The mouth and nose are distinct anatomical forms with proportional relationships to the face and each other. The nose is a pyramid sitting on the skull; the mouth involves the upper and lower lips, their forms and relationship to the underlying teeth and jaw. Grasping this structure—not just surface contours—allows you to render these features with anatomical conviction and feeling.
Study anatomy plates and draw noses and mouths from life references at multiple angles. Pay attention to the underlying bone and muscle, not just the surface silhouette. Notice how light and shadow reveal form.
The nose is not just a surface bump—it has volume and projects from the face. Lips have internal structure (vermilion border, philtrum) that should be observed, not guessed. Shadows in the mouth should not obliterate inner form.
With your foundation in facial proportions and observational drawing, you know how to place features on the head and how to study a subject carefully. Now you need to understand the three-dimensional structure underneath the mouth and nose — because drawing these features convincingly means drawing forms, not just outlines. Both the nose and mouth are projecting structures with distinct planes, and learning to see them as geometric volumes is the key to rendering them at any angle and in any lighting.
The nose is best understood as a wedge or pyramid projecting from the face. It has a bridge (the top plane, running from the brow to the tip), two side planes (the lateral walls), a bottom plane (visible when looking up at the face), and the ball of the nose at the tip. The nostrils are openings flanked by the alar cartilages — the wing-like structures on either side. When you draw a nose, resist the temptation to outline the nostrils as dark holes and call it done. Instead, observe the planes: the bridge catches a highlight along its length, the side planes turn into halftone, and the underside of the nose and nostrils fall into shadow. The cast shadow beneath the nose is one of the most defining features on any face — its shape and direction immediately communicate the lighting angle. A common error is making the nose too narrow or too flat because the artist draws the silhouette edge rather than the volume. If you can render a pyramid convincingly, you can render a nose — the underlying geometry is the same.
The mouth is more complex because it involves soft, mobile tissue over a curved dental arch. The upper lip has three distinct forms: two raised lobes flanking the philtrum (the vertical groove running from nose to lip). The lower lip is typically a single, fuller rounded form. The line where the lips meet — the lip line — is the most important line to get right, because it defines the mouth's expression far more than the outer contours of the lips. That lip line is not a straight horizontal; it curves and undulates, dipping at the center and rising toward the corners. The vermilion border — the edge where the colored lip tissue meets the surrounding skin — should generally be suggested rather than drawn as a hard outline. A harsh outline around the lips is one of the fastest ways to make a portrait look artificial.
When rendering both features together, pay attention to the spatial relationship between them. The base of the nose and the top of the upper lip are connected by the philtrum, and the distance between them is a critical proportional measurement that varies significantly between individuals. The nose casts a shadow onto the upper lip, and the lower lip casts a shadow onto the chin — these cast shadows are structural landmarks that help anchor both features in three-dimensional space. Work from the large planes first: the overall wedge of the nose, the general mass of the lips against the dental arch. Then refine with specific anatomical details — the nostril wings, the lip line, the philtrum. This large-to-small approach, consistent with your observational drawing training, prevents the common trap of over-rendering one feature while losing its relationship to the face as a whole.
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