70 ideas

Eye Drawing Ideas

Deal one eye in one state, a glare, a profile, a gecko's notched pupil, with the steps to build it printed underneath.

Eye Drawing Ideas

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Drawn: An eye with winged eyelinerAn eye with winged eyelinerContinue the lower lash line's angle up towards the brow tail, then fill a thin triangle back to the upper lid.

Next step Put the eye back in a face and a figure

All 70 ideas

Expressions 14

A crying eye with one tear about to fall Pool the tear on the lower lid first. A tear is clear, so outline it lightly, then add one highlight and a shadow below.
A frightened eye with white showing above the iris Raise the upper lid clear of the iris and pull the lower lid straight and tense. Lift the brow and pinch its inner end.
A glare from under the brow, head tipped down Set the iris high so the upper lid cuts across it, leave white showing underneath, and keep the brow low and level.
A sad eye with the inner brow tilted up Tilt the brow up at the nose end, let the upper lid droop from the outer corner, and add a wet line on the lower lid.
A sleepy eye, half closed Bring the upper lid down over the top half of the iris and the top of the pupil. Thicken the fold above it.
A smiling eye with the lower lid pushed up A real smile lifts the cheek. Flatten the lower lid into a rising curve and fan crow's feet from the outer corner.
A surprised eye with white showing all round the iris Draw the whole iris circle first, clear of both lids. Then arch the brow high and even above it.
A suspicious side-eye Narrow both lids and slide the iris into the corner, so plenty of white shows on one side and none on the other.
A tired eye with a bag and a crease beneath Add a soft pouch under the lower lid and a second fold below that. The darkest shading goes at the inner corner.
A winking pair of eyes One open, one shut. The shut eye is a single downward curve with lashes, and the cheek beneath it bunches up.
An angry eye under a brow pulled low Slant the brow down towards the nose until it covers the inner upper lid, and flatten the upper lid to a straight line.
An eye rolling up and away Slide most of the iris under the upper lid, leave a wide stretch of white below it, and lift one brow.
An eye squeezed nearly shut with laughter Both lids almost meet, so the eye becomes one dark arc curving upward. Fan short creases from the outer corner.
An eye wide with wonder, reflecting fairy lights Open the lids wide and enlarge the pupil, then dot a curved string of tiny highlights across the iris and pupil.

Angles and ages 14

A baby's eye, nearly all iris An eyeball is about 16 to 17 mm wide at birth and 24 mm grown. Show little white, a big highlight and few lashes.
A closed eye with resting lashes One downward curve where the lids meet, a fainter curve above for the ball under the skin, and lashes sweeping down.
A deep-set eye with the whole socket in shadow Shade the whole socket first. The upper lid nearly vanishes in the dark and the lower lid catches the light.
A pair of eyes in three-quarter view The far eye is narrower and part hidden by the bridge of the nose. Both irises become upright ellipses, not circles.
An eighty-year-old's eye, hooded and creased Let the upper lid skin fold over the lash line. Add crow's feet, a sparse brow and an outer corner that droops.
An eye front-on, built from a ball and two lids Draw the ball first, then wrap each lid over it as a band with thickness. The top lid cuts off the top of the iris.
An eye in profile From the side the lids make a sideways V. The iris is a thin upright ellipse and the clear cornea curves out in front.
An eye seen from above, looking down The upper lid covers most of the ball, the lashes point down and forward, and the iris flattens into a wide ellipse.
An eye seen from below, looking up Both lids curve upward over the ball like a smile, and the thickness of the lower lid shows as a pale rim.
An eye with an epicanthic fold A fold of skin runs down beside the nose and can cover the pink inner corner. Keep the lid crease low or leave it out.
An eye with winged eyeliner Continue the lower lash line's angle up towards the brow tail, then fill a thin triangle back to the upper lid.
An eyebrow over an eye, hair by hair Hairs at the nose end grow upward, then lean outward, then lie flat along the tail. Draw strokes, never an outline.
Two eyes and the gap between them, front-on A common guide: the gap between the eyes is one eye wide, and the head is about five eye-widths across.
Upper and lower lashes on an open eye Upper lashes are longer and more numerous: about 90 to 160 against 75 to 80 below. Curve each one and clump a few.

Light, colour and glasses 14

A blue iris close up, fibre by fibre A blue iris holds no blue pigment; the colour is scattered light. Draw pale fibres radiating over a darker ground.
A brown iris that does not go flat Brown eyes are much the commonest. Keep a paler crescent opposite the catchlight so the iris looks lit within.
A flash-photo eye with a red pupil Red-eye is camera flash bouncing off the back of the eye. Fill the pupil red, keep one white dot and shade flatly.
A green iris in layered coloured pencil Green is the rarest eye colour. Layer ochre round the pupil, green beyond it, then a dark ring at the iris edge.
A window and a tiny figure reflected in the iris The clear front of the eye acts as a curved mirror. Bend the window's straight edges and keep the figure tiny.
An eye behind round glasses Draw the eye first, then the frame over it. The rim drops a thin shadow on the cheek and the lens takes one streak.
An eye in bright sun with a pinpoint pupil Pupils narrow in bright light. Draw a tiny pupil, squinting lids and a hard-edged shadow under the brow.
An eye in candlelight with a wide pupil Pupils widen in the dark, so let the pupil fill most of the iris. Add one small flame-shaped highlight.
An eye in hard side light Shade the ball as a sphere, half in shadow. Inside the iris, make the side away from the lamp the brightest part.
An eye lit by a window, with a square catchlight Put a small window shape on the upper iris, overlapping the edge of the pupil, and leave it as bare white paper.
An eye lit from below by a torch Reverse the usual shadows. The brow bone and upper lid glow, and the lower lid throws its shadow up onto the ball.
An eye made huge by a strong lens for long sight Strong lenses for long sight make the eyes look very large. Draw the eye oversized and break the face's edge at the rim.
An eye under a hat brim, all in shadow Keep the whole eye in one mid-tone and leave out the catchlight. Only the lower lid's rim picks up bounced light.
One iris in two colours Sectoral heterochromia: part of one iris differs in colour from the rest. Divide it along a spoke, like a slice of pie.

Animal eyes 16

A cat's eye with its pupil narrowed to a slit Domestic cats have vertical slit pupils. Draw a tall, thin almond in the iris and rim the whole eye in black.
A cat's eyes shining back from the dark A mirror layer behind the retina, the tapetum lucidum, bounces light back. Leave two glowing discs in a black page.
A chameleon's eye turret with a pinhole opening The lids are joined into a cone with only a pinhole for the pupil. Wrap rings of tiny scales round the cone.
A crocodile's eye just above the waterline Eyes sit on top of the head so the rest can hide underwater. Vertical slit pupil, and a mirrored eye in the ripples.
A cuttlefish's eye with a W-shaped pupil The pupil is a smoothly curving W. Draw the W first, lying across the eye, then the mottled skin round it.
A dragonfly's head, nearly all compound eye Each eye has nearly 24,000 units, and in most dragonflies the two meet on top. Hint at facets along one edge only.
A gecko's eye with a notched slit pupil Most geckos have no eyelids. In bright light the notched slit closes to a row of pinholes, like a string of pearls.
A goat's eye with a horizontal bar pupil Goat pupils are horizontal rectangles with rounded corners. Set the bar level in a pale gold iris.
A horse's eye in profile, with a horizontal pupil One of the largest eyes of any land mammal, set on the side of the head. Reflect the horizon as a pale band across it.
A jumping spider's face with four front eyes Four pairs of eyes in all. The middle front pair is much the largest: two big discs flanked by two smaller ones.
A red-eyed tree frog's eye A bright red iris with a dark slit pupil, bulging from a green head. Leave one big white highlight on the dome.
A scallop's row of tiny blue eyes A scallop has up to 200 eyes, each about a millimetre wide, along the edge of its mantle. Dot them blue in the gap.
A snake's eye under its clear scale Snakes have no eyelids. A fixed clear scale, the brille, covers each eye, so draw scales running right up to the rim.
A tarsier's two enormous eyes Each eyeball is as big as the animal's brain. Draw two huge circles nearly touching in a small round face.
An eagle's eye under its brow ridge A ridge over the eye and ahead of it gives raptors their stare. Draw it as a shelf that shades the top of the eye.
An owl's face with both eyes facing forward Owl eyes are tubes fixed in the skull, so the head turns instead, up to 270 degrees. Ring each eye with a feather disc.

Symbols and fantasy 12

A cyborg eye, half skin and half machine Split the eye down the middle. One half keeps lashes and soft shading; the other gets plates, rivets and a lens ring.
A cyclops's single eye above the nose Centre one large eye over the nose under a single brow. Make both corners match, since neither is the inner one.
A giant's eye filling a cottage window Scale does the work. Fit one iris into the whole window frame and draw the curtains and flowerpots tiny beside it.
A gorgon's eye with the iris cracking to stone Shade one half as a living eye and the other as grey rock. Run cracks outward from the pupil and chip the lid.
A nazar, the blue glass eye bead Rings from the center out: black, light blue, white, dark blue. It is handmade glass, so let the rings wobble.
A robot eye built like a camera lens A camera's iris diaphragm copies the eye's iris. Draw ringed barrels, then six blades closing to a hexagon inside.
A teardrop holding a tiny landscape Outline the drop, fit a small hill and tree inside its curve, and leave a bright rim on the side away from the light.
An alien eye with no white and three pupils Fill the whole opening with one dark, glossy surface. Set three pupils in a triangle and give each its own highlight.
An eye with a clock face for an iris Put the numerals round the iris and pivot both hands from the pupil. The upper lid hides eleven, twelve and one.
An eye with feathers for lashes and a wing for a brow Swap each lash for a small feather, longest at the outer corner, and sweep the brow out into a folded wing.
The Eye of Horus, drawn as an amulet An eyebrow, a line trailing behind the eye, a cheek mark beneath, and a line sweeping down and back into a spiral.
The Eye of Providence in its triangle An eye inside a triangle ringed with rays of light. On the US one-dollar bill it floats above an unfinished pyramid.

How it works

These eye drawing ideas each name one eye in one state: an expression, an angle, a kind of light, an animal or a symbol. The hint under each of the 70 gives the steps in order, so you can build the eye without a reference photo. Animal pupils and anatomy terms were checked on Wikipedia. The two filters combine: Animal eyes plus Easy holds five.

Read the full guide

Start with a ball, then wrap the lids

An eye is a ball in a socket, and the lids are two bands of skin with thickness, wrapped over it. Draw the ball first, however faintly, and the rest follows. The upper lid hides the top of the iris and shades the white below it. The lower lid shows a pale rim. Deal An eye front-on, built from a ball and two lids before anything else.

Five groups, and what each level asks

Expressions, Angles and ages, and Light, colour and glasses hold 14 ideas each. Animal eyes has 16, from A goat's eye with a horizontal bar pupil to a cuttlefish's curving W. Symbols and fantasy has 12. The 25 easy ones change one thing, a lid or a pupil. The 14 hard ones ask for a curved reflection or a view from below.

The white of the eye is never white. Shade it as a ball, darkest under the upper lid, and save bare paper for the catchlight.
Draw lashes last and in clumps. Each one starts thick at the lid, curves, and ends in a point.
Fill a page with one eye in six moods. Change only the lids and the brow, and keep the iris the same size throughout.

Questions and answers

What should I draw eyes with?

A 2B pencil covers most of it. Add a 4B for the pupil and lash line, a putty rubber pinched to a point for lifting highlights, and a white gel pen for the catchlight. For A green iris in layered coloured pencil, three pencils are enough.

Which animal pupils are the strangest to draw?

Goat pupils are horizontal rectangles with rounded corners, a cuttlefish's is a smoothly curving W, and a gecko's notched slit closes in bright light to a row of pinholes. An owl's eyes are tubes fixed in the skull, so the head turns instead, up to 270 degrees. Draw the owl's head turned and both eyes still facing forward.

How do I make a drawn eye look wet and alive?

Three marks do it. Keep one catchlight as bare paper, overlapping the edge of the pupil. Lay a soft shadow from the upper lid across the top of the ball. Then leave a thin light line along the rim of the lower lid.