How to Draw Anime Girl Eyes

Sketching anime is easy. Here we will demonstrate it and show how to draw anime girl eyes while 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 a realistic style.

In this tutorial, which serves as a supplement to the main guide 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 which elements contribute to creating the exact look and character you want in an anime-style eye.

How to draw anime girl eyes step by step

Step 1: Sketch the horizontal and vertical guidelines

First, draw rough guidelines for the placement of the eyes. Start with the horizontal line to help position the eyes correctly. Then sketch the vertical line to maintain symmetry. If you are drawing only the eyes, place the vertical line in the center of the paper. The horizontal line should be positioned noticeably lower than the center.

Step 2: Draw the irises of the anime girl eyes

In this tutorial, we will draw the irises and pupils first, then build the rest of the eyes around them. In anime style, the irises are vertically elongated ovals. They do not need to be perfectly even, but they should remain symmetrical relative to the guidelines from the previous step.

Step 3: Draw the pupils inside the irises

The pupils are an important part of anime girl eyes. Draw them as two small circles or ovals inside the irises. Their position determines the direction of the character’s gaze, so adjust their placement to achieve the expression you want.

Step 4: Draw the anime girl eyes’ upper eyelids

Now draw the outlines of the upper eyelids. This is much simpler than in our tutorial on the anatomy of the eye. In anime style, the upper eyelids often resemble a crescent moon or the Nike logo. You can adjust the shape of these lines to give the anime girl eyes a different expression.

Step 5: Add the upper eyelashes

Draw long, curved upper eyelashes. The longest eyelashes are positioned toward the outer corners of the eyes. In anime style, eyelashes are often large and exaggerated. You can adjust their shape and number.

Step 6: Add hatching to the eyelashes and pupils

First, add hatching to the eyelashes to emphasize the feminine appearance of the anime girl eyes. If you are drawing male anime eyes, you can skip this step. Erase the remaining guidelines, deepen the dark areas, and correct any mistakes before moving on.

Step 7: Complete the anime girl eyes

Now bring the entire anime girl eye drawing to a finished state. The drawing should look unified, with no individual element standing out too much. Check the symmetry, refine the lines, and make sure everything matches the intended 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 tutorial, we drew more mature female eyes and used slightly different techniques. Here, the eyes are larger to convey the character’s younger appearance.

At the same time, studying different variations is very important 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 tutorial on drawing anime eyes, which itself is a more specialized extension of the general tutorial on drawing human eyes.

As with any other aspect of anime art, drawing anime girl eyes involves many subtle details that require careful study.

Be sure to study the fundamentals of anime drawing and visit our Anime drawing collection, where we cover many of the most important aspects of drawing in this style.