How to Draw the Human Eye
The essential elements for drawing a natural looking human eye are the light source and the placement of the eye on the face. Eyes that are set too wide, are too far up on the head or have no light source will appear one-dimensional on the page. Studying faces and the human eye will help the artist see more clearly how the eye relates to the rest of the parts of the face and how to make the eye look real.
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Instructions
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1
Draw the shape of the face. Choose from the basic face shapes: oval, round, pear, heart-shaped, square or long.
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2
Divide the face in half both horizontally and vertically. Eyes fall right in the middle of the head, not toward the top. Use a lightly drawn vertical line to bisect each half of the face. The face should have only one horizontal line through the middle and three vertical lines.
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3
Sketch the shape of the eye using the lightly drawn vertical line as the eye's center. The eye should not look like a perfect egg shape. The top line should be slightly longer, more curved and larger than the bottom line. Simply put, the top half of the eye is bigger than the bottom portion.
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4
Place the tip of your pencil at the inside tip of the first eye you've drawn and measure across the eye. Use this width to determine where to set the other eye. Human eyes have approximately one eye length between them.
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5
Establish the inner point of the second eye and draw using the same guide as in the previous steps.
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6
Fill in the character of the eye by starting with the iris. The iris should not be a circle in the middle of the eye. The bottom and top edge of the iris should look like it is disappearing under the eye lid.
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7
Decide what size pupil you want by determining the final expression of the face. Pupils exposed to direct light are smaller than pupils of eyes that have just opened. Establish your light source and draw a small circle in that area. Both eyes should have the same light in the same place. Leave the circle empty as you fill in the rest of the pupil.
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Tips & Warnings
As you finish the eyes put in all the details of a human eye. Blood vessels, smile lines, light and shadow all play a role in bringing the eye to life on the page.
Eyelashes shouldn't look like caterpillars walking across the face. Make sure lashes and brows don't overpower the eye.
