Drawing 

Newsletter

April 2005

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TEETH: Drawing the Skull – 

Part 3

Most portraits are drawn with the mouth closed, yet rendering the face 

with a slightly opened mouth allows for a greater range of expression – 

from a relaxed intimacy to a raging howl.  Whatever the expression, the 

teeth should not be the primary focus for the viewer.

This requires two considerations: first, the teeth must be drawn correctly 

and proportioned; this requires plumbing and aligning each tooth within 

the facial arena.  Poorly drawn teeth will draw unnecessary attention to 

them.  Second, teeth will invariably fall into shadow that is both cast from 

the lips and the fact that the teeth are recessed into the mouth.  In paint-

ing, teeth are never white.  At their brightest they are a mother-of-pearl 

gray.  Subtlety and understatement are the keys to rendering teeth.

In most people the upper teeth close over the lower teeth: this is the ‘bite’.  

With very few exceptions the only teeth visible in an open mouth will 

be the incisors and canine teeth.  The premolars will usually just peek 

out from behind the cheeks.  The top of the molars may subtly be seen 

in the lower denture.

Natural teeth are hardly ever perfectly straight blocks.  Each tooth will 

have its own characteristics.  The incisors are broad and chiseled – 

designed to cut.  Most people will have a slightly chipped medial incisor.    

Look for a slightly askew lateral incisor, again, 

it is a common element.  The canine (eye tooth) 

is generally the longest and is pointed; be care-

ful not to exaggerate it. Otherwise your portrait 

will have a vampire-like effect.

When drawing from your skull (which, if you 

are serious about developing your drawing skills 

you really should own one) the alveolar process 

must first be ascertained.  The alveolar process 

is the horseshoe shaped ‘denture’ that contains 

the sockets for the teeth.  The small measure 

(the red line) from the anterior nasal spine to 

the alveolar process is too small to be measured.  

It must felt.  As I’ve said many times, this tactile 

sensibility (the ‘felt’) is a learned skill requiring 

both practice and knowledge.

Several elements must know be established 

and fixed into place.  First is the lower border 

of the alveolar process (the lower teeth’s gum 

line).  Again, feel you way down from the 

upper gum line and double check by feeling 

your way up from the chin’s mental process.

Second, mark the interstice where the upper 

and lower medial incisive teeth meet.  (The 

upper teeth are usually larger than the lower.)

Third, the vertical division of the two front 

medial incisors are placed by plumbing down 

(the red line) from the anterior nasal spine.  

Note that the vertical division of these two 

front teeth are slightly to the left of the ante-

rior nasal spine.  This is something to always 

look for!

Fourth, the canine tooth is placed 

by plumbing (green line) and 

relating to either the zygomatic 

process (it’s a bit to the right of it 

here) or the eye socket.  You are 

looking for a viable landmark 

that you believe is accurate.

As the teeth progress back to the 

molars the interstice is always an 

upwards angle until it meets the 

coronoid process (circled in red).  

You can almost feel the coronoid 

process with you tongue – it is 

just behind the wisdom teeth.

I think it best to first define the 

teeth by carefully drawing the 

interstice.  Avoid the tooth-by-

tooth route.

Now is the time to sketch in the individual teeth 

take note of each tooth’s individual character.  

Avoid what I did – don’t exaggerate the canine.  

But if you do it is easily fixed.

Now that I’ve corrected  the errant canine I  

softened the lines of the individual teeth so 

that they are subtle and read pretty much as 

teeth and not as a bunch of tooths (grammar 

aside).  I refined and slightly darkened the 

interstice which emphasizes the bite.

Throughout the drawing of this skull a 

small error managed to escape my detec-

tion.  The ramus (circled in red) is off.  

Totally.  But it is easily fixed.  The hard part 

is detecting your errors.  Usually it is a gut 

feeling that something is amiss.  The quick 

way to check your drawing is by looking at 

its reverse image in a mirror.  It’s a brutal 

method, but one that always illuminates the 

errors of your drawing.