Drawing and Painting Eyes
I’ve sketched people all my life, usually portraits. I love to draw and/or paint eyes, which can portray mood and emotion. Here are some tips I’ve learned, which may help you.
Sketch with the paper at a 90 degree angle to your line of sight. If the paper is flat on a table, the face will be too long. Worse yet, if the paper is at an angle you would use for writing, the sketch will be stretched diagonally!
Placement of eyes is crucial, and the most challenging part for me. The adult eyes are halfway between the top of the head and the chin. For a baby, the eyes are about 2/3 down from the top of the head. A child’s eyes are somewhere between 1/2 to 2/3 from the top of the head, depending on the age of the child.
Note whether the person’s face is tilted up or down. The head is somewhat egg-shaped, and to look natural, the eyes are in sockets placed on a circular plane.
Children’s eyes are relatively larger in proportion to the face, than the eyes of an adult. Also, the iris and pupils appear larger. This is because the eye is full size when the child is born. A baby’s eyes have more of a round shape.
The space between the eyes is approximately the width of the eye. This is true for adults, children and babies.
The direction of light on the face will determine where the light will hit the eyes, and where to save white to highlight the eyes.
Before you begin to sketch, observe and note the color of the eyes, set of the eyes, and shape of the eyelids. Can you see white below the iris? Also note the color and length of lashes. I seldom use black paint for lashes, as it looks too harsh, even if the person has dark lashes, or uses black makeup on lashes.
Now, let’s get started!
You can practice drawing or painting with the face directly toward you. Then try a picture with the face looking up or down, or turned at a 3/4 angle. I think placement of the eyes is the most challenging part of drawing the eye. However, with practice you will become more confident and proficient.
Note: when drawing the eyes of an animal, bird, fish or reptile, identify whether the subject is a predator or prey. The eyes are placed on the side of the head for prey, and in the front of the face for predators. This enables non-predators to have great peripheral vision to watch for danger, and for predators to really focus on prey. The Creator thought of everything!