How to Draw Anime Eyes

In this drawing guide, we will tell you how to draw anime eyes. We will try to present to you the basic principles of anime-style eye painting so that you can draw your own character to your taste.

As you know, anime is a rather unusual style. Many anime artists prefer to simplify many details, such as clothing, interiors, or even the faces of the characters. However, one detail in an anime style is always drawn quite carefully. We are talking about the eyes. The eyes in the anime often convey the mood of the character and the atmosphere of the whole picture as a whole. This is the most important and crucial step in drawing any anime character.

 

Step 1

The eyes should be on the same plane. This is one of the basic rules for drawing eyes in many styles. Therefore, first, we determine the approximate location of the eyes and draw a horizontal line in this place.

Step 2

When we present the approximate location of the eyes, we can draw the contours of this part of the face. Choose the eye contours of your choice. Depending on the style, these can be vertically elongated eyes or more realistic horizontal ones. We chose the amygdala shape of the eyes. This shape of the eyes is quite common in the anime with complex drawing techniques.

Step 3

So now we have approximate outlines of the external contours of the eyes and therefore we can create basic internal details. In fact, the eye is a few membranes that cover light-refracting substances. Outside we can see a part of the choroid called the iris. It is she who forms the color of the eyes. Inside the iris, there is a hole called the pupil. Let’s draw these two parts.

Do not forget that the position of the pupils forms the direction and emotional color of the gaze, so this is a very important point.

Step 4

Another thing that shapes the direction and nature of the look is eyebrows. Anatomists talk about eyebrows as part of the auxiliary apparatus of the eye. This is actually so because eyebrows protect the eyes from unnecessary liquid and dust particles. So in this step, we outline the contours of the eyebrows. You can choose the shape of the eyebrows to your taste, however, remember that the position of the eyebrows will reflect the emotions of your character.

Step 5

So we continue the guide on how to draw anime eyes. Let’s make the look even more expressive. To do this, we add shadows to the lateral corners of each eye and draw the contours of the eyelashes.

Step 6

Now we will make our character’s eyebrows more complete and detailed. To do this, we will add single-layer hatching inside the eyebrow contours. In the lateral direction, the strokes should be arranged more and more diagonally.

Step 7

And now we have one of the most crucial stages. Now we will use the hatching to give your drawing a complete look. So, first, we paint over the pupil. Use the darkest and most intense hatching for the pupil. Do not forget about the white flare that should be inside each pupil.

After that, we hatch the space inside the iris. You can mark a large crescent-shaped flare from below, as in our sample. Use a less intense hatch for the iris. By the way, the color of the eyes depends on the amount of pigment melanin in the choroid of the eye. A large amount of melanin is found in people with brown eye color. A small amount of melanin forms a blue eye color.

Step 8

As we already said, this is a lesson about the basic principles of anime-style eye painting. You can easily change the mood of your character and the direction of his gaze by changing the shape and position of the eyes. To convey especially strong emotions, use wrinkles that look like a lot of short lines.