How to Draw Really Good Eyes: Really Really Fast
OK, you don’t want to read pages and pages of instructions so I want to share some of my own really fast steps that make creating realistic eyes a breeze.
Just follow the 6 steps in the image below from left to right, top to bottom and you should be good to start trying some more advanced eye drawing ideas that I prepared earlier.
To draw the above eyes really good, you’ll need a good pencil, some patience, and a willingness to erase and try again because no artist nails it on the first try.
Stick with it. Remember, practice makes perfect, or at least pretty really good!
Things to Remember When Drawing Eyes
Take Note of Shading and Highlighting
Shading makes your eye drawing pop and it makes it look realistic. The eyeball has a round shape, so the light hits it differently at various spots.
I usually find a light source in my mind and imagine how it lights up the eye. The part closest to the light will be brighter.
The opposite side gets darker, called a shadow. Highlights are super important too. These are little specks of bright light, and they’ll make your eyes look shiny and alive.
They usually sit on the iris and sometimes on the tear duct.
Remember, the eye’s iris is not a perfect circle in the centre of the eye. It has an eye lid slightly cover the top.
Proportions and Alignment
Getting proportions right means making sure everything is the right size and in the right place.
The space between the eyes is about the size of another eye.
The corners of the eyes, the tear duct and the outer corner, should line up with the nose and the side of the head.
Make sure the eyebrows follow the eye’s shape.
Joseph Colella (Joe Colella) is an Editor and Writer at WastedTalentInc. As a frustrated artist with over 40 years experience making art (who moonlights as a certified Business Analyst with over 20 years of experience in tech).
While Joseph holds a Diploma in Information Technology, in true wasted talent fashion he spent years applying for various Art degrees; from the Accademia di Belle Arti (Napoli), to failing to get into the Bachelor of Arts (Fine Arts) at the University of Western Sydney.
While he jokes about his failures at gaining formal art qualifications, as a self-taught artist he has had a fruitful career in business, technology and the arts making Art his full time source of income from the age of 18 until 25.
His goal is to attend the Julian Ashton School of Art at The Rocks Sydney when he retires from full time work. Joseph’s art has been sold to private collectors all over the world from the USA, Europe and Australasia.
He is a trusted source for reliable art advice and tutorials to copyright/fair use advice and is committed to helping his readers make informed decisions about making them a better artist.