In the following few posts I’ll try to give some eye-drawing tips, which I hope will help you improve your eye drawing skills.

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Drawing a simple cartoon eye

1. Start with a simple round circle. The circle doesn’t have to be perfect, but the rounder – the better.

2. Eyelids – draw the upper and lower eyelids as  simple curves on the top and the bottom of the first circle. Notice that in the below example I don’t draw them on the exact outline of the circle – their middle part is inside the circle, but close to the outline.

• Why not around the circle? Just take a look at the mirror – you’ll immidietly see that the eyelids are covering the eyeball, but to keep it inside safely they are covering it top and bottom parts.

3.  Iris and pupil area – go over the circle lines which are between the eyelids. Erase the rest of the circle.

4. Pupil – draw a small circle inside the iris area (between the inside lines).

5. Fill our the pupil with color, leaving a small while circle for the light reflection inside the eye. The white circle should be drawn in the side from which the light is directed.

6. Refine the eyelids and add additional 2 lines at the sides of the eye, which will declare where the eyeball ends, and the ‘pink stuff’ inside the eye starts.

7. Eye color – color the entire Iris, except for the pupil of course, with a single color.

8. Extra touch – you can make the eye coloring look more authentic by simple adding light lines which appear to be coming from inside the pupil.

Basically, that’s it. One eye is complete! In the next post I’ll show how to easily draw the second eye, and also make it look similar to the first one. Something like this:

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If your eyes are more like ping pongs with a black spot…

First, don’t worry, you’re not alone. Eyes aren’t an easy thing to draw, and practice is the key. Don’t give up.

But – if you’re really hopeless, you can use some easy tricks to avoid showing the world your poor eye-drawing skills. Just wait for the last ‘How to draw an eye’ post, in which I’ll give some tips made especially for your kind…

So slowly but surely, the need to draw was pushed asside, returning only in long meetings and phone-doodling (you know, doodling circles and funny faces when you’re on looong phone conversations).

Then today an unexpected complement from an illustrator which I really appreciate – Elite Avni, gave me a boost of motivation… Why did I even stop drawing?? So – I’m back :)

Spot The Differences

Ok, so I prommised a new design. If you didn’t already notice – the new design is already live! It’s very similar to the previous one, but hey – it’s really better. can’t you see it?

Well, if you’re like my lovely boyfriend (who said “Yeah, the old one was great. Where’s the new one??” – when looking at the new design…), then let me help you with the ‘before’ and ‘after’ images.

Can you spot the differences? (Hint – there are 7 visible differences!)

How to draw a very simple shoe

When drawing shoes I always use the ‘circles’ method – drawing a basic sketch of the foot shape, and covering it with the shoe. I use this method even if I’m drawing with a free hand, without the use of the circles for the rest of the body, but when it comes to the shoes – I find that the circles are important for me

1. Draw a simple sketch of the heel and the end of the foot. There’s no need to draw the toes or anything, just verify the shape size is in the right proportion, relative to the rest of your cartoon body.
2. Start covering the base with the shoe sides.
3. Add the sole. Don’t forget – almost in the middle, just a bit closer to the heel, there’s always a small bump, unless the shoe is really not orthopedic..
4. Add the top of the shoe,
5. and the lases.
6. Now remove the base circles and add colors. Your done. :)

How to draw a boot

The boot is similar to the simple shoe:

1. Create the base circles.
2. Add the sides of the boot. Remember – the boot top is usually higher than a simple shoe.
3. Add the sole,
4. And another top side of the boot’s end. Yep, it’s a bit tricky, but try a few times and you’ll see, it will be great at the end.
5. Add the lases – in this type of shoe they can be crossed from side to side, so just draw some x’s…
6. And let’s not forget that the lases are long and coming out of the shoe.
7. Just remove the circles and add colors, you’re done:

How to draw a stiletto shoe

Drawing a high heel shoe is a bit different than the regular flat shoe on it’s variations, but in my oppinion – it’s much more fun!

1. In this particular example I used a different kind of basic circle, it’s actually a triangle. The heel is raised a bit, so it can become a high heeled shoe…
2. Add the sides of the shoe.
3. The bottom has a heel – don’t forget it.
4. In a high heel shoe the end of the shoe is narrow – only the end of the toes are in there.
5. There’s a wide open top.
6. Add some color, and you’re done.

Enjoy!

that’s the final image:

You’re welcome to view the speed drawing video of Santa Clause, drawn only with a Photoshop and a wacom pen. This is my best drawing so far, enjoy:

Our final image will be this lovely girl with huge hair, no chin:

The nose is the foundation!

The ‘No chin’ cartoons always start as a nose. According to the nose outcome, I decide which type of personality my ‘no chin’ cartoon will have: a fat nose usually turns out as an old man, a small and cute nose is a child or a delicate maiden, a strong pointy nose can be a teacher’s nose… the possibilities are endless!

So – start by drawing a nose. any nose. Than, add eyes. make sure to make them in the right perspective – if The head is turning to one side, the eye in that side will be just a bit smaller than the one in the other side. Now you can add the pupils and even eyebrows and you’re done with the first part:

In many times I draw the eyebrows when the entire face is complete. They can give the face a better expression.

Put a smile on your face

complete the facial expression with a smile. The outcome will be as follows:

The simple smile above is drawn in 3 simple steps:

1. Start with the middle line, which will provide the lips’ expression. Draw it from left to right so that in the end the line will go up – making a smile.

2. Add volume to the lips – the upper lip is usually thinner than the lower lip.

The face outlines trick

The ‘no chin’ cartoon faces are so simple to draw because there is a trick – it has no chin!! This cartoon’s faceial outlines are 2 straight lines by the sides of the face, 2 ears in the sides and hair. That’s it, simple as that.

After creating the face basic parts – eyes, nose, mouth, Now you need to add these 2 outlines to give the face it’s surroundings, and than add 2 ears:

After you’re done with this part, you’re almost done with the cartoon face. Add the last details:

Hair Hair Hair

Hair is very easy to draw (and I proved that on the cartoon girl’s hair tutorial and on the cartoon guy’s hair tutorial). In this case my cartoon has an Afro hairstyle.

Drawing Afro, or any hair, in one brush stroke is very difficult. I usually do this in steps, as you can see in the next images – decide where the hair part will be, and than start drawing the hair from that location to the right and left.

Than, add the connection between the face and the hair, and that’s it – you’re done!