When you draw lips, do they look like these?

*****pic of lip outline

In this post, we will see one way to turn a simple outline of lips into a more realistic drawing. Of course, not all lips have the characteristic traits that I will use in this drawing. Use this post for guidance, but use a reference photo for whatever lips you choose to draw to make your lips match your subject.
<h3>Add Details to Your Lip Line Drawing</h3>
The first step is to add details to your lips to make your line drawing look more realistic. I chose to use a <a title="Pentel GraphGear 500 Automatic Drafting Pencil Black (PG525A)" href="http://www.letsdrawpeople.com/pentel-graphgear-500-automatic-drafting-pencil-black-pg525a/">mechanical pencil</a> with 2B graphite lead for this drawing.

Begin by drawing a little outline that borders just above the top and below the bottom lip (if the subject you are drawing has this trait).

You will also want to draw some of the grooves that are apparent on the lips. Most of these are vertical, but most lips have some horizontal ones visible if you look close enough.

This is also a good time to sketch in where shadows and highlights will go.  For this subject, there is a prominent shadow between the bottom lip and the chin. There is another where the lips meet. For the highlights, I drew small individual shapes between the grooves rather than one large highlight.

<a href="http://www.letsdrawpeople.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/how-to-draw-lips-realistic-01.jpg"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-1262" src="http://www.letsdrawpeople.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/how-to-draw-lips-realistic-01.jpg" alt="how to draw lips realistic 01" width="577" height="361" /></a>
<h3>Create a Tone Drawing with Dark and Light Values</h3>
I usually begin by filling in the darkest values. In this case, that would be between the lips and under them.

Then from where the lips meet and the outer edges of the lips, start working in the lighter values that fall between the grooves and the highlights. Mostly, I used a hatching technique that also followed the contours of the lips.

Do not forget to also put some shading on some of the skin surrounding the lips.

<a href="http://www.letsdrawpeople.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/how-to-draw-lips-realistic-02.jpg"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-1263" src="http://www.letsdrawpeople.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/how-to-draw-lips-realistic-02.jpg" alt="how to draw lips realistic 02" width="576" height="355" /></a>
<h3>Blend the Tones Together</h3>
Now is the time to begin blending all of that graphite to reach a new level of realism! Once again, I typically start with the darkest values.

Use a tortillon and blend the shadow area under the lip. This will allow you to use leftover graphite on the tortillon to create other skin tones outside of the shadow on the chin area. You can also finish blending the tones above the top lip as well.

Next, beginning with where the lips touch, blend from dark to light and move your tortillon in a way that follows the natural curvature and contours along the lips. Work around some of the areas meant to be highlights.

<a href="http://www.letsdrawpeople.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/how-to-draw-lips-realistic-03.jpg"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-1264" src="http://www.letsdrawpeople.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/how-to-draw-lips-realistic-03.jpg" alt="how to draw lips realistic 03" width="580" height="357" /></a>
<h3>Add in the Finishing Touches</h3>
It is always a good idea to go back and better define any shadows or highlights, as well as draw in additional details, after the blending step. The amount of detail you add is up to you. This drawing really didn't need too much after the last step, but I did want to touch up a few places.

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