Tutorial: Manga/Anime Eyes

Here I'm giving a few examples of eyes that I draw for my characters, and as you can see, they are all quite similar to a certain degree. Many comments I receive about my artwork is about the eyes. Why are they so big? Easy, to EMPHASIZE emotion. Through the use of complex and stimulating facial expressions that manga/anime artist is able to convey a great deal of emotion to the observer without words. As it is said, Eyes are the windows to the soul, and this is true for manga/anime characters as well. A skilled artist can create the feeling an evil or a benign character just with the eyes.

Let's get started. First, I'll cover drawing a feminine type eye. This is a basic template, so to speak, that you can use to branch off of. The eye is basically made up of two parabola shaped line and the top and bottom; and then immediately closed off at either end.

Next is the more masculine eye which has a more rectangular shape than the feminine eye. If you need a tough guy this is the eye to use. Notice the "untrimmed" eyebrows.

Neutronite