How to draw

How to Draw a Realistic Eye

Challenge (level 5 of 5)
40 min
18 steps
Ages 10–14 (a guide, not a rule)

Start Drawing Draw on Screen Print

Draw on paper: Paper, Pencil, Eraser. Optional: A soft pencil (2B or 4B) for the darkest values, Colored pencils: blue, brown or green for the iris.

A lifelike eye is about structure and values, not outlines. The eyelids wrap around a ball, so they curve; the upper lid covers the top of the iris. Then you shade with a value scale: black pupil, dark iris ring, middle iris and lid shadow, light corners, and the white highlight you protect from the start.

Step by step

New lines: purple, thick and glowing
Lines you already drew: gray
Guides: dashed blue, draw them lightly
Erase: dotted pink with an eraser

Step 1 of 18 Draw a light guide line across the middle, rising a little to the right. The inner corner of the eye sits on its left end, the outer corner on its right.
Step 2 of 18 An eye is a ball. Draw a light circle as wide as the space between the corners. The eyelids wrap around this ball, which is why they curve.
Step 3 of 18 Draw the upper eyelid from corner to corner. Its highest point is a little left of the middle. Press firmly: this is the dark lash line.
Step 4 of 18 Draw the lower eyelid as a flatter curve. Its lowest point is a little right of the middle, so the eye is not a plain lemon shape.
Step 5 of 18 At the inner corner, draw the small pink bump of the tear duct, tucked between the two lids.
Step 6 of 18 Eyelids are thick. Draw a second line just under the lower lid for its rim, and the crease: a soft curve above the upper lid that follows its shape.
Step 7 of 18 Draw the iris, a circle that just touches the lower lid. The upper lid hides its top, so draw that part lightly: you will erase it.
Step 8 of 18 Plan the highlight: a small light circle near the top left of the iris, overlapping the pupil's edge. Light comes from that side. Keep it white.
Step 9 of 18 Draw the pupil in the center of the iris and fill it in black, the darkest value. Go around the highlight, leaving it white.
Step 10 of 18 Draw thin lines from the pupil out toward the edge of the iris, like spokes of uneven length. Skip the highlight.
Step 11 of 18 Draw the upper lashes from the lash line. Each curves out and up, away from the eye. Make them short at the inner corner and longer toward the outer corner.
Step 12 of 18 Draw the lower lashes from the lower rim: fewer, shorter and curving down and out. Leave the inner corner bare.
Step 13 of 18 Draw the eyebrow above the crease with short hair strokes. Near the nose they point up; toward the end they sweep out to the side.
Step 14 of 18 Erase the corner guide, the eyeball circle and the hidden top of the iris. Keep the highlight guide until the shading is finished.
Step 15 of 18 Now shade with a value scale, from white to black. Cross-hatch a dark ring around the outer edge of the iris. Only the pupil is darker.
Step 16 of 18 Middle values: hatch the rest of the iris evenly, then a band just under the upper lid. The lid casts a shadow across the white and the iris.
Step 17 of 18 Light values: the white of the eye is a ball, so shade its corners lightly where it turns away. Add soft lines in the crease, under the lower lid and on the tear duct.
Step 18 of 18 Erase the highlight guide. The untouched spot of white paper now shines: it is the lightest value on your scale, and it makes the eye look wet and alive.

A lifelike blue eye with curved eyelids, a dark ring around the iris, a black pupil with a white highlight, upper and lower lashes, and an eyebrow above.

You did it!

Your drawing does not have to look like this one. Every artist draws a little differently.

Color it on screen Print a practice sheet

Tips for this drawing

Helpful hints

Use a soft pencil for the pupil and press hard; use light pressure for the corners and skin.
Flick each lash: start at the lid with pressure and lift the pencil as you finish, so the tip is thin.
Look at your eye in a mirror: notice how the upper lid casts a shadow on the eyeball.

Common mistakes

The eye is outlined all around and shaded flat, so it looks like a sticker. Shade with several values and keep the corners and lid shadow soft. Let values, not outlines, show the ball.
The whole iris shows as a full circle. Tuck the top of the iris under the upper lid.
The lashes stick straight out like a fence. Curve each lash out and up, and vary the lengths, longer toward the outer corner.

Make it simpler

Skip the lashes and eyebrow: draw the two lids, the iris under the upper lid, a black pupil with a white highlight, and one dark ring around the iris.

Structure

The eye is a ball set in the head. The eyelids are skin that wraps around the ball, so their lines curve, and they have thickness at the rim.

Overlap

The upper lid covers the top of the iris, and the lower lid just touches its bottom. A full circle showing makes the eye look startled.

Highlight

A wet eye reflects the light as a small bright spot on the side the light comes from. Plan it early and never shade over it.

Value scale

Values go from white to black. Here: white highlight, light corners and skin, middle iris and lid shadow, dark iris ring, and the black pupil. Using all of them makes the eye look round.

Lashes grow out

Lashes grow from the lash line and curve away from the eye, in little clumps. Upper lashes are longer than lower ones.