How to Draw Eyes
- In This Quick Guide:
- Drawing and Shading Adult Eyes
- Drawing the Eyes of Children
- Drawing Natural-Looking Eyelashes
We communicate our emotions through our eyes, the most sincerely expressive part of us. Like magnets, our eyes seem to be automatically drawn toward the eyes of others. In a portrait, the eyes alone can often tell us something about the person. Drawing eyes can be tricky, but not impossible. Here’s how you do it.
Drawing and Shading Adult Eyes
Try your hand at drawing eyes from the inside out. You can draw all four examples shown at once or focus on one at a time. The instructions are the same for each:
- Refer to the drawing below and draw a circle with an outline of an iris and pupil inside. An iris and pupil visually change shape from a circle to an oval (an ellipse) with the changing angle of the head and it is rarely perfectly round. In profile, you can see that the eyeball is not a perfect sphere. The cornea of the iris bulges slightly outward.
- Draw the eyelids as curved lines that follow the contour of a sphere. Refer to the next drawing. Allow for the thickness of the flesh of the eyelid. Keep your lines really light so you can erase them later. Keep in mind that the eyelids are not attached to the eyeballs. The upper eyelid needs to be able to open and close to shield the eye from potential dangers. Depending on the perspective from which you are viewing the eye, the rims (edges) of both, or just one, of the upper and lower eyelids are visible.
- Add shading to the white of the eye with a 2H pencil. Keep in mind that an eyeball is spherical rather than flat. Your goal is to convey its spherical form.
- Outline where you want to place the highlight, so you remember to leave it white.
- Use HB and 2B pencils to shade the iris. The iris has a graduation of values (rather than just a solid tone), which helps the surface of the eye look shiny. In addition to their basic almond shape, realistically drawn eyes need to illustrate the three-dimensional forms of the eyeball, eyelids, and the orbital socket.
- Erase the outlines of the eyeballs.
- Add shading to the upper and lower eyelids.
- Draw an average quantity of eyelashes on the outer edges of the eyelids on each eye.
- Add shading to the facial structures around the eye. Lifelike drawings of eyes need to be anchored within the facial structures. Carefully placed shading graduations fool the observer’s eye into thinking that lines define various aspects of the eye, such as the upper eyelid crease.
- Draw an eyebrow above each eye. Concentrate on accurately drawing the shape and different values rather than the individual hairs.
As your perspective of an eyeball changes, the irises and pupils appear to be in different locations.
The top edges of irises are partially covered by the upper eyelids.
Shading makes the eyes look shiny and three dimensional.
Eyebrows range in value from very light to almost black and can be narrow and thin or big and bushy. They can be arched, straight, or even wavy. Eyebrows follow the shapes of the brow ridge and seem to change shape when the head is viewed from different angles.
Even when looking directly at you, eyes can be various shapes.
Drawing the Eyes of Children
Even though children’s eyes are more rounded and their eyebrows are generally lighter, the shading techniques are the same as for adult eyes. Less of the whites of their eyes is visible, creating the illusion that the irises are much larger. The shapes of older children’s eyes tend to be a little less rounded than those of babies.
In the next drawings, you can explore a few different eyes of babies and children.
Children’s big innocent eyes seem to have disproportionately large irises.
Drawing Natural-Looking Eyelashes
The most challenging parts of human anatomy to draw realistically are among the tiniest: the eyelashes. Even if every other aspect of your portrait is perfect, incorrectly drawn eyelashes can ruin your creation. In the next drawing, have a peek at some of the major problems, such as eyelashes that are too thick, too straight, or too long.
Incorrectly drawn eyelashes can ruin a drawing of an eye.
Refer to the next illustration and note that correctly drawn eyelashes …
- Grow in many different directions, mostly outward from the eyelids.
- Are rendered with thin lines of different lengths.
- Are curved.
- Appear thicker closer to the eyelids.
- Grow from the outer edges of the upper and lower eyelids and not the white of the eye.
- Are drawn in groups rather than single lines.
- Are unevenly spaced.
- Gradually become longer and thicker toward the outer corners of the eye.
Correctly drawn eyelashes look natural and lifelike.
In the next drawing, you see unnatural-looking eyelashes that are the same value and thickness from root to tip.
Thick curved lines do not look like natural eyelashes.
A simple little drawing technique provides a realistic-looking eyelash every time. Grab some paper and a 2B pencil. Refer to the next drawing as you try your hand at drawing some fabulous looking lashes:
- Begin at the base of the eyelash and press firmly with your pencil. Eyelashes need to be drawn in the direction in which they grow, from the eyelid outward.
- Slowly release the pressure you apply as your curved line extends toward the tip.
- Gently lift your pencil from the paper when the tip of the line is very thin and light in value.
Realistic eyelashes look like inverted commas (thick at the bottom and thin at the top).
Now warm up your drawing hand and draw an eyeful of eyelashes! Refer to the earlier criteria for drawing eyelashes as you follow these steps:
- Lightly sketch the almond shape of an eye with a double line at the top and bottom to represent the thickness of the flesh of the eyelids.
- Use 2H and HB pencils to draw an average quantity of eyelashes on the outer edges of the upper and lower eyelids.
- Add a few darker lashes of various lengths (with a 2B pencil) toward the outer corner of the eye for thick eyelashes.
- Use a 2B pencil to add a few thicker lines to create the illusion of very thick eyelashes (or eyelashes with mascara applied).
This almond-shaped eye is awaiting eyelashes.
Lots of men and women sport an average smattering of eyelashes.
Many individuals have long, thick eyelashes.
Some people’s eyelashes appear very thick, dark, and long, especially if they are wearing mascara.
Don’t expect to master drawing eyes right away. Take lots of time to practice before you try adding them to your drawings. For more drawing info, check out our quick guides Drawing 101: Seeing Light and Shadows and Drawing 101: Shading Techniques. Have fun, and happy drawing!
From The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Drawing People Illustrated by Brenda Hoddinott
