Drawing Girl’s Eyes: Part 2

Today let’s learn about some different “types” of girls’ eyes!

For the basics on drawing girls’ eyes, check out Drawing Girl’s Eyes: Part 1


Drawing upward-slanting “cat eyes”

Known as “tsuri me” (“tsoori meh”) in Japanese, these upward slanting eyes are often used for strong and courageous characters. Cat eyed characters often have a scary or pushy image, but with the right hairstyle and face shape, they can have a softer, cuter look like the example character here!

Top eyelid・・・The outer corner of the eye comes up much higher than the height of the pupil

Lower eyelid・・・The lower half of the outer corner of the eye slants up to meet the upper lid, but the very bottom line of the eyelid under the iris is still a simple, straight line

Iris shape・・・The top half of the iris is cut off slightly by top eyelid

Compared to the “default” eyes from last lesson・・・ The outer corners of the eyes are higher up, and the bottom half of the corners of the eyes slants upwards too


Drawing process

  1. First of all, we decide on the iris shape, and position the pupil in the centre. It’s ok to decide on the position of the lower eyelid here too.

2. Using the pupil to find the apex, we bring the inner half of the upper eyelid up to this apex point. From there, we use an upwards angle to draw in the outer side of the eye, having it end higher than the level of the pupil. Check that the outer corner of the eyelid is higher than the inner corner at this point!

3. Add in the bottom half of the outer corner of the eye, and draw in the lower eyelid if you didn’t already do this in step 1

4. Draw in the final linework and add in a highlight to finish the eye.

Tip: This is a very soft, gentle looking cat eye – you can make the outer corner more pointed for a slightly harsher, more dramatic look.


How eyes look from different angles

It’s easy for cat eyed characters to look angry or scary, so be careful to adjust the shape of the face and other features to avoid making your character look angry. (Unless of course that’s the personality or expression you’re going for!)


Drawing downward-slanting “droopy eyes”

In contrast to bold cat eyed characters, droopy eyed, or “tare me” (“ta-leh meh”) are usually reserved for characters who are introverted, timid, gentle and/or sleepy in nature.

Upper eyelid・・・The outer corner of the eyes come down lower than the level of the pupil

Lower eyelid・・・Look like they’re being pulled down to meet the outer corner of the eye at the bottom

Iris shape・・・Like the cat-eye style, part of the iris is cut off by the top eyelid – but this time it’s the outer side of the iris, as the top lid is drooping down

Compared to the “default” eyes from last lesson ・・・ The outer corners of the eyes slant down, and the lower lids are pulled down too


Drawing process

The main point of “tare” eyes is the way the outer corner droops down – so let’s look at how to achieve that effect!

  1. Draw in the iris and pupil first. We’ll be using the shape of the top lid to decide the angle of the bottom lid, so we don’t need to draw in a guideline for the bottom eyelid here

2. Using the pupil to find the apex, we bring the inner half of the upper eyelid up to this apex point.

3. From there, we use a downwards angle to draw in the outer side of the eye, having it end lower than the level of the pupil. Using the halfway point between the pupil and the bottom of the iris is a good guide.

4. Either lightly draw in the full shape of the eyes, or imagine the shape, so that we can draw the bottom lid in at the right angle – sloping down to meet the outer corner of the eye


How eyes look from different angles

With the addition of some gentle sloping eyebrows, droopy eyes make a character look adorable, and make you want to protect or look after them. These kind of characters are very popular in anime and manga, so be sure to master this style!


There we have it – upward and downward angled eyes! These two eye types are really big in the anime world, and can instantly say a lot about your character’s personality, so be sure to practice both styles.

Next time, I’ll be showing you two other popular styles – “sleepy” eyes and “staring” eyes.

Of course we go over all of these points in much more detail in our video lessons at Anime Art Academy, so be sure to check our courses out too!

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