How to Draw Closed Eyes
Tools I used in this tutorial:
- Derwent H, HB, 2B pencils
- 0.5mm Mechanical Pencil with 4B lead (Pentel Ain)
- Kneaded Eraser
- Canson Sketch Paper (Med Tooth) – Bought this on sale at my local art store (they ran out of Canson bristol paper). Great for sketching but not for blending.
Note: Up until step 6, use only an HB pencil with very light pressure so that your guidelines and mistakes don’t show through in your final artwork. Drawing lightly is also better for erasing. In the examples below, I’m using more pressure so you can clearly see what I’m doing.
Step 1: Determine Eye Size
Step 2: Draw Circles
Step 3: Determine the Angle for Each Eye
Step 4: Draw the Eye Shapes
When you draw the tail crease, allow your lines to gradually become lighter instead of having a hard edge.
Step 5: Draw the Shape for Each Eyebrow
We’ll detail the eyebrows later. Let’s move on to the next step!
Step 6: Shading
Let’s start by shading the top eyelids. Use the side of your pencil to shade a shape similar to an almond. The circle around each eye can help you see if your shading on the right eye is similar to the left eye.
Step 7: Shade the Rest of the Face
Shade the rest of the face. You can use these two tutorials to learn more about shading:
- How to Shade and Pencil Shading Techniques
- How to Shade a Face: The Ultimate Tutorial (Exclusive Tutorial)
Step 8: Draw the Eyebrows
Here, I switched to my 4B 0.5mm lead. Starting at the lower part of each eyebrow, draw upward strokes. Make sure to lift your pencil up at the end of every stroke to make the hairs look more realistic. For a super detailed tutorial on this, check out this tutorial.
At the upper portion of each eyebrow, draw downward strokes. Add some hairs going down the middle if it still looks bare.
This step is very subtle, but also very important. Use an HB pencil to shade directly underneath each eyebrow. Make sure the transition is gradual. Now the eyebrows look like they belong, instead of just pasted onto the skin.
Step 9: Add Wrinkles to Eyelids
This step is optional… but it’s super fun, so why not do it too?
Unless you’re drawing this on a large scale, avoid using a blending stump because the tip will not be thin enough for this job. Instead, use an H and HB pencil to create a nice gradient along each wrinkle.
Step 10: Draw the Eyelashes
If you want to be really careful, draw the eyelashes lightly with an H or HB pencil to start. Once you’re okay with the placement, curvature and length, etc… go over it with a darker pencil like a 4B. Here, I used a 0.5mm 4B lead.
It’s okay that some eyelashes touch. It’s actually more natural looking when they form triangle shapes or even cross over each other.
Video Tutorial
I created a video to go along with the version you’re reading. You can check it out below! It contains a bunch of extra tips and tricks, which I think you’ll find useful! If you have the time, please leave a comment to let me know what you’d like to see me do differently in a future video, what you liked/disliked or other constructive feedback would also be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance!
The purpose of the video is not to produce a polished piece, but to show you the steps and techniques in a quick and easy manner. Click here to watch it on YouTube!
This is the first time I’ve done a written tutorial + video tutorial and I want to know what you guys think! Do you like videos in accompaniment to my usual stuff? Does it clear things up for you or would you rather see the video tutorial done another way?
Your feedback is always appreciated and will help me improve upon the tutorials further :)
I’m going to work on creating videos for past tutorials as well. So if you haven’t subscribed to me on YouTube, click here. Youtube won’t notify you when I post new videos unless you hit the bell icon beside the subscribe button as well, so don’t forget to click that too.
Thanks guys!
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Darlene created RFA In 2013 with the goal of sharing simple yet detailed drawing tutorials with other artists on the world wide web. She is a self taught pencil portrait artist and Youtuber.
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