Japanese art: how to draw anime eyes?

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

If you like the Japanese art of drawing manga and anime, you probably thought of trying to draw yourself. However, this task is not an easy one, since manga and anime have their own characteristics that must be taken into account when drawing. How to draw anime eyes beautifully and expressively, you will learn from this article.

Preparing materials and drawing contours

So, before you start practicing drawing anime, you should go to the nearest stationery store for the following necessary items. First, you will need a good set of simple pencils that vary in softness. Also buy a quality eraser, it will come in handy at the initial stage. Also stock up on high quality, thick landscape 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 mostly have very large expressive eyes,so don't be afraid to make them round, it will only be a plus.

Next, you need to carefully and as naturally as possible depict the fold of the upper eyelid, then paint on the pupil, stroke it a little 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. The glare 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.

Eyelashes and shadows

Eyelashes must be present in the drawing, especially if you draw anime eyes of a girl. You don’t need to draw too many eyelashes, it will look sticky and unnatural. Just add a few clear strokes to the upper eyelid. Just 3-4 eyelashes for anime and manga is enough, because it's still not realism.

Now on the white of the eye you need to apply a light shadow from the upper eyelid. Carefully shade the top of the iris as shown. Don't be afraid of color, but don't make the shadow too dark or half of the eye won't 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're painting on a computer, create a new layer below the outline and paint over with beige, as natural as possible for the skin. If you draw with a pencil, then just paint over the area aroundeyes. The white of the eye should be left white, but the iris will need to be painted.

You must have seen anime girls with green eyes: it looks amazing if you choose the right color and make highlights. Choose from the palette of pencils the most beautiful color in your opinion and paint the iris, leaving a white speck of glare. This way you get the sparkling look of a real doll.

Working with realism

The resulting drawing looks a bit flat, so if you really want to learn how to draw anime eyes realistically, check out the rules of chiaroscuro. So, darken the iris and the squirrels, and the squirrels can be painted over with a dark color to make the character's look more expressive. The skin above the upper eyelid should also be made darker to add realism to the drawing.

To make the look really deep, don't be afraid of black and paint over the upper part of the eye in such a way as to add volume to the picture and highlight the 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 volume to the picture

The secret of how to draw anime eyes in the best quality is to work with color correctly. At this stage, it is necessary to carefully draw the folds around the eye, highlight the upper eyelid and slightly lighten the area of the inner corner. Then apply some light spots on the iris, thiswill give the eye an extra glow. Strokes can be messy, especially if you're using a graphics tablet. In order not to accidentally spoil the drawing, create a new layer for each effect, so it will be easier to correct errors if any appear.

After working with light and shadow, start working with color. Choose a few shades that are most compatible with your eye color and apply a small amount very carefully to a small area of \u200b\u200bthe eye, you will see how your drawing will immediately change. Then color the lashes brown to make them stand out even more against the skin.

Finally, add a touch of liveliness to the skin, apply a little pink on the lower eyelid to make the skin seem alive and warm. Many aspiring artists make the huge mistake of using just one color palette to paint skin. You will be surprised, but blue, green, and pink colors can give a small amount of realism. Don't be afraid to experiment and be sure to pick up some high quality examples to learn from and develop your own palette.

So, our eye is ready! Trying to learn how to draw anime eyes correctly, we first drew the outline, then picked up 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 with a tablet, it is not necessary to draw the second eye, you can simply copy the resulting drawing and reflect horizontally, then the eyeswill turn out perfectly even and identical.