If you are close to the Japanese art of drawing manga and anime, you probably came up with the idea of trying to draw yourself. However, this task is not an easy one, since manga and anime have their own characteristics that must be considered when drawing. You will learn about how to draw anime eyes beautifully and expressively from this article.
We prepare materials and draw contours
So, before you start the practice of drawing anime, you should go to the nearest stationery store for the following necessary items. Firstly, you need a good set of simple pencils that are very soft. Buy also a high-quality eraser, it will be useful to you at the initial stage. Also stock up on high quality thick album sheets.
Pupil and lens flare
First, outline the outline of the eye. Make a light, neat sketch. Draw the lower and upper eyelids, as well as the iris. Consider a very important detail: anime and manga characters have mostly very large expressive eyes, so don't be afraid to make them round, this will be only a plus.
Next, you need to accurately and as naturally as possible depict the fold of the upper eyelid, then draw on the pupil, hatch it a bit and be sure to add a highlight. High-quality anime eyes with a pencil must have a sparkling effect, so they look much more expressive and realistic. Flare needs to be drawn depending on where, according to the author’s idea, the light source is located. A small circle above the pupil is enough for the desired effect.
Cilia and Shadows
The cilia must be present in the picture, especially if you draw the anime eyes of a girl. Too many eyelashes do not need to be drawn, it will look bulky and unnatural. Just add some clear strokes to the upper eyelid. Only 3-4 cilia for anime and manga are quite enough, because this is still not realism.
Now, on the eye protein, you need to apply a slight shadow from the upper eyelid. Gently shade the top of the iris as shown. Do not be afraid of color, but do not make the shadow too dark, otherwise half of the eye simply will not be visible.
Add some color
First of all, it should be clarified that this lesson is suitable for both pencil drawing and digital art using a graphics tablet or mouse. So, if you are drawing on a computer, create a new layer under the outline and paint it with beige color, the most natural skin color. If you draw with a pencil, then just paint over the area around the eye. The whites of the eye should be left white, but the iris will need to be painted.
You probably saw anime girls with green eyes: it looks just amazing, if you choose the right color and make highlights. Choose the color most beautiful in your opinion from the palette of pencils and color the iris, leaving a speck of glare white. This way you get the sparkling look of a real doll.
We work with realism.
The resulting drawing looks a little flat, so if you really want to learn how to draw anime eyes realistically, read the rules of chiaroscuro. So, darken the iris and the squirrel, and the squirrel can be painted over with a dark color so that the character’s look seems more expressive. The skin over the upper eyelid should also be darkened to add a picture of realism.
To make the look really deep, do not be afraid of black and paint over the upper part of the eye in such a way as to give the picture volume and highlight. However, the drawing is still different from the high quality of the anime. To get closer to the ideal, you need to work not only with the eye itself, but also with the skin around it.
Give the picture volume
The secret of how to draw anime eyes in the highest quality is to work with color correctly. At this stage, it is necessary to carefully draw the folds around the eye, it is advantageous to highlight the upper eyelid and slightly lighten the area of the inner corner. Then apply a few bright spots on the iris, this will give the eye an additional glow. Brush strokes can be done carelessly, especially if you're working with a graphics tablet. In order not to accidentally spoil the picture, create a new layer for each effect, so it will be easier to correct errors if they appear.
After working with light and shadow, start working with color. Choose some shades that are most compatible with the color of the eyes and in a small amount very carefully apply on a small area of the eye, you will see how your picture immediately changes. Then color the cilia with brown so that they stand out even more against the background of the skin.
Finally, add a touch of liveliness to the skin, apply a little pink on the lower eyelid, so that the skin appears vibrant and warm. Many budding artists make a huge mistake using just one color palette to paint their skin. You will be surprised, but in a small amount of realism can give blue, and green, and pink. Do not be afraid to experiment and be sure to pick out a few examples of high quality that you can learn from and develop your own palette.
So our eye is ready! Trying to learn how to draw anime eyes correctly, first we drew a contour, then we selected the color of the eyes. After that, we worked with light and shadow, gave the picture volume and radiance by adding new colors. If you draw using a tablet, you don’t need to draw a second eye, you can simply copy the resulting drawing and flip it horizontally, then the eyes will turn out to be perfectly even and identical.