How Do Artists Draw A Cartoon Fish With Big Lips Step-By-Step?

There’s a nice little rhythm to drawing anime lips once you get the basic shapes down, and I like to think of it as a melody: a soft top note, a fuller bottom note, and the tiny silence between them. Start by sketching a simple horizontal guideline where the mouth will sit — that line helps keep expressions consistent. For closed, neutral lips, draw a shallow, slightly curved line for the upper lip (think of a gentle "m" or a stretched caret), then a slightly fuller curve below for the lower lip. Keep the lines light and confident; anime lips rarely need heavy outlines except for stylistic choices. When I’m sketching expressions, I exaggerate the upper line shape to show mood: a sharp, angled top for a smirk; a flat, thin top for a tired or stoic look. For open mouths, draw an oval or rounded rectangle for the interior, add a hint of teeth as a single rectangle or two lines (avoid detailing every tooth), and place the tongue as a crescent at the bottom. Shading is your friend — a small shadow under the lower lip and a highlight on the bottom lip can give a lot of life. I often use a soft brush in my tablet program (or a 2B pencil on paper) to blend that shadow gently. Proportions change with age and style: younger characters get smaller, tighter mouths; mature characters have a fuller lower lip. Male mouths can be squarer or thinner depending on the vibe; female mouths often have a more pronounced lower curve or a subtle cupid’s bow. Finally, study frames you love — I’ll flip through panels of 'Your Name' or sketch faces from 'One Piece' to see how different artists treat lips in motion. Practice a set of ten quick mouth thumbnails for different emotions; I do this while sipping cold coffee between commissions, and it’s surprising how fast you improve.

There’s an art to a great cartoon smile that I fell in love with after hours of doodling in the margins of notebooks. I usually start by thinking of the mouth as a simple shape: an upper curve and a lower curve that meet at corners. For expressive smiles, the corners are everything — raise them for joy, pull one up for a smirk, and stretch them wide for full-throttle grin. I sketch a quick centerline for the face to get direction, then build the mouth around it so the smile follows the head’s tilt. I like to break it into values: silhouette, teeth/tongue block, and crease lines. Pros often simplify teeth into a single white shape or a hint of a row rather than drawing each tooth, which keeps the mouth readable at small sizes. Adding cheek swoops, little fold lines at the corner, and slight eyebrow adjustments sells the expression. In animation, timing and stretch matter — a quick snap into a wide shape feels energetic; a slow easing makes it tender. Practically, I copy expressions from photos, do quick thumbnails (10–20 tiny faces), and study how different styles treat the same smile. Try exaggerating until it feels a little wrong, then tone it back — that awkward middle is where memorable smiles hide.

My usual approach is to break the fish down into simple shapes before I ever touch texture or detail. I start with a light pencil and sketch an elongated oval for the body, a triangle or teardrop for the tail, and gentle lines to indicate the mouth and eye placement. Blocking in the fins with sweeping thin shapes helps me find the flow — fish are all about streamlined curves. I check proportions by measuring head-to-body ratios with my pencil and adjust until it looks natural. Next I lightly draw the spine and a few major fin rays to give structure; those little bones make everything feel believable. After the structure feels right, I switch to value and edges. I map out the darkest shadows along the belly or beneath overlapping fins, then lay in midtones. For scales I rarely draw every single one; instead I suggest texture with clusters of small curved marks where scales catch light, and smoother areas where skin is slimy or reflective. Highlights are crucial — a clean eraser and a tiny white gel pen or gouache spot on the eye and along the lateral line sell the wet, slippery look. Practicing from photos and real specimens — even a trip to the aquarium for reference — sharpened my eye way more than copying tutorials alone, and honestly, it's a small ritual that keeps me hooked on drawing fish.

I like breaking a mouth down into dance steps — it makes the whole thing feel way less scary. Start by sketching the face’s centerline and a soft curve where the jaw sits; that curve is the stage your mouth will perform on. Think of the mouth as three stacked planes: the upper lip, the opening (gap), and the lower lip. For a neutral pose, draw a gentle almond or horizontal oval for the opening, then tuck thin crescent shapes above and below for the lips. Keep lines loose — beginners who overcommit to hard lines right away lose the mouth’s flexibility. Next, push the shapes into character. Pinch the corners of the mouth inward for tension or widen them for a grin. Block in teeth as a single white mass rather than individual squares unless the mouth is wide open — only add a few suggestion lines for the front teeth when needed. The tongue sits as a rounded paddle at the bottom of the opening when visible; place a shadow under it. For perspective, tilt the top lip when drawing a three-quarter view: the opposite corner will foreshorten and sit closer to the centerline. Also try basic phoneme shapes — 'O' is a round hole, 'E' pulls the lips wide and thin, 'M/P/B' closes the lips together — this helps with believable mouth animation and lip sync. Finish by varying line weight and adding a tiny cast shadow under the lower lip to sell volume. Practice with quick gesture drills: 30-second mouth sketches focusing on different emotions, then slower 5–10 minute studies refining teeth and tongue. I still grin at how much a small tweak of a corner can transform a face, and that’s the bit I keep playing with most.

If you want to turn a fish sketch into anime character art, I’d start by treating the fish as a personality rather than just anatomy. Look at your sketch and ask: is this fish playful, sly, noble, or sleepy? That personality will drive everything — eye shape, posture, clothing, and even color choices. Next I break it into readable shapes. Convert the body into a silhouette that works as clothing or a head shape: the curve of a tail can become a flowing coat, fins can become decorative collars or hair tufts, and scales can translate into patterned armor or a delicate dress. I sketch a few thumbnails that exaggerate these ideas; some thumbnails keep the fish profile obvious, others barely hint at it while focusing on cool anime silhouettes. Finally I commit to lineart and color. For anime vibes, focus on expressive eyes (big, sparkly, or narrow and sharp), clean line weight, and a limited palette with one bright accent color. Use soft cel shading for a youthful look or painterly gradients for a mature, cinematic feel. Don’t forget little details — a fin-shaped hairclip, scale-textured sleeve, or a tail-inspired scarf — and I always pinch in a tiny nod to the original fish so it reads as a transformation, not a replace. I love how these hybrids often end up feeling whimsical and memorable.