How to Draw Hyper Realistic Eye | Tutorial for BEGINNERS

Hi, welcome back. In this video I'm gonna show you how to draw a mixed media hyper-realistic eye using colored and graphite pencils. The drawing itself may look like some advanced level stuff but believe me the process is really simple and if you follow along I'm sure you will definitely get satisfactory results from this even if you are a beginner. So grab your tools and let's get started. So for the graphite portion of this drawing I'm gonna use these but you can use any other graphite pencils that you have. Just grab these four pencils B, 3B, 5B and 9B and you are good to go. And for the colored portion I recently bought this Faber-Castell Polychromos colored pencil box of 60 because I received so many suggestions and requests from you guys. I always use beginner level art supplies because they are easily available anywhere around the world. But for this specific drawing I'll be using these artist grade colored pencils just to review them and see if it's all about using expensive art supplies or does the skill level and practice really matters. I hope you got my point here. So anyways I've also uploaded the equivalence chart of Polychromos and Faber-Castell classic colored pencils on my Patreon profile. So you can also use the Faber-Castell classic colored pencil instead of the Polychromos. There will be no difference at all. So I'm already done with this rough outline here and I always use grid method to draw these outlines or freehand in this specific case. It's really difficult to match the outlining process with the actual tutorial without making it unnecessarily long. So I always upload the reference images, outline drawings and real-time videos on my Patreon profile. You can find the links in the description down below. So for this eye drawing I'm gonna fill the middle iris portion with the actual colors of the lens using the colored pencils and the remaining portion of the eye will be black and white and I'll shade it with graphite pencils. So first of all I'm gonna use this cobalt green 156 and fill this iris portion with a base layer. I'll add the first layer with a lighter pressure and then I will increase the pressure for the second layer and thoroughly fill the area with the base color. If you are new to drawing and want to learn this beautiful skill from scratch, I would suggest you to take my drawing course first because it is specially designed to help beginners like you to get comfortable with the drawing process. So they can execute a drawing project of any difficulty level on their own. I put my drawing course on sale for 90% off for five days of each month and you can check the link in the description to see if the sale is still on. Okay so when you're done with the base color use this black 199 and add the contrast over this base layer. You need the contrast layer to be as smooth as possible so try to use a sharper tip and add fine lines in the shading process. Plus you also need to put more efforts in the first cobalt green layer in order to get a smooth surface for this contrast layer. And by the way the real-time video of this tutorial is available on my patreon profile. You can find the link in the description down below. Now for the texture in the iris I tried this scrape off method with a round tip x-acto knife but the size of this drawing is relatively bigger than the other drawings where I used this technique before. So I preferred the same chisel tip mono zero razor method and it turned out pretty good. So all you have to do is add these wavy kind of lines along this iris circle and also make sure that some of these lines overlap each other which will make the texture look more realistic. Okay now I'm going to use the same black 199 and add these dark texture lines in between the white ones just like this. It's okay if some of the lines fade or even intersect the white lines it will make the texture look more realistic and also you can always correct any mistakes with a mono zero razor later on. Just unleash your inner creative artist and do whatever you want. Drawing is all about practice making mistakes and correcting them again and again until you get your desired result. I have this electric razor which I'm going to use for adding the white lines again but you can use the same mono zero razor if you don't have an electric one. It will work the same and in the end you can use this cobalt turquoise 153 and fill some of the white texture lines you just added with the razor. Okay now I'm going to use the same electric razor and roughly erase these extra colors from inside the iris and also add these little dots and texture for the orange color in between the iris. Again you can use the same mono zero razor if you don't have an electric razor. Once you're done with all the erasing grab this cadmium yellow lemon 205 and fill these texture dots with base layer first and then grab this dark nebulous ochre 184 and add the second darker layer. You can just use this 184 as a base layer if you want. I just prefer to add the base with a lighter color first. Again I'm going to use this black 199 and fill this pupil area and make sure you add these thin lines with an indentation tool before filling all this area with pitch black color or you can also add these lines later with a gel roll pen. It's totally up to you. Now use the 205 and fill this remaining iris portion around the pupil with a base layer and then use this 156 here in the junction point to mix it with the yellow and get a greenish color in between. Okay now grab this cadmium orange 111 and fill this yellow portion with it. Then use this dark cadmium orange 115 and fill it here in this right border and this whole left side. You can also use this ultramarine 120 in this right portion to get that slight touch of purple in between but it's not very much visible so you can skip this one if you want. Now it's time to add the contrast and I'm gonna add these type of parallel lines starting from the pupil and ending in the orange portion just like this. The important thing here is to add this teardrop like shapes and texture in the middle portion where these two colors are joining especially in this right portion just like this. Now use a mono eraser to erase and make this second reflection in this left portion and you just have to make the outline with a sharp repressor first and then erase the inner portion leaving this slight tint of orange color behind and add some of the cobalt green as well. Now for the second reflection you can use the black color to add any required details first and then add a slight tint of cobalt green in this lower portion afterwards and for these eyelash reflections you can use the same black color but make a light rough outline first and then you can darken them afterwards by increasing the pressure and then you can use this g-roll pen to add the extra white highlights where required and lighten them with a dry brush if you want and also fill this upper portion along the eyelid with the black color and with this step we are done with this colored portion of the drawing. Moving on to the black and white portion and first of all I'm gonna take this B pencil and fill this sclera or this white portion of the eyeball with a base layer and then I'm gonna blend it using a dry brush. Always make sure to blend the base layers thoroughly as this helps the upper layer sit nicely on the paper. Then I'm gonna use this 3B pencil and add this slight darker shade in these corner portions especially in the left side and again blend it with a dry brush. Then use the 5B and further darken the corner areas by also adding these shaded lines for the tear duct and don't forget to blend it with a dry brush. You can also use a 9B to darken the starting portion of these lines as well just like this. Okay now I'm gonna grab this sharp tip mechanical pencil and add these random wavy lines for these little spider veins in the eye. The only reason I'm using this mechanical pencil here is that you don't need to sharp the tip again and again. You can use any other sharp tip B or 2B pencil for this purpose but make sure to keep the pencil tip sharp or else you will get thicker lines. Then use a tissue paper to blend all these lines lightly and then you can add the shade patches where required. Okay it's time to add the highlights and I'm gonna use this mono eraser to erase the shades first and also add these random light dots and texture in this corner portion of the tear duct just like this and then use a gel roll pen to further highlight the portions and add these minor details where required. Okay moving on to the other side and I'm gonna repeat the same shading process as I did for the left one. The only difference here is that there is no sharp white highlight in this portion and also I tried using a blending stump for the veins in this portion and it turned out pretty good. So you can also try the blending stump here if you have one or else you can use a brush or tissue paper to lighten the veins like I did previously. So moving on to the upper eyelid and as always after adding and blending the base layer I added this second dark layer along the outline of the eyelid using a 5B pencil directly over the base layer and also again thoroughly blend this dark layer with a dry brush. You can also darken the upper outline of the eyelid with a 9B but I'll do it later while shading the surrounding portion. So anyways grab your B pencil and lightly add these rough outlines for the eyelashes first then use a medium or dark grade pencil like 5B or 9B and darken those light outlines but make sure to keep an eye on the reference image and see which eyelash is light and which is dark especially if you are using a 9B to darken them and then use a chisel tip mono zero to add these sharp white lines on these eyelashes. It will be better if you don't make the eyelashes darker in the starting positions because then it will take more time and efforts to add these white lines on them or you can also use a gerry roll pen for this purpose if you have one but make sure to blend the white lines lightly with a dry brush if you use a gerry roll pen. The middle portion doesn't have any shines or highlights on the lashes so we will just add these simple dark lines and keep an eye on the reference image as well for the direction of these eyelashes. You can fill the gaps in between the lines with a darker shade like this to get a good volume for the eyelashes and also add these white highlights in the starting portion of the lashes just like this. Now for the skin texture and wrinkles in the upper eyelid I'm going to add these thick faded lines along the eyelid using a medium grade pencil like 5B and then use a mono zero to erase the shades in between those lines just like this and you can also lighten the extra dark lines if you get any because we don't need them here and in the end I'm going to use this gerry roll pen and add these white dots and texture in the starting portion of the eyelid and also fill the middle portion with extra white highlights using the same gerry roll pen. It will take time to fill all the area with white pigment but it will be worth it. You can also use a correction pen here if you want to save some time but I think the gerry roll pen makes a better texture in this case. So anyways moving on to the surrounding portion and I'm planning to make it using graphite powder so I've already masked the edges of this drawing using a masking tape and now I'm going to use this DIY graphite powder kit to make the background. I have all these nine different B shades of the graphite powder which I use in my drawings and I also have these three extra jars for HP shade because it's a base shade and it's used more than any other shade from this kit. I made this graphite powder by crushing the graphite pencil leads into super fine granules and I already have a video on how to make these graphite powders and I hope you already have the graphite powder in your toolbox so all you have to do is roll a soft tissue paper into a ball shape like this and lightly dip it in the graphite powder and then use the circular scribbling motion to shade the area with a base layer of graphite powder. I'm using the HP graphite powder first because we always need to add a base layer with a lighter grade pencil or graphite powder but before moving on to the lower portion make sure you darken these light outlines of the eyelashes first or else they will fade away in the shading process. You can use a 5B or 9B for this purpose and then continue shading the background with graphite powder. Use a clean tissue paper afterwards to blend any stains or imperfections in the base layer. Okay now I'm gonna use this 3B graphite powder and darken the shade in this upper left and right portion of the background. You can use the pressure technique to add this darker shade with the same HP graphite powder if you don't have any other shades yet. Then I'm gonna use the 6B and repeat the same process again. But this doesn't make much difference here so you can directly shade it with a 9B if you want. Just like this. If you don't have a 9B graphite powder you can just rub the 9B pencil on a rough surface like a sandpaper or something like that and then pick up the graphite powder with a tissue paper ball and use it for your drawing. And sorry I forgot to record this little portion. All I did here is filled the area between the eyelid and background with the 9B pencil and now I'm adding the shade around it using a 5B pencil to properly separate the eyelid from the surrounding portion. And I'm gonna repeat the same process for this right and middle portion. I'm also gonna add a slightly darker shade in this whole right portion to eliminate any imperfections in these graphite powder layers and give it a proper shade and gradients. Okay now before adding the skin texture in the background areas I'm going to shade this lower portion of the lower eyelid using graphite powder with a brush. This way I can easily control the thickness or intensity of the shade in this specific portion. Or you can also add this darker shade with a 9B pencil and blend it with a dry brush. It's totally up to you. Okay it's time to add the skin texture and I'm gonna start adding it from the left corner first. I'm gonna use this rectangular mono zero eraser here and add these type of irregular and random marks. This corner portion is a little bit out of focus in the reference image and the texture is blurred so we need to add bigger and fewer white dots here. If you have a kneaded eraser this process will be easier for you. Just make a round tip with your kneaded eraser and tap it on this area randomly. It will automatically pick up the graphite and will leave you with a blurred skin texture. I think I lost my kneaded eraser when I moved my studio here but I'll get a new one soon. Anyways you can keep adding and blending the white dots until you get your desired results. Now for this portion here I'm going to use the round tip mono zero eraser and add these type of small and sharp white dots. I'm using the chisel tip for sharp dots and lines and round tip for dull and round dots. You just have to tilt the mono zero eraser at an angle like this and then press it lightly towards the paper which will give you a light and round dot like this. Don't press it vertically because it will do nothing. You can also use the dry brush or tissue paper to lighten these dots where required. When you are done dotting all this area with mono zero eraser, grab your gelly roll pen and add these type of sharp white dots and lines right on the dots you just added with the eraser especially in the middle portion and lightly blend them with a dry brush if needed. Now continue the same dotting process on the upper side of the eyelid but keep in mind that the right portion will have small hair instead of dots which you can add using the chisel tip mono zero eraser just like this. Make sure to keep the chisel tip sharp to get these type of super thin lines with it and also add these bigger lines on the ends of some of these eyelashes just like this. Okay now for this lower eyelid I'm going to use my mono zero eraser and erase the extra shade from this area first and again if you have a kneaded eraser you should prefer to use it here and pick up this extra graphite with it. It will take less time and effort than erasing it with mono zero eraser. You can't use a normal bigger eraser here because it's difficult to control and you will mess up this whole area. So once you're done with the upper highlight use the same mono zero eraser and add these wavy lines starting from the white area and ending downwards and then use a lighter grade pencil like B to add these dark lines in between those white lines. Now using the same B pencil I'm going to add these dark wrinkle lines as well below the eyelid and fill the in-between portions with these wavy lines just like this. Now use the mono zero eraser to add the white texture lines in between the dark lines. The highlights are sharp in the starting portion of the eyelid and faded in the ends. So keep that in mind while erasing. Now erasing the extra shade from this inner portion of the eyelid to make a proper barrier. Okay now grab your 5B or 9B pencil and darken the eyelashes. You can use a lighter grade pencil first and then darken them later with a 9B. It's totally up to you but make sure you don't make these last few eyelashes too dark because they are out of focus in the reference image and look a little bit dull. So I'm going to add this type of shade on these lines instead of sharp lines and add the required darker shade below the eyelid to get a proper contrast and in the end I'm going to use this gel roll pen to add these type of sharp white dots and texture lines on the white lines you just added with the eraser. The starting portion of these first few eyelashes is much more white and highlighted than the remaining portions. So I'm also going to fill it with white pigment and also add these thin lines on these last few eyelashes just like this. You can also use the electric eraser to completely erase the shades and it will look just like the white pigment. Now shading over and blending the extra white dots to merge them with the shade and make a proper skin texture and with this last step we are done with this hyper realistic eye drawing. So I hope you enjoyed and learned something new from this one. If you want to get the real-time video of this drawing you can visit my Patreon profile and if you are a beginner and want to learn sketching from scratch you can join my course on Udemy. The year-end sale is live on my course now so get enrolled before it ends. You can find all the links in the description down below. So thank you so much for watching and I'll see you in the next one.