How to Draw Eyebrows

Eyebrows can vary greatly in shape and size. Fortunately, there are a few simple guidelines we can follow to learn how to draw eyebrows convincingly and realistically!

The ‘trick’ to drawing eyebrows (or any challenging texture, really) is to stop thinking of them as eyebrows, or even hair. Instead, for at least the first half of the drawing process, we need to think of the eyebrows simply as shapes and values. This is a very important, but sometimes challenging, mindset shift! To help alter your perception and learn to view complicated subjects as shapes and values, take my free Mini-Course, which features video lessons on these essential concepts.

After this lesson, don't miss these related pages: How to Draw Realistic Eyes (a step by step tutorial), and a guide to the 6 Most Common Eye Drawing Mistakes (and how to avoid them!)

Simplifying and grouping shapes when drawing eyebrows

If I were to distill the process of drawing an eyebrow into three key points, they would be:

Work ‘from general to specific’. In the eyebrows above, notice that a large portion of each one can be massed or grouped into a fairly simple shape. That is exactly how I'll start my drawing: by initially simplifying and grouping the eyebrow into one or two basic shapes, and gradually working up to the specific details like individual hairs.
Look for similarities in the eyebrow. Once I have established my basic shapes and proportions, I will start looking for more specific groupings of similar eyebrow hairs: Where do they overlap? Where are they similar in proximity, direction, angle, length or value?
Look for variations in the eyebrow. Where are the hairs distinctly different? Where do they change direction? Where are the most evident value shifts?

The balance of unity and variety (or similarity and difference) is one of the cornerstones of composition, and we can make great use of it when drawing this eyebrow.

Let’s jump right into the tutorial and expand upon these guidelines! Or, download the reference photo of the eye I'm drawing, an infographic of this tutorial (below), and draw along with me.

I will be using Staedtler Mars Lumograph graphite pencils: HB, 2B and 4B.

Downloadable Resources

Get the reference photo of the eye I'm drawing here!
Get the eyebrow tutorial infographic here!

Free Video Course on Essential Drawing Concepts
Throughout this lesson I refer to essential drawing concepts and stages of the drawing process. Learn about them in my free video course to get the most out of the tutorials on this site!

How to Draw Eyebrows
Step 1:

As with most drawings, I begin this one by blocking in the basic, simplified shape or couple of shapes of the eyebrow using line. To determine what the major groupings are, I can squint at the eyebrow, which merges many of the details to create a more defined, solid shape. I also look for major divisions, such as the one between shape A and shape B, which I indicate in my line drawing.

During this block-in stage, my priorities are:

finding and indicating the major angle changes of the eyebrow
drawing the correct proportions of the eyebrow, and
establishing the correct alignment of the eyebrow with the eye itself.

I can do this by lining up my pencil with the peak of the eyebrow, for example, and checking which part of the eye it aligns with (see the diagram below). Then, I mimic this alignment in my drawing.

How to Draw Eyebrows
Step 2

Though I will focus primarily on drawing the eyebrow in this tutorial, because the eye and eyebrow are developed simultaneously, the two are inextricably linked, and I will mention some of the eye-drawing steps when they pertain to the eyebrow. Check out my step by step tutorial specifically on drawing realistic eyes here.

In this step, I'm starting to look for the value structure of the eye and eyebrow: where are the light values, middle values, and dark values? (Check out Lesson 4 of my free Mini-Course to learn how to develop the value structure of your drawing!)

Specifically in the eyebrow, there is a dark shape within Shape B, which I’ll call Shape C (pictured below). This shape is one of the darkest areas in the entire scene. I’ve indicated Shape C on my drawing using a slightly darker value.

I prefer to build up my values gradually: because dark values are difficult (and sometimes impossible) to erase, I want to be quite certain that everything is in the right place before I commit to fully darkening them.

How to Draw Eyebrows
Step 3

I have filled in the rest of the eyebrow with a light value, leaving a slight value difference between the darker shape and lighter shapes.

Notice that I am not at all concerned with drawing ‘hair’ yet!

A key to drawing realistic eyebrows is not to get caught up in drawing every single hair. Instead, we need to ‘see through’ these details, initially ignoring them as much as possible, and instead paying attention to shapes of values.

Though the pupil and iris of the eye are not completely finished, I focused on rendering them so as to have a variable that I am confident and certain in, and can now compare the rest of my proportions, values, and placement to.

How to Draw Eyebrows
Step 4

Here I’m beginning to establish the ‘value extremes’ in my drawing: the lightest and darkest values in the scene (pictured below).

How to Draw Eyebrows
Step 5

Notice that the eyebrow is already starting to resemble hair even though I haven’t drawn any individual hairs! Here I've darkened the eyebrow, particularly the dark shape that I named 'shape C' earlier. The subtle pencil marks I applied are already starting to ‘read’ as hair, simply because I applied them in the direction of the hair. However, I am still only looking for shapes of value.

How to Draw Eyebrows
Step 6

I have further darkened and defined the dark shape of the eyebrow, and have started ‘turning’ the smaller forms of the eye, such as the folds in the upper eyelid, and the subtle gradations in the lower eyelid.

Notice that the edges of the eyebrow are still fairly soft. (To learn about the essential concept of Edges, watch Lesson 6 of my free Mini-Course!)

Now that I have massed in as much of the eyebrow as I can, and built up a range of middle values in the eye, I am finally ready to turn my attention to some of the individual hairs in the eyebrow.

Am I going to draw every single one of them? Not at all! Personally, I am not interested in a hyper-realistic representation here. I prefer a more naturalistic look, and can achieve this by selectively choosing which eyebrow hairs to indicate.

To make my decision, I look for:

Changes in the direction of the eyebrow hair, and where these changes of direction are most noticeable

Which hairs are most prominent? (Many of the arrows below are similar to the ones above because the most prominent hairs show the changes in direction most evidently!)

Groupings of hairs that I can indicate (they can be 'grouped' based on their proximity to each other, or by their similar direction)

How to Draw Eyebrows
Step 7

Once my analysis is complete, I start drawing in some of these individual hairs, paying close attention to their spacing, thickness, and length. They are not equally spaced or the same size! To create a likeness of our model, we must pay attention to the specifics of this particular eyebrow. As soon as a few of my marks start to look the same in length or spacing, I know it’s time to look more closely at my model or my reference photo, whichever I am drawing from.

How to Draw Eyebrows
Step 8

I am using my pencil and kneaded eraser almost equally during this step. In particular, I lean heavily on the second technique that I demonstrate in my kneaded eraser technique video: flattening the kneaded eraser to give it a sharp edge, and then using it to create some of the lighter separations between the hairs that can be seen in the reference photo.

Flattened, sharp edge of the kneaded eraser

The Finished Drawing

Realistic eyebrow drawing drawn in graphite

Is my finished drawing an exact replica of my model's eye and eyebrow? I'm sure that it's not! However, the likeness and character of this individual's particular eyebrow is there, and that was certainly the goal!

Notice:

All of the unruly hairs that I indicated to add vitality and life to the drawing, as opposed to depicting them unrealistically evenly and facing the same direction.
That I selectively darkened some of the individual hairs and left others rather light. This kind of variation can add interest and realism to a drawing.
That there are no sharp edges along the top ridge of the eyebrow. When drawing any kind of hair, squint at the subject to determine where the sharpest and softest edges are in order to create a realistic illusion! (Learn about Edges in Lesson 6 of my free Mini-Course).

Downloadable Resources

What next?

Why not download the reference photo of this eye, an infographic of this tutorial to remind you of the steps, and draw it yourself!

Or, check out my step by step Eye Drawing Tutorial, and my guide to the 6 Most Common Eye Drawing Mistakes (and how to avoid them!)

Download the Reference Photo here!