DOs & DON'Ts: How to Draw Realistic Eyes Easy Step by Step | Art Drawing Tutorial, by makoccino on YouTube. 10 min 4 s.
- Video length
- 10 min 4 s
- Time to do it
- 30 minutes
- Difficulty
- Medium
- Steps
- 8
What you need
Steps
Draw a light almond shape for the eye. Make the upper lid line darker and thicker than the lower lid, and keep the corners soft.
Place a circle for the iris so it touches the top and bottom lids. Add a smaller dark pupil and leave a small white circle for the main highlight.
Sketch the upper eyelid crease, the lower lid thickness and the tear duct. Keep these lines light until the proportions look right.
Draw the eyebrow before heavy shading. Follow the brow bone and use short strokes in the direction the hairs grow.
Shade the iris with thin lines that run from the pupil to the outer edge. Darken the outer rim and keep the area near the highlight lighter.
Shade the eyelids and surrounding skin with a light pencil. Blend gently and avoid a hard outline around the whole eye.
Add upper lashes as short curved strokes from the lid edge. Make them thicker at the root, and add only a few lower lashes.
Clean the highlight with an eraser and darken the pupil, crease and lash line. Check both eyes together and adjust the size if needed.
Tips and common mistakes
Start with very light pencil pressure so you can erase mistakes without smudging the paper.
Draw the iris as a circle, not an oval, unless the eye is looking to the side.
Keep the white highlight clean because it makes the eye look wet and alive.
Avoid outlining the whole eye with one dark line, since real eyelids have soft edges.
Questions
What pencil should I use for a realistic eye?
Use an HB pencil for the light outline and a 2B or 4B for the pupil, lash line and dark shading.
How do I keep the eye from looking flat?
Add a clear highlight, a dark pupil and a soft shadow under the upper lid. Blend the skin shading instead of leaving hard lines.
Do I need special paper?
No. Smooth drawing paper works well, and a blending stump or cotton swab helps soften the pencil shading.
This guide was drafted from the video's details and general task knowledge. It has not been checked against the full video. Check the video and relevant product instructions before following a procedure. Report a correction.
