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Jeebus! How do you do it?! How do you draw your characters' eyes so dang good? I've tried and tried, but I can't succeed! I mean, when I draw, most thing come moderately easy, or just take time to learn, but eyes?! God! I've tried and tried and tried! But they never work! Can someone, PLEASE help?

P.S. I was gonna put this in the Drawing section, but the description says 'Post your artwork here', and because it's more of a question, I decided to put it here (in the FAQ section, it says 'if your confused about anything' so I thought this might be the place. If it's not... sorry!)

I dont know about Tom but drawing eyes is just one of those things you have to get used to. For me i put a lot of layers and highlights into the eyes- drawing the outline is normally just 3-4 lines not including eyebrows and such. Part of the tutorial I'm writing up goes over eyes a bit- but as you can tell i dont always do a great job with them either (lazy eye effect sometimes others its just from the way the head is turned ^_^)

I'm sure Tom will post here sooner or later about how he does it but i doubt he can really tell you HOW to draw eyes- its very hard to TELL someone how to draw anything. But for the most part it IS nothing more than a couple lines and maybe an oval for the puple- granted all those lines must be curved for the most part and must be well placed or else it just looks really bad...

Well i guess you probably dont want to hear from me about this but maybe it will help until Tom gets a chance-- you know he got FFXI and hes kinda--- well you know-- Mithra and all... :P

The only somewhat helpful tip I can think is not to try to put too much detail into it if the eyes are small (on the page). You don't want it to look cluttered. The really fancy eyes are really mostly for closeups.

That and looking at other artists work is a good way to learn. If you like Tom's style of drawing eyes so much, look carefully at where he puts the lines and try to replicate it. Once you've got the basic technique down you can adapt it to your style.

For once i have to disagree with something Terotrous had to say ^_^ I think you should put as much detail as you can into they eyes-- IF you are doing a manga style. Thats one of the few parts you will see in any anime that always has a lot of detail in it when their eyes are in a normal state- its what brings the manga style "to life"

Now i do agree that you should tone down the detail -- but if you can do a really detailed eye its not hard to cut down from there-- as they say if you can do a great detailed image chances are you can do just as good in a simple less detailed drawing. ^_^ If you want to practice eyes -- go all out ^^

I just meant that you shouldn't add in too much detail if it causes it to become indistinct on the screen. Spacial constraints and what not.

You can see here for example, http://twokinds.keenspace.com/d/20050103.html (and in many other places), Tom scales back on the complexity of the eyes in the fourth panel. If he had put all of the usual lines in there, Trace's eyes would just be black. There's no space to put in the pupils without them touching the outside of his eye on both sides. (I know that Tom also sometimes uses this simplistic style of eyes for effect)

There probably are ways to scale the eyes so that you can still have all the details in them. However I'm used to my (unusual) style which uses very thick object lines, so past a certain size some details just can't be included.

Yeah, but I'm afraid that if I DO use Tom's eyes, or something soemwhat like his, that he might think I'm copying his...

Simple rule of art, in fact, the Golden Rule of Art: Reference, reference, reference. The truth is, no mind or brain on this planet knows all the rules and laws of physics, folds, fabric, lighting, tissue, muscle, anatomy, gravity, poses, and all those other things that go into an image completely to sketch freehand.

All the great artists have referenced a crapload. Start a reference collection if you must. I just do sketches for reference, focusing more on the part I want to learn. For example, my recent CCS sketches focused less on the hair and facial features of Sakura-chan (I didn't need them as much) and more on the folds and the way her dress was put together, so that I can compile it into my TwoKinds fan art.

Some tutorials can help to get your mind started on how to think in shapes and guidelines. Eyes come very naturally to me, but I used to need about 5 guidelines at least to draw them coherently. Have a look around on the net, I can't really teach you. I can only yell at you for not referencing =P

The only drawback to referencing is that at some point you have to stop suckling on it's oh too easy to use teat. At some point you will have to go off and sketch on your own, which after a few references, can feel like your first time swimming without floating devices. Rather scary if I must say so myself, mainly because you need to discover your style.

In the end, it all takes time, but references speed things up. Reference anything. If you have any anime wallpapers, those are great to use because you can zoom in a little bit without getting a badly pixelated image.

Good luck with art and whatnot

~FT

Hmm- I had always assumed that the "blank eyes" look was usually a deliberate effect, rather than a "clean-ness of image" issue. Kinda like the big sweat droplets people get when they're uncomfortable in anime. If you look at the very next comic, http://twokinds.keenspace.com/d/20050105.html, panel five has lots of room for detail, but Tom didn't elaborate- deliberately for effect, I assume.

I know you commented that Tom uses this for effect sometimes, but I guess I thought the opposite- that it was very occasionally used for convenience, and 95% used for conveying emotion... A question of intent, rather than effect.

Ok, thanks... I think I'll start trying that soon... :D

Well usually when he does it, their eyes turn really small (this is often for effect). He doesn't ever do the normal-sized eyes in that style. It's perhaps a question of which is the cause and which is the effect, but the two seem to go together.

I dont know about other people, it I think if you just do the light effect and the a little bit of detail on the pooerside corner of the irus then you cant go wrong ( cheek my avarta and sig)

Does anyone actully remember a tutorial site?
i really need one :P

I don't know of any tutorial sites ;_; But I do know that practicing helps a lot! You can develop a unique eye style if you wanted, instead of the same old, same old. ^^

http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/19619077/.

http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/19666440/

http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/19422458/

and one of my favorites because it has so many examples
http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/17510000/


Hope those help yall