The eye is the window to the soul.
The eye is the window to a person's soul, and as an artist, it is important to capture the soul of the person in the portrait you are drawing. Learn easily draw an eye, and drawing the rest of the face will follow naturally. There are a few basic things to remember when drawing the eye for a portrait.
The Shape
Draw the basic shape of the eye. Depending on what effect you want to have, this may be an almond shape or an oval shape. The oval shape will have a softer appearance. Though the oval shape is less defined than the almond shape, if you look at a photograph of an eye, you will see an oval shape built into it. The oval and almond can easily be built upon with the additional parts. Draw a line through the center of the almond-shaped eye to use as a guideline.
The Crease
Above the eye, you will notice a crease that identifies the eyelid and browbone. Again, depending on what style you are using, you have a choice of methods. For a more cartoonish style, draw the lid line to follow exactly along with the top of the eye. For a more natural eye, however, carefully observe the lid line of the person you are drawing. If you do not have a model, check out a photograph and notice that for most people, this line doesn't follow exactly along with the shape of the eye, but will have a slightly different angle and curve.
Tear Duct
Add a small bump to the inside corner of the eye shape. This bump is the tear duct and is very subtle in both the almond-shaped eye and the oval-shaped eye. When you draw the tear duct on the oval eye, make sure to contour the tear duct with the shape of the eye so that it has a natural appearance with the rest of the eye. This is usually done easily with the almond style.
Pupil and Iris
The pupil and iris can be as detailed as you like. Draw a circle in the center of the eye, taking up at least half of the eyeball. Fill in a smaller circle in the center for the pupil. You can also position the iris and pupil as if it were looking at you. This may require adjusting the area of the eyeball where you place them. For more detail, add a bubble just above the pupil, inside the iris. This will create a lighting effect. Erase the center guideline and add some small, curved lines on the lower and upper eyelid, which will be the eyelashes.
