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What You'll Be Creating

In this tutorial I will show you how to draw eyes without a reference. Eyes are a beautiful subject to draw—a lot of different materials are combined in them, and they look like precious gems hidden in our own body. They're also quite challenging to draw, but it doesn't mean you can't do it!  

What You Will Need

  • Sheet of paper
  • HB pencil
  • 2B pencil
  • 4B pencil
  • 5B pencil
  • 7B or 8B pencil
  • Blending stump
  • Eraser (preferably kneaded)
  • Pencil sharpener
drawing tools drawing tools drawing tools

1. How to Start Drawing an Eye

Step 1

Take the HB pencil and sketch a rough oval very lightly. The line should be barely visible.

eye outlineeye outlineeye outline

Step 2

Cross the oval with two curves that will make the eyelids.

upper eyelid outlineupper eyelid outlineupper eyelid outline
lower eyelid outlinelower eyelid outlinelower eyelid outline

Step 3

The eyelids have a certain thickness, so add rims to them.

eyelids rimseyelids rimseyelids rims

Step 4

Draw the round iris, the pupil in the middle, a shape of the reflection, and the corners of the eye.

sketch of eyesketch of eyesketch of eye

Step 5

The eyebrow is a frame for the eye, so don't forget about it! Draw it with straight lines to achieve a natural shape.

sketch of eyebrowsketch of eyebrowsketch of eyebrow

Step 6

Before we shade the eye, we must understand the 3D form of it. You can work it out by drawing directing lines. I've described this technique in my tutorial


2. How to Draw a Realistic Iris

Step 1

Take your softest pencil (7B or 8B will work the best) and fill the pupil with it avoiding the area of reflection. The darkness of the pupil will define the contrast for the rest of the drawing.

how to draw a pupilhow to draw a pupilhow to draw a pupil

Step 2

Take the 2B pencil and draw fibers coming from the center of the iris. Go around the reflection. Keep the pencil slightly tilted to make the lines soft.

how to draw fibers in eyehow to draw fibers in eyehow to draw fibers in eye

Step 3

Darken the edge of the iris and draw a "ring" around the pupil.

eye close up eye close up eye close up

Step 4

Take the 2B pencil and darken the edge even more. Shade it, drawing more fibers, some darker than others.

eye outlineeye outlineeye outline

Step 5

Use the same pencil to shade all the iris. Draw a semi-shadow around the ring, and little shadows between the fibers.

eye irsi shadedeye irsi shadedeye irsi shaded

Step 6

Take the 4B pencil and make sure it's properly sharpened. Use it to accentuate the shadows you've drawn before.

realistic iris drawingrealistic iris drawingrealistic iris drawing

Step 7

Take the blending stump and subtly blend the outline of the iris. It's a part of the eyeball, so it shouldn't have a completely sharp edge.

eye blendedeye blendedeye blended

Step 8

Use the 4B pencil to draw a shadow of the upper eyelid over the iris. Keep in mind that eye isn't flat, and therefore the shadows must be curved.

shadow on the eyeshadow on the eyeshadow on the eye

Step 9

Use the same pencil to draw the shadow of the eyelashes. It will be the most visible over the reflection area.

how to draw eye reflectionhow to draw eye reflectionhow to draw eye reflection

Step 10

Take the 5B pencil and adjust the contrast of the eye. Darken the shadows to make the light parts pop.

how to shade eyehow to shade eyehow to shade eye

3. How to Shade an Eye

Step 1

Take the HB pencil and draw a subtle shade around the white of the eye. While shading, keep in mind that the eyeball is roughly a sphere, so don't make the shadows flat.

how to shade white of the eyehow to shade white of the eyehow to shade white of the eye

Step 2

Use the blending stump to soften the shadows. Feel free to blend them even farther into the center.

eye blendedeye blendedeye blended

Step 3

Take the eraser and clean the illuminated area with it. The eye isn't completely smooth, so it will look even better if you break the soft shadows with sharp edges of the eraser strokes.

shading with erasershading with erasershading with eraser

Step 4

Take the HB pencil and draw the details of the lacrimal caruncle. This area is wet and shiny, so draw the outline of little highlights.

draw corner of the eyedraw corner of the eyedraw corner of the eye

Step 5

Shade the area subtly.

shade corner of the eyeshade corner of the eyeshade corner of the eye

Step 6

Take the 2B pencil and shade the area stronger. Use the same pencil to draw a subtle shadow under the lower eyelid. This will separate the eye from the eyelids.

shade sclerashade sclerashade sclera

Step 7

Take the HB pencil and shade the rims of the eyelids. Keep in mind the location of the light source!

shade the eyelids rimsshade the eyelids rimsshade the eyelids rims

Step 8

Blend the shaded area with the blending stump.

blend the shadingblend the shadingblend the shading

Step 9

Use the same technique to shade the rest of the skin around the eye. Draw with a tilted pencil to capture a big area at once and to avoid sharp lines.

shade the eyelidsshade the eyelidsshade the eyelids
shade the skin aroudn the eyeshade the skin aroudn the eyeshade the skin aroudn the eye

Step 10

Take the 2B pencil and add more shadows where needed.

shade the for of the eyeshade the for of the eyeshade the for of the eye

Step 11

Take the 4B pencil and add even darker shadows.

shade the skinshade the skinshade the skin

Step 12

Finally, take the 5B pencil and strongly darken the crease of the upper eyelid.

shade the crease of the eyelidsshade the crease of the eyelidsshade the crease of the eyelids

4. How to Draw Eyebrows and Eyelashes

Step 1

Take the HB pencil and draw the direction of the hairs in the eyebrow.

how to draw natural eyebrowshow to draw natural eyebrowshow to draw natural eyebrows

Step 2

Take the 2B pencil and draw the hairs one by one. Don't draw them sharply—their width will depend on the scale of your picture. Tilt your pencil if necessary to achieve thick strokes.

how to draw hairs in eyebrowshow to draw hairs in eyebrowshow to draw hairs in eyebrows

Step 3

Take the 4B pencil and thicken the front lower part of the eyebrow.

how to draw realistic eyebrowshow to draw realistic eyebrowshow to draw realistic eyebrows

Step 4

Take the 2B pencil and sketch the direction and shape of the eyelashes. Before you start, however, look in the mirror and try to understand what you see. The eyelashes are curvy, and their shape will be affected by perspective. They go slightly down, right from the rim of the upper eyelid, and then they curve up.

how to draw realistic eyelasheshow to draw realistic eyelasheshow to draw realistic eyelashes

Step 5

Create the lower eyelashes the same way.

how to draw lower eyelasheshow to draw lower eyelasheshow to draw lower eyelashes

Step 6

Eyelashes tend to stick to each other, creating sharp clumps.

how to draw natural eyelasheshow to draw natural eyelasheshow to draw natural eyelashes

Step 7

Take the 4B pencil and thicken the eyelashes, adding more hairs in between. The eyelashes don't grow in one thin row! Also, adjust the width of the eyelashes to the scale of your picture.

eye with eyelasheseye with eyelasheseye with eyelashes

Step 8

Take the softest pencil, make sure it's sharp, and accentuate certain parts of the eyelashes.

how to draw beautiful eyelasheshow to draw beautiful eyelasheshow to draw beautiful eyelashes

Step 9

The picture is almost finished. Look at it at a distance and try to see how the shading can be improved. Use all the pencils for this task.

how to draw eyehow to draw eyehow to draw eye

Step 10

Finally, draw tiny details to make it more realistic: thin veins in the eye and little wrinkles here and there. You can make the skin more uneven just by crossing it with rows of sharp lines.

If you decide to digitize your drawing to publish it on the Internet, don't forget to prepare it first:

how to draw realistic skin around the eyehow to draw realistic skin around the eyehow to draw realistic skin around the eye

But What About the Other Eye?

I'll tell you a secret: there should be no "other eye". When drawing a portrait, draw them both at the same time, step by step. This way you'll simply draw both eyes without copying one from the other. And the good news is they don't need to be identical at all—our faces aren't perfectly symmetrical!

how to draw realistic eye with pencilshow to draw realistic eye with pencilshow to draw realistic eye with pencils
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