Tips for Drawing Male and Female Eyes – Part 1


The eyes are a crucial feature for portraying a character’s emotions. We see a pronounced difference in men and women’s eyes in anime. When drawing male eyes, it is common to emphasize the contours around the eyes and make them sharper and more angular, while female eyes tend to be depicted as rounder and brighter.

Today let’s learn about the differences between masculine and feminine anime eyes!


Feminine eyes – The basic shape is rounded

The female skeleton has shallower eye sockets, so creating round, wide eyes results in a more feminine look. Draw the eyelids with a thicker curved line, and make the iris and pupil larger. Adding more highlights will make the eyes appear shiny and bright.

The rounder the overall shape of a female character’s eyes, the more feminine and cute they will appear. Extremely round eyes with sparkling highlights can be found in girls’ “shoujo” manga.

Tips for drawing feminine eyes: focus on the iris

Point 1

Female eyes in cartoons and illustrations can be represented by drawing an exaggerated version of the real human eye, focusing on the iris area.

Point 2

Depending on your preference, you may choose to draw the outer corner of the eye. This can result in a more animal-like look, with more emphasis on the iris.

How to draw almond-shaped eyes for women

By adding one or two feminine features, we can distinguish between male and female characters even when drawing sharper, elongated, almond-shaped eyes. For example, we can curve the eyelids, add more eyelashes, and enlarge the pupils.

Point 1

Soften the eyelid into a gentle curve

Point 2

Draw larger pupils


Masculine eyes – The basic shape is angular

The male skeletal structure typically has deeper eye sockets. Drawing the eyebrows with a straight line and angular shape closer to the eyes creates a more masculine look. Compared to women, men’s eyes tend to be more elongated with smaller irises and pupils. It’s best to use fewer highlights as well.

Making the pupils smaller and showing more of the white of the eyes enhances the masculine look. Simplifying the eyelids and drawing extremely small pupils can create eyes similar to those found in boys’ “shounen” manga.

Tips for drawing men’s eyes

Point 1

To draw masculine eyes, it’s necessary to use parts of the upper eyelid, outer corner, and lower eyelid of the real human eye. You can express a man’s angular skeletal structure by adding a dip/depressed area above the eyelid. Compared to women’s eyes, it’s best to use a little more detail when drawing men’s eyes.


Hope you found these tips useful! Be sure to use them and draw lots of great anime eyes in your work!

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