How to Draw Anime Eyes in Easy Steps

I've been fascinated by this genre of Japanese art ever since I discovered anime. Their characters are adorable, and one of their main features is their enormous eyes, regardless of gender or species. I want to share my drawing tips for manga eyes here. In just seven easy steps, you can capture the charm of anime eye drawing and start creating your unique character.

I've used Grabie colored pencils and a white gel pen for this anime eyes drawing tutorial. Colored pencils can easily make drawings of anime eyes full of emotion as colored pencils are easier to transition color naturally. White gel pen is the perfect tool for adding bright highlights and bringing the eyes to life! 

List of Supplies:

• 70 Pcs Drawing And Sketch Pencil Set
• 72 Colors Professional Artist Watercolor Drawing Pencils

Step 1. Draw some guidelines for anime eyes
Anime eyes are almost always drawn larger and broader than natural eyes, especially for female characters. Let's start by sketching a large skewed 15° '#' symbol on the paper, as the picture shows. The rough outline of the eye is then established on both sides of the # symbol. Make light or dashed lines for parts of the guidelines, as you will need to do some erasing in different steps.

Step 2. Refine the outer shape of the eye
In this step, you only need to draw two lines above and below the eye socket and replace and connect the straight lines in the previous step with arcs.

Step 3. Finish the sketch of the anime eye
Based on the previous step, add the iris and pupil, and finally, add a half arc parallel to the upper orbit on the head of the eye, representing the fold of the eyelid. Then draw several small upward arcs at the ends of the two eyeliners to represent eyelashes. A pair of elegant anime eyes sketch is complete!

Step 4. Add base color to the iris
Pick a pale color to fill the entire iris. It can be any color you like. I chose pale blue in this example.

Step 5. Add pupil to the eyes
Fill the pupil with a dark blue colored pencil and create a gradient on the iris. The gradient will be dark blue to light blue from top to bottom. So, when I make gradients, I put more pressure on the pencil as I go from light to dark, applying the most pressure where I want it to be darkest.

Step 6. Add shadows and highlights of the iris
In this step, I use a black pencil to paint shadows on the area above the iris, which is just below the eyelid, with less pressure. Next, I erased some places to add highlights around the pupil at the base of the iris. I shade the whites of the eyes with a light grey colored pencil, making the eyes look rounder.