Eyes study

Hey everyone..
I once heard that if you have difficulty with a subject, you should draw it like 1,000 times and then you probably won't have problem with it, so I started an eye challenge (I don't know if I'll go for the 1,000) and I'd like to hear critiques and suggestions on how to improve (And how to draw two eyes equal).



1 and 2 are from my imagination, the rest are from references from google.
7 is from a different angle ( Reference ).

I'm planning on moving to lips/noses after that

Hello! I don't see too much problem with the ones you've drawn.

So, being picky, (and of course, I can't see it when I'm typing this, so, I might have the details wrong) There's two 'pair' of eyes and some loners. The pairs are slightly too close together, if you're going for strict realism. I'm sure you know the eyeball rule for proportions - the space between the eyes is about the same size as the eye itself.

I think you're overthinking the lashes a bit, too, not on all of them, but one in particular seemed like you were trying really hard to draw each individual lash, and it seemed awkward in comparison to the rest of the eye, and in comparison to the others as well.

I'm sure the more illustrious artists here will have better/more advice for you, but I think you must be close to your thousand already! ha ha!


edited to add that 7 is the one with the dodgy eyelashes. There's no variation in the thickness of each mark, whereas the other lashes do have that variation.

Thank you for the crit

I know that the eyes should have one eye space between them, I don't know why I didn't check it in my sketchbook (ops?),
but I still don't know how to draw them equal, every time one eye looks good while the other looks weird.

And about the lashes.. I actually loved 7 the most ^^", so if it's wrong what should i do with it?
Is there some technique for drawing good lashes?

oh, sorry about that! The dangers of critique. So, what I see in 7 compared to the others is that the lashes aren't varied. They all have the same weight and thickness of the pencil line. In the other eyes, do varying degrees, some of the lashes are softer, they taper off or fade out, the line starts thick, then gets thin - that sort of thing. Makes it look more dynamic. In 7, by taking the time to get each lash just right, it looks like you've lost that organic flow. It's super easy to do when you're trying to 'perfect' a thing.

Also, in regards to drawing eyes and having one different than the other, most often, if you're doing portraits, you won't be doing a full on symmetrical face, so it won't be a huge issue. Funny thing, if you are doing a straight front view and you copy, flip and paste one eye to the other side, it looks wrong.
what sort of look are you going for? super realistic? This guy has a good tutorial www.onlypencil.com/blog/tutorials/drawing-the-human-eye/

edited to add that I think #3 is my favourite.

The problem I find with most tutorials about drawing or painting eyes, is that they are only really appropriate if your only drawing or painting eyes outwith the context of the whole face. They tend towards unnecessary overworking.

We don't need to examine closely every eyelash or eyebrow hair to know that they are there, so we don't need to draw them individually either - all you need is an indication of hairs or lashes, and the brain does the rest.

I've always been more of a subscriber to the more impressionistic styles of the likes of John Singer Sargent and Gil Elvgren.

Yes to both Charlotte and Em! Less is more for the most part. I did ask about the style because if sapirlapid is going for photorealistic, then the advice needs to change. (to something I couldn't possibly help with as I have no interest or skill in that sort of thing)

Thanks everyone for the replies! (Even Charlotte replied my little thread.. I'm prod )
Ok, first I wanted photorealistic, but now after what you said.. maybe a simpler form would do the trick!
I loved Gil Elvgren's art, very vivid
I wanted something like these:



But I don't know the technique for the simpler eyelashes. Should I just draw one big black shape and just few individual hair lines? (I couldn't find anything in google)

Also some ImagineFX covers I liked (The eyes): Snow white (Yeah! I got snow white's version ), Manga Art and more:




So I know some are manga but the eyes looks realistic..

What kind of pencil are you using, and how do you hold it?

It's been a while since I drew anything with a pencil, but I always found that a soft, dark lead (6B or similar) held sideways was best for a looser, more impressionistic effect

The way I hold the pencil varies by what I want to do.. Sometimes I hold it so I move my shoulder and not my wrist and sometimes the other way.

url=http://www.proko.com/how-to-hold-and-control-your-pencil/]Source[/url

And here's a new piece I made on my old iPad:

But I don't know the technique for the simpler eyelashes. Should I just draw one big black shape and just few individual hair lines? (I couldn't find anything in google)

So I'm still looking for tips/tricks/cheats/whatever