Adult Features—Eyes & Lips

The eyes are the most important feature for achieving a likeness to your subject. They also play a large part in communicating the person’s mood or emotion. You can become skilled at drawing eyes by practicing the examples on this page.

After blocking in the basic shapes, begin shading to create the form. Pay particular attention to the planes of the face around the eyes. The shading should indicate the eyes’ depth and indentation into the face. A sharp pencil is useful for creating the creases and corners of the eyes. The shading should gradually become lighter as you move away from the eyes.

The eye is a sphere, so the eyelid and the skin beneath the eye should be drawn over the sphere.

Pay particular attention to the highlights (white or very light areas) in the eyes. They bring life and realism to the drawing.

When drawing lips, it is important to observe their form closely. Familiarize yourself with the various planes of the lips. When shading, pay particular attention to the location of the highlights, because they enhance the lips’ fullness and form.

Shade in the direction of the planes of the lips.

When shading a man’s lips, keep the value light to prevent the mouth from appearing as though it’s covered with lipstick.