Here is our guide for how to draw cartoon eyes
Cartoon eyes may seem simple to draw since they usually don’t require many lines and are made up of basic shapes when compared to realistic eyes, but that’s not always the case.
No matter how simple they seem, they should be bold and often communicate visible emotions.
Drawing cartoon eyes is also a great exercise for beginners. We’ve included the guides below for how to draw simple cartoon eyes for beginners as well as girl and boy eyes (there are actually visible differences between girl and boy cartoon eyes).
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Before we get started, make sure you grab the following materials if you are drawing cartoon eyes in pencil:
- Pencils (2B or 4B)
- Eraser
- Reference Image (Optional as you can simply follow along)
- Paper
So let’s get started and at the end of this post, you should understand the basics of drawing cartoon eyes as well as the ability to create some original cartoon eyes of your own.
How do you draw easy cartoon eyes for beginners?
Drawing cartoon eyes in general is a lot easier than drawing realistic eyes or even anime eyes. They’re usually just simple shapes with little to no added details. For some, a cartoon’s eyes are just a circle with a dot inside of it.
That said, the shape of the cartoon eyes will also depend on the overall look of the character. So you can’t just slap a basic shape on a cartoon character and call it a day, you have to see which type of cartoon eye fits.
Popular cartoon characters sport different eye shapes, for reference, here are the different eye shapes and a few iconic characters who have them:
| Eye Shape | Cartoon Characters with this Eye Shape |
| Oval-shaped Eyes | Jerry, Mickey Mouse, Courage the Cowardly Dog, Bugs Bunny |
| Round Eyes | The Simpsons, Louise Belcher, SpongeBob, Powerpuff Girls |
| Almond Shaped Eyes | Cinderella, Mulan, Starfire, Batman (Justice League Animate) |
How to draw oval-shaped cartoon eyes
Oval-shaped eyes are popular among cartoon characters. One of the most iconic cartoon characters (Walt Disney’s Mickey Mouse) has oval-shaped eyes. They’re simple but they give the character a lot of personality.
To draw oval-shaped eyes, first mark your character’s face where you want them to be (assuming you’ve already sketched out your character’s face). Make sure they’re at the perfect spot so that there’s room for the other facial features on your character’s face.
For this example, we will be using MGM’s Wednesday from the 2019 cartoon film The Addams Family.
Once you’ve marked down the spot, draw two equal oval shapes. Try not to make them too big or too long as it may ruin your character’s face. I strongly recommend using a reference.
Next, draw two oval-shaped dots in the center of the oval you drew earlier. This will represent the pupil.
For most cartoon characters, that would’ve been the last step. However, MGM’s Wednesday has eyelids to give her a more deadpan look. To imitate this, create a line in the middle of the eyes. This should cut off a little bit of the top of Wednesday’s pupil.
Erase off the overlapping pupil then add small curved lines as lashes all across her eyelid. Then that’s it!
How to draw round cartoon eyes
Round-shaped eyes are also common in the cartoon world. Many iconic characters sport round-shaped cartoon eyes. One great example is the famous SpongeBob SquarePants, so for this tutorial, we will be using him as a guide.
Similar to drawing oval-shaped eyes, it’s important that you first mark the place where you’re going to draw the eyes. In SpongeBob’s case, his eyes sit at the upper part of his face but with enough space for his lashes and forehead.
Then, draw the circles. For some cartoon characters, there is space between the eyes, however, for SpongeBob, there’s no space so don’t worry about leaving any space. You can use a compass for this if you’d like for the circle to be perfect.
Next, inside the circle, draw two smaller circles in the center of each eye for the iris. Then inside of that, draw another set of small circles for the pupil. Make sure they are in the center of the eye, otherwise, it would look off.
Lastly, draw SpongeBob’s lashes by creating three thick lines on each eye. Create an equal gap between each lash and make sure they’re all of the same thickness.
How to draw almond-shaped cartoon eyes
Almond-shaped eyes aren’t as popular as their oval and circle counterparts but it’s still used for some cartoon characters. This is usually given to cartoon characters that follow a more realistic imitation of the human face like Disney princesses. For this tutorial, we will be using Disney’s Beaty and the Beast protagonist Belle as an example.
Similar to the earlier steps, begin with marking the spots you’ll be placing the eyes.
Next, draw two almond-shaped eyes. Unlike our previous examples where there was little to no space between the eyes, Belle has a gap between her eyes. To figure out how wide the space should be, sketch a third almond eye as a guide.
The next step is to draw the lashes. Do this by thickening the line of the upper lines of the almond. Make the outer corner thicker and add small little lines to give the impression of lashes.
Inside the almond shapes, draw two circles for the iris and two smaller circles for the pupil. Then in the upper corner of the pupil, draw even smaller circles for the light reflecting the eyes. Erase any overlapping lines and voila! You’ve drawn Belle’s eyes.
How do you draw cartoon eyes on a person?
Cartoon eyes, although quite simplistic in style, can be very expressive. Sometimes they even change shape based on the emotion of the character.
Despite carrying very few details, they are meant to be an exaggeration of human eyes, so to pair cartoon eyes with realistic features would be odd (or hilarious depending on how you view life). There has to be consistency in the art style for it to work.
To draw cartoon eyes on a person, make sure the eye shape fits with the overall character’s design. Then mark out where to place the eyes on the face and start drawing the eyes.
For this example, we will be drawing Helen from Apple TV’s Central Park.
She has a very simple art style so it makes sense for her eyes to be simple as well. Draw the character’s face then draw two circles.
Sometimes, for cartoons, they’ll only draw the pupil depending on the style that the artist is going for. This character only has pupils and no iris’ so we’ll do just that. Add two dots inside the circle.
And that’s it! If you’d like to know how to draw realistic eyes, have quick look at our other article here:
How do you draw cartoon eyes on a girl?
In most cartoons, there really isn’t much of a difference in how you draw eyes on a girl or a boy. However, there are some instances where they accentuate the lashes by making them thicker and curvier on a female cartoon character.
A great example of this is Scooby-Doo Mystery Incorporated. If you compare the eyes of two of our main characters, Fred and Daphne, you’ll see that Daphne has more prominent lashes.
Of course, there is a reason. Daphne is supposed to be the typical popular girl with long lashes and mascara. If you notice, Velma doesn’t have the same curved thick lashes. This is unique only to Daphne to show that she’s a “popular” girl (or it’s just how she’s drawn).
How do you draw exaggerated cartoon eyes on a girl?
To draw exaggerated cartoon eyes on a girl, simply make the shape of the eye a lot bigger. If the character has lashes, you can exaggerate that as well by making it thicker or making its curves longer.
In cartoons, a lot of the facial features are exaggerated, especially when the character is going through an intense emotion like anger or fear. This is the same for all the characters, be it guys, gals, or non-binary pals.
The shape of the eyes gets a lot bigger, and there are even moments when the eyes and/or eyebrows are no longer attached to the body.
To draw expressive cartoon eyes, have a quick look at this video:
How to draw cartoon eyes on a boy
Drawing cartoon eyes on a boy is just the same as drawing cartoon eyes on a girl. Sometimes they may require fewer details but more or less, it’s the same process.
You start by figuring out where to place the eyes, make sure the shape matches the overall character design, then draw them. Inside the eyes, you draw the iris and pupil. In some cases, you may only need to draw the pupil.
After that, you add the finishing touches by adding lashes (if your character requires lashes) and adding a smaller circle on the upper corner of the pupil to imitate the light’s reflection on your character’s eyes.
And that’s it! That’s how you draw cartoon eyes on a boy.
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Ren is an artist who has been drawing from the moment she could pick up a pencil. If she’s not on her computer or stuck with a book, she’s drawing and or thinking about drawing. She’s also a computer science student with an addiction to video games and comic books.