How to Draw Eyebrows – Create Your Own Easy Eyebrow Drawing

Learning how to draw realistic eyebrows is such a defining feature of the eyes and face. However, to do an eyebrow drawing it is important to contextualize the eyebrows with drawing eyes. Drawing eyes is quite an interesting task as the eyes come with such intricate and complex features. However, to make the eyes seem more realistic it is important to get your eyebrow drawing as best as possible. The process of drawing eyebrows is also dependent on what kind of face you might be drawing. In this tutorial, we will look at the process of drawing eyebrows on a feminine face to break down the basic process. The process of eyebrow drawing can be applied to different types of eyebrows on different types of faces.

An Easy Guide to Drawing Eyebrows

An eyebrow drawing is not difficult and is quite a fun task to experiment with on different faces once you understand the process. Luckily, hairs are a culmination of lines which is quite simple to replicate in a drawing. In this tutorial we will be looking at the basic process of creating eyebrows on a feminine face, looking at how the lashes are formed above the eye. Drawing eyebrows is not difficult, it just requires patience and a lot of lines.

Developing an eyebrow sketch into a realistic eyebrow drawing is more a matter of shaping and light details and lastly refining those details. In this easy eyebrow drawing tutorial, we will only need a few simple drawing tools.

Step-by-Step Instructions on How to Draw Eyebrows

In this tutorial, we will be going through the general process of how to draw eyebrows, by focusing on constructing the eyebrow above an eye. We will be drawing a feminine eye and eyebrow, however, the process for drawing an eyebrow is the same.

Whenever drawing eyebrows, you want to first draw an eye to help place and contextualize the eyebrow.

We will first go through the beginning stages of doing an eye and eyebrow sketch, where we draw an eye and eyebrow to contextualize and place the eyebrow. As we develop the drawing, we will slowly refine the features by working with a darker pencil and lastly drawing with a pen to add maximum contrast to the eyebrow drawing. Now that we know what to expect, let us get into the tutorial on how to draw eyebrows.

Step 1: Drawing the Eye for Context

We want to start by drawing a light sketch of the eye, which we will refine with more details. We want to draw an eye as realistic as we can to better contextualize the eyebrow. A good suggestion would be to use any image of an eye for reference off the internet or from a photograph.

As you develop your sketch you want to keep your drawing as light as possible. We want to simply draw light line work, as we figure out the position of the eye and the eyebrow. Keep your drawing light, focusing on simple line work and outlining the eye’s shape.

Use lines to indicate the position of the eyebrow.

Once we have positioned the features and defined the placement of the eyebrow and eye, we can spend some time drawing the eye at first. Learning how to draw a realistic eyebrow needs to be accompanied by a realistic eye. Keep developing your eye with a light pencil sketch, if you are using a reference make sure you use it to guide your drawing process.

Step 2: Adding Details and Shading to the Eye

Once you have the form of the eye drawn to your liking, you can start adding some details and shading to your eye drawing. Try working on the eye form a bit, making sure you work out the iris and pupils. Perhaps adding a reflection in the eye can be an interesting feature.

You want to make sure you work on adding in the eyelashes, as well as the eyelid. This is particularly important as the eyelid will create light shadowing that forms near the eyebrow. The eyelid also slightly protrudes with the brow ridge.

This also causes the eyebrows to form around the top of the eye.

Step 3: Outlining the Eyebrow

Once we have a relatively realistic eye drawn, we can now be playful with how we form the eyebrow above the eye. All eyebrow shapes are different and this is completely up to you. The eyebrow could be thin, thick, short, long, or however you would like it to form over the eye.

However, remember that the brow moves in an arch shape over the eye, which is relatively the same for all eyebrows.

Step 4: Adding Hairs to the Eyebrow

Once you have decided on the shape of the eyebrow and have drawn the outline, you can use it to guide you in the placement of the hairs. Drawing eyebrow hairs is simple, you basically want to make a series of short lines made by a swift stroke of the hand.

However, go through each line slowly, you can proceed to do this with your HB pencil for now.

The hairs should all flow in the same direction, and in some areas of the brow, you can add more or less to explore density in the brow. You can have random hairs, where one or two hairs move in the opposite direction to give a more disheveled look to the brow.

Or you can keep them uniform to make the brow seem more groomed.

Step 5: Darkening the Eye and Eyebrow

Now we should be left with a fairly realistic sketch of the eye and eyebrow. From here we can use a 2B pencil to start going over our shading and details in the eye, to make them a little more pronounced. With the brow, try to keep your darker stroke sparing, trying to make darker strokes in certain areas of the brow.

This will create a variety of dense and thinner sections in the brow.

When adding more dark hairs to the brow, try to be conscious of the pressure you apply to the pencil. With eyebrows, we create shading and light by making thinner and lighter lines or darker thicker lines. So try to create darker lines in sections of the brow where you want them, and soften your touch for lighter moments in the brow.

Step 6: Refining the Drawing with Pen

We will now proceed to draw with a pen, going over the features of the eye and lines in the eyebrow. The process of drawing is the same with a ballpoint pen, where we gauge the pressure applied to the pen and we can achieve lighter and darker tonal values in the drawing.

The same goes for adding hairs to the eyebrows.

As you proceed to shade and draw with your pen, try to take your time on the eye. This tutorial isn’t focused on the eye, however, and spending time on adding in details for the eye is only going to enhance the features of the eyebrow. Hair, your time with adding in the eyelashes, with each stroke makes the lashes above the eye move in an upward direction.

As you shade in the drawing with your pen, we will slowly maximize the contrast in the drawing, creating more vivid shadowing. This will give the eye more depth and which will make the eyebrow have dimension as opposed to sitting flat.

You want to work slowly, when working with a pen, so take it slowly to prevent any silly mistakes.

Step 7: Drawing the Eyebrows with Pen

As your eye starts to look a bit refined and more realistic after adding in details with your pen, you can move on to adding in linework for the eyebrow. Again, as you draw lines make sure to let the pencil marks guide you.

Also, make sure that your lines all flow in a single direction.

As you draw with your pen you will find that the eyebrows will slightly darken. Again, pay attention to the pressure that you apply to your pen, pressing harder for darker lines and softer for lighter lines. Creating variety in the brow will make the brow more realistic.

Generally, if you want to make an eyebrow thick, the thickest hairs are normally placed in the middle of the brow. Whereas there are lesser hairs near the edges of an eyebrow. Again, all eyebrows are different so it’s up to you to explore.

Just remember, a pen is permanent, so make sure you are certain.

As you draw in the lines of the brow, remember that the motion should be one short swift stroke of the pen. This will give each little hair a thicker bud and a thinner stem, which is indicative of a realistic hair follicle. Take your time with each one, making sure they all flow in the same direction.

It’s important to note that eyebrow hairs move towards the temples, which means that they flow in that direction. If you are drawing the right eyebrow, remember that the hairs will flow to the left and the opposite for the left eye or eyebrow.

Make sure you also don’t add too many hairs, you want to have a fair amount. With eyebrow hairs, there are generally not too many of them. There are moments where they are clumped or thicker in sections, but there are also moments where there are less near the edges of the brow.

So keep this in mind throughout your eyebrow drawing process.

By the end, we should have a brow that is quite realistic. It is up to you if you want to have the whole eyebrow dense or have variety, however, variety in density often does make the brow seem more realistic. Most importantly, just make sure the brows flow towards the outside of the face in a single direction.

There you have it, a general breakdown of the drawing process on how to draw eyebrows. As you learn how to draw realistic eyebrows, it is essential to have a realistic eye drawn to help define the eyebrow a little better.

The eyebrow does not exist in isolation, so it does need an eye to help contextualize how it sits on the brow ridge.

Tips to Remember

• Build your layers. Eyebrows are a series of lines, and you want to work out those lines with your pencils before committing to drawing them in pen.
• Take your time. Don’t rush the process of your eyebrow sketch, make sure you take a break when it’s necessary.
• Contextualize your eyebrow drawing. Drawing eyebrows can be shaped in any way, however, to see them as correctly as possible, a good suggestion is to draw your eye as realistic as possible.
• Draw each line with a flick of the wrist. You want to draw the hairs of your eyebrows with a flick of the wrist action; however, you do want to go slowly taking your time with each hair.
• Experiment. You can always thicken eyebrows with more lines or make them thinner with fewer lines. Explore the different possibilities.
• Enjoy the process. It’s easy to get worked up when trying to draw something right, remember to take a break, this will make the process more enjoyable.

The process of drawing eyebrows is not difficult, it simply is a matter of drawing lines and how those lines are drawn. Once you have an eye to help position the eyebrow drawing, you can then work on the eyebrow sketch and refine it with more contrast and detail. From there, it is a matter of getting the stroke action correct, making sure the hairs move in the same direction, and then you will have created a realistic-looking eyebrow. Make sure you take your time when drawing with a pen, it is a great tool for line work, but can easily be messed up if rushed.

Frequently Asked Questions

How Do You Shade in Eyebrows?

With eyebrows drawing you don’t really shade the eyebrows in a conventional way, rather you work with lines. As you draw in lines for your eyebrows, you can, however, pay attention to the pressure you apply to your pencil and pen. By doing this, you will create lines that are slightly lighter or darker, giving the eyebrows variety in thickness and tonal value. Working your lines into the drawing slowly is what will make your eyebrows look realistic. Paying attention to the different pressures of each line drawn will create a variety of different hairs, giving the eyebrows moments that are darker and lighter. As you learn how to draw realistic eyebrows, keeping this in the back of your mind will enhance your drawing process.

How Do You Draw Different Eyebrow Shapes?

When learning how to draw eyebrows you want to build upon the drawing with layers, working with lighter layers first working your way toward darker layers. However, as you do this you can draw lines with your pencil to indicate the shape of the eyebrows. This can be done as an outline and can be formed in all sorts of shapes, in which you will then draw all the hairs. However, you want to do this only after you have drawn the eye itself, by doing that you will have more context to how you would like the eyebrow. Once your eye is drawn you can play around with how you shape the eyebrow with an outline. You can make them long and thin, short and thicker, thin and thick, or however else you would like. Once you have that outline, then it is a matter of adding multiple lines to create the hairs of the eyebrow.

How Do You Draw Eyebrow Hairs?

When creating eyebrows drawing, you want to work out the flow of the hairs and the shape of the hairs. Eyebrow hairs are quite hard, short, and straight. Because they’re short, they don’t really bend, which means that they are quite straight with subtle curves. So, you want to make sure your lines are relatively straight for your eyebrow hairs. Secondly, you want to draw them with a flick of the wrist, kind of like a sudden movement. By doing this we will create a thick line that thins out towards its tip, which looks like realistic eyebrow hair. When learning how to draw realistic eyebrows, little details like this can go a long way. It is important to also make the hairs flow in the same direction, with one or two going in the other direction. How you position them will also be quite defining of the eyebrows, which can look like manicured eyebrows or disheveled eyebrows.

Matthew Matthysen( Drawing and Painting Artist )

Matthew Matthysen is an educated multidisciplinary artist and illustrator. He successfully completed his art degree at the University of Witwatersrand in South Africa, majoring in art history and contemporary drawing. The focus of his thesis was to explore the philosophical implications of the macro and micro-universe on the human experience. Matthew uses diverse media, such as written and hands-on components, to explore various approaches that are on the border between philosophy and science.

Matthew organized various exhibitions before and during his years as a student and is still passionate about doing so today. He currently works as a freelance artist and writer in various fields. He also has a permanent position at a renowned online gallery (ArtGazette) where he produces various works on commission. As a freelance artist, he creates several series and successfully sells them to galleries and collectors. He loves to use his work and skills in various fields of interest.

Matthew has been creating drawing and painting tutorials since the relaunch in 2020. Through his involvement with artincontext.org, he has been able to deepen his knowledge of various painting mediums. For example, watercolor techniques, calligraphy and lately digital drawing, which is becoming more and more popular.

Learn more about Matthew Matthysen and the Art in Context Team.