Ever since discovering anime, I have been fascinated by this Japanese art genre. Their characters are adorable no matter if they’re good guys or not. One of the main characteristics is the unusually large eyes they have. I spent a while perfecting my technique for drawing them and I’d like to share it here. With just a few simple steps, you can capture the charm of the anime eyes and start creating your own unique characters.
For this mini-tutorial, I’ve used Arteza coloured pencils and a white gel pen. Coloured pencils offer handling and vibrancy to cause your eyes to really stand out. The white gel pen is the ideal tool for adding bright highlights that bring the eyes to life!
Outline the outside of the eyes, the eyelid, and the iris in perspective. That means the eye closer to you should be larger than the eye that’s farther away, such as when your face is turned slightly. Either start drawing with a pencil then outline it using Black A012, or only use Black A012.
Use the purple shade, A020, to fill in the iris, making the upper part a little bit darker.
Use Dark Purple A088 to reinforce the pupil and to create a gradient on the iris. It will be brighter at the top turning dimmer on the bottom. When I make a gradient, I put more pressure on the pencil as I go from light to dark, with the most pressure where I want it the darkest.
Put more pressure closer to the iris’ outer contour. Using black, I shade with less pressure the area where there will be a shadow across the iris, which is underneath the eyelids. I press the hardest when colouring in the pupil. Next, I use an eraser to add some highlights at the bottom of the iris. With Gray A047, colour in the eyeball’s upper section to make a shadow over the white of the eye. This creates volume and makes the eye appear rounder.
Use Pink A083 at the very bottom of the iris to make it look more alive. Add the highlights with the white gel pen.
That’s it! Pretty easy, right? You can use this as a sample to practice on as you begin your journey creating your own amazing characters. What’s your favorite anime character? Do you prefer the happy-go-lucky types or the defiant, anti-heroes? How do you draw their eyes to convey the emotions that give them a unique personality?
I think focusing on the eyes is the best way to start building the personality of my characters. Once I have the eyes in place, I can adjust the head and body to complement them. Sometimes, the eyes’ colour or shape helps me determine whether they’re going to be a good guy or a bad one. The most important thing is to let your imagination run wild and create a population that’s unique to your world.
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