How to Draw Anime Eyes and Eye Expressions

Posted on by animeoutline

This tutorial explains the specifics of anime eyes and illustrates how to draw anime eyes with different expressions in the front view.

The tutorial first explains how to create eyes with an anime look and then explains how to change their various parts to achieve different emotions.

The guide features a total of eight common eye expressions that you are likely to see in anime and manga. These include:

Normal – eyes in their natural and relaxed state
Sad/Upset – eyes of a character that is feeling down
Angry – eyes that show a character that is unhappy
Surprised/Scared – eyes that show a reaction to something unexpected
Bored/Indifferent – eyes that show a lack of interested
Really Surprised/Scared – eyes that show shock or amazement
Shy – eyes that show a shy personality or embarrassment
Happy – eyes with a happy or content look

Generally the different factors that determine the expression of the eyes are:

The position and shape of the eyebrows
The position of the pupils
The position of the eyelids

You can see how these are change throughout the different examples shown below (using the normal expression as a basis).

There is a also a quick guide at the end that shows how to place the eyes on the head.

How to Draw Eyes to Look Anime

When drawing anime eyes you will want to make them big and wide in comparison to real eyes. Define their shapes with the eyelashes and draw these with fairly solid outlines (only adding hints of individual lashes). You can normally make the eyebrows fairly thin and simple.

For drawing different kinds of anime/manga eyebrows see:

How to Draw Anime & Manga Eyebrows

Anime eyes often have oval shaped irises/pupils. However, this is not always the case. You can also draw them with more realistic round irises if you prefer.

When drawing the eyes (with any expression) try and space them far enough apart that you have the width of roughly one eye in between them (as shown above). Depending on your level as an artist this is definitely something to watch out for as it’s a fairly common mistake to improperly place the eyes when redrawing them with a different expression.

Drawing Anime Eyes With Their Normal Expression

Before drawing anime eyes with a particular emotion it’s a good idea to have an understanding of what they look like in their normal state. This first example acts as a basis for all of the other expressions in this tutorial. As such, it’s covered in slightly more detail than the rest. However, you can use pretty much the same or similar steps for drawing all of the other expressions. Just change the shapes of the different parts of the eyes as described.

Step 1 – Outline the Main Shapes of the Eyes

Start by outlining the shapes of the eyelashes, irises and eyebrows.

For a normal expression draw the irises partially covered by the top eyelids while just touching the bottom eyelids. Draw the eyebrows in light curves with their inner ends just slightly lower down than their outer ends.

Step 2 – Draw the Pupils and the Reflections

Anime eyes reflections and pupils line drawing

After you’ve outlined the larger parts of the eyes draw their smaller details. Inside the irises add the pupils along with a pair of reflections inside each eye.

The reflections generally depend on the number of light sources. Generally you can just go with two, a larger one for the main light source and a smaller one for a secondary light source.

For example if you are drawing a character that is standing outside on a sunny day the main reflection in the eyes could be caused by the sun while the secondary could come from the sun reflecting off of another object.

Step 3 – Add Shading

Once you have all parts of the eyes outlined add some shading. Generally you can pretty much make everything excluding the inner part of the iris and the reflections black.

Leave the reflections white and make the irises grey. If you want to color the drawing than simply make the irises any color you like (instead of the grey). Unlike real eyes you can make anime eyes just about any color you like.

For a more detailed guide dedicated to drawing anime eyes with a normal expression see:

How to Draw Anime Eyes (Normal Expression)

Drawing Angry Anime Eyes

For an angry look draw the eyebrows with their inner ends pointing down and wave like shapes . Draw the top eyelids lowered (especially with their inner ends) and draw the pupils slightly rolled up.

For a more detailed tutorial on drawing (slightly different) angry looking anime or manga eyes see:

How to Draw Angry Anime Eyes (8 Steps)

Drawing Bored Anime Eyes

For a bored look draw the pupils rolled up and the top eyelids slightly lowered. Also, draw the inner ends of the eyebrows very slightly raised.

For a step by step tutorial on drawing slightly different looking bored anime/manga eye see:

How to Draw Bored Anime or Manga Eyes

Drawing Shy or Embarrassed Anime Eyes

For a shy or embarrassed look draw the eyes looking down. To achieve this draw the irises lower down with large portions of their lower ends covered by the bottom eyelids. Also, draw the top eyelids slightly lowered.

Drawing Sad Anime Eyes

For a sad look make the eyes much narrower. Draw the bottom eyelids curved upwards. Draw the outer edges of the eyebrows lower down and draw their overall shapes with less of a curve than for a normal expression.

For a full tutorial on drawing sad anime eye see:

How to Draw Sad Anime & Manga Eyes

Drawing Surprised Anime Eyes

For a surprised look draw the eyes wide open with the eyebrows raised (especially the inner ends). Draw the irises not touching the lower eyelids. The wider you draw the eyes and the farther you raise the eyebrows the more surprised the character will look.

For a detailed tutorial on drawing eyes with a surprised expression in a slightly different way see:

How to Draw Surprised Anime or Manga Eyes

Drawing Scared Anime Eyes

For a scared look draw the eyes wide open and the eyebrows raised. Make the pupils much smaller than normal and leave some space between them and the eyelids (on both top and bottom). The smaller you draw the pupils the more scared your character will look.

For an in depth guide on drawing scared anime eyes (with updated art) see:

How to Draw Scared Anime or Manga Eyes

Drawing Happy/Content Anime Eyes

To show a happy or content anime eye expression draw them closed with the eyelids/eyelashes in upwards curves. Draw the eyebrows with their inner end higher up than the outer ends.

This is the easiest example of the tutorial as there are very few details for this particular expression.

For a more in depth guide on drawing anime eyes with a happy expression (in a slightly different way) see:

How to Draw Happy Anime or Manga Eyes

Placing Anime or Manga Eyes on the Head

Real eyes are located roughly in the middle of the head. Anime eyes are often draw much farther down the head. An easy way to place them on the head is to first draw a horizontal line through it’s middle (as shown in the example above). You can then draw the eyes directly below this line.

It’s important to note that if the eyes are closed or squinted the top eyelashes will need to be drawn lower down than the guide line. If the eyes are wide open then their upper ends will need to be drawn higher up.

Conclusion

When drawing anime eyes with different expressions it’s good to keep two things in mind. One is the specifics of the style and the other is what the eyes look like with their normal expression. By sticking to the style you will be able to properly maintain an anime/manga look and by knowing the normal expression of the eyes you will have something to base the other expression off of.

The examples shown in this tutorial can give you a good basis for creating eyes with an anime look and for drawing them in a way that shows different emotions. However, also keep in mind that there are plenty of variations in the style and that different artists may do things differently.

For more information on drawing anime and manga eyes you can also check:

For specifics of drawing male and female anime eye see:

For drawing various facial expressions check out: