How To Draw Closed Eyes easy with this how-to video and step-by-step drawing instructions. Pencil drawing tutorials for beginners and everyone.
Please see the drawing tutorial in the video below
You can refer to the simple step-by-step drawing guide below
Step 1
Determine the size of the eyes Determine the size you want for an eye and use 2 ticks to mark the limits of this eye. Use a ruler to draw a horizontal line through the ticks and down the right side of the page. Then measure the first space and multiply it by 3. You should now end up with 3 equal spaces running horizontally across your sketchbook.
Step 2
Draw circles Draw a circle for each eye. Make sure each circle fits within the boundaries.
Step 3
Determine the angle of each eye Determine the slant angle of the eyes and draw a line through each circle, making sure the angles are similar. Watch the video to learn how.
Step 4
Draw the shapes of the eyes Draw the inner and outer corners of each eye at the intersection of the oblique line and the circle. The inner corner of each eye should be deeper and darker than the outer corner or tail of the eye. When drawing the tail crease, let your lines become lighter instead of having a hard edge. Finally, draw a set of curves to form the eyelids.
Step 5
Draw the shape of each eyebrow Use my eye shadow technique to draw a set of eyebrows. I like to draw the eyebrows just above the circles and slightly wider than each eye. In the video I show you a technique for matching the eyebrows as well as where to draw the arch. We will detail the eyebrows later. Let’s take the next step!
Step 6
Shading Before shading, make sure the guidelines you drew in steps 1-3 are only slightly visible. You can use your kneaded eraser to roll a layer of graphite over these areas. Let’s start by shading the upper eyelids. Use the side of your pencil to shade an almond-like shape. The circle around each eye can help you see if your shading on the right eye is similar to the left eye. If you want to draw details like dark circles under the eyes, you can use the circles as a guide. Watch the video for an example. Add some light shading for the bridge of the nose. When you’re done, erase what’s left of each circle.
Step 7
Shade the rest of the face Shade the rest of the face. You can use these two tutorials to learn more about shading: How to Shade and Pencil Shading Techniques How to Shade a Face: The Ultimate Tutorial.
Step 8
Draw the eyebrows Here I switched to my 4B 0.5mm lead. Starting at the bottom of each eyebrow, draw upward strokes. Be sure to lift your pencil at the end of each stroke to make the hairs look more realistic. For a super detailed tutorial on this, check out this tutorial. At the top of each eyebrow, draw downward strokes. Add a few hairs down the middle if they still look bare. This step is very subtle, but also very important. Use an HB pencil to shade directly under each brow. Make sure the transition is gradual. Now brows look like they belong, instead of just glued to the skin.
Step 9
Adding Lines to Eyelids This step is optional… but it’s super fun, so why not do it too? This one is more of a crease than a wrinkle. When the eyes open, a crease forms on the eyelid. Use an H pencil and the lightest pressure to draw two creases. The darker you draw them, the deeper they will appear. Draw a row of curved diagonal lines along the edge of each eyelid. This area of the skin is very thin and wrinkles when the skin is pulled. You will also want to use an H pencil for this. Depending on where the light is coming from in your drawing, blend the opposite side of each drawn diagonal line. For example: in this design, the light comes from the top, so the side of each wrinkle that faces the light will be left alone, while the side opposite the light will need to be blended. Unless you’re drawing this on a large scale, avoid using a blending stump as the tip won’t be fine enough for this job. Instead, use an H and HB pencil to create a nice gradient along each wrinkle. Using a kneaded eraser, go over the areas of each wrinkle that face the light and gently dab with the pinched end of your kneaded eraser to lift a thin line of graphite. Highlights should appear brighter and wrinkles should become more apparent and shapely.
Step 10
Draw the eyelashes To begin, draw 3 eyelashes for each eye. One on the far left, far right, and another in the middle. The eyelashes should unfurl away from each other. If you want to be really careful, lightly line the lashes with an H or HB pencil to start. Once you are okay with the placement, curvature and length etc, go over it with a darker pencil like a 4B. Here I used a 0.5mm 4B lead. Take your time to fill in the spaces in between. It is normal for some eyelashes to touch each other. It’s actually more natural when they form triangles or even intersect. Finally, use an HB or 2B pencil to smudge directly under the upper eyelid to create a light cast shadow from the lashes. This is my first time doing a written tutorial + video tutorial and I want to know what you think! Do you like videos alongside my usual stuff? Does this enlighten you or would you prefer the video tutorial to be done another way? Your feedback is always appreciated and will help me improve the tutorials further 🙂 I will also be working on creating videos for previous tutorials. So if you’re not subscribed to me on YouTube, click here. Youtube won’t notify you when I post new videos unless you also tap the bell icon next to the subscribe button, so don’t forget to click that too.