HOW I DO MY ANIME EYES ...

NOT FOR PHOTOSHOP BEGINNERS. You must already know the various tools in photoshop to be able to use this. I've already tried my best to make this as simple as possible.

STEP 1: I have a pencil sketch which I scan in. I prefer scanning in my drawing because usually the proportion is much better, and because I don't have a tablet

STEP 2: Draw the eyelid in a new layer, which I name eyelid_1. Draw the pupil outline in a layer below it, which I name eyeball.

STEP 3: I create a new layer between eyelid_1 and eyeball, and name it GLEAM. gleam depends on the source and strength of light. Here I used Gaussian blur (Filter-blur-Gaussian blur).

DO YOU KNOW? Using Gaussian blur allows for greater even-ness in the blurring compared to blurring by hand (unless you only want to blur part of the area and not the whole thing. However, you can also use the lasso tool and blur certain areas using the Gaussian blur as well.

STEP 4: I shaded the eyes. Layers from top to bottom: pupil: I used the pen tool to select and delete this, feather 3-5. Iris: Red (since I'm doing a red eye) Base: Black (not shown here)

STEP 5: I deleted and blurred part of the outline of the Iris.

STEP 6: Now ... create a new normal layer underneath the fill layers, and, using a brush/pen tool, colour the base of the eye white (or any colour you desire). Use the blur tool to blur the border so it looks more natural. I will name this eye white.

STEP 7: I duplicate the eye white layer, make it into grey, and delete part of it to create the shadow underneath the eye. I merge both layers.

STEP 8: I add in the eyelashes and double eyelids. You may skip this if you don't want to add any.

STEP 9: Using the lasso tool at feather 10-20, I select and delete part of the iris. This step can be skipped if you're pleased with the iris look in step 5.

STEP 10: OK it's finished now! There're many different styles to anime drawing, and you can ater this tutorial to suit your different needs. Once you're experienced in photoshop, you can look at a digital artwork and know how it is done.

EDIT - 27 sep 2005: I've upgraded the tutorial

Thanks for the viewing/commenting/favs!