Course by Anaïs González
Supplemental Resources
HOW TO DRAW SMILES AND TEETH
Values
If you shade too much, both the gums and the teeth can look dirty or poorly drawn. Fairly healthy teeth
are inherently white and they will be the lightest in the grayscale value, so take advantage of the white
on the paper.
Silhouette
Do not press the lead too much when drawing the outline of the teeth, not even the lines between each
one. Although they may seem very visible, in a drawing they stand out much more. Remember that less
is more. Sometimes it is not necessary to delimit with line, subtle shading can reveal the shape of the
tooth and its limits.
Volumes
Stick mostly with the silhouette drawing. If you don't want to leave them absolutely white (it's an
option) shade very lightly in the half that has less light, only in some teeth. The molars are usually in
shadow, since they don’t stand out as the upper front teeth and they are hidden. Subtly shading the
ends will make the curved shape of the denture perfectly understandable and will create
three-dimensionality.
STEPS TO FOLLOW
1. Draw the silhouette.
2. Shade the gum: It is the medium value and
will help you control the values of the
drawing and not overshade. Like the teeth,
don't shade it too much either.
3. Add the maximum blacks.
4. Shade the lower teeth, which are often in
shadow. But never in excess!!
5. Shade the lips.
6. Teeth: Work in very soft and controlled
areas of shading, making white
predominate. The shading will outline the
teeth and you won't need to draw the line
between them. Add side shadows to create
volume.
Final tips
Even if you see the teeth dark in the photo, the value of that shadow will always be very low compared
to the other scale values in the rest of the image or portrait. So I recommend you not to be fooled by
the light and follow the steps as mentioned.
Align the upper front teeth with the directionality line of the face that we drew when starting the
portrait.
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