Introduction
In this article, you’ll learn:
- To Draw the Male Mouth
- To Draw the Female Mouth
- How to Shade Lips
Want to know how to draw lips and how to draw a mouth? Then you’ll need to know about the differences between male and female mouths. Luckily, this blog post, on How to Draw the Male and Female Mouth has everything you need to get started right now!
Here, you can see the male mouth on the left and the female on the right. Maybe you notice a clear difference already?
Even with just these simple lines to represent the middle line of the mouth, you can see that the male mouth appears flatter, while the female mouth is more defined and curvy.
The main reason for the difference in the two mouth drawings is that the male lips tend to be thinner, while the female lips are usually thicker.
How to Add Shading to the Upper Lip
When learning how to draw the male and female mouth and lips, it’s important to remember the upper lip is only lightly defined when drawing the male mouth. Understate the appearance of the male upper lip keeps the face looking masculine.
Accentuating the female mouth is common because it makes the face look more feminine, implying the lip may be painted.
Above you can see how the shading on the left is very light. This is yet another trick to take the focus off of the male lips, in addition – the only recognition of the upper lip is the addition of the small dimple in the top line of the mouth.
When drawing the female mouth, the outline of the upper lip is much more pronounced. This means you can add in more shading which will once again draw more attention to them.
How to Shade the Lower Lip
For the male, the lower lip is not going to be very defined. You can see in the example that a line has been drawn to establish the lower lip, but this line does not extend up towards the corners of the mouth.
The only real shading that has been added here helps to show the thickness of the lower lip by indicating the shadow below it.
For the female, you can use a line to fully establish the outline of the lower lip. Notice in the examples of the female mouth drawing above and below – the creases at the side of the mouth have been darkened to give a more three-dimensional feeling to the edges of the mouth.
Notice the shading that has been added to the upper lip. This is because of the angle of the overhead light will cause the protruding downward facing upper lip to be in shadow. The lower lip points more upward thus catching more light.
When learning how to draw the male and female mouth, sometimes the natural gloss and wetness of the lips will catch the light on the lower lip and create a nice highlight from the overhead lighting, giving them a lighter appearance.
Here is a close-up view of the shaded male mouth drawing.
Here is a close-up view of the shaded female mouth drawing.
Drawing the Male and Female Mouth from the Side View
When learning how to draw the male and female mouth and lips, it’s important to note the differences, no matter how small. These subtleties are the difference between a well-executed face and one that just leaves us confused.
That being said, there is no reason to not mix and match – if that is the look you are going for.
You may have noticed some of the differences already, like that the male mouth is a little longer, or there is more space between the nose and the lip for the male.
The same as before, the male lips are thinner and don’t cast much of a shadow. While the female lips are much fuller, heavily accented, with a lot more shadow.
Recap: How to Draw the Male and Female Mouth
Here is a list of the main differences between males and females to look out for when learning how to draw a mouth:
- The male lips tend to be thinner and flatter
- Women’s lips are more rounded and curvy
- The male’s upper lip isn’t as tall as the female’s
- There is less shading on the male lips
- The male lips should not be fully outlined
- The shadow cast by the lower lip is lighter in the female than the male
ASSIGNMENT
Using various references, practice drawing different lip types, draw at least 25 sets.