How to Draw Anime Girl Eyes

This tutorial will show you how to draw anime girl eyes, conveying the characteristic features of this style in a simple way.

Earlier, we learned how to draw anime eyes and discussed how drawing them closely follows the same principles as drawing eyes in realistic style.

In this tutorial, which serves as a supplement to the main tutorial on drawing anime, we’ll focus on the specific details of drawing anime girl eyes.

We’ll learn how to give your drawing the desired expression and understand what elements contribute to creating the exact look and character you want in an anime-style eye.

Here, we will not go too deeply into general details, but will instead focus on a specific and thorough study of drawing anime girl eyes.

How to draw anime girl eyes step by step

Step 1: Sketch the horizontal and vertical guidelines

First, draw rough guidelines for the location of the eyes. Start with the horizontal line to help you to place the eyes horizontally. Then, sketch the vertical line that will help you to maintain symmetry. If you are drawing the eyes, place it right in the center of the paper. The horizontal line is strongly displaced downwards.

Step 2: Draw the irises of the anime girl eyes

In this tutorial we will shape the pupils and irises first and then form the rest of the eyes around them. Due to the anime style, the irises look like two ovals that are elongated vertically. Do not try to create perfectly even shapes. However, be guided by the symmetry of these shapes relative to the lines from the last step.

Step 3: Draw the pupils inside the irises

Pupils are a very important element in drawing eyes – and in anime style too. Draw them as two small circles or ovals inside the shape of the irises. The location of the irises with pupils form the gaze of the character, so adjust the locating depending on your imagination.

Step 4: Draw the anime girl eyes’ upper eyelids

In this step draw the outlines of the eyelids. This is much easier than in our tutorial about the anatomy of the eye. In anime style, it looks like a crescent moon or the Nike logo. To give the anime girl eyes a different look you can adjust the shape of these lines.

Step 5: Add the upper eyelashes

Draw long curved eyelashes. The longest and largest eyelashes are located most laterally, as in our example. In anime style, eyelashes are often very large and detailed. You can adjust the shape and amount of eyelashes depending on your preference.

Step 6: Add hatching to the eyelashes and pupils

Add small shadows above the eyelashes. This is necessary if you want to emphasize girl eyes. In case you are drawing male anime eyes you can just skip this step. Erase all extra lines from the previous steps. Make more contrasting shadows and dark areas. Correct any mistakes from the previous steps.

Step 7: Complete drawing the anime eyes

Now bring your entire anime girl eye drawing to a finished state. The drawing should read as a unified whole, with no elements standing out. Check the symmetry and proportions, and make sure everything aligns with the anime style.

Nuances and features of drawing anime girl eyes

Previously, we showed you how to draw anime woman eyes using classical anime techniques. In that guide, we explained that the same eyes, drawn in the same style, can be used for many different anime characters.

At the same time, studying variations is essential for understanding how anime and manga artists create their characters.

Like any other focused topic within this style, this guide follows the principles of our main anime eye drawing tutorial, which itself is a more specialized extension of the general lesson on drawing human eyes.

As with any other anime art, drawing anime girl eyes involves a huge number of subtle details that require careful study. This lesson focused on the very basics and foundational steps.

From here, it’s up to you to continue developing your skills. Be sure to learn more about anime and study the fundamentals of anime drawing and explore this area further through our Anime category, where we cover the most important and interesting aspects of working in this style.