Of all the facial features that exist, teeth have to rank as one of the most challenging to draw. First of all, each tooth seems to have its own special shape. Not to mention there are so many of them!

Teeth are very unique from one person to the next. The unique characteristics of teeth play a large part in shaping a person's appearance. If you are trying to capture a strong likeness of a person, the way you portray that person's teeth can make or break your portrait.

However, teeth were not always so difficult to draw. If you have ever drawn teeth as a child, they may have looked something like this:

<a href="http://www.letsdrawpeople.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/04-how-to-draw-teeth-guidelines-for-left-teeth.jpg"><img class="aligncenter size-medium wp-image-2222" src="http://www.letsdrawpeople.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/04-how-to-draw-teeth-guidelines-for-left-teeth-300x113.jpg" alt="04 how to draw teeth guidelines for left teeth" width="300" height="113" /></a>

This cartoonish version of teeth is how I remember drawing them many times as a child. Surely I am not the only one.

Ahh, the good ol' days! If only we could still draw teeth this quickly and easily and have the same satisfaction we did back then.

Well, I am not saying we can get away with this as an adult trying to draw realistic teeth. What I will tell you is there is a way to use this childhood drawing to our advantage, as a shortcut.

This tutorial will show how to draw teeth for a person who is looking directly ahead and smiling. The childish drawing of teeth seen above can actually be used as helpful guidelines to get you started.

&nbsp;

&nbsp;

Again, just as individual teeth are unique, individual smiles are also unique. Some smiles, either naturally or purposefully, will show more teeth than others. Some smiles show the top and bottom teeth while other smiles barely reveal any bottom teeth at all.

The size generalizations can be applied to almost anyone's teeth.

When not using this technique, I tend to draw the lips first before drawing any teeth. However, lips would have gotten in the way of showing you the first part of the childhood shortcut.

&nbsp;