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In the illustration courses I have taken I found general facial anatomy almost completely disregarded. We possibly spent one day on drawing a face, though it was never in depth. I guess you could call that day dumbed down anatomy: ”A face has 2 eyes, one nose located between and below the two eyes, and one mouth located below the nose.” That sort of thing. (Yes, that is a bit of an exaggeration. If that was the only instruction we received I’m sure there would have been far more Picasso-style faces handed in at the end of the semester). As I have stated before, there are some excellent illustration/anatomy books available to buy on this subject. However I realize not everyone can buy an outrageously priced text book, so I thought I would share the very basics. If you are trying to draw an eye do not fall into the trap of forcing as much realism into it as possible, that usually only ends in frustration. I struggle with realism just as much as the next person… which may be why I love fashion illustration, sometimes the crazier and less realistic it is the better.
This tutorial will be divided into two sections: drawing an eye and eye placement in the face.
1. Simple anatomy of an eye: The eye is completely round, including the iris and pupil. The iris is never one solid color, but a myriad of many colors overlapping again and again, giving it vivid depth and life, and the pupil is always in the center of the iris.
2. When the eye opening is drawn you will never see the full circle of the iris since the rim cuts at least one edge off.
**If you draw an iris without cutting an edge off the effect tends to look like the character being drawn is in shock. This is generally a big NO! (Unless you are trying to draw someone in absolute shock and terror… then by all means go ahead).
Drawing an eye:
1. Start with the rim of the eye opening. Eyes tend to be shaped like an almond with the inner corners (the ones closest to the nose) dipping just slightly for the tear duct.
2. Add the iris (remember, it is hinted as a perfect circle but at least one edge needs to be cut off) and faint lines for the eyelids. In an illustration only the upper lid really needs to be drawn, which is perfectly fine since the level of detail is minimal. If you are aiming for realism you must add a bottom lid. The eye has two flaps of skin covering it, one on the top and one on the bottom. If you add this one element to the drawing your eyes will actually look slightly 3-dimensional.
3. Detail the iris and pupil. The pupil is always directly centered in the iris, though it varies in size depending on the lighting. The iris tends to get darker as it moves towards the pupil. Another element of detail that should be included (even in a simple illustration) is a reflection of light. This reflection generally covers both the iris and pupil, not just one or the other.
4. Eyelashes tend to make the rim of the eye darker and the final illustration more glamorous. They also tend to never flow in the same direction, but will slightly overlap. It is personal preference whether they are drawn thick or thin. For a hint of realism add a small mark to the inner corner of the eye to further emphasize the tear duct.
5. Simplifying the eye: Realistically eyes have massive amounts of detail, but in a fashion illustration you rarely see that much detail in a face. So we have to simplify. I have found one of the easiest things to do is create two lines for the rim and a black spot for the iris with a dip in one corner (indicating the light reflection). It’s easy, fast, and still looks like an eye even though it is small.
Yay! Now you can go have ice cream… or a popsicle. Enjoy!
