Caroline
Our mouths are an important feature of our faces for many reasons. We use them for purposes ranging from consuming food and water to speaking and smiling at others.
For such an important feature, they can certainly be rather difficult to draw! Artists both amateur and experienced alike have had their troubles with learning how to draw a cartoon mouth.
If you have struggled with this too, then you’re in the right place! This tutorial is the place to be if you would like to know how it’s done.
This step-by-step guide on how to draw a cartoon mouth in just 6 easy steps will show you just how easy it can actually be when you know what to do!
How to Draw A Cartoon Mouth – Let’s Get Started!
Step 1
The cartoon mouth drawing we will be creating in this guide will be facing to the side, and the mouth will be in a fun and expressive pose!
We will be keeping things simple in this first step of the guide, and this means we will be drawing the top line of the lips outline.
The line will start off thin and a bit wavy on the left, but then it will become two rounded, wavy lines near the right-hand edge.
Once this top outline is complete, we can move on to the second step of the guide!
Step 2 – Now, draw the rest of the top lip
If you refer to later images in this guide on how to draw a cartoon mouth, you’ll notice that the two lips are separate pieces connected to one another.
With this in mind, we will be drawing the rest of the top lip outline as its own portion.
Luckily, this should be an easy task to accomplish! All you need to do is draw a curved line at the base of the line that you drew in the previous step.
This curved line will be smooth and simple, and it will connect both sides of the upper outline.
The reference image will show you how this should look, and then we can proceed!
Step 3 – Next, add the lower portion of the mouth
We will be leaving the top lip for now as we begin to work on the lower portion of the mouth.
The mouth will be opened quite widely in a smile, and we will use some more rounded, curved lines coming down from the top lip.
This is certainly a part of the guide where you may want to closely refer to the reference image as you draw, as these lines have a rather specific shape.
Once you have drawn these outlines, you will then be able to draw the bottom lip using another curved line, and then we can keep adding details in step 4.
Step 4 – Now, draw the teeth and tongue details
You have finished the lip outlines of your cartoon mouth drawing, and now we shall add some inner elements. Specifically, we will be drawing the outlines for the two rows of teeth and the tongue.
The teeth outlines can be drawn using some simple curved, smooth lines inside the mouth running parallel to the lips.
Then, we will add some simple curved lines between the teeth rows for the tongue.
The teeth may look like two solid rows for now, but we will be adding some details for the separated segments as we move on to the final details in the next step.
Step 5 – Add the final details to your drawing
Before you add some colors in the final step of this guide on how to draw a cartoon mouth, we have a few more details to add.
These details will go primarily on the rows of teeth inside of the mouth. You can use some simple vertical lines along the teeth to show where they are separated.
Once you have the teeth drawn as they look in the reference image, you will be ready for ths final step!
Before moving on, you could also add some extra details of your own!
Some ideas would be to draw the lips into different positions, or you could go really ambitious and draw some more of the face surrounding it.
It’s up to you now, so how will you finish off this incredible drawing?
Bonus: Draw Some Different Kinds Of Mouth Designs
In the final step of this drawing, you will be bringing some color to your drawing of a cartoon mouth. This will really finish it off, but we wanted to go over a few ways to change up the design a bit.
To do that, it could be interesting to try out some different cartoon styles. There are so many different kinds of cartoon styles, that you would have a huge amount to choose from.
A good place to start would be by thinking of your favorite cartoons. Then, look at the characters from the cartoons and look closely at the mouth designs of each one.
When you really pay attention, you will see that they differ quite greatly. Some are drawn with a simple set of lines, while others are quite complex and expressive.
It will depend on you to decide what style you would like to use, but once you have it you can go through the guide again and adapt the details to suit your chosen style.
While you’re at it, you could also change the expression and shape of the mouths to make each one even more distinct. Filling a page with cartoon mouth designs would be an interesting way to show how varied they can be.
Or, you may want to draw the whole face that each cartoon mouth belongs to. There are a huge variety of ways you could go about it, so you can get creative with it!
Then, when you’re happy with how the drawing looks, you can move to the final step and fill in your drawing with color.
One thing is for sure, we would be very interested to see what kinds of cartoon mouth styles you would like to use for the drawing!
Step 6 – Finish off your drawing with color
It’s time to finish off this drawing with some awesome colors! In our reference image, we went with some bright reds and pinks for the lips to make them look like they’re covered in bright lipstick.
You could use similar colors to ours if you like the look, but there are many other colors you could choose instead even if you want a look of lipstick!
Alternatively, you could also go for some more muted tones for a natural look to the image. Different art tools and mediums would suit different preferences.
For example, watercolors would be great for a natural look, whereas some bright colored pens would be great for shiny lipstick.
What colors and mediums will you choose for this picture?
4 More Ways To Make Your Cartoon Mouth Drawing Unique
Chew on these 4 tips we have for making your cartoon mouth sketch even more unique!
The way this cartoon mouth was drawn makes it look like it is in the middle of saying something. It could be fun to show what you think is being said in this drawing of a cartoon mouth!
To do this, you could draw a speech bubble coming from the mouth with a phrase written inside of it.
The only question is what would you choose to have in this speech bubble?
We would love to see what you come up with!
Another way you could make this cartoon mouth drawing even more unique would be by changing the shape or expression that the mouth is making.
This could be as simple as making the mouth closed, or you could portray a complex expression.
The tongue could also be sticking out more, or you could add a touch such as a missing tooth here and there.
What are some other ways you could change the look of this cartoon mouth?
If you look at different people’s faces, you will notice that lips can come in many shapes and sizes. You could customize the general shape of this cartoon mouth to reflect that.
These ones are quite full, and look as if there is lipstick on them. You could make them look thinner or maybe even fuller than they already are.
It depends on the kind of look you would like for them, so how could you change the shape?
Finally, if you are feeling extra creative then you could draw the rest of the face around this cartoon mouth sketch. This could be quite a challenge, but it would look great if you can do it!
This could be as simple as drawing a chin and nose, but you could add the eyes, shape of the face and even some hair.
If you draw more of the face, who would you model the face on to finish your drawing?
Your Cartoon Mouth Drawing is Complete!
At the beginning of this guide on how to draw a cartoon mouth, we mentioned how drawing a mouth can be tricky in the best of times!
For that reason, you should certainly be very proud of yourself for finishing all 6 steps of the guide.
Drawing challenges are always made so much easier when you have some steps to follow, and that’s what we aimed to do for you in this tutorial.
Now you get to show off what you can do as you add some more details, final touches and other elements to this incredible picture.
We gave you a few ideas for how you can do this in the guide, but now you can show us what you think would best suit this image.
When you’re ready for more, remember to check out our website for many more incredible drawing guides and other activities to enjoy.
We look forward to seeing you there often so you never miss out!
Lastly, we would love to see your finished cartoon mouth drawing! You can let us see it by sharing it on our Facebook and Pinterest pages for us to see.
