How To Draw Real Eyes:
Drawing real eyes takes practice and a lot of patience, but it doesn’t have to be intimidating. Using the right tools and tips can help you master the art of drawing beautiful, realistic eyes. With the following steps, you’ll soon be able to portray emotion and give personality to your artwork.
Gather the Basics:
Before you begin, you need to have the right tools. You’ll need markers, pencils, erasers, rulers, and blending stumps. Blending stumps come in various sizes and work by blending and smudging your pencil drawings. This step will build the foundation of your drawing and create the perfect base.
Get Familiar With the Anatomy:
Once you have your drawing supplies, it’s time to understand the anatomy. It’s important to recognize the shape and individual parts of the eyes. Identify the top and bottom eyelids, the eyeball, the pupils, and the eyebrows. Then, look at how light and shadows shape and make the eyes appear realistic. Notice the curves of the eyes and create a few test drawings in your sketchbook.
Build Dimension and Color:
Once you’re comfortable with the anatomy of the eyes, use your artistic license to bring life to your drawing. Start with the base of the eye and draw your outlines. Then use sharply contrasting colors to give it bright affirmations and place highlight areas by using brighter colors. For example, start with a dark brown and move towards a lighter brown. This can also be done with grays and smudged to give a more natural look.
Put the Finishing Touches:
When you’ve completed the core structure of the eyes, it’s time to put the finishing touches. Start by adding eyebrows, eyelashes and individual hairs. This move will create depth and balance to your realistic drawing. Then, use a white pencil to draw a highlight around the pupil and draw a line with the tip of a black pen to create eyeliner. This will further accentuate and bring out the emotion.
Draw Reflections:
The final step to creating realistic eyes is to draw reflections. This may sound daunting, but it only requires precision and patience. Begin with a small circle or oval in the center of the eye. Then, lightly draw curved lines around the shape. When that’s done, your eye reflections should be complete.
Apply Shading:
Now that you have the basics of the eyes down, you can move onto shading. From the darkest to the lightest, use shading to increase the sense of depth and put the focuses on the highlights to make your eyes pop. You can use darker or lighter colors around the edges of your eyes to make it sink in a bit more and give it an even more realistic look.
Balance the Eyes:
After you’ve applied the colors and shadings, you need to make sure that the eyes look balanced. You can use a ruler, an eraser, and your trusty blender to fine-tune the details of your drawing. Aim to achieve a sense of symmetry when shading and erasing to create strong real-life eyes.
Use Colored Pencils:
Colored pencils can make all the difference in your drawings, as they create realistic and stunning eyes. Use light and dark colors to still create blending and shading, but use colors to add a glow to your work. This can be done without a lot of trouble, by simply sketching lightly and choosing colors with a warm hue.
Adding a Glint:
Adding a glint to your drawing can be simple but effective. When you have completed your drawing, look closely and see if there is an area of light reflection that is missing. You can add this by using white or a light-colored pencil, and just lightly making a small white dot in the pupil area. This glint of light can give a realistic and almost lifelike texture to your eyes.
Practice Makes Perfect:
Finally, the best way to draw real eyes is to practice and practice. Start off with the basic techniques and then gradually add more challenging ones as you feel more comfortable. Keep a sketchbook and use it to document your progress, and remember that practice is key. With dedication and the right tools, you’ll soon be drawing realistic eyes like a pro.
