I Challenge You to Draw One of My Favorite Eye Styles: Step-by-Step Guide

Hey everyone

A few days ago, one of my patrons named "voodiedoodie" asked me how I draw eyes, something that is not the first time I've been questioned about. So, in today's post, I want to briefly share my most common eye expressions and styles, when I use them, and how you can simply draw them as well. After you read this article, I challenge you to try drawing one of these eyes and drop your sketch in the sketch channel of our Discord! I'll be giving SKILL POINTS!!

Let's dive in:

High Energy

When I want to create characters with high energy or in the middle of situations involving surprise, frustration, anger, or excitement, I use these eyes.

This is how you can achieve this: imagine the eye as an oval. I often do not define the whole oval silhouette, just what splits the eyelid from the eye, specifically where you will find eyelashes, excluding the tear duct and the opposite corner. Making the oval split in two, I stretch the top part of the oval to create an arc that points upward, and the bottom part I stretch downward to create an arc that points down and out.

Low Energy

When I want to create characters with low energy or in the middle of situations involving sadness, depression, or exhaustion, I use these eyes.

To achieve this, similar to the previous example, the eye is a split oval in which the top and bottom lines in the center are higher, and the more both lines move away from the center, the more inclined downwards they are. There is something tricky here, as the top line often corresponds to the separation between the eye and eyelid, but for this case, I like to have two upper lines: one that corresponds to the eyelid closing half of the eye and also one that suggests the top shape of the eye already covered by the eyelid. The combination of these two, plus half of the pupil hidden, creates the feeling of fatigue.

Serious

When I want to create characters calm or serious or in the middle of situations involving them being focused, I use these eyes.

To achieve this, split the oval in two; both lines, top and bottom, are more straight, especially the one at the top. This creates the illusion of determination. As you noticed, the fact that I removed the line that suggests the eye shape covered by the eyelid removes this sensation of tiredness, making the look more sharp.

Seducing

When I want to create characters that evoke a sort of sensuality or are in the middle of flirting situations, I use these eyes.

To achieve this, both oval lines do the opposite of the "low energy" eyes; these move upward, as soon as they get away from the center, like a cat. In addition, I like to suggest as well the line of the eye covered by the eyelid since, in theory, the character is relaxed and closing almost half of the eyes, giving the feeling of mischief.

Conclusion

Although the shape of eyes can change slightly depending on the character's identity, these tips on eye expressions are applicable regardless of the size shape.

Also, if you apply these tips and add eyebrows, it will reinforce the character's expression. Know more about this in this article:

Express Yourself: Mastering Facial Expressions for Emotionally Engaging Art

Try out these tips and share them with me on Discord!

Thank you for your support.