THANK YOU. It may not be a universal way of drawing them, like other comments mentioned, but it's still something! I've only recently started nailing down my human anatomy, and have been wanting to start branching out to different raced and body types, but there's so much info out there it's hard to know where to start.
Glad this makes sense to you, that was our intention. A starting point for people who are interested in diving deeper into the intricacies of the difference between eyes; ethnically but also just individually.
Personally, I’ve also been trying to tackle this exact thing. At some point, I drew what I thought were pretty features. And then I accidentally started incorporating my own image, ie what I saw in the little. I looked at people in my feed. And what I understand is that it’s not an inherit difference. We’re all very similar. But little muscles and facial trends make us hyper aware of those differences. If you want smth stylistic, totally go for this tip. But if you really want to see the difference, I suggest drawing over or using a ruler over an image so your brain isn’t tricked (lol). So then you can start seeing what the differences really are in people. Because I can assure you 100%, Asian eyes don’t point up at the end. For some reason this really pissed me off. It’s an overreaction I know.
@@Tori_T_Artist this actually helps if youre a starter. But if you want it a lil more hard u can look up a lot of different types of eyes doe eyes are best and almonds as well put them up into a category bcs asian and european have different types of people like i as an asian have doe eyes almost like the illustrated european eyes but more round. More general advice id like to give is look for their shapes. I dont study art like i did when i was 9 bcs when i stepped at 11 i trained myself to focus on the shapes of things i wanna draw and that helped me a lot and i kept improving my drawing even tho i dont practice anymore.(since my famiky crashed my dreams of being an artist its just a hobby now so studying it further will lead me to nothing... But atleast i want to be a doctor bcs im obsessed with studying human anatomy)
As a western european, I can confirm. But if a country is south of Estonia, north of Greece and east of Burgenland (a region in east Austria), then they're just a little less gay than the rest.
i'm asian and i very much do not have that "fox eye" that people usually associate with asians, but i understand what you're getting at here as a character designer it's fun to mess around with different shapes of features and showing the variation of eye shapes around the world inspires me a lot to make my characters not have same face syndrome, thank you for this tip! ❤
@@LDAR And having double eyelids also doesn’t mean you can’t have foxy eyes. There's lots of Asian people with double eyelids. Racial and ethnical signifiers are sometimes so subtle that it’s hard to objectively narrow them down to any specific trait.
I mean any one of any race can have any particular feature, there are just some features that are more common in certain races. Kind of like how just because mono-lids are more common for Asian people, doesn’t mean black people can’t have them too.
Yes, of course - you're 100% accurate. As @marysue3439 said above these are just some particular features that will give artists who may not be as experienced with eye shape a place to start when considering different ethnicities. I'd love to know what other features you would keep in mind when drawing different ethnicities, maybe we can include them in future shorts.
@@smuglumine9379 I definitely agree as a south asian person. Asia is very diverse place and it’s misleading to over generalize by just saying “Asian”, “East Asian” is way better to both specificy who you’re talking about and avoid erasing south asian people
Asian eyes are also characterized by an epicanthal fold in the inner corner, where their corneas may be fully or partly covered by skin. They aren't just "slanty" or monolidded.
I feel like it’s actually the inner corner that changes because the epicanthic fold that makes the eye look Asian is a fold that covers the inner corner and makes it look lower. (As an Asian with an epicanthic fold).
In reality, there are many techniques to achieve results depending on a myriad of factors. This is a generalization to help beginner artists learn how to better distinguish between the differences between eye shapes. Hopefully, this first step will help them better understand how to break eyes down or entice them to check out our longer series of videos on the diversity in eye shapes. Thanks for sharing the advice, we'll try to touch upon that in a future short!
most asian people arent cartoon drawings either so like. what is ur point. this is a tutorial for drawing stylized eyes. not every single eye shape on every individual person on the planet
@@falconman3534 my point here baby girl is that if your going to draw an asian eye atleast style it and do it right and actually make the character asian looking, if you're going to use the "style" as an excuse bby gurl then you have no style
And yeah, definately. From personal experience I think when people say "Asian" in terms of race/ethnicity they really mean East Asian people (with the stereotypical black hair, tan skin + black-brown small eyes)
I’m white (Russian) and I have “fox eyes”, while my bff is asian (Yakutian) and she has downturned eyes :D Outer corner of the eye isn’t an indicator of race, I’d say that inner corner matters much more difference - asian eyes usually have epicanthus which covers caruncle (that pink stuff) and upper eyelid, while european eyes almost never have it. Also, even if a white person has a drooping upper eyelid, it covers an upper outer corner of the eye, not inner one.
As someone who grew up in east asia I do have to say most of us are almond shape eyed, inner and outer corners leveled, but a general feature is monolid and the very stubborn straight down eyelashes. I think out of the hundreds of east asians ive met only around 10-20% have the cat eyes, or outer corner presenting higher type of eyes.
Genuinely curious, what would you suggest they use instead? As someone who is both of equal European and Asian descent, I felt like the language was super respectful, and OP even made a disclaimer that these are generalized characteristics for each groups of people (which is completely accurate).
I’m asian and personally don’t mind it being referred to as an asian eye-shape. Ofc not every single asian person is going to have eyes like that but it is a common characteristic
the next kooleen "racist triangle" method controversy waiting to be unleashed right here 😂 (jokes aside though, I recommend simply using a reference and studying a bunch of different types of eyes, since "one size may not fit all". And once you've drawn a variety of eyes from reference enough, you should shortly after be able to draw any eye to suit your needs from memory)
I’m Chinese myself and I have the “positive canthal tilt” look being used here, but many of my Asian peers do not have this and it goes like that for people of every race. It’s all varied. The idea that Asian eyes “typically slant upwards” is a myth and should be abandoned because it stems from deep seated stereotypes and outright racism. Of course things like the prominence of epicanthic folds and typically lower nose bridges are things that exist in East Asia and Southeast Asia and can create the appearance of eyes like the ones drawn in the video, but to simplify it to “Asian eyes typically slant this way vs European eyes typically slant this way” feels very reductive and not helpful for artists because real people are varied and Asian eyes can vary just as much as European ones. It is better to just reference multiple images of real people and get a feel for what you want to draw instead of assuming things from broad strokes. I know the video had no intentions of being racist, but that doesn’t change the fact a sweeping generalization is very harmful. If you want to draw people of a certain race, study real people of that race. I promise you, you can find endless different combinations of eye shapes on people of any race.
omg thank you, i was started to lose hope that anyone had a brain left with how many comments seem to gloss over/ignore the racist connotation of drawing asian eyes at a slant. It is honestly pretty nasty how stereotypes like this have become a standard. I do not know a single asian person who has eyes that turn upward. Obviously that isn't to say it doesn't exist, but clearly it is not as common as these racist caricatures would have you believe.
@@meatbug5439 for real, when i saw the thumbnail for this video i expected it to be a response debunking it but nope, and all the comments are just agreeing 😭 every time i see a cartoon default to upwards slanted eyes for asian characters i cringe, literally all it takes is to look at actual pictures of people (and not just models either)
@@meatbug5439 Yeah, I was a bit shocked by the comments. I think a lot of the artists here are younger probably so they’re not quite so understanding about certain nuances which is understandable. The funny thing about this tutorial is that the “Asian” eyes don’t really capture the features that are more prominent in Asian peoples’ eyes (like epicanthic folds). The slanted eyes are just imo slanted European eyes (which just goes to show that broad generalizations do not work to capture the nuance of real people)
You should have said EAST asian tbh, us south asians have the most biggest doll eyes ever, my eyes get associated with anime eyes lol 😭 Also, "asian eyes" dont exist. Yes, most asians have them but be fr, its only in se and east asia. Anyone can have these eyes, i see many blacks and whites with asian eyes.
yeah that's why they said asian passing, not asian specifically, also it was just a general example obviously not everyone in asia has the same eyes!! same with europe
@@tovarishcheleonora8542 I'm saying it shouldn't be... India is the largest Asian country in population. If anything, we should be equating "Asian" with "South Asian."
Id argue its the INNER corner. Obviously all eyes are different, but lots of asians have epicanthic folds (again, still present occasional in certain european people)
Anatomically outer corner of the human eye is _usually_ higher than the inner corner, regardless of the race. The intensity varries. Being down turned or up turned does not indicate a race, but the relation of eye lids and the general shape is what’s more important. You can have two pairs of down-turned eyes but you can easily determine which one belongs to a East Asian person thanks to the eyelid’s skin shape (doesn’t matter if monolid or not) and the fat distribution around eye. Don’t quote me on this one but the slight skeletal differences in eyesockets might also be in effect as well.
The long pause before "y'know, European"... the phrase "Asian passing"... saying "no eyelid"... Mademoiselle, please- maybe collect your thoughts beforehand in written form, it seems as though you feel awkward around ethnic terms, but that in turn makes it easier for someone to take the wrong way. Some more accurate terminology would be "West European", "East Asian", and "monolid" or "no crease/fold". Both general European and Asian populations display a wide gamut of features that include both. I'm certain you know that, but some more confidence and planning in your words may help avoid a verbal misstep regarding what may be sensitive matters. Regardless, good tutorial for beginners. Please keep up the good work.
@@Wingedcanvas Ah, of course! And sorry if my critique came off strongly in any way, I did mean it with the utmost gentleness. I've just seen people get quite riled up over such things in the online art community, even when there's an innocent explanation. Bonne chance ! 🫰😺
@@Wingedcanvas I don't need you need to stress about these things. You were properly respectful for these terms and I appreciated the way you treated these subjects in the video, considering that ethnic terms are mostly cultural (relating to linguistic groups rather than the appearance of peoples) and races are social constructs. Phenotypes are more accurate, but there are so many of those that it makes no sense to cram the thousands that exist into a singular video. As for what was recommended to you, Eastern Europeans also have the same eye-shape...
@@sticlavoda5632 Not just Easter Europeans. There are also northern europe, some parts of the british isles (possibly brought there by northern europeans in the viking age), south africa and also north america.
The second just looked like a regular fox eye to me, I'd argue the epicanthic fold is a much more reliable way to make asian-looking eyes while including all eye and eyelid shapes. Fox eyes are stereotypical, but most asians don't actually have that eye shape lol
she wasn’t describing their eye shape by saying asian passing she was describing their ethnicity. why didn’t she say double eyelid when she said european? she was saying asian/asian passing to describe the eyes she was about to draw
@@urmomschesthair5778 But it's not an asian exclusive feature tho? You can see strong monolids/epithantic folds in east asia/SEA and south africa. While you can see somewhat weaker ones but still kinda recognizable feature in northern europe, some parts of the british isles and in easters/central europe and in Russia (north asia/eastern europe). Oh, and let's not forget the north american natives and the inuits.
id argue the epicanthic fold is most helpful in communicating visually the character is if asian decent. the “fox eye” outer corner slant is a little stereotyped and not exactly realistic for most asians… epicanthic fold is inner corner of eye more folded btw. mine is pretty pronounced
or you could just name the eyeshade almond, downturn, monolid ect is a good practice to just know fundamentally what the eyes are name and how their shades because honestly, there’s no such thing as European and Asian eyes😅
My favorite eyes to draw are downturned eyes, where the outer corner is lower than the inner corner by quite a bit. It gives a "sleepy" or "aloof" look. I love large buff characters with downturned eyes that communicate they're probably an aloof, but kind person. Pretty much every "attractive guy" character I make has downturned eyes, and I have to force myself to not do that!
@@sparkle_1111 I don’t know too much about eye shapes because I can’t draw eyes nor do I stare at different eyes but I mean- it’s still a way for people who didn’t draw Asian people bec they don’t know how to be able to learn how to draw them-
I mean any one of any race can have any particular feature, there are just some features that are more common in certain races. Kind of like how just because mono-lids are more common for Asian people, doesn’t mean black people can’t have them too. Big noses and lips are common amongst black people, doesn’t mean that black people cant have small lips/noses though.
No, that's not the difference. You can definately find eastern asian people with down-turned eyes, and not as a minority, but many people with them. You can also find many europeans with up-turned eyes. The main difference between eastern asian and europeans eyes is not how they are turned at the ends, but rather the ✨epicanthic fold✨. Eastern asian people have this fold while the rest of groups do not. Moral of the story: draw eyes however you please, if they are eastern asian make sure to draw the epicanthic fold. Pd: I excuse anything in my writing that might be written incorrectly, english is not my native language.
@@k1mpchy I'm not talking about race names. lol I'm talking about your "Eastern asian people have this fold while the rest of groups do not" line. Which line is just completely untrue and incorrect.
@@tovarishcheleonora8542 oh, my bad. Well, yeah. You got a good point. I'm latina and many hispanic people do have them as well. I was generally speaken, but those are good exceptions to the rule. Thank you for pointing it out.
@@k1mpchy Well, latin americans very likely got it from the original natives. because it's well known that they mixed somewhat before the natives extincted.
Drawing asian eyes is far more about how hidden the lacrimal caruncle is and potential hooded eyelids, than it is about canthal tilt. European eyes typically have a wider eyelid area, visible caruncle (pink inner corner). These are, of course, not hard rules
no it's just 2 different ways of drawing eyes, obviously there's more ways it's just this is a 60 second clip and you can't cover that many in that time...
I've noticed something else abt asian eyes- while most other people have rounded skin on the inner corners (like in the drawing), a lot of asians have triangular or overlapping skin there and i think its rlly cool
It's about mono lid or how deep set the eye is that determines whether some one is more asian passing ir not. People of all ethnicities can have upturned, downturned or horizontal eye shape. Ask any aesthetician who works with eyelash extentions. The shape of the eye is deturmined with the lid.
Remember eyelashes too. I find that Asian eyelashes are pretty straight so it looks flat or like you barely have any. My eyelashes are very long but you can’t tell unless you tried since they just go straight out Of course it’s not the same for everyone but in general the eyelash doesn’t really curve at all. My aunts always complained about it and I always notice it on Asian people
Where did you get that from??? Where did you get ANY of ur stats from? Certain areas r obviously going to develop different features, so no most people are not East Asian.
@@delinaandebrhan6786 Asiatic eyes are a thing in northern europe, some parts of the british isles and easter/central europe. Even if not as strongly as in east/SE asia, south africa and also in north american natives.
Your good at drawing eyes. Thank you for this eyes are my weakest point and im trying to figure out how to draw my characters so that they actually look like what race they are supposed to be.
I would recommend just drawing whatever eye shape you want + give it a monolid and focus on all the face features combined. Nose, headshape and chin play a great part on how your character is perceived! Also, try to use a reference when drawing as help ;)
These are just eye shapes/canthal tilt, any race can have em and they’re really not super common in a specific race/ a specific ethnic feature like, for example, monolids or coily hair is.
huh, interesting. ive always drawn a good amount of my eyes upturned due to them being upturned myself, abd observing it a lot. im black and white mixed with a bit of native from my great grandma. so very interesting!
From what I've noticed, it's mostly the upper lid itself. The upper lid folds towards the inner corner of the eye for monolids and the other follows the socket more. The eye's shape can be anything tho
I’m European American (I don’t have any Asian dna) and the corner of my eye is slightly raised and the direction my eyelashes grow make it look more raised so I’ve had people ask my why I had Asian eyes
I’m from southeast asia with direct lineage from east asia, people say my eyes are more like rabbit eyes because the corners turn downwards :’) Some people do have the upturned eyes which many people think of as beautiful - like “phoenix eyes”.
Yeah, it was a very generalized observation. There are so many other factors and hopefully, we'll get the opportunity to discuss more of those in our shorts content. There are a lot more examples in our long-form content.
Which is exactly why you shouldn’t generalise so much, A LOT of Asians have straight or downturned eye corners, European looking eyelids, etc, and it applies to East Asian people too
You're so right, there are a lot of traits that go beyond the norm, this is just analyzing ways to get started learning about those differences. Thanks so much for sharing your observations@@catlovingperson8143
I noticed one of the more emphasized eyes to look at for European eyes on men is Bob Odenkirk (Saul Goodman's actor). His inner eye rise is more pronounced.
While it generally true it's actually the INNER corner of the eye that differentiate between the eyes, you can have european eyes that are almond shaped and asian eyes that have a negative canthal tilt
A lot of it too can be monolids and more shallowly set eyes, so drawing less lines and depth and shadow around the eyes and below the brow can help too!
@@namedrop721 Tho, in case of mixed people they are not need to "pass" as something (even if basicly the whole world did mix with the whole world at this point). And this "asian passing" thing just sounds like as if someone would need to pass an exam or something.
Asian artist here, I believe this is a good example of downturned VS upturned eyes. There are vast varieties of different upturned and downturned eyes, Asian or European, and even within those are more variations. I believe if you want to demonstrate how to draw “more Asian eyes” you should look into eyelid shapes, such as hooded or monolids. Even hooded and monolid type eyes can be wide and upturned like the first example.
This makes so much sense! I usually draw the asian style of eyes where the corner is raised but I've been influenced by manga all my life and my style naturally developed according to what I've read.
Tysm for this tutorial, I couldnt manage to find one anywhere and it makes art alot easier for me now. I actually have whats considered "east asian passing" eyes cause they are hodded and ends are slanted very very slightly and ik my friends eye shapes are differnt but I struggle to really keep in mind what parts are differnt when drawing and I also keep accidentally giving my characters hodded eyes.
I just realized I've been forgetting a crucial part of my eye drawing and that is that our eyes are never in the center of the eyeball shape, cause we're focusing on something. Our eyes will be turned in slightly to be facing each other, to a degree. Damn. Thank you.
