How to Draw Anime Eyelashes Step by Step
This tutorial shows how to draw different types of anime and manga eyelashes from the very simple to the semi-realistic styles.
Eyes are probably the most defining part of the anime style and eyelashes are a very important part of them. This tutorial shows several examples of anime eyelashes and gives some quick tips on drawing them.
Drawing Simple Anime Eyelashes
The most basic types of anime eyelashes are pretty much a solid shapes without any of the individual lashes. Usually these consist of the top and bottom but in some very simplified styles only the top eyelashes may be shown.
Drawing these eyelashes is fairly simple. Start with the outline of their overall shape.
Make the top eyelashes much thicker than the bottom. Be careful not to make the bottom eyelashes too thick or your character may look like they have bags under their eyes or a black eye.
Fill the eyelashes in with black once done with the line drawing.
Above you can see what these types of eyelashes can look like with the eye fully drawing.
For tutorials on drawing the eyes:
Drawing Standard Anime Eyelashes
These are the more common eyelashes with some variation of them seen in most anime and manga where just a few of the individual lashes are shown.
Same as the previous example start by drawing the outline shape of the eyelashes without any of the individual lashes.
Again fill the outline of the eyelashes with black.
Eyelashes generally fan out around the eye so keep this in mind when drawing. Even though you don’t need to show the full transition you should still keep the few eyelashes that are shown pointing in generally the right direction for that part of the eye.
As the eyelashes are so small and simple you can shade and draw them at the same time. Add larger eyelashes to the outer top corners of the eyes and smaller ones to the inner corners and bottom eyelids.
Again you can see what the eyes can look like with these types of eyelashes once fully drawn.
Drawing Semi-Realistic Anime Eyelashes
The semi-realistic eyelashes are fairly rare in anime as they are more time consuming to draw. These are more likely to be seen in manga or on individual art peaces/covers.
Same as the other examples start by drawing the outer shape of the eyelashes but this time draw the top and bottom portion as one shape.
Yet again fill in the outlines of the eyelashes with black.
The eyelashes in this example are fairly thick so you may need to make several strokes for each. Draw them thicker towards the base and thinner toward the ends.
Unlike previous examples make these semi-realistic eyelashes non-symmetrical (different for each eye). To avoid a “doll like” like look also try and draw them at slighlty different intervals from one another and make a few lashes overlap.
Also be sure to draw the eyelashes curved to keep them looking natural. A very common mistake is drawing eyelashes with straight lines.
For more common drawing mistakes and how to fix them see:
Common Mistakes When Drawing Anime & Manga
Above you can again see the fully drawn out eyes this time with the more realistic looking lashes.
Drawing “Light” Anime Eyelashes
These types of eyelashes are similar to the second example but are slightly more rare. They are used for characters where you want the lases to have a lighter color.
Draw these by first outlining their inner shape. You also want to draw fairly thin lines as a thick outline will make these types of eyelashes look odd.
Next you can either lightly draw the outer shape and erase parts of it where you want to add the individual lashes or draw them in right away.
If drawing the entire shape right away try and make sure that the outer curve still stays on track while you draw the individual lashes.
As shown by the blue lines in the above example the the parts of the outer line broken up by the eyelashes still follow the same curve.
For some general tips on good drawing practices see:
Beginner Guide to Drawing Anime & Manga
Once done with the line drawing fill in the eyelashes with light color or shading so that the outlines stay visible.
Characters with light eyelashes also tend to have overall lighter eye/hair color. You can see an example of what this can look like above.
Conclusion
Properly styled eyelashes can make a big difference in achieving an anime looking character. Depending on the style they can also be very easy or a bit complex to draw. If you would like more tutorials related to drawing anime eyes see:
