Free original lessons
Draw a Tiger Eye: Slit Pupil, Amber Bands, and Fur Rim
Learn to draw a tiger eye with a vertical slit pupil, layered amber iris bands, and a fur rim using a clear convention and checkable steps.
Free lesson
Four exercises
Worked answers
Object Drawing Lessons
This lesson teaches a repeatable method for drawing a tiger eye. You will place a vertical slit pupil, build amber iris bands from the outer rim inward, and add a fur rim that frames the eye without turning it into a human or generic animal eye. The convention is simple: treat the iris as a set of concentric elliptical bands, keep the pupil centered on the eye's vertical midline, and let band width vary slightly for a natural look. Letter styles and fur strokes may vary; the rubric rewards proportion, band logic, and clean edges rather than a single perfect rendering. All measurements below are hypothetical examples you can scale to your paper.
Practice materials: Printable downloads are not available for this lesson yet. Use the instructions and four exercises below.
Set the eye frame and vertical midline
Begin with a light horizontal ellipse for the eye opening. A practical example is 10 cm wide and 6 cm tall, but any consistent size works. Mark the vertical midline and a horizontal midline; these guide the slit pupil and the iris bands.
Keep the eye opening slightly wider than tall. The tiger eye reads as a narrow almond, not a circle. Draw the outline lightly so you can adjust before adding dark values.
- Draw a light ellipse 10 cm by 6 cm (hypothetical example).
- Mark the vertical midline and horizontal midline.
- Check that the ellipse is wider than tall by about 4 cm in this example.
Place the slit pupil
The slit pupil is a narrow vertical lens shape centered on the vertical midline. It should not touch the top or bottom of the iris. In the 6 cm tall eye example, make the pupil about 3.5 cm tall and 0.6 cm wide at its middle.
Taper both ends to points. The pupil may sit slightly above or below the horizontal midline, but keep it centered left-to-right. A centered slit is the strongest cue that this is a tiger eye.
- Draw a vertical lens 3.5 cm tall and 0.6 cm wide (hypothetical example).
- Taper the top and bottom to points.
- Confirm the pupil is centered on the vertical midline and does not touch the iris edge.
Build amber iris bands
Treat the iris as concentric elliptical bands around the pupil. Start at the outer iris edge with a pale amber, then add a mid amber band, then a deeper amber band closer to the pupil. Band widths can vary by 10 to 20 percent for a natural look, but keep the sequence consistent.
Shade each band with short strokes that follow the ellipse curve. Leave a thin lighter gap between bands if you want separation. The darkest amber should sit next to the pupil, not at the outer rim.
- Draw three concentric elliptical bands around the pupil.
- Color the outer band pale amber, the middle band mid amber, and the inner band deep amber.
- Follow the ellipse curve with short strokes and keep band edges clean.
Add the fur rim and final checks
The fur rim is a ring of short directional strokes outside the eye opening. Use strokes that point away from the eye, denser at the top and lighter at the bottom. Keep the rim narrow, about 1 cm in the 10 cm wide example, so the eye remains the focus.
Check that the pupil is vertical, the bands are concentric, and the fur rim does not cover the iris. Erase guide lines and darken the pupil last for contrast.
- Draw short fur strokes around the eye opening, pointing outward.
- Keep the rim about 1 cm wide (hypothetical example).
- Erase guides, darken the pupil, and confirm the iris bands remain visible.
Worked example
Draw a tiger eye on a 12 cm by 7 cm eye opening. Place a vertical slit pupil 4 cm tall and 0.7 cm wide, add three amber bands, and a 1.2 cm fur rim.
Worked answer
The eye opening is 12 cm wide and 7 cm tall. The pupil is centered on the vertical midline, 4 cm tall and 0.7 cm wide, tapering at both ends and not touching the iris edge. Three concentric bands surround it: pale amber outer, mid amber middle, deep amber inner. The fur rim is 1.2 cm wide outside the eye opening, with short outward strokes. The pupil is darkened last.
Four practice exercises
Exercise 1
An eye opening is 8 cm wide and 5 cm tall. Where should the vertical midline and horizontal midline cross, and what pupil height is reasonable if the pupil is 70 percent of the eye height?
Show answer and check
The midlines cross at the center, 4 cm from each side and 2.5 cm from top and bottom. A reasonable pupil height is 3.5 cm (70 percent of 5 cm).
Why: The center is half the width and half the height. Multiply the eye height by 0.70 to get the pupil height.
Check: Confirm 8 divided by 2 equals 4, 5 divided by 2 equals 2.5, and 5 times 0.70 equals 3.5.
Exercise 2
A drawing has three amber bands. The outer band is 1.2 cm wide, the middle is 1.0 cm, and the inner is 0.8 cm. Is the band width variation within 20 percent of the middle band?
Show answer and check
Yes. The outer band is 20 percent wider than the middle, and the inner band is 20 percent narrower, so both are within the 20 percent limit.
Why: Compare each band to the middle band: 1.2 minus 1.0 equals 0.2, and 0.2 divided by 1.0 equals 20 percent. The inner band differs by the same amount.
Check: Calculate 1.2 divided by 1.0 equals 1.20 and 0.8 divided by 1.0 equals 0.80.
Exercise 3
An eye opening is 10 cm wide. A fur rim is drawn 1.5 cm wide on the left and 1.0 cm wide on the right. Does the rim stay within a 1 cm to 1.2 cm hypothetical target range?
Show answer and check
No. The left side is 1.5 cm, which exceeds the 1.2 cm target, and the right side is 1.0 cm, which is at the lower edge. Adjust the left side to 1.2 cm or less.
Why: Compare each measured width to the stated range. The left side is outside the range; the right side is acceptable but at the boundary.
Check: Check 1.5 is greater than 1.2 and 1.0 is within 1.0 to 1.2.
Exercise 4
A pupil is drawn 0.5 cm wide and 4 cm tall in a 6 cm tall eye. The pupil touches the top iris edge. Name two fixes and state the corrected pupil height if it should be 60 percent of eye height.
Show answer and check
Fix one: shorten the pupil so it does not touch the iris edge. Fix two: recenter the pupil on the vertical midline. The corrected height is 3.6 cm (60 percent of 6 cm).
Why: Touching the edge breaks the slit pupil convention. Recentering keeps the pupil on the midline. Multiply 6 by 0.60 for the corrected height.
Check: Confirm 6 times 0.60 equals 3.6 and that the new pupil leaves a gap at top and bottom.
Common mistakes
- Making the pupil round or horizontal. Redraw the pupil as a vertical lens centered on the vertical midline, tapering at both ends.
- Placing the darkest amber at the outer rim. Move the deepest amber band next to the pupil and keep the outer band pale.
- Letting the fur rim overlap the iris. Keep fur strokes outside the eye outline and narrow the rim if it crowds the iris.
- Using band widths that jump randomly. Vary band width by only about 10 to 20 percent and keep the concentric sequence.
Self-check rubric
- Pupil is vertical, centered on the vertical midline, tapered at both ends, and does not touch the iris edge.
- Iris shows at least three concentric amber bands with the darkest band nearest the pupil.
- Fur rim stays outside the eye opening, is narrow, and uses outward directional strokes.
- Proportions are consistent with the chosen eye size; band width variation stays within about 10 to 20 percent.
- Edges are clean, guide lines are erased, and the pupil has strong contrast.
Questions and answers
Does the slit pupil have to be perfectly straight?
Keep it vertical and centered. A slight taper difference is acceptable, but a tilted or curved slit weakens the tiger eye read.
How many amber bands should I use?
Three bands are enough: pale outer, mid middle, deep inner. More bands are allowed if the sequence stays concentric.
Can the fur rim be a different color?
Yes. The convention defines placement and direction, not a single color. Keep the rim narrow and outside the iris.
What if my eye is a different size?
Scale all example measurements proportionally. The ratios matter more than the exact centimeters.