If you are seriously going to be drawing portraits of people, then becoming proficient at drawing eyes is a must. Quite simply, eyes are the essence of the spirit within, and they can tell us so much about the person we are drawing.

 

There are six simple steps to ensure that you are drawing eyes proficiently as they will make or break your portrait:

 

1. Although some people may be quite squeamish, it is worth considering the anatomy of the eye before starting the actual drawing. The eyeball itself is not a perfect sphere as some might think and whilst the actual iris may look flat, in fact, it has a curved surface.

 

2. Just as important is the observation of the muscles and bones of the face, they can be very visible in some people and less visible in others, age is one factor about this. Everybody’s eyes are different and as an artist it is your job to be able to pinpoint why.

 

3. Depending on how much detail will be going into your portrait, it is worth looking at the models’ eyes in great details. Note that the Iris is not one flat colour but is flecked and has streaks of patterns. The whites of eyes are not really white either so remember to add a slight tone to them when drawing this part.

 

4. Get your model (if drawing from life) to change their expression and to move their head so that you can view their eyes from different positions. The shape of the eyes changes constantly, so ensure you get the right shape for the particular expression that you require.

 

5. Expressions change our faces completely, if we are happy, we often half close our eyes and our wrinkles are far more apparent at that point. When we smile, the muscles push up towards our faces so that the eyes bulge slightly. Get your model to smile fully so that you can see the difference.

 

6. To ensure correct placement of the eyes in contrast to the nose and mouth, it is useful to use construction lines (parallel lines across eyes, nose and mouth).

 

When you start off your portrait, it is best to not get into too much detail in the early part but do a quick sketch of the head and placement of the key components and then once you are satisfied with the look of your drawing, you can then start working more in-depth to bring your portrait to life.