Capturing a laugh in a close-up portrait is a different kind of drawing challenge, and this guide on how to draw laughing Mabel Pines works through exactly that, keeping the focus tight on her face and the energy of that expression. She is one of the most expressive characters in the Gravity Falls roster, and this tutorial leans into that fully.
A Face-First Approach to Drawing Mabel’s Laugh
This is a close-up portrait, so all 15 steps go toward the face rather than a full body build. The challenge here is almost entirely about expression: the mouth shape, the cheek volume, and the tilt of the head all have to work together to read as genuine laughter. The tutorial ends on clean line art with no color, so steady, confident linework matters more than anything else. The pointed hat adds a slight asymmetry to the silhouette that takes a step or two to get right.
Mabel’s Key Visual Features in This Drawing
- Round face with large circular glasses
- Pointed floppy gnome-style hat
- Wide open mouth, teeth visible
- Chubby cheeks with round highlight marks
- Head angled, full laugh expression
If you want to practice other faces from the same show, the Stan Pines face portrait is a good comparison study since his expression is quite different in structure. For full character builds, Soos Ramirez and Bill Cipher cover some of the other personalities from the show well.
Understanding the Step Color System
Each step image uses a three-color code to show exactly what is happening at that stage:
- Red Color: lines added in the current step.
- Black Color: lines completed earlier.
- Gray Color: base sketch for structure.
How to Draw Laughing Mabel Pines: Step-by-Step Tutorial
Finished Your Drawing? Share It and Keep Going
Once the linework is done, drop your finished piece in the comments below. Seeing how different people handle the laugh shape and the hat angle is always worth a look. New tutorials get posted to Facebook and Telegram as soon as they go live, a new YouTube video based on existing guides goes up every day, and Pinterest stays regularly updated if you prefer saving references that way. If you are looking for more Gravity Falls work, little Gideon is worth trying next, and the chibi Dipper and Mabel together is a good step up in complexity. If you want to support the project and get access to unique hand-drawn coloring pages, the Patreon page is the place to do it.