How to Draw Anime “Love Eyes” (With Hearts)

Posted on by animeoutline

This tutorial shows how to draw “in love” anime or manga style eyes with hearts in them. The guide consist of eight steps with illustrated examples as well as a line by line drawing video.

This type of an eye expression can be seen on a character that is in love, very exited about or obsessed with someone or something. The object of their affection can often be a person they know and like, a celebrity they admire or an item they wish to have. The person or item does not necessarily need to be in front of them, they can be daydreaming about or imagining it.

For these eyes with their normal expression see:

How to Draw Anime Eyes (Normal Expression)

Unless drawing digitally it’s recommended that you start the tutorial in pencil and make light and easy to erase lines. You can darken them later on before shading the drawing.

Above is a video that show how to draw the “love eyes” line by line. You can watch it for a more in depth demonstration of the drawing process. You should also read the additional explanations and instructions below.

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Step 1 – Draw the Outline of the Eyes

Begin the drawing with an outline of the overall shape of each eye. For anime eyes this is basically the outer shapes of the eyelashes.

Draw the outlines slightly narrower than you would for a normal expression with the bottom eyelids/eyelashes curved very slightly upwards.

Space the eyes far enough apart that there is a distance roughly equal to the width of one eye in between them.

For the proportions of an entire anime face see:

How to Draw an Anime Face (Structure & Proportions)

Step 2 – Outline the Eyelashes

Draw the inner ends of the upper eyelashes to finish their outlines. You can leave the bottom eyelashes as a single line.

Step 3 – Draw the Irises

As these are anime eyes the irises in the example are oval in shape. Also, because for this expression the upper eyelids are lowered and the bottom eyelids are raised they will cover more of the irises (compared to the eye in their normal/relaxed state). Keep this in mind when drawing.

Step 4 – Draw the Eyebrows

To further help show the “in love” expression draw the eyebrows with their inner ends slightly raised and curved upwards.

This example uses a fairly simple and common eyebrows. For other eyebrow variations done in the anime/manga style see:

How to Draw Anime & Manga Eyebrows

Step 5 – Draw the Inner Details

For the most defining feature of the “love eyes” draw the heart shaped pupils. Try and position them roughly in the center of each iris.

For drawing other things related to showing affections see:

How to Draw Anime Kissing Lips & Face Tutorial

For another similar eye expression also see:

How to Draw Excited Anime or Manga Eyes

Step 6 – Draw the Eyelids

Add a hints of the eyelids with a small curves near the inner end of each eye.

Step 7 – Add Hints of Individual Lashes

For the last step of the line drawing you can give the eyes a little more detail by creating hints of individual eyelashes. Draw these much thicker than you would for real eyes and only add a few of them towards the outer/upper end of each eye.

Draw the shape of each lash with a curve. Also, make them thicker at the base and thinner as they go out ending with a pointy tips. Please note that if you want a simpler drawing you can leave these out entirely.

For different ways to draw anime eyelashes see:

How to Draw Anime Eyelashes Step by Step

Once done adding all parts of the eyes you can trace over your drawing with darker lines (as mentioned at the start of the tutorial).

Step 8 – Darken & Shade the Excited Eyes Drawing

To shade the eyes fill in the eyebrows, eyelashes and the upper ends of the irises with black (or dark pencil shading). Make the lower ends of the irises grey (using lighter pencil shading) and leave the hearts white. The white hearts will stand out against the darker background of the irises putting more emphasis on them.

If you wish to color the eyes then make the bottom parts of the irises whatever color you like and make the hearts pink.

For an example of eyes with color see (near the bottom of the guide):

How to Draw Female Anime Eyes Tutorial

Conclusion

Eyes with hearts in them are a very common expression used to show “love” in anime and manga. As mentioned, the expression is not limited to showing actual love for another person but can also be used to convey intense interest or desire for something.

Drawing the “in love” expression is fairly easy as the hearts can simply be used to replace the pupils as well as any highlights/reflections that the eyes might otherwise have.

For more similar guides also be sure to look at: