Realistic Eye

1. 1. 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.

2. 2. 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.

3. 3. 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.

4. 4. 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.

5. 5. At the inner corner, draw the small pink bump of the tear duct, tucked between the two lids.

6. 6. 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.

7. 7. 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.

8. 8. 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.

9. 9. Draw the pupil in the center of the iris and fill it in black, the darkest value. Go around the highlight, leaving it white.

10. 10. Draw thin lines from the pupil out toward the edge of the iris, like spokes of uneven length. Skip the highlight.

11. 11. 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.

12. 12. Draw the lower lashes from the lower rim: fewer, shorter and curving down and out. Leave the inner corner bare.

13. 13. 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.

14. 14. Erase the corner guide, the eyeball circle and the hidden top of the iris. Keep the highlight guide until the shading is finished.

15. 15. 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.

16. 16. 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.

17. 17. 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.

18. 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.

Tip: Use a soft pencil for the pupil and press hard; use light pressure for the corners and skin.