mood

Crying

150 drawings by Artbitrator players — showing top 24

Drawing a crying face is trickier than you'd think. It's not just about slapping a couple of teardrops on a sad expression—the eyes change, the face scrunches, and if you mess up the teardrop shape, it looks more like water damage than emotion. But once you nail the key bits (the eye squint, the furrowed brows, those gently wavy tear trails), a simple crying drawing can feel genuinely expressive. We've got 135 real player examples on this page showing all kinds of approaches, from sobbing cartoon faces to realistic tears streaming down cheeks.

Whether you're after a beginner crying drawing or you just want to learn how to draw a crying expression for your comics or characters, Artbitrator's a good place to practice. Draw anything you like, watch the AI guess in real time, and once you're done you can replay your drawing stroke by stroke to see exactly how you built up those tears and that crumpled expression.

Drawings

150

Avg Strokes

1118 strokes

Avg Time

66s

Fastest

19s

How to Draw Crying

Simple steps to draw crying, based on what works in the examples above.

1 Start with the eyes. Draw them slightly squinted or squeezed—crying eyes aren't wide open. Add curved lines above and below to show the lids tightening. The eyebrows angle upward and inward, forming that classic worried or sad shape.
2 Sketch the tear shape carefully. Tears are narrow at the top where they touch the eye, then widen into a rounded droplet. Don't make them perfectly symmetrical—real tears are a bit wobbly and follow the curve of the cheek as they fall.
3 Add a watery line along the lower eyelid to show tears pooling before they spill over. This little detail makes a huge difference—it shows the crying is active, not just a single frozen tear.
4 Draw the mouth and nose to match the emotion. A downturned, wobbly mouth or an open sob works well. The nose might scrunch slightly, and you can add a small curve or shadow under it to suggest redness or moisture.
5 Give it a go in Artbitrator and watch how the AI reacts as you build the expression. You can experiment with different tear sizes, facial expressions, and styles, then replay the whole thing to see what worked and what didn't.

Tip: Tears aren't perfectly round—keep them thin at the top and fatter at the bottom, and let them follow the natural curve of the face.

Practice Drawing Crying

Drawing Tips

Don't forget the eyebrows—upturned, furrowed brows do half the emotional heavy lifting before you even add the tears.
Add a hint of shine or a lighter spot inside each teardrop to make them look wet and three-dimensional instead of flat.
Real crying faces scrunch and tighten, so avoid drawing a neutral expression with tears stuck on top—the whole face should react to the emotion.

Crying Drawing FAQ

How do you draw a crying face?

Start with squinted or tightened eyes and angled eyebrows to set the sad expression. Then add tear shapes that are narrow at the top and rounded at the bottom, plus a watery line along the lower lid. Match the mouth and nose to the emotion—downturned or open—and you've got a proper crying face.

What's the hardest part of drawing crying?

Getting the tears to look like actual liquid instead of weird blobs. The trick is keeping them narrow where they meet the eye and gently rounded as they fall, with a bit of shine to suggest they're wet. The facial expression matters just as much—tears on a blank face just look damp, not emotional.

How can I practice drawing different crying expressions?

Artbitrator's perfect for this. Draw a crying face and the AI will guess what you're making in real time, which helps you see if your expression reads clearly. Once you're done, replay your drawing stroke by stroke to study how you built up the tears, the eyes, and the overall emotion. You can try loads of styles—cartoony sobs, realistic tears, anything—and learn from each one.