How to Draw Lips

Today's drawing exercise will teach you how to draw lips easily. Lips are one of the most expressive parts of the human face and can convey a wide range of emotions through their shape and movement. Create all types of projects with your illustration, such as Valentine's Day clipart, sublimation designs for t-shirts, and stickers.

Do you want to add other elements to your lip illustration? Check out our eye drawing tutorial or draw candy hearts for a love theme.

To get started with this tutorial, gather your drawing supplies. Artists of any skill level can use our drawing guides with traditional art mediums or digital apps like Procreate and DesignScape.

Step 1 - Sketch the Guides

To begin, start by sketching a rough shape of your lips. You can use a pencil or medium that is light in color for this step.

Upper Lip

First, starting at the top, draw a heart-shaped guide for the center of your upper lip sketch. The rounder and larger the heart, the fuller the lips will be; a small, narrow heart will create thinner lips.

Lower Lip

Draw two circles for the lower lip guide, leaving a narrow gap at the bottom of your upper lip guide. The bottom lip is usually larger and fuller than the upper lip, so make sure your circles are more prominent than your top guide.

Step 2 - Defining the Lip Shape

With your guides drawn, it's time to define the shape of your lips. Depending on how wide you want your lips, draw a long line through the center that curves around the top of your lower guide. Then draw a short curved line in the center, starting at your bottom guide and extending towards the upper lip guide (shown in blue).

Lastly, define the outer lip shape by connecting the center line to the top of your upper lip guide. Draw a line around the bottom guide curve towards the other side to create the lower lip shape.

Step 3 - Outline your Lip Rough Sketch

Now that your lips' shape is defined, make your lip outlines permanent. Use any dark medium for your outlines, such as a pen, marker, or Procreate inking brushes. Carefully trace over your outer and center sketch lines, making sure not to trace your guides.

Remove your rough sketches when you have finished outlining your lips.

Step 4 - Add Details and Texture

Make your lip clipart more realistic by adding textures like wrinkles and creases to your drawing. Following the direction of your curves, draw lines on the upper and lower lips using your sketching medium.

You can follow our example sketch below, or if you are using Procreate, add a reference photo to help guide you.

Continue adding lines or other details like adding teeth or piercings to your drawing. Once you are done with your details and texture, use your lining medium to trace them.

Step 5 - Apply Color and Highlights

With the lips sketched and outlined, it's time to add color. You can use a ready-made color palette or create your own combination to add shadows and highlights to create the illusion of volume and depth.

Use dark colors around the creases, wrinkles, and areas where the lips meet the skin. Use light colors to highlight parts of the lips that catch the light.

Try experimenting with different techniques and mediums, don't be afraid to add your creative touch. Great work, your illustration is now ready to add to your next project!

We hope you had a great time following along and found this drawing exercise helpful. Why not practice your drawing skills with more fun beginner drawing tutorials? You can learn to illustrate all kinds of animals, flowers, and food in just a few steps.