|
Introduction
| |
Eyes are possibly the most important feature in an anime character design. The eyes display emotions, personality, and even hints about their past [i.e. Spike Speigel of Cowboy Bebop] There is no right or wrong way to draw eyes, however, there is a general appearance. Many agree that the large saucer like eyes in anime help define it from any other animation but there are many cases in which the eyes are more human like and less exaggerated. Here is an example of just a few eyes I have found from many different anime titles:
| | TOP |
|
Many Many Eyes
| |
As you can see, there are many different ways to draw eyes. You can probably even make up your own if you wanted! But what defines anime eyes to the eyes of other types of animation? Well, there might not even be a distinction between anime eyes from any other non-anime eye! Although there may be some general appearance of all eyes, technically, anime eyes can come in any shape or form, as long as its an eye and made in Japan! I just thought that if you take this into account, you don't always have to draw exactly what other anime artists draw. You can draw what you think is right. However, you probably did not come here to draw any other style but anime style. So here is an example of the basic parts of an eye that I have found to be most common. This particular example is influenced by Yoshiyuki Sadamoto's character designs for Neon Genesis Evangelion.
| | TOP |
|
Pupil
| |
- The pupil is where the characters see. Sometimes it is hidden away by many light reflections or by the color of the iris. Make sure the iris is pointing in the direction you want the eye to look. As it shows the direction of where the character is looking at. The eyes are most of the time never drawn completely because it is usually covered by a light reflection or merged with the iris and not seen at all. [I did not include to point the pupil in the example because there was not enough room to add another label]
| | TOP |
|
Iris
| |
- The iris is the colored part of the eye. Although you can not see it from my example, the color can show a lot about the personality of the character. It can be drawn with just 1 shade of a color or it can be drawn with multiple shades and with more detail. A detailed eye can show the blood veins or the different spectrums of the color surrounding the pupil. It depends on the level of detail you want to add to the character. If you want to draw close up of the characters face, then you usually draw as much detail as you can. However, if the overall image does not require such detail, there is no reason to tediously add the unneeded detail. Sometimes the iris is merged with the pupil and the auidence can still know where the character is looking.
| | TOP |
|
Top/Bottom Eyelids
| |
- The top and bottom edge of the eyes. Depending on how you place them, you can show how suprised or angry the character is. Widen the gap between them and you get a suprised look or a happy open hearted character. Squish the eyelids together to form a more sleek or squinty appearance. It can be drawn with a single thin line or a heavier thicker line depending on the character's personality. The ends of the top eyelid vary. You can draw a simple nook to show the end of the eyelid or draw it to extend down the side of the eye to the bottom eyelid. You can even connect the top and bottom eyelids' sides to create a more human like feeling.
| | TOP |
|
Eye Lashes
| |
- Eye lashes are mostly used for women, however I think I have seen them used on men as well. They show how feminine the person is. The longer and more curves you add shows how feminine the character is. Usually a few strokes are used or none at all for normal animation and manga. However if there is a close up or a scene that requires more detail, you should draw in more eyelashes. If the detail is needed in a very close shot, male characters will then need some representation for eyelashes.
| | TOP |
|
Eyelid Fold
| |
- Eyelid folds represent the eye being open and naturally the eyelid is squished to the top and the bottom. One eyelid fold for either side is mostly used for normal situations. But if a character is squinting or in any other situation that requires squinting, more eyelid folds are needed. Not very neccessary but it tends to make the eye feel more complete. The eyelid fold is usually short and may not even touch the eyelid at all. However, I like to draw them about as half as long as the eye and I tend to make it gradually combine with the eyelid. It all depends on the character I guess. You can draw the fold at the top or the bottom or both. Drawing the fold usually depends on the level of detail you want to draw on the character like the eye lashes.
| | TOP |
|
Light Reflection
| |
- The light reflection is heavily depended on the area of where your character is. If its outdoors with the sun high up, you could draw many light reflections on the eye. If it's inside a dark room, with one light source, you would draw a single luminating light reflection on the eye. When the character is exaggerated to look very pretty or at the center of attention, twinkles and light reflections are drawn galore. Examples for the extreme usage of light reflections is in the Sailormoon series and any other cute girlish anime.
| | TOP |
|
Eyebrows
| |
- Eyebrows play an important role too. They are usually drawn to match the character's hair or personality. Cat girl character usually have bushy eyebrows that are thick and cat like. Feminine and characters that portray beauty are drawn with long thin eyebrows. Sometimes they can be long or short or thin or thick. They show a lot of expression. When suprised they extend far from the eye and in a large curve. They can show sneakiness and angry expressions if drawn close to the eye and slanting towards the nose. They can show seriousness and content when drawn close to the eye with the slightest curve. More on the eyebrows in the expressions tutorial.
| | TOP |
|
How To Draw Example 3 (How to draw a character's eye from Evangelion)
| |
In this example, I chose to explain how to draw a very simple and most all around eye from Evangelion. It can be manipulated to show all extremes of expression, whether it be suprise, anger, or sorrow. The only disadvantage is that this eye may not work well with older and more mature character designs and very young and youthful characters.
1. Lightly draw an elipse that is more wide than high. Draw it as large or as small as you feel comfortable. Remember that this line will not be in the final eye.
2. Lightly and then gradually draw harder the top eyelid. Draw it on the top of the elipse as a guideline. End the eyelid with an eyelash by using the thickening eyelid to gradually point at an angle. Remember to end the eyelid with 1 eye lash and leave a hint of a line that it will continue onto the bottom eyelid on the edge of the eyelid.
3. Draw a couple more small and thin eye lashes near the largest one by stroking the utensil in the same angle as the largest eyelash. Do this by making sure to gradually get less thick as you stroke by gradually decreasing the pressure on the utensil. Then lightly trace the outline of the iris and the pupil in the direction the character is looking. The outline of the iris will be an oval in this case and will not be completely in the eye. This is important as in most cases the eyelids overlap the iris.
4. Lightly trace in areas you wish the light reflections should be. In this case I chose a light reflection from the top left and another in the bottom right. Then, completely color in the pupil but leave some spaces for the light reflections. Then light retrace the bottom of the eyelid. In my example, the bottom eyelid will be shorter than the top, in other cases it could be equal or even longer and may even connect with the top eyelid.
5. Color in the iris with a single simple shade very lightly. Then lightly retrace the lighter lines of the iris to gradually make them darker.
6. Erase the elipse and the guide lines and touch up as you much as you like.
| | TOP |
|
How To Draw Example 4 (How to draw a character's eye from Cowboy Bebop)
| |
This example is influenced by Spike Spiegel from Cowboy Bebop. His character is more mature and grave at times and thus this eye is used and drawn differently than the previous example. The sleek and squint of the eye automatically has the audience presume that the character appears mature, older, and serious. One disadvantage is that this eye may be more difficult to convey emotions like laughter, suprise, and concern. However it can be done with enough practice.
1. Lightly draw 2 sleek and thin lines parallel to each other. Do not make them too far apart because we want a more masculine and sleek look to this eye.
2. Draw the top and bottom eyelids, using the parallel lines as a guideline. Start lightly and then draw heavier lines making sure to thicken near one end. Curve them slightly. Make sure the top eye lid is thicker and longer than the bottom one. Leave a small nook (eye lash, fish fin, thickening, etc.) at the end of the top eye lid. Then lightly draw an eyelid fold by making it parallel to the top lid and extending farther to the left than the top lid.
3. Draw half an elipse protruding from the top eyelid and barely touching the bottom eyelid creating the iris. Again, the iris will not be completely shown as the top eyelid is overlapping it. After that, continue drawing the eyelid fold by curving the fold downward and to the left by drawing it lightly. This is drawn to show the effect of the squinted eyebrow which pushes against the eyelid fold.
4. Shade in the pupil/iris (they are combined in this case) leaving a small light reflection from the spot that you choose. I chose the light to come from the right side of the eye.
5. Draw in a sleek and angry/concerned eyebrow slanting towards the nose. Make it longer than the eye itself starting from the two eye folds ending a bit further than the end of the top eyelid. Slightly curve it while making it gradually thicker in the middle than at the ends.
| | TOP |
|
How To Draw Example 4 (How to draw a character's eye from Dragon Ball)
| |
This eye is from the Dragon Ball series. It is different from many character designs because the top eyelid is merged with the eyebrow. The eyebrow is then merged and almost never drawn seperated from the eye. The bottom eyelid is totally gone or you could say has transformed into a cheek bone fold at the bottom of the eye. I decided to demonstrate this example because it shows the diversity of drawing anime style. Suprisingly this eye can show a wide range of emotions from the testosterone driven anger to the shock, suprise, and laughter that the Dragon Ball series creates. No wonder Dragon Ball has much appeal.
Trunks/Goku:
1. Lightly draw the top eyelid/eyebrow. This is slighty curved and at a slight angle. Do this by starting at one end and gently go to the right. Ever so slightly raise the line at a consistent angle. Then create the bottom cheekbone fold by making it level to the ground. Make sure there is a fairly large space between the two eyelids. Perhaps you can think of it as if there was a perfect square between the two lids for Trunks. For Goku lightly draw in another line for the bottom of the eye. (For Goku the space should resemble example 3 from Spike Spiegel)
2. Redraw the top eyelid/eyebrow. Start by putting the point of the pencil in the leftmost end of the top eyelid/eyebrow. Then gradually bring it to the right making the eyelid/eyebrow thicker. Close it off by jutting straight down to the bottom of the eyelid/eyebrow. The eyeball should be lightly drawn now. Do this by drawing the bottom of the eyeball parallel and close to the bottom cheekbone fold. This line should be fairly in the middle of the eyebrow and shorter than the eyebrow or the cheekbone. Connect the two ends of the bottom of the eyeball to the eyebrow by lightly drawing vertical lines. These lines should not be perfectly vertical but should point and diverge away from the center of the eyeball.
3. Darken the eyebrow, eyeball, and cheekbone fold, trying to match the above example. Add a little curve on the left of the cheekbone curve to portray the fold of the cheek overlapping the eye. Add wrinkles to the left of the eyebrow to show Goku's anger/concern. The pupils should be lightly drawn pointing in the direction of your choice. For Trunks, the pupil is in near the center and is entirely shown. In Goku, the pupil is overlapped by the eyebrow and only half of it is shown to represent Goku's anger. In Trunks the bottom cheekbone fold is actually zigzagged and slightly sketched.
4. Darken the rest of the lines and shade in the pupil. For trunks, because his eyes are purple, will actually show an iris around the pupil indicated by the lighter shade. Goku, however, will have a light reflection coming in from the top right. He will also show another wrinkle on the top of his eyebrow. This is parallel to the eyebrow and it indicates the brow line in the skull.
Goten:
Follow the steps above but do not combine the eyebrow with the top of the eyeball. Also make sure the eyebrow is rounded and conforms to the eyeball's top curve. The eyeball should be drawn with a perfect square in mind, like Trunk's example. The eyeball is also not completed with the left side of the eyeball missing. This is cut off because of the pupil which is completely shown. Like Trunks, the bottom cheekbone fold is actually zigzagged and slightly sketched.
| | TOP |
[Written and drawn by Henry Del Rosario, through experience and personal education]
|
