Hello again and welcome to another tutorial! For this one, we will try drawing the characters’ mouths in their profile or side-view. We need to understand the proportions of the mouth so we would be able to properly draw other details that go along with the mouth.
Table of Contents
We need to be aware of the distance between the mouth and the nose, and the mouth and the chin–so we’d basically get an idea of where the mouth should go. Too high or too low, and well… let’s just say it won’t be pretty.
So we have the mouth placement down, now we need to go through the different expressions that the mouth gives when it is associated with a certain emotion. Matching the teeth with the mouth movement would give a better picture THAT it is indeed a mouth—and not just a random shape on the face. If you’re completely new to drawing and want to draw, you can start off with following the tutorial on How To Draw Chibi Anime Characters!
Note: By drawing the mouth in this tutorial, you’d also be able to practice drawing the side-view or the profile of the character.
Before we get to drawing the different mouths, we first need our base. So we start sketching the profile of the character and locate where the features would go. For a detailed explanation, you can refer to the 8 Step Anime Boy’s Head & Face Drawing Tutorial and look up the steps on drawing the side-view of the character.
Just like the rest of the sketches, we start with a circle, then the guidelines, and then followed by the rest of the face and jaw. You can add details like the ear and the neck as it helps in locating the mouth. After that, you can choose to erase the details you’ve drawn since their only purpose is to guide and we’re more focused on the mouths.
The Base
Now that we have our base, you need to know that drawing the lips for the character is optional, but having them helps as an indicator of mouth movement. In this drawing, the lips are closed which would mean the mouth is closed.
Do not draw your mouths like this:
Closed Mouth
The lips are close together and are seen right between the nose and the chin. Draw a short line between the upper lip and lower lip. Essentially dividing the mouth. It’s pretty easy as you just start with a line, right?
Opened Mouth
Next, things get a bit trickier with open mouth variations since you may have to add details like the teeth and interior of the mouth. We also take note that the face is angled to a certain degree when opening the jaw. Refer to the drawing below to get a clearer picture.
Add some teeth and other details that you deem necessary for the mouth and you’re good. Oh, and if you’ve noticed those blocks on the sketches, they’re just guides for the teeth placement… totally not weird…
Wide Open
Similar to an open mouth, the lips are separated by the curve of the mouth. But it’s wider and you’ll notice how the chin tucks inward, and the angle of the jaw is retained. This is important to remember as the jaw is not detached thus creating an angle when opening the mouth and having the chin tucked inwards.
Smiling
For smiling, you can either draw it similar to a closed mouth or an open mouth. You’ll just have to add a little curve at the end of the mouth. So, basically, you draw a curved part at the corner of the mouth. But, only at one corner we leave the other corner as is since it’s closest to the lips.
Grinning
So, you already know what a grin is as it is similar to smiling–but drawing it on a character, you’ll have to emphasize some details. In the drawing, you’ll see the lips are parted flaunting the teeth—essentially, showing a toothy grin. The teeth are a little jagged here as I used that to emphasise a grin, you can choose to take a subtle approach to the grin and lessen the fangs or use a line instead.
Serious/Deadpan
Drawing this type of mouth is fairly easy as you just try to draw the mouth at the most neutral it can be. It is somewhat similar to a closed mouth, but you can try it with the mouth slightly open.
Scared/Shocked
Using the open or wide-open mouth as a base, you can tweak the corners of the mouth and the shape in order to match the emotion of being scared or shocked. It comes off as a curved square when the mouth is stretched, so often the corners and add a little line beside the mouth to indicate a stretch of the mouth.
Annoyed/Grinding Teeth
This one is easy because you can just go back to the grinning mouth as a base and change the corner of the mouth downward—just away from it looking like a smile. And you’ll have your annoyed look. You can draw the teeth like I did or you can also keep it subtle like a straight line or less exaggerated fangs.
Surprised/Excited
To match this emotion, you take the open mouth or the wide-open mouth and tweak the corners again. Make it look happy and bubbly. Don’t forget to add the other details like the teeth, the other side of the mouth, and tongue.
Confused
Now, for this one, you can use the deadpan/serious mouth as a base and slightly change the shape to make the mouth match the emotion. Also, there are other variations to a confused mouth as you can draw it a bit bigger, as long as you are able to match the emotion.
Yelling
Taking the scared/shocked mouth as your base, you can change the shape a bit—imagine what you would look like while yelling, which parts of your mouth are stretching, and how big would it be?
Blowing a Bubble Gum
Okay, so this one is really, really, really easy as you just draw the lips with a slight space between them. Add the blown bubble gum for a fun detail, and you’re done! This kind of mouth can also be used for kissing since the lips are puckered up.
Other Tips
When drawing the mouth it’s important to match the emotion with the mouth. It would look quite weird when both are contradicting each other so… UNLESS that’s a unique quality that you might want your character to have—like maybe your character will have emotions that won’t match when they’re caught in a lie? Sometimes those little quirks can help with describing your character.
Aside from that, you can also try pulling up references from your favorite anime series or from your favorite manga. Looking at references will help you choose a certain art style that can help draw mouths easier. I usually would compare art from various artists and try drawing them. From there, I create a method where I can draw the mouth that works for me.
Oh! Sometimes, drawing the whole head of the character could help you in drawing the mouths. By being able to see the emotion, you’re able to picture what the mouth would look like exactly when drawing.
Another tip that you might want to remember is that when drawing the profile of the character, try to remember that the face can only go so far. We wouldn’t want it to look a bit like a snout rather than a human face. You can pull up references and see how far the face goes when drawing the profile of the character.
In addition, it was mentioned earlier that drawing the lips can be optional, but it would be a bit tricky when locating the mouth. This would work on chibi characters as less details are required when drawing. Plus, if you’ve noticed some characters in certain anime or manga that lips aren’t drawn as much when on the side-view. So you have that option to add the lips or to not too.
Conclusion
Now that you’ve got the mouths down, what’s next? Well, that’s for you to decide! So, don’t stop making art and working on your craft. Practicing a lot will definitely pay off, especially when you’re really devoted and eager to learn. Also, don’t forget to go easy on yourself and choose moments where you think you’d be able to surpass your limits.
You can also try figuring out other mouth shapes so that you’d get the full grasp of how mouths play an important role in carrying out the emotions. By adding a few exaggerations you can create even more dynamic emotions that could affect your character.
Got some tips about art? Leave them down below and we can discuss anything pertaining to art or anime! A little tired from drawing? Why not visit our other blogs and get some recommendations or a good laugh!
