How to color anime eyes with ease | Anime eye coloring tutorial | Paint Tool SAI
If you're struggling to color anime eyes because no matter what you try they just look lifeless, this tutorial is for you. You're going to learn how to color eyes in anime style that make your character look like they're brimming with life! Let me know what you think of this anime eye coloring tutorial and which drawing & painting tutorials you'd like to see next!
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How to color anime eyes step by step:
✦ Step 1 - Paint the base color of the eye
Choose a color that isn't too bright or too dark, find the perfect middle ground :) We'll be adding shading and highlights later, so you don't want to start on either extreme.
✦ Step 2 - Add the pupils in the right position inside of the eye
I mean, duh, right? But placing the pupils can be tricky! Find the sweet spot so your character doesn't look high, sleepy or plain awkward. The ideal position is usually near the eyelid but not touching it or being covered by it.
Because we're coloring an eye in anime style, you get to play around with the pupils. If your eye shape is quite vertical, you can make the pupils more elongated, following the shape of the eye.
✦ Step 3 - Apply the shadows cast by the eyelid and eyelashes
The eye is round and the eyelid and eyelashes are going to cast a shadow on the top part of the eye. Use the airbrush tool with a darker, more saturated hue of your base color and add the shadow to the top part of the eye. You can make this shadow sorta curvy so it follows the round shape of the eye.
✦ Step 4 - Begin adding highlights to the eye
Create a sort of "U" shape on the lower part of the eye, almost surrounding the pupils but without reaching the top part of the eye where the shadow is. Use a color that is similar to the base color so we get to create a soft gradient that we can make brighter with each stroke.
Choose a brighter color and paint over the original but making sure there's a gradient building towards the bottom center of the eyes, which we want to be the brightest spot in the eye. Each time you choose a brighter color, you can also choose a slightly more saturated hue.
✦ Step 5 - Add the brightest highlight to the eye
Use the pen tool this time and select a bright color, more saturated than the ones you've used so far. Add a soft stroke in the bottom middle part of the eye to make that area really pop with light.
✦ Step 6 - Add the cute anime eye reflections
It's time to add the anime eye reflections we all know and love. Use the pen tool and a white color to create circular or elliptical shapes on one side of the eye. Now add a thin, horizontal line on the opposite side of the eye. Finally, add one or two small reflections inside of the eye, where the brightest area is. Remember that the light is coming from a single source so the reflections need to be on the same side, not opposite sides.
✦ Step 7 - Add a soft glow to the eye reflections to make them come alive
This is the step that makes the eyes pop with life. Create a layer underneath the white reflections and set it to "Luminosity" mode (in your program it may be called 'dodge' or soft glow, or addition, or something else). Now choose a bright version of your base color and use the airbrush tool to create a soft glow around the eye reflections. This will make your eyes look brimming with life! This glow needs to be of a similar color to the eye for best results.
✦ Step 8 - Add a brighter reflection inside of the pupils of the eye (optional)
Want an even more popping style for your anime eyes? On the same layer you painted the outer glow, use the pen tool with a bright color and paint over the pupils, leaving some room on the sides (not covering the entire pupil). This bright, shiny reflection will make the eyes pop even more and give a sort of sci-fi touch to your piece. Fun, no?
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Timestamps:
00:00 - Intro
00:47 - Base color
01:01 - Pupils
02:38 - Shadows
04:14 - Highlights
09:31 - Reflections
10:41 - Adding glow
12:39 - Sci-fi reflection