how to draw professional anime eyes

How do you draw anime eyes from the side?

Place the top lash-line about halfway between the top and bottom of the head. The upper and lower lash lines should form a roughly triangular shape...

How do you draw anime eyes crying?

Peak the eyebrows in the middle to give the eyes a sad look. If you like, you can draw a small crease next to the inner end of each eyebrow for a l...

Why is anime called anime?

Anime is a shortened form of the English word “animation.” The term anime is used in Japan to distinguish animated cartoons from illustrated cartoo...

What does it mean to draw anime eyes?

A basic understanding of the anatomy of the eye. Knowing common elements that make most eyes look like anime eyes. A step-by-step approach to drawing anime eyes while implementing these common elements. A quick note, before going further, I will use the term anime to mean both anime and manga for simplicity.

What is the degree of realism in anime?

Degrees of realism and stylization. In anime and manga, eyes are drawn in various degrees of stylization. Human anatomy in anime is stylized often to the point of being unrealistic, yet still very recognizable as the anime counterpart of the real world person the artwork is describing. This is an important point.

What is the drop shadow on the upper eyelid?

A drop shadow from the upper eyelid covers the iris and the sclera one third or sometimes half of the way down. (Confused about what iris and sclera are? Scroll up to the anatomy section of this article, or click here to be taken there).

What is the upper eyelid crease?

Upper eyelid crease. – The upper eyelid crease is a horizontal indent formed above the upper eyelid that appears in some people. Notably, it is prominently indicated in most anime eye drawings, and stylized into a curved line. It helps situate the anime eye drawing so it is a good idea to take notice of it.

What is the iris in the eye?

– the iris is a ring shaped membrane, with an adjustable circular opening (pupil) in the center. The iris is what people talk about when they talk about eye color. (Some people confuse it with the pupil, so here is a tip to remember it better: eye color = iris color)

What are highlights in anime?

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.

What is the stylizer called in anime?

Fortunately, we all have a stylizer machine called the brain! In anime, there is a spectrum of on one end, very large anime looking eyes, and some on the other end, that are pretty realistic with some stylization flare. I tend to like something in the middle, although a lot depends on the artwork itself.

What is the eye in anime?

What is pretty obvious in anime and manga art is that their eyes are big and wide. However, in mature anime drawings, the eye, as well as the shape of the head, do follow the rules of realistic human anatomy. In this article, I’ve tried to cover as many aspects as possible when it comes to drawing manga eyes.

Is it easy to draw anime eyes?

Drawing anime and manga eyes are not easy when you are just beginning your artist journey, and even if you’ve drawn a while, still few angles might make you sweat. I’ve done some extensive research on this topic and have gathered the very best art tutorials there are available online for FREE. Related article: How To Draw Female Anime Eyes.

Learn how to draw anime eyes in 9 simple steps

In this tutorial, I’ll show you how to draw anime eyes to help you build a solid foundation in manga art style. Drawing expressive and believable eyes for your anime or manga characters is essential in creating an authentic and appealing look.

Step 1

Begin by sketching a slightly curved shape with multiple lines. The shape should be thicker in the middle and thinner at the edges. This will be the upper eyelid line. For a more masculine look, you can leave out the lash lines at the ends and for a more feminine look, include them. Don’t add too many lash lines – keep it loose and natural.

Step 2

Draw in a small outer corner shape hat’s thicker at the top and thins as it tapers to the bottom.

Step 3

Draw in a small “eyelid crease” indicator line. You can also draw the full eyelid line if you like, but this implied indicator line is a good loose approach.

Step 4

Draw in the circular shape for the iris. Different eye expressions show different amounts of this circular shape, but for our base learning, let’s keep the very top section of the shape hidden beneath the eyelid. Let the top lines of the circle be thicker and taper thinner.

Step 6

Now, draw in your character’s pupil and add some light cross-hatching lines to shade in the pupil shape.

Step 7

Draw in an upper eyelid shadow making sure the shape tapers to the inner side. At this point, you’ll also want to shade the iris shape.

How to draw female anime eyes?

Female anime eyes vertical placement. To place the eyes on the head vertically divide the head into two and draw them below the middle halfway point. Please note that real eyes are usually positioned directly on this line but in anime eyes tend to be drawn lower down on the head.

What is the difference between anime eyes?

Female Anime Eye Specifics (Before You Start Drawing) Anime eyes are almost always drawn bigger and wider than real eyes. This is especially so for female characters who often have larger and wider eyes than their male counterparts.

Where do you put your eyelashes in anime?

The first place you want to add the eyelashes to is the outer corners of the eye. Generally eyelashes (real eyelashes) sort of fan out around the eyelids so you can draw anime eyelashes in a similar way. Next add some smaller eyelashes at the inner corner of the eye.

Is it hard to draw anime eyes?

Though anime eyes are not that difficult to draw they do have a lot of variations based on different states, emotions and even personalities. For more on drawing all of these see the following tutorials:

Can you erase reflections in anime?

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.