Today, I am going to show you how to draw a Realistic Eye,
Step by Step…
Drawing and shading are two different things, So I will teach you both separately.
And after reading this post, you will be able to draw any eye from any photo.
So, let’s start.

PART 1- DRAWING
There are many ways to draw anything, and according to the method we need different materials.
And for this, you just need some basic material
- 1 Pencil – I am using graphite 2H Pencil of Staedtler Mars Lumograph brand.
- 2 Divider – The divider has an important role in this method to calculate distance between the lines
- 3 Eraser – There is no need to use any specific eraser for drawing, you can use whatever is available with you, I am using here Mono Zero eraser, kneaded eraser
- 4 Print Out of Reference Photo – For this method specifically, the size of your printout should be half of your drawing paper
- 5 Drawing Paper – I use Strathmore Bristol 400 Series paper in almost every work.

Now you have the right material, so let’s begin drawing.
Step #1. Find Its Placement
First, you have to find its correct placement, for example, where it should be drawn on the paper? (on the top, bottom, or in the middle)
Ideally, it should be in the Middle

Step #2. Mark Overall Points
As we get its correct placement, now it’s time to measure overall points,
And the overall point is the total length and height of the eye. as you can see here.

Let’s start with its length first…
To get its length, simply open your divider and measure the total distance like this, and then mark it on drawing paper.






Step #3. Draw Curve lines
As you can see, The lines that are not straight all are the curved lines

Angle Break – is a process, where we break any curve line from its angle. Like this.

But always start from the straight line, like in our case this line is straight, that’s why I’ll draw this first

Let’s understand this one by one
Angle – To find the angle of any line, Just hold your pencil Straight (horizontally) along the line. And you will get a rough idea of its angle.



After that start draw these corner parts,

- Draw a straight line horizontally and see where is the iris part crossing from (in our case it’s crossing from the center)
- Measure the distance from iris to this point with a divider like this
- And after that, just join all lines to this point.

Then here our eye drawing is completed.

PART 2- SHADING
Animated GIF of Shading Process

Convert your photo into black and white
Separate the Shadow Part
(Don’t mark lines like this, Just Visualize this in your mind)

I am here 🙂
I already divided all processes into layers, and you can even call them steps.
So let’s start with the first layer…
Layer 1. Start Shading with Average value
Before you start shading, just know the difference between them,
- Value – Darkness or lightness of any object or specific area
- Average Value – While shading any object you don’t make it too dark and too light, then the value you get is an average value
For example, In our reference photo,
The shadow part is as dark as 8B pencil and the lighter part is as dark as 2B,

So that’s why I am replacing 8b with 2B for the darker part and using 2h instate 2B for the lighter part


Layer 2. Add more Darkness with Details
In the first layer, we kept the shading a bit lighter, but in this layer, we will add more darkness with more details.
So Just find the darkest and lighter point at first.
and as you know In each eye, the Pupil is darker, and the Highlighted part above the cornea is the lighter part,
and then start shading with them…

because it’s still the second layer, not the final one


So just do shading rest part with comparing each of them


Layer 3. Finalize Overall Shading again
This is our final layer, in this, you can add 100% darkness, and avoid using cotton to smudge this, even if you’re using it, use it with a light hand
And just do shading until It’s become perfectly fine according to you

- Always smudge with cotton or brush after shading
- Always start shading the dark part first and then the lighter part
- Avoid adding full darkness until the final layer
- Control your hand pressure according to the darkness or lightness of that specific area
I hope this method will help to draw an eye,
and if you still have any questions regarding this, just leave a comment right now
To know in detail, Watch this full video,
Language (Hindi), But available with English(CC)
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