Drawing an eye with a pencil. How to draw beautiful eyes

When drawing a portrait with a pencil, it is important not only to know the proportions of the face and correctly construct certain elements, but also to take into account some physiological features of the structure of the eyes, nose, mouth and other parts.

In this article you will learn several tips, knowledge of which will help in further mastering the art of portraiture.

Stage one.

1. In this part of the eye, the upper eyelid begins to round, and the lower one rounds, bending around the eyeball. This becomes most noticeable in the space between the middle of the eye and its outer corner.
2. In this place, the lower eyelid also follows the shape of the eyeball.
3. Sad or crying eyes are characterized by excess fluid. As a result, at the very bottom of the eye, near the edge of the lower eyelid, a small white spot is formed - a highlight.
4. When bright light hits the eye, the pupil reflexively narrows. Therefore, in bright light, the eyelids reflexively close, creating a shadow.

In the dark, we can observe the opposite effect - pupil dilation.

A similar change in the size of the pupil can be seen when the object of observation moves away or approaches. The closer the object at which the gaze is directed, the pupil is smaller; as the object moves away, it expands.

Stage two.

1. Starting from the inside, the eyebrows grow in the direction from the nose. At the top of the arch of the eyebrow, the upper part of the hairs begins to grow downwards, intersecting with the lower ones, growing upwards.
2. Where the eyelid, bending around the eyeball, becomes convex, a depression is formed - a fold that should be shaded.
3. As the upper eyelid droops, the shadow on the iris changes. The lower the eyelid, the darker the shadow.
4. The cornea of ​​the eye is convex and shaped like a mound.

It is better to shade the base of this mound at the border where it joins the eye a little, this will give the eye more volume. Since the surface of the cornea is always wet, a glare forms at the top of the mound. When there are several light sources, there can be not one highlight, but two, three or more.

1. The upper eyelashes are curled upward and the lower ones downward. Therefore, they do not catch each other when the eye is closed. At the very base, the upper eyelashes are directed downwards, then they are rounded, forming a comb at the bend. Similarly, the lower lashes are directed upward at the base of the growth, only in this case the bend is much less.
2. Eyelashes usually grow two or three together. Therefore, they often touch, forming a bundle.

Stage three.

1. By depicting the pupil you can give it more liveliness. To make your eye shine as much as possible, try not to draw shadows from the eyelid and eyelashes on the iris and pupil.
2. The highlight at the top of the pupil will enliven the look as much as possible. The highlight here is drawn as a contour highlight, that is, with clear contrasting boundaries.
3. In this place we create a wet highlight with blurred edges and a smooth transition.
4. Sometimes the glare has the shape of a strip and passes through the iris and pupil.
5. From the very edge at the outer corner, eyelashes do not grow. Therefore, they are not drawn around the entire eye.
6. Long eyelashes cast a shadow on the skin near the eyes. We depict it with light light strokes.
7. When a person smiles, the muscles in the face contract. When you smile, the lower eyelid lifts, covering part of the iris.
8. The colored part of the eye is the colorful rays directed from the edge of the iris to the pupil. The iris of the eye, its color, pattern and location, like fingerprints, is individual and is not repeated even among twins. All possible shades and colors are determined by the presence of melanin pigment and the ability to reflect light. Eye color becomes blue when there is little of this pigment, brown when there is a lot of pigment. In the absence of a dye, the iris turns red (albino eyes).

Stage four.

1. The eyelid is a leather pouch that stretches when the eyes are closed and closes when the eye is open. Therefore, folds and wrinkles often form on the eyelids. With age they become more noticeable.
2. The skin around the eyelids is usually lighter than the eyelids themselves.
3. When the eye is open, almost the entire eyelid gathers in this place, forming a deep fold. This place is usually made darker in tone.
4. The edge of the lower eyelid is actually thinner than the edge of the upper. But because it is moisturized and shiny, reflecting light, it appears thicker.

If the gaze is directed downwards, the shape of the iris resembles an ellipse.

And when entering special institutions related to the profession of a painter, these skills are required.

And of course, the eyes are considered the most important element of a portrait, because the overall atmosphere of the picture depends on how you depict them.

Through a glance you can guess a person’s mood, his character. It reflects what we think and care about, what intentions we have. That is why, if you want to start working with images of people, you need to pay great attention to the eyes.

Despite the fact that the images of any subject and object are better, the larger you are, knowledge of the device and anatomy will help simplify the task.

In this article we will look at how to learn how to draw eyes step by step quickly and beautifully.

Structure: how to draw eyes correctly?

So, as mentioned earlier, in order to draw beautifully step by step, it is necessary to follow all anatomical subtleties, maintain proportions.

The eye is a small sphere placed in the eye socket and covered by eyelids, which, in turn, are framed by eyelashes. The space between the eyelids is called the palpebral fissure. You should also pay attention to the third fold above the eye, located on the upper eyelid.

The part that is visible to us if the eyelids are raised is the tunica albuginea, which merges into the slightly convex and transparent cornea. But under the stratum corneum there is the iris. Iris has an interesting structure: it consists of muscles, and this is where all the pigment contained in the eye is located.

As everyone knows, the hole located in the middle of the iris is called pupil. Since muscle fibers tend to constrict, the pupil can change its size depending on how much light hits it. Therefore, be extremely careful, because if you depict a character’s face flooded with light or, on the contrary, he is in pitch darkness, the size of the pupil will vary.

The depression in the corner is called the lake of tears, which is designed to keep your eye moist when you blink. Its inner part is always rounded, and its outer part has a sharper end. You should also pay attention to how the eyelid is placed and how it fits around the eyeball. The extent to which it hangs over the eye can add a significant number of years to a person.

How to draw a person's eyes?

Drawing an eye with a pencil is not so difficult. To start drawing, The following tools are needed:

Now let's get to work. How to draw eyes correctly? Remember that no one in life will ever be able to do this job efficiently and correctly the first time, so be patient and don’t give up! The more training and practice you have, the faster and better you will get every time.

• Very easy and make a sketch without unnecessary pressure eyeball, which is a regular circle.
• Then we outline it for centuries, covering about one third of the eyeball with the upper eyelid and the same amount with the lower eyelid. The upper eyelid, or rather its area, should be slightly concave.
• Notice that the outer corner of the eyelid is slightly raised in relation to the inner one (the one closer to the nose).
• Add to the drawing lacrimal sac.
• Now let's move on to creating the iris and pupil. Do not place the iris exactly in the middle of the eye, because this will make the gaze appear aggressive. And also do not lower it too low to the middle eyelid. This part of the eye should be slightly covered by the upper eyelid.
• Adding highlights. This should be done for a reason, but based on which side the light falls from. Don't make the highlights too big, as this can reduce the expressiveness of the eye.
• Let's move on to shaping. We start shading from the most pigmented, and, therefore, quite dark area of ​​the eye - the iris. It is important to know that the top part is the darkest, the sides are a little lighter, and the bottom part is the lightest.
• When shading, it is important to draw the “rays” that come from the pupil. There is no need to highlight them with a pencil too much: there should be a lot of them, but they should not be very noticeable.
• The highlights can be left unshaded if you have already drawn them, or you can create them using the tip of the eraser after finishing shading the entire iris.
• To give more liveliness to the eyes, again, using an eraser, draw a few light rays.
• It is important not to repeat the mistake that many make by leaving the whites completely white. This does not happen in nature, and therefore the drawing will turn out unrealistic. That's why add a little gray shadow on the corners, as well as near the border with the upper and lower eyelids.
• Let's start giving shape to the eyelids. The crease of the upper eyelid is the darkest place. After drawing it, lightly shade it to the lighter areas.
• Let's move on to the eyelashes. They can be very different: short, long, fluffy and not so much. This is all at your discretion. However, do not forget that each eyelash differs from the other in size and in nature they are never absolutely identical. The eyelash row begins from the very corner of the upper eyelid and ends closer to its border with the lower one.

How to draw eyes the same?

So, we figured out how to draw one eye. But many artists who have done an excellent job of drawing all the small details have a problem with depicting the second one just as well. It should not be askew, it should not be larger or smaller, the corners, the irises - everything should be the same. The task is undoubtedly difficult, but quite doable. We recommend drawing two eyes at the same time.

Eyes are the mirror of the soul of any character. Therefore, by correctly depicting the eyes, you can not only convey the mood, but also the character of the hero. Using just the eyes you can make both a negative and a positive character.

We recently studied with you, and we made this lesson in addition to the lesson "". The naturalness of the image depends on how you depict the eyes in a portrait. Therefore, if you are a beginner artist, we advise you to first figure out how to draw eyes with a pencil, and then start drawing the entire portrait.

It is very important to be able to draw a classic female eye without unnecessary emotions. Once you learn how to display such a drawing, you will be able to draw more serious expressions. The superhero's eye is always on alert! It's wide open and has a lot of glare. This is the eye of the interested character. Shadows and highlights will add volume and realism to any eye. Their correct location can save even a not entirely successful drawing.
The eye, drawn by the artist’s hand, makes a colossal impression. And all because of the correct anatomy. All internal tissues and muscles of the eye are drawn correctly. It is very important to be able to draw not only eyes looking straight ahead, but also at a certain angle. For example, when looking up, the pupil reaches its maximum position, and the iris rolls behind the upper eyelid.
Wide open eyes are characteristic of a child or a young naive girl. With the help of such eyes, create the right image.
A frown is characteristic of capricious and daring heroines, or those who are overly self-confident. Therefore, try not to overdo it if you want to add just a little menacingness.
A difficult viewing angle is always a challenge, because the crystal of the eye requires volume, which is quite difficult to depict.
The eye in profile has a rather interesting appearance. As you can see, you first need to draw the eyeball itself, and only then surround it with eyelids. Don't try to press your eyelids too tightly.
The view from below is quite exciting. Here it is important not to overdo it with long eyelashes and curved lines. Don't forget to distort the crystal a little.

And painting, to depict eyes, then, most likely, he will draw two ovals with a circle in the center. This is precisely the simplest sketch of the eyes. But in order to understand how to draw eyes with a pencil correctly, you need to carefully consider each individual part.

What you need to know about eyes?

It is necessary to carefully consider the subject of your interest before asking yourself the question of how to draw eyes with a pencil. For beginners, the structure of the organ of vision and the ratio of light and shadow on the iris will seem unusually complex, but you have to start somewhere.

The darkest part of the eyes is the pupil, which is a black circle in the center of the eye. The iris is located around the pupil; it determines the color of the eyes. If you look closely at the iris, it will seem very complex - a lot of shadows and highlights, some lines, spots and an incredible variety of shades. It is very difficult to convey this complexity in a pencil drawing; without the correct balance of dark and light, the eyes will look flat and lifeless.

It is important to remember about the shape of the eyeball - it is a ball, and that is why the shadow and highlights on it are unevenly located. To prevent the eye from losing realistic volume, you need to learn how to apply strokes correctly. Below is an instruction explaining how to draw eyes with a pencil step by step. To do this you will need paper, pencils of different hardness and thickness, an eraser and a pressed cardboard blender.

Step 1 - sketch

Drawing an eye with a pencil for beginners starts with drawing an outline. We need to depict a minimum of details, but in such a way that the shape of the eye, pupil, iris and main highlights are visible. It is important to avoid deep fat contours, as they are difficult to get rid of later.

Paint over the pupil with a soft pencil, 6-8B. It is better to apply several layers than to press hard on the pencil. We try not to touch the glare, because they should remain almost white.

Then, with a less soft pencil, for example, 2-4B, we easily paint over the outer part of the iris. We smooth out the strokes with a cardboard blender so that we get a smooth, light layer of graphite.

Step 2 - adding details

Are you thinking about how to draw eyes with a pencil in the most realistic way? A simple and very short key to success is the word “details”. They are very important in any pencil drawing, because with their help not only texture is conveyed, but also color, depth and shape of objects.

On the shaded part of the iris we draw lines using a thin hard stylus. A mechanical pencil is perfect for this purpose. The more random the lines, the more natural the result. We will use them as a guide when applying shadows and highlights.

Using the same hard pencil, we easily paint over the middle part of the iris, right around the pupil. Don't forget to carefully avoid round highlights. Using a blender, we smooth out the final strokes, simultaneously mixing them with the border of the pupil. This will add depth and realism to the pupil.

Add a little shadow to the middle part of the iris of our eye. We try to make these shadows random and uneven.

Step 3 - smooth out the details

Using a blender, draw straight lines from the pupil to the border of the iris, while avoiding glare. As soon as the lines are evenly spaced, you can roughly see the future application of shadows and highlights.

We draw an outline around the iris with a 4B pencil, trying not to put pressure on the lead, this makes it harder to erase it if necessary.

Using a nag, we determine the first reflections of light around the pupil. To apply them correctly, you need to determine which side the light is coming from, that is, which part of the iris will be darker and which part will be lighter. Accordingly, there should be more reflections on the light part.

Step 4 - finishing the iris

When thinking about how to draw eyes with a pencil, we subconsciously divide the whole process into stages and try to predict the most difficult of them. So, working on the iris is the most difficult part. It is almost impossible to provide a sufficient number of highlights, their intensity and contrast with the shadows.

Using a blender, smooth out the highlights and shadows so that they smoothly transition into each other. If the result seems too light, add a little more shadow. Now we smooth out the boundaries of the pupil so that they blend a little with the middle part of the iris. The border between the middle and outer parts of the iris of our eye should be slightly darkened.

Using a soft pencil, make the outer border of the iris a little darker, from the contour inward. We try to do this unevenly, creating an uneven, trembling circle. The outer side of the circle should not be much darker than the inner one, and it is best to smooth out the borders.

Using a nag, we add unevenly spaced reflections of light along the perimeter of the border between the inner and outer parts of the iris. You can add more subtle highlights coming from the pupil itself. The main thing is not to overdo it.

Step 5 - whites of the eyes and eyelid

I'm done with the iris. However, this is not the whole answer to the question of how to draw eyes with a pencil. Of course, you can also play with shadows and highlights to improve the texture and depth of the iris. However, now we are taking on adding volume to the visible part of the eyeball. To do this, apply a layer of graphite with light strokes to the top of the proteins. Using a blender, smooth out the strokes. For the eyeball, it is very important to convey the shape of the circle; for this we add strokes to the corners of the eyes. The part of the proteins that is illuminated by light rays should be significantly lighter than the opposite part. It is necessary to leave an unpainted corner on the inner edge of the eye; it will help convey the texture and volume of the inner eyelid.

Now we unevenly darken the contour of the lower eyelid and deepen the shadow of the upper part of the eye. We draw the upper eyelid, into which part of the iris goes, quite dark and clear. We also highlight the fold of the upper eyelid with relatively dark strokes.

On the round highlights in the very center of the iris we add the reflection of future eyelashes, draw them with a soft pencil, unevenly and towards the center of the pupil. After this, with a very hard pencil, for example, 4H, we apply a light fixing layer over the entire iris. Using the same pencil, draw uneven capillaries from the corners of the eye to the center. We draw them very subtly, but clearly, giving them the shape of cracks or lightning strikes. Add shadows to the upper and lower eyelids.

Step 6 - eyelashes

Lastly, add the eyelashes. When thinking about how to draw eyes with a pencil, many consider drawing eyelashes the most difficult stage of the process, because they are so small and uneven. In fact, the process only takes a few minutes. The eyelashes should be on top of all layers, so they are drawn last. The shape, length and thickness of the eyelashes are uneven, this is what adds realism to the eyes. The main thing is to show the bend correctly.

Lastly, add thin lower eyelashes. They should not only be thinner, but also lighter, so it is best to use a 2H pencil. Just like the upper ones, the lower eyelashes are not straight, so it is important to correctly convey their curve.

Here is the answer to the question of how to draw eyes with a pencil step by step. At first glance, it seems complicated and time-consuming, but the more often we draw, the easier the process is, and the better the final result. Don't worry if it doesn't turn out as well as you expected the first time. The first pancake is always lumpy. The main thing is not to despair and continue to draw.

In this lesson I will tell you how to draw an eye step by step. First, let's understand what the eye consists of; knowing all its components, you can easily achieve a realistic image of it.

Structure of the eye

We have analyzed the structure of the eye, let's move on to the drawing of the eye

Drawing an eye

Let's start with the pupil, you can use a circle or draw it freehand. We draw a larger circle - this will be our iris, and in it a smaller circle - the pupil.

Next stage. Draw the upper and lower eyelids. In order to do this correctly, let’s imagine that the shape of the eyelids resembles a fish. If we stretch our imagination a little, we should get something similar.

Draw a few highlights on our pupil - this will give the eye realism. Don't forget about the 3rd eyelid, about the thickness of the upper and lower eyelids. Once you are completely satisfied with the shape of our eye, we can forget about fish and fins.

An equally important detail in drawing an eye is the eyelashes. You need to understand for yourself exactly what shape your eyelashes are, in which direction they grow, and how not to draw them. Eyelashes are usually shaped like a reverse comma. They are thicker at the base and taper at the end. Eyelashes are never straight and of the same thickness, otherwise you will end up with rays of sunshine like children draw. Pay attention to how not to draw eyelashes and how to depict them correctly.

Practice separately until you get it right. Now let's move on to the direction of eyelash growth. On the eyelid, eyelashes usually grow in different directions depending on their location. In the figure below I will show with arrows where and in which direction they grow. Do not forget that closer to the corner of the eye (3rd eyelid) the eyelashes decrease in size. Under no circumstances make them the same size, otherwise it won’t look believable.

In order to make our eyelashes look thicker, we stroke a little at half strength at the base of the eyelashes. This will give your eyelashes volume and thickness.

Let's move on to the tone, volume and realism part of our eye. In this lesson, our eye will be black and white in order to emphasize the basics and structures. Let's divide our eye into tones. The lightest part will be the highlight on the pupil. We will not touch it, but later we will completely erase its contours. Please note that the darkest thing in our eye is the pupil, then the eyelashes follow the tone, then the 3rd eyelid, the iris, and the lightest will be the white of the eye (don’t leave it white, it also has a tone).

To correctly apply the tone, I will mark with red lines where it should be applied so that you do not make a mistake. Remember that the highlight should remain pure white. The arrows indicate the direction in which your tone should weaken and merge with what you applied earlier.

You should get a similar image of the eye

Finally, add some contrast to your eye. If necessary, increase the tone where you applied it. If you wish, you can draw in volume the upper eyelid that covers the eye. This will give our eye even more volume and realism. Pay attention to the structure of the iris. Draw it, it will only be a plus for your eye.