Remember that this Friday is the first live chat in this community. Remember that you can check the calendar tab to see events like this. I'm looking forward to seeing you there. 6pm NZT ...although I am in a completely different location at the moment! 😄 Also, if you have work that you would like critiqued, I will select one from those I am sent and will post a critique of it. It is a friendly critique. I will tell you what I love - if you created it, it is already winning! - and give you pointers of where to concentrate next or, if you have asked for specific advice, I will answer that. Just click on my profile at the top of this post and DM me with a piece of your work. 💚

Eyes can be tricky to draw and yet they are also the part of the face that draws us to them. I find that understanding the structure of eyes is a really good place to start when you draw them. When you are drawing them in a portrait, you do want to look at them within that larger context, but practising them on their own also hones your skills. This week, I thought I would go through the mechanics of drawing the eye structure and then next week I will be posting about how to go from a basic sketch like this through to a complete eye, shown in the second photo. If you can get an accurate sketch drawn, the dimensional shading will seem much easier. If you look at the sketch I have attached, I show the eyeball and the iris on that and then place the opening of the eyelid so it sits slightly more towards the inner side, next to the nose. The upper lid moves more as it opens, and so it is more curved, and also still covers a quarter or so of the iris. The lower lid stays flatter and shows almost all of the lower part of the iris. I have not shaded this drawing in order to make the mechanics of it stand out. Creating an outline sketch where you just look at the direction and shape of the features is a great exercise. I have just added another video to the bonus content on the paid side of this community which is about drawing eyes at different angles. Here I want to focus on eyes on a portrait facing the front. Have a go at sketching a couple of different eyes and comment below on whether this post helped and what is the hardest part for you. Feel free to post your efforts and/or DM them to me if you would like the chance to get full feedback on Fridays in Critique Corner.