Drawing Lesson 5, Part 5 – How to Draw an Eye

How to Draw an Eye realistically

Video Lesson Description

In this video part, you will discover How to Draw an Eye and the main rules and proportions every proficient fine artist must know to depict human eyes.

How to Draw an Eye

When it comes to how to draw an eye, a fine artist must know that human eyes have an almost spherical shape. They are essentially balls about one inch in diameter, which sit inside of the skull’s orbits or eye sockets. Each orbit is formed by several skull bones, which protect the eyes from the sides and behind.

The frontal part of the eye is visible. It is protected by its two eyelids.

When you think how to draw an eye, remember that the upmost point of the upper eyelid is about one-third from the inner corner of the eye. Also, when drawing the upper eyelid, depict its thickness.

The colored disc is called the iris. It is usually positioned so the upper eyelid covers its top part slightly. The dark circle in the iris center is called the pupil. This is the window to the inside of the eye.

The lower eyelid also has its own thickness. Thinking how to draw an eye, keep in mind that the lowest point of the lower eyelid curve is located one-third from the outer corner of the eye.

Several extraocular muscles help the eye to turn up and down and side-to-side.

The white part of the eye is called the sclera. Its colour is not necessarily pure white, but sometimes yellowish, greyish or bluish off-white.

This video about how to draw an eye will also reveal a know-how technique of drawing an eye iris in a foreshortened position. In such position the iris will appear as an oval. The main axis of this oval follows certain rule a proficient fine artist must know.

Watch this video on how to draw an eye to discover this little-known secret of drawing an eye correctly in foreshortened point of view.

Here are some facts about how to draw an eye every fine artist should know to draw eyes realistically.

The upper part of the iris is partially covered by the upper eyelid, while there is a small gap between the lower edge of the iris and the lower eyelid.

On the profile view, the upper eyelid is slightly protruding forward compared to the lower eyelid.

The upper and lower eyelids are portions of the orbicularis occuli muscle, which goes around the eye.

The upper eyelid wraps around the eyeball, repeating its spherical shape. The upper eyelid is longer that the lower one. It also has more freedom of movement. It goes from the outer corner of the eye, which is called the lateral angle of eye. The inner corner of an eye is called the medial angle of eye.

A convex transparent tissue that covers an iris is called the cornea. It has a glossy surface and is often seen with the reflected highlight spot.

In this video part you will also see how to draw an eye in profile. From this point of view the lacrimal caruncle is not visible.

In profile, the iris is viewed as a vertical oval. The cornea, which covers the iris, has its thickness, which the fine artist must be aware of when drawing an eye up close.

In the Drawing Academy course, I have also presented another video lesson dedicated to the topic of how to draw an eye. It explains how to shade tonal values of human eyes.