How To Draw Anime Eyes: Easy Step By Step Tutorial
One of the things I loved drawing most when I was young was anime people, especially eyes.
To me, drawing anime eyes is so fun, unique, and simple. Its a great way to create without the burden of having to make something look real enough.
That is why I decided to create this blog post: A step-by-step tutorial on how to draw anime eyes.
For the ease of creating this tutorial, I decided to digitally draw the steps but the technique I use to draw them digitally or traditionally does not differ.
As you draw these eyes, I recommend using light, short strokes to achieve the overall line and shape you want. This is also a good way to naturally give depth and dimension to any drawing you create.
All in all, drawing is a great way to quiet the mind and get into the flow of creating something So I hope this inspires you to draw much more often! Enjoy trying out these anime eye drawings and have lots of fun in the process!
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Drawing Simple Anime Eyelashes
The most basic types of anime eyelashes are pretty much a solid shapes without any of the individual lashes. Usually these consist of the top and bottom but in some very simplified styles only the top eyelashes may be shown.
Drawing these eyelashes is fairly simple. Start with the outline of their overall shape.
Make the top eyelashes much thicker than the bottom. Be careful not to make the bottom eyelashes too thick or your character may look like they have bags under their eyes or a black eye.
Fill the eyelashes in with black once done with the line drawing.
Above you can see what these types of eyelashes can look like with the eye fully drawing.
For tutorials on drawing the eyes:
Highlights From At Least 2 Light Sources
White or bright circles or ovals appearing in stylized anime eyes are representative of highlights on the surface of the eye.
Note here that usually one highlight is dominant and is depicted larger, and the second subordinate and depicted smaller. Neither appear as a bounce light or reflective light, rather, each is a highlight representative of another light source nearby.
Adoption rate: in many examples in anime. There are also many examples where only one highlight appears, or where a light is cast from multiple sources and many highlights appear.
If you are confused about terms describing how light interacts with a surface, or need a refresher on terms like bounce light or highlight, follow this link to an article I wrote on this topic, glossary of often-confusing art terms is at the bottom of that article).
The chart below indicates how in many examples, the smaller highlight is directly across the surface of the iris from the larger highlight, in some cases, it is placed across and down the surface of the iris.
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How To Draw Anime Eyes For Beginners
Learning how to draw anime eyes is a pretty simple process. Start doing some drawings, and practice drawing as often as you can. It really only takes a few minutes a day to start seeing improvements.
Have fun and dont be afraid to experiment and try new things. Use artist trading cards to save time, even you dont want to participate in trades. And dont forget to grab your FREE guide to using markers.
How To Draw Male Anime Eyes
The Eye we dre above looked more like a Female eye, but why? And how can you draw a Male Anime Eye?
What makes an eye look male? The answer is pretty easy. It is slimmer, more angular, doesn´t have big light reflections and the iris is smaller.
Here is the sketch of an Eye, I made, keeping the differences from above in mind.
Not let´s add some details but we are keeping the eyelashes to a minimum and the reflections are very small. The lines are also way more angular.
Only these very subtle differences made a huge difference. You can obviously push the differences more by making the eye even slimmer and the iris rounder and smaller. Or you could also make the eyebrow bushier.
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Look & Learn How To Draw Anime Eyes
Ever since discovering anime, I have been fascinated by this Japanese art genre. Their characters are adorable no matter if theyre good guys or not. One of the main characteristics is the unusually large eyes they have. I spent a while perfecting my technique for drawing them and Id like to share it here. With just a few simple steps, you can capture the charm of the anime eyes and start creating your own unique characters.
For this mini-tutorial, Ive used Arteza colored pencils and a white gel pen. Colored pencils offer handling and vibrancy to cause your eyes to really stand out. The white gel pen is the ideal tool for adding bright highlights that bring the eyes to life!
How To Draw Anime Eyes Male For Beginners
Male manga and anime eyes look quite a bit different from female eyes. They are narrower, and lack the extra eyelashes. However, the process is very much the same.
Begin with a circle for the eyeball. Then add in the upper and lower eyelids. For the male anime eyes, draw the eyelids so they overlap your eyeball. This will make them more narrow.
Finish drawing your male anime eye using the same steps that you used for the female eye. Then use your black pen or marker to ink your drawing.
Add an eyebrow as well. And color your eye drawing the same way as described in the female eye drawing process.
Just like with the female anime eyes, the male eyes can be drawn in many different ways as well. Experiment with different ways to draw the male eyes, and see what style you like most.
Experiment with using different colors for your eyes as well. Dont feel like they always have to be blue or green. They can be purple, pink, brown, or any other color you want to use.
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How To Draw Eyes From An Angle In Anime Manga
Another great art tutorial from Mikey Mega Mega. While I would say that this tutorial is a bit more geared toward advanced artists, beginner artists can still learn from this.
Mikey shows you how to draw the eye from different angles, and while its not easy to understand all the rules and reasons behind every decision, I think this tutorial is still valuable and gives a lot of insight into the drawing process.
How To Draw Anime Eyes Quick And Easy Drawing Tutorial
Drawing beautiful anime and manga eyes is pretty easy, but you just have to know some rules to it. In this video, Juha Ekman a.k.a Okuha will show you how he approaches drawing anime and manga eyes by using three boxes. By drawing cat-like and almond/oval-shaped eyes you are able to create those beautiful looking anime eyes in no time! And yes, Clip Studio Paint makes drawing eyes super easy!
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Expressions For Anime Eyes
In real life and in the manga/anime world, eyes are one of the most important features to express emotion. Remember that a series of facial muscles tighten or relax, depending on the expression you want to achieve.Lets take a look at the eyelids, the inner eye, and the eyebrows.
The emotions intended in these examples are easy to understand.
In example 1, the eyebrow is a bit tense, but the eye is relaxed and shining. This conveys a worried state or maybe missing someone or something.
In example 2, the eyebrow is arched vertically, and the eye is closed, so we can deduce that the character is happy.
In the next example , there is no shine to the eye, the iris is completely white, and the pupil is reduced significantly. This shows that the character is aggressive. Note that the eyebrow is arched in the opposite direction of the happy one in example 2, which also signifies anger.
Let us check all these expressions to deduce their meaning: 4 is suspicion, 5 is worry, 6 is neutral or observing, 7 is shock, 8 is sadness, and 9 is shock or madness, depending on the situation.
Realistic Vs Simplified Anime Eye
Heres a list of how parts of the eyes can be simplified in anime style
Tear ducts
Depends on how simplified the style is. In some styles, the tear ducts are not drawn at all while in some styles theres a slight indication of tear ducts.
Eyelashes
Unlike the realistic style, the eyelashes can be a simple upward tip at the ends of the eyes or drawn in chunks, not individual strands.
Iris
Realistically, the iris should be quite round. In anime-style however, it can be all kinds of shapes, most commonly seen shapes are circles and ovals, some also have sharper edges instead of rounded ones.
Eyelids
Eyelids can be eliminated in some anime styles. A common style is to indicate then with 2 simple lines above the eyes.
Waterline
Again, this is sometimes not drawn at all or slightly indecated.
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Thicker Lines On The Upper Eyelid Stylizing Eyelashes
Adoption rate: in most example in anime. This element highlights what a lot of anime drawings are like: an effective simplification of complex real life forms to their most basic visual representation.
Since we usually have more volume in eyelashes on the upper eyelid than the lower, in anime drawings, the upper eyelid lines representing the eyelashes are drawn thicker, with more visual weight.
S Of An Realistic Eye
In the image above, I have pointed out the different parts of the eyes. For a more detailed explanation on each part, visit my post on how to draw an realistic eye here.
It may seem like a lot of parts to take in, however, it can be very simplified when it comes to drawing in the anime style. I will go through it in the next section.
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Draw The Primary Reflection
Draw the main reflection area from the main light source such as an indoor light bulb, a fire, or the sun. You can erase the area of the pupil and shadow that is overlapped by the reflection.
The shape and color of the reflection can depend on the shape and color of the light source. Usually in anime you can simply leave the reflection white and give it a very generalized shape like a circle or an oval.
How To Draw Anime Eyes Male
Create a line with a sharp edge to start the eye.
Begin to draw the lower part of the eye.
Draw the iris.
Add a little circle in the top corner to create light reflection.
A second reflective circle creates even more dimesion, making the eye look alive.
Draw the pupil.
Add different shading to bring your anime eye to life!
I hope you found this how to draw anime eyes tutorial helpful! Have fun drawing your own anime eyes. Remember to experiment with different shading and sizes to create the most realistic anime eyes.
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How To Draw Manga Eyes Eight Different Ways
While the video does not have a voice-over, it does have text from which you can follow the drawing process. What I like about the video is that the artist shows you step-by-step how to draw manga eyes.
You will get to see how the artist creates eight different manga eyes, and while we can debate whether there is enough variation to justify the eight different styles, its still cool to see the drawing process nevertheless.
The end results are amazing, though, and what is nice about the process is that you can see the coloring of the eyes too. Something that many art tutorials seem to lack.
Drawing Female Anime Eyes
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How To Make Eyes Look Unique
So here is a problem a lot of artists run in to after some time. I struggled with this as well, when I was starting out to draw. How can I make my characters all look unique? Or better yet, how can I make their eyes all look unique?
Well, the answer is probably way easier than you may think. Just change little but defining thinks of how you draw their eyes. For example, slightly tilt the eyes in a direction to make them look a little dimwitted or to make them look sharper. Make the eyes extremely round or insanely slim. Give them no reflections in their eyes to make them almost appear dead or evil. Or give them a lot of reflections to make them look innocent or happy.
Just play around with these little defining changes and you will be surprised how many different eyes you will be able to draw! Just take a look at these Sketches I did.
How To Color Anime Eyes
Here you can see the results from using different colors and blending modes. I used the Overlay mode for purple, Vivid Light for yellow, and Pin Light for the blue tones and the pink details. They blend great with the grey layer.
The key is to know where you want to place the grey gradients, the darker areas, and the highlights. Please go back to chapter 4. Styles and greyscale when in doubt.
Try different colors and see which ones are best for the effect youre trying to achieve. In this illustration, I chose two complimentary colors: purple and yellow with pink and blue tints.
Grayscale coloring steps:
In 1, I simply started with the previously created grayscale drawing.
In steps 2 and 3, choose any color you fancy purple, with some blue in my case and try a blending mode that blends well with the greyscale.
In steps 4 and 5, I add some yellow using the Vivid light blending mode.
In step 6, I usually soften the dots a bit, by using the eraser or decreasing the layer opacity.
Finally, in step 7, I just add the finishing touches to emphasize volumes and textures.
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How To Draw And Color Manga Eyes: Narrated Step
The tutorial is made so that you can follow along and draw while Mark is drawing. While the video has these speed up parts, you can just pause the video and draw the parts you havent yet drawn.
What is nice about this video is that you can also see the coloring process and not just the drawing process. So if you are looking to color your anime eyes, this video helps you with that.
How To Draw Anime Eyes
Click HERE to save the tutorial to Pinterest!
Some credit William Shakespeare with the maxim, “the eyes are the windows to the soul.” This means that you can learn a lot about a person by watching their eyes.
The eyes are one source of nonverbal communication – we show our feelings to others when we cry, when our eyes are drawn up along with a smile, when they grow wide with fear, are squinted in anger, or when we roll our eyes in contempt.
The Japanese animation style known as anime takes the art of the eye to a whole new level.
The eyes of anime characters are large and expressive, often square in shape and somewhat pointed, rather than round.
Each artist or series displays a distinct drawing style, which may include interesting styles of hair and dress and differing degrees of realism.
Scroll down for a downloadable PDF of this tutorial.
Modern anime arose during the 1950s, following the success of American animated cartoons, such as those produced by Walt Disney.
Since then, the popularity of anime has spread around the world. Many popular cartoons are dubbed with other languages, such as English, and marketed around the world.
A subculture has grown up around anime and manga – not only do fans watch the television shows, but they often delight in playing video or card games, reading books, dressing up as characters and engaging in live action role play, or learning to draw their favorite characters.
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