less pressure to it when coloring these. For transparent water based paints you can water them down more to get the lighter variant of the color. For opaque paints you can add some white paint into the red.
The shaded upper lip combined with the reflections along the lower lip will give the lips a less flat appearance (than if you were to simply make them one solid color). The reflections will also help them look moist (as was already mentioned).
The reason that you want the shadow along the upper lip and the reflections along the lower lip is because light usually comes from above. This means that the upper lip which is facing downwards will cast a shadow on itself while the upwards facing lip will tend to catch the light.
For a tutorial on drawing lipstick see:
How to Draw Lipstick Step by Step
Conclusion
To draw a nice looking pair of lips you do not need to add a lot of complex details. As long as you create a shape that is common for such a facial feature and apply some basic color in the right way you can get a beautiful looking drawing (as was demonstrated by the examples in this guide).
If you like these kinds of easy to follow step by step drawing tutorials, also be sure to try the following:
