HOW to DRAW LIPS REALISTICALLY in 5 MINUTES! (#DrawingFacialFeatures with Karen Campbell)

Want me to teach you how to draw lips realistically in just 5 minutes?! LET'S DO IT!!

Over the next few weeks on my YouTube drawing channel, we're going to be drawing facial features and spending 5 minutes on each reference image. If you've always wanted to learn how to draw a face, have been struggling to work drawing practice into your daily life, or need to add MORE FUN into your art practice, THIS SERIES IS FOR YOU!!

Before we go any farther, you need to download today's FREE 5 in 5 Practice Packet so you can draw and shade along with me in this series. Simply click the button below and I'll send it straight to your email.

TONS of people tell me about how they really struggle with not having enough time in their day to get a little art practice in. I get it!! Outside of my art - I'm a mom, I've gotta walk my Maggie a zillion times a day, figure out dinner every stupid day (LOL!). I'm with ya. We all have stuff!! 

But, if art is something YOU LOVE, and making the time to practice feels overwhelming because you feel like you need to dedicate a super long session of time to it - let's reframe that mindset. 

You don't need to have super long periods of time set aside to art. You can actually spend a few minutes a day on it if you want to, STILL have fun, and STILL grow as an artist! 

If you're hoping to get a more regular art practice started, one of my recommendations for that is to actually PUT IT IN YOUR CALENDAR. I know!! Sounds SO easy, right? But if you schedule some time for yourself - just as you would for something like a doctor's appointment - it's WAY more likely to happen. 

YOU'VE GOT THIS!! 

AND to help you have something TO DO for each of these little mini practice sessions, I've got a FREE surprise for ya!! 

​I've created a fun (and FREE!!!) Drawing Practice Packet for us to do together!

We're gonna spend the next few weeks drawing and shading lips, noses, eyes, face shapes, hairstyles and last but not least...ears!! All in pencil!!! Each week we're gonna study 5 reference photos of the same facial feature. For each reference photo - we're going to ONLY spend 5 minutes or less drawing what we see right next to each facial feature we're studying. You can do all of your drawing practice right inside this packet!! 

​Why only spend only 1 - 5 MINUTES per drawing prompt?! Because another thing a lot of my students struggle with is perfectionism!!

​YOU know who you are... LOL!

​All you're gonna need to practice with me is a pencil with an eraser. 

If you're new to me or my YouTube drawing channel, I'm all about using what you have, and not buying stuff just to buy it (which your wallet is gonna LOVE). Don't get me wrong- my shelves are FULL of fun products to use. But if I share info about a fine art product I enjoy - please don't feel obligated to use it. 

On the other hand, if you're interested in taking your art to the next level - fine art supplies DO make a difference in your art, so I try to show you my favorite supplies as I discover them to save you both time and money. That way you don't keep collecting a variety of cheap to middle of the road products and overspending on stuff that isn't going to give you the quality you're hoping to find. 

With that being said -every single one of these drawing exercises can be done in a good old fashioned #2 school pencil if that's all ya got!! And if that's all you've got, you're STILL going to grow as an artist. PROMISE.

Ready to download and print your own Practice Packet so we can get started? Simple click the button below and I'll have it sent STRAIGHT to your inbox!! Then meet me over on today's how to draw lips YouTube video and I'll teach you exactly how to draw lips realistically step by step!!

Before we continue, super quick announcement! All product links noted below are Affiliate. I may earn a small commission if you choose to order through these links, but by law there is never any additional cost to the consumer for doing so. I only reccommend products I actually use and love. Thank you for your support! 

Ok! Let's get started...​

​My favorite drawing pencils are by Blackwing. They're stupid expensive if you buy them individually, but are closer to $2/each if you buy them in a pack of 12. To me the splurge is worth it - they are silky smooth and draw like butter!!! They also have this cool eraser on the end of them that is a tiny rectangle (and replaceable!!), which makes it so easy to carve in little highights or to erase angluar mistakes!!

If you're in the market for new erasers, I've got two favorites: the vanish eraser (takes care of the bigger mistakes / adjustments) and my Tombow Mono Eraser. THIS is the coolest. It's kind of like a mechanical pencil, but it's a mechanical eraser!! Here you can see the teensy tip of it (below, right) - it's amazing for carving out itty bitty highlights!

Additionally, you might want to have a blending stump or two to help you shade a little quicker, and a bit more delicately. Again, you don't have to have these at all - you can totally use your finger without spending a dime!! A q-tip works well for this too!

​Because we're doing these exercises in pencil, it helps tremendously if the face drawing reference photos are ALSO in black and white instead of color. That's why I chose black and white reference photos! It makes a big difference when you're focusing on face shading techniques or just learning how to shade a face. 

​For each of the drawings we work on together in the Practice Packet, I want you to be thinking of three things:

1. SHAPE (where I tend to spend the longest time)
2. VALUE (how light or dark you're shading)
3. DETAIL (don't get too caught up here because we're just doing some light, QUICK practice!)

As you can see, I'm doing my sketching and shading directly in my Practice Packet, so no fancy paper is needed either!

I hope you're drawing with me right now!! Make sure you click over to the video because this is all being done in REAL TIME, step by step over in my YouTube drawing tutorial so you can draw right along with me.

​These drawing exercises are SUPER EASY and beginners are totally welcome, so don't worry about it if you've never done this before. There's a first time for everything!!

After I get through the first two lip drawing images, I discover I'm spending about 1 minute to get the lips outline drawing in place, then about 3-4 minutes putting some graphite down to shade and blend, plus adding a few more pencil lines or highlights for detail. I'm seriously trying not to care so much (which is HARD, I know)!

Just keep telling yourself, this drawing exercise isn't about hyper realism - it's just about showing you how YOU CAN give yourself just a few minutes here or there each day to accomplish something, call it "good enough," and create a little drawing habit for yourself!  

​You can TOTALLY make time for this practice, and it doesn't have to be at home. If you've got a doctor's appointment coming up and you know you're gonna be stuck in the waiting room for a bit - throw this packet and a pencil in your purse and go. It will distract you while you're sitting there, and if drawing makes you happy, it will also help to decrease your stress level. 

​Just a little note for my Fun Fab Drawing Club members - if you're hanging out with me for this facial features drawing series, a lot of the face drawing reference photos I'm using for this series are in your 2021 UPDATED Membership Guide!!! So check the digital eBook version out right here in the classroom, or order yourself a copy over on Amazon if you prefer a physical copy! This guide has GROWN so much from last year and is now a fat 259 pages in its second edition!! 

NOT a Fun Fab Drawing Club member but interested in learning more? CLICK HERE.

NOT a Fun Fab Drawing Club member but WANT to BE?! CLICK HERE to join the waitlist.
(Membership enrollment opens twice a year- in the fall and in the spring).

If you're interested in grabbing ALL my cheatsheets at once- go ahead and hop over to Awesome Art School, and you'll find them in my YouTube & Cheatsheet Library.

So for this last practice image, I did go a little over the "time limit," but that's ok. Go easy on yourself. There's no pressure here.

The point of me trying to throw a timer into this exercise for myself, is just to remind me NOT to spend 45 minutes working on that one gorgeous mouth, and getting SO fussy about it that I'm trying to make it perfect. We're doing quick and dirty, and 6 minutes is still quick in my book!! 

How adorable is this last mouth? The top lip totally has a heart shape to it!! I LOVE it and that's why this mouth made the practice packet! LOL! 

I'm gonna say it again...you BETTER be drawing with me, and you NEED to click over to this drawing video on YouTube so you can do this with me in real time. 

Did you download your Drawing Practice Packet yet??? Here's that button if you need it again...

Now go check your inbox and come on over to YouTube so we can get started together!! 

I hope you LOVE doing this as much as I do!!

Thanks SO much for hanging out with me for today's lip drawing tutorial!! I'll see you back here NEXT Monday for our next facial feature...

​Have a wonderful week!!! 

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