So today I felt like doing a bit of sketching, and I settled on trying to draw an eye. Just one of those practice things, you know?
First thing, I grabbed my stuff. Didn’t need anything fancy. Just a regular pencil, the kind you use for writing, and a plain sheet of paper from my notepad. Oh, and an eraser, definitely needed that.
Getting Started with the Shape
I started off by lightly sketching the main shape of the eye. You know, that sort of almond shape. Took me a couple of tries to get the curves looking okay, not too pointy, not too round. Just wanted a basic outline to build on.
Adding the Inner Bits
Once I had the outline, I drew the circle for the iris inside it. Tried to make it touch the top lid slightly, like eyes usually do. Then, right in the middle, I put in the pupil. Made that darker straight away. And I remembered to leave a little white spot, that highlight thing, to make it look a bit shiny and not flat. Makes a big difference, I think.
Trying to Add Some Depth
This part is always a bit hit-or-miss for me. I started shading the iris. I put some lines coming out from the pupil towards the edge of the iris. Tried to vary the pressure, make some areas darker than others, give it that texture eyes have. Then I added some soft shading inside the white part of the eye, especially in the corners, so it looked more like a ball shape and less like a sticker on the paper.
Tackling Lashes and the Brow
Okay, eyelashes. I always find these fiddly. I started with the top lashes, making quick little curved strokes coming off the eyelid. Tried to make them different lengths and directions so they didn’t look too uniform, like a cartoon. Added fewer, shorter ones on the bottom lid. Then, just quickly sketched in a rough shape for an eyebrow above it all, just to frame the eye a bit.
Wrapping It Up
I spent a few minutes just looking at it, tweaking things. Erased a few stray marks, darkened the pupil a bit more, maybe blended a shaded area slightly with my finger (though sometimes that just makes a mess). It’s definitely not perfect, far from what you see proper artists do, but you can tell it’s an eye. It was good practice, just working through the steps. Felt good to just sit down and draw for a bit.
