Human eye drawn in black and gray fineliner on pale cream textured sketchbook paper, with a complete silhouette and open margins.
Drawing referenceAbout reference use

Human eye fine ink study

One human eye and eyebrow in three-quarter view, coherent upper and lower lids wrapping a visible iris. Practice form, overlap and selective shading in fine ink.

PeopleMediumFineliner40 min, at your pace
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A way into the drawing

  1. Establish the main shapes

    Set the eye opening and iris position.

  2. Connect the structure

    Wrap the lids around the eye and place the brow above.

  3. Develop the drawing

    Use selective interior marks and local shadow groups to explain the overlaps. Keep the lighter planes open rather than shading every surface.

A small thing to tryLet the upper lid overlap the top of the iris.