Draw digital art portraits - How to draw an eye

Master portrait creation with any art package using four essential brushes - airbrush, pencil, eraser, and blender. Set up a 16x20 inch, 300 ppi canvas on an off-white background.

Begin with a structured warm-up to loosen hand and tendons before drawing portraits, spending 10 to 15 minutes on parallel lines, zigzags, 45-degree strokes, and circles to improve line quality.

Learn to sketch an eye using a grid system to check proportions, with a pencil workflow, reference photo, and quick shading and highlights to bring the eye to life.

Block in the eye by laying a solid background on a painting layer and blocking shapes with a neutral skin tone from a 16-color palette, using the grid and dropper.

Paint a realistic eye in digital portraits by layering tones, blending edges with a blender and airbrush, building highlights, and referencing a guide image for accuracy.

Finish the eye by smoothing tones with a blender, refining shadows, and blending details while keeping the eye the focal point; practice layered shading and proportional sketching to build realism.

Master drawing eyebrows for digital portraits by layering colors, sketching individual hairs with a thick brush, and using a fine blender and airbrush to create realistic gaps and depth.

Discover how to achieve a perfect likeness from photos by sketching multiple subjects. Prepare for the next two courses with grid-based and digital systems, then master eyes, nose, mouth, hair.