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DIGITALLY COLORING LIPS IN ADOBE PHOTOSHOP
Sometimes lips are one of the most trickiest areas on a face to do, particularly with realistic portraits.
Most people just go with one general lip shape, but it's important to know that lips vary with each ethnic background. Since I do a lot of Japanese portraits, I've noted that the top lip is generally smaller than the bottom.
No tablet needed. It would help, but it's not necessary. If you have good mouse contol, then that'll work.
|  First off, you're going to block in the general colors of the lips. No smudging, just using a hard brush, outline all the different shades and shapes. This gives you an insight on just how many colors are actually in a pair of lips. Remember, there's never just one color, but multiple variations.
In this particular pair of pouty lips, you'll notice there's pink, peach, murky yellow, brown and orange.
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|  After, you're going to select your Smudge Tool and set it at around 60 - 80%. You want to smudge it so that the colors have soft edges and flow onto one another, but not so much that it looks like a gradient.
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|  Now you're putting in the sharper and crisp edges. One thing to note is that with lips, the coloring is not all soft. There are hard lines as well that balance them out, making them more 3-D looking.
I went over with a hard small brush (Opacity 100%) at the mouth line and corner of the lips. Many people forget to add that important little corner, resulting with the lips looking blocky and stuck together.
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|  Then, it's all about touching up. I'm constantly sharpening up lines and softening them until I get the right balance. The shine of the lips should stay crisp! This is especially important if you're trying to achieve dewy or glossy lips. Resist the urge to over-smudge!
I wanted to keep a light source so I took a large airbrush with a low opacity and dabbed it over the right side of the lips, lightening it up.
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|  After some more tweaking up (including making the top lip smaller) I finish coloring the lips!
What's just as important is the area around the lips. It makes the features pop out and look realistic, so don't forget to shade under the bottom of the lip just a tad. This helps define a chin along with the rest of the face.
Hope that was helpful!
BETA: Thank you Terri for proof-reading!
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