Guidelines for Pencil Portrait Sketching - Overall Muscle Structure of the Muzzle

Capturing the delicate, fleeting gestures of human emotions in portrait sketching is a test for every artist. There are basically six chief emotions: disgust, surprise, fear, sadness, anger and happiness.

The gestures of these chief emotions are instinctual, the muscle relationships and activities are subconscious. Generally, the facial muscles are delicate, finely in step and easily seen because they lie just under the skin.

The facial muscles not only suggest moods and gestures they also display sympathetic characteristics. For example, when we are threading a needle we often purse our lips to "aid" the thread through the needle's eye.

All facial gestures involve the muscles and other parts of the mouth. Therefore, to recognize the facial gestures we must first recognize the mouth which is more than just the lips.

The mouth part extends from the base of the nose to the Mentolabial Sulcus, i.e., the sulk-line of the chin. The mouth is a convex form and wraps around the muzzle of the face.

Sketching the mouth should invariably start with the articulation of the Interstice, i.e., the horizontal line where the upper and lower lips come together. The lips wrap around the convex protuberance of the dental arch and the interstice roughly corresponds to the middle segment of the frontal, upper teeth.

Note that the Nodes in the corners of the mouth are below the middle of the interstice, except in a smile when the facial muscles pull up the nodes.

The lips, or Labia, are put together with mucous membrane whose redness results from the blood capillaries lying just under the skin.

The top lip has three forms. In the middle is the Tubercle which is non-muscular and add to the 'V' form of the top where it comes together with the base of the Philtrum. The Philtrum is the elongated, vertical trough that extends from the base of the nose to the tubercle of the top.

The philtrum, which means "love drop", is bounded by ridges on each side. Practically every starting draftsperson overextends the philtrum, thus placing the mouth too low.

The other 2 parts of the top lip are 2, horizontal elongated forms. The muscles here, however, are the visible ridges of the middle vertical fibers of the Orbicularis Oris whose action results in the puckering up of the lips. The various facial muscles fastened to the nodes of the mouth do the pulling and pushing.

The top lip is flatter than the lower lip. It is a downward tilting plane and generally appears darker than the lower lip. There is a small up-plane on the vermillion border of the top that quite often catches a gentle light. For most people, the top lip tucks into the nodes.

The lower lip generally stops a bit short of the nodes. The lower lip is heavier and fuller. It is comprised of two elongated forms that give it a more squared-off look than the top lip.

Somewhat below the vermilion border of the lower lip is a elevated edge that develops laterally and is more clear at the nodes.

The vermilion border of the lower lip should not be sketched with a distinct line, it has to be suggested more than sketched. Or else it will look like lipstick.

The lower lip is an up-plane and will often catch a highlight. Like the top lip, the ridges of the middle vertical fibers of the orbicularis oris form the texture of the lower lip.

The base of the mouth region is at the mentolabial. Forming at the lower edge of the lower lip's two elongated forms are two columnar tubes that radiate diagonally downward. These are the Pillars of the Mouth. This is a down plane and thus will fall in shadow.

With this we end the overall description of the things that make the mouth and ultimately the smile.

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Download my brand new No Cost Pencil Portrait Sketching Course here: www.remipencilportraits.com/PPDT/pencil-portrait-tutorial.html target="_blank">Pencil Portrait Sketching Course. Remi Engels is a practicing pencil portrait draftsman and oil painter and practiced sketching instructor. See his work at Pencil Portraits by Remi: www.remipencilportraits.com Visit Guidelines for Pencil Portrait Sketching - General Anatomy of the Muzzle.

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