How to Draw Anime Eyes Basics
Step 1:
First, let me say that anime eyes are based on the human eye. This means that all styles of anime eyes, manga and anime, are based on the anatomy of the human eye. You can see that the example I have drawn shows the normal human eye as well as a layer of red lines with noticeable circular shapes. It is important to remember that the human eye is a sphere/circle. All details, such as the pupil,iris, and highlights must be spherical. They must also fit within the circle contour. The next step will show you a side view of the eye.
Step 2:
Did you remember when I said the eye is a spherical form? This series of drawings shows you a little more of what I mean. The eye still has a circular shape from the side view. You just can’t see as much because you are looking at it from the side. The socket would hold the eyeball, so it would look exactly like the circles I have drawn. Because the eyeball is inside a socket, the lids hide this circular shape. That’s why skulls are made – the eyes have a circle shape so that it can hold all of the contents. Pretty cool, huh? These are important points to remember. You will need them to help you create your own anatomy.
Step 3:
Drawinghub has gotten a lot of similar questions. It’s often “How do I draw my anime style?” To experiment with your own style, it is necessary to master anatomy. Anatomy is the foundation for an artist’s skill sets. Once you have a solid understanding of the anatomy of the eyes, you can experiment with how the eye features are drawn. These are the most popular forms of anime eyes that I have sketched. The more innocent and harmless a character appears, the larger and rounder their eyes will be. Your character will appear more sophisticated and complex if you draw them slightly narrower and closer together. These eyes, which are larger and more rectangular than the one in the bottom left corner, convey mystery or a mixture of both. All depends on your personality. After you have decided what type of character you want to create, you can play with the shape of your eyes. Keep in mind that the more complex the character, the narrower and more squinty it will be!
Step 4:
These are just a few of the eyes I have drawn above. They were drawn from the side view to give you an idea of what they should look like from the side view. As I stated in the realistic side view eye, an eyeball is a circle. The eyelids reduce that circle shape in half to create an almond shape. This view will not show much of the pupil or iris, so don’t make too much of it visible when drawing eyes from the side.
Step 5:
These are just three simple examples of innocent/childish anime eyes. These should be drawn as if they are ‘alive’ and full-of-life. Round shapes are considered soft and harmless to the eye. The more you highlight the insides of your pupils/iris, the more innocent the character will appear. Remember that the ‘highlight’ portion of an eye is essentially the appearance of the membrane that layers the membrane.
Step 6:
Another tricky one! The male characters are generally more complex than the female characters, except when you are drawing a young boy with rounder, more open-looking eyes. Male eyes should have a more narrow or slanted appearance, with thicker eyebrows.
Step 7:
Thickening your lash lines can give your male character more feminity. This will give your character a feminine appearance/gesture. Keep your eyebrows thick to make it easier for people to recognize that you are a man and not a woman.
Step 8:
Begin by drawing the arched top lid. When you are done, the lining should not be a thin single line but rather bold. This line will be used to draw the lash. Once you have completed this step, draw an oval shape to represent your actual eye shape. This should be simple since it is a basic shape. Next, add 2 lashes to the lid and the crease at the top. Once the eye is drawn in, you can color the pupil and the solid shading around the sides. After that, add light shading to the upper eyeline and inside of your eye.
Step 9:
You will use a different technique to create this eye style. The upper lid should be drawn and the loose lines that will become the lashes of the eye should be sketched. Once you have done that, draw the actual shape of your eyeball. It should be oblong at the top and square at the bottom. As you can see, the lash is also located at the bottom of the lid. The lid crease can be added at the top. Next, draw your eyebrow. The pupil can be drawn and colored. To finish the job, you will add darker shading to the inside of your eye and lighter shading to the outside.