Eyes really are the windows to the soul. The expression in the eyes is the first thing that people look at in real life as well as in fashion illustration. Eyes instantly express a person’s mood and can convey a haughty, happy, or distant look. There’s no end to the looks you can give your fashion creations through their eyes. Eyes should never be boring!


To create simple eyes from the front view, start by drawing an oval with a face grid.

Add a neck for a nice effect. Draw the eye(s) on the horizontal guide line and about halfway between the center vertical line and the edge of the face.

The eye shape dips down in the front and then curves up and over the little pupil. It ends in another little pointed shape. To create a bit of shine, the pupil is a crescent shape rather than a full circle.

Add some long, dramatic eyelashes, always pulling and curving to the outside corner of the eye.

The eyes can look messy or fake; the point of simple eyes is to quickly throw an eye on the face.


To draw a more detailed eye, start with a circle to represent the iris (the colored part of the eye).

For the pupil, draw a small circle in the center of the iris. Fill in the pupil with black, leaving a small white area for shine.

For the outside of the eye, draw an almond shape that cuts off the top third of the iris circle and extends past the circle. Add detail inside the iris circle, such as lines radiating out from the black pupil. Keep the inside corner of the eye (the side by the nose) small and pointed, and keep the other side of the eye wider. Draw a tiny circle at the inside corner of the eye.

Erase the top of the iris circle that extends above the almond shape and then shade the inside of the iris slightly. For the lower lashes, add small curved lines around the bottom lid to the corner of the eye.

For the upper eyelid, add a line that follows the same curve as the almond shape; lightly shade in the upper eyelid. Add lots of curved eyelashes on the top part of the eye, extending farther as the lines near the outside corner.

Finish the look with an eyebrow.


Try a few more types of eyes.

Eyes can be angled, sloping up or down with as much eyelid as you want to show. Get the angled look by tilting the almond shape of the eye.

Eyes can be rounded and wide, with the bottom line missing for a very youthful look. Accomplish this by rounding out the top of the almond shape and erasing the bottom line.

Eyes can be long and thin with hardly any eyelid and small amounts of the iris showing. Achieve this look by straightening out the top of the almond shape.


Give your fashion women eyebrows.

Draw an arched brow with only one pencil line above the eyelid. You can draw the arch as high as you like. This look is reminiscent of the historical and current styles in which women plucked their eyebrows and drew them in. Think movie stars from the’30s.

Draw a high arch above and following the curve of the eyelid. This line is more angled and gives the face a sultry, confident look. The arch is about as high as the eye is wide. You can make this line thin or thick.

For drama, draw the same high arch but extend it a bit lower to form a tear shape near the inner corner of the eye. This look creates a dramatic face.

Experiment with high and low arches; varying the height of the arch creates a completely different personality. You can also experiment with smooth, rounded arches versus angled, pointy arches. A rounded arch tends to make the face look young, and a pointy arch gives the face a more mature look.


Give your fashion men eyebrows.

Draw a very slight curve above a guy’s eyelid. Follow the shape and length of the eyelids to get the perfect man brow. Most guys don’t pluck or wax, so you don’t need much of an arch.

Fill in the curve with a series of short crisscrossed lines that create the eyebrow.

A masculine brow can be more trimmed, too, so you can also make the brow more solid — it’s all about the look you want to create!


Add eyelashes for a finishing touch.

Eyelashes are a fashion frill, especially for women, but men and children can use them, too; otherwise, their eyes may have that not-quite-finished look.

Vary the length of the lashes to avoid the centipede look.

Eyelashes are longer at the outer corner of each eye.

For an extra “wow” look, make the upper lashes much longer at the outer corner of the eyelid.