In this tutorial I will teach you how to draw lips in 10 easy steps using a simple triangle shape. You can create different kinds of lips by making small changes in the first step. I came up with this method one day by somehow associating a pair of lips with a bow and arrow haha.

I always receive messages from readers who have tried this tutorial and say it works great for them. I hope it works for you too! Enjoy!

I will be using the following materials for this tutorial:

– Mechanical Pencil with 0.5mm HB Ain lead

– Derwent Graphic 6B Pencil

– Kneaded Eraser

– Blending Stump

– Smooth Bristol Paper

*PDF Download* Click the following link and hit the download button beside the printer icon to download the PDF: RapidFireArt Tutorials – How to Draw Lips in 10 Easy Steps

How to Draw Lips

Step 1: Draw a Triangle

Draw a long isosceles triangle. Partway down draw a curve (similar to a “u” shape). Draw a straight horizontal line between the “u” shape and the base of the triangle. The longer you draw the horizontal line, the wider the lips will be. The shorter the line, the more plump they will be.

“But what if I want to draw this on a face, Darlene?” Check out my tutorial on drawing faces to find out where you should place your triangle. It covers proportions and will help you determine how long the triangle should be as well as how wide the lips should extend taking other elements of the face into consideration.

Step 2: Draw a bow

Create the outlines for the top lip by making a shape that looks similar to a cupid’s bow.

Step 3: Draw the bottom lip

Create the bottom lip by drawing a curved line which goes no further than the triangle’s base. Complete the opening of the mouth by using the horizontal line as a guide.

If you’re stuck on this step or not quite sure how to do it, click here to watch me draw it step by step on YouTube with plenty of examples!

Step 4: Decide on the light direction

After erasing the triangle, determine where the light source is coming from. For this example, the light source is coming from the top right. I’ve outlined the areas I want to highlight as well as added a cast shadow on left side of the bottom lip.

Step 5: Shade the top and bottom lip

Shade both the top and bottom lip leaving the areas mentioned in STEP 4 the lightest. As you can see there is a dark shadow under the bottom lip. It starts to fade on the right side to show that the light source is coming from the upper right.

Step 6: Add lip wrinkles

Create some lip wrinkles using a 0.5mm HB pencil. You don’t want to press too hard or else it will be difficult to achieve the effect in the next step.

Want to find out how to incorporate lip wrinkles in your drawing without making them look unnatural? Try the contour shading technique as mentioned in my shading tutorial :)

Step 7: Blend the bottom lip

Using a blending stump (learn how to use one here), smooth out the shading on the bottom lip. Avoid areas mentioned in STEP 4. Those areas will make the lips appear more plump and round. You will notice that the lip wrinkles slowly start to blend in with the shading. But they shouldn’t disappear!

Step 8: Clean up highlights

Go over the lighter areas with the pointed end of a kneaded eraser and clean up the highlights to create the glare effect.

STEP 9: Repeat

Repeat STEP 7-8 for the top lip.

Step 10: Touch ups

Using a 6b pencil, darken the shadows in areas such as the outer edges of the lips, under the bottom lip, the wrinkles and the corners of the lips.

You can change the size of the lips by moving the horizontal line up (to make the upper lip thin) or down (to make to make the upper lip thicker). Also, adding more glare will make the lips look even more plump.

Have any questions or requests? Let me know in the comments!

Don’t worry if your drawing doesn’t turn out the way you expected on the first try. Keep going at it and you will understand and grasp each step. It will become much easier! Also, don’t forget to experiment with different triangle shapes and positioning of the guides in STEP 2. If you enjoyed this easy step by step tutorial on how to draw lips, please share this post using the share buttons below to support RFA :) Thank you!

Click here to learn how to draw 10 different kinds of lips (smile, frown, smirk, etc).

More Lip Tutorials:

Drawing lips from the 3/4 view

Drawing a smile with teeth

Drawing lips from the side

How to draw lips on a face

Want to try a different method? Here’s a more simple one:

If you love RapidFireArt tutorials and want to support what I do, check out my Patreon page where you can support RFA and earn cool rewards at the same time!