Painting the expressiveness of a person’s mouth helps establish
his or her likeness, personality, and vitality in a portrait,
yet many artists have difficulty representing that facial
feature. Here’s how I teach students to paint a mouth in either
oil or pastel. To read more features like this, subscribe to
American Artist today! by William A. Schneider 2007, pastel, 17
x 12. Private collection. The mouth is the second most
expressive feature on the human face after the eyes, but artists
find it to be one of the most challenging features to represent
accurately and uniquely. They often revert to the symbol learned
in childhood of an outlined oval divided in the middle, with two
rounded lumps on top. Artists fall into the trap of painting
what they know rather than what they actually observe. In my
workshops and classes, I offer separate demonstrations of how I
paint the eyes and mouth. I want to help students avoid
preconceived images and, instead, to paint with the same
freshness and animation they use in ca