Drawing the Mouth

I am studying Lee Hammond's How to Draw Lifelike Portraits from Photographs . These are my notes and drawings.

Mouth
- The darkest dark is in the corner (pit) of the mouth.
- Shadows below the mouth will be the halftone color.
- The highlight is on the bottom lip.
- The reflected light is on the upper lip, just above the edge where the two lips meet.
- The upper lip is always darker than the bottom lip.
- Do not draw the lip with a harsh outline.
- The upper lip angles in, while the bottom angles out.

Teeth
- Draw the teeth accurately in size, shape, and placement.
- The shapes of the teeth are drawn by drawing the gumline above them and the dark, triangular shapes below them.
- The upper part of the teeth has a subtle shadow cast by the lip.
- When drawing men’s lips, rather than trying to draw the “lips,” look for the shadows above and below them. The shadows will define the lips rather than an outline.
- Highlights should not be drawn around, but lifted with a kneaded eraser.

Facial Hair

- A mustache or beard has fullness and depth. It must be built in layers to give it the fullness it needs in order to look real.
- Look to see how the color of the hair looks next to the skin. Is it light against dark, or is the mustache darker than the skin?
- The nose casts a shadow on the mustache. The mustache casts a shadow on the mouth.
- Curve the hair lines along the shape of the face, chin, etc.