Drawing an Anime Girl Wink Eye: Fixing Facial Anatomy

Learning how to draw an anime girl wink can be surprisingly difficult because closing one eye changes the balance of the entire face. In this Artwod Community  submission, @valerie53 is trying to create a cute anime girl posing for a photo, but the wink feels disconnected from the open eye. The feedback highlights several useful anatomy and construction fixes.

Insights shared in this blog post are by: @gabrielle34427. You can also request feedback on your artwork in Artwod’s Art Community.

The submission, “Drawing an anime wink eye but it's not easy as I thought,” (thanks for the submission!) shows an anime girl with purple hair, one closed eye, one large open eye, and a raised hand near her face.

We can see the user suspects structural issues in this other artwork submission, where they sign proportions may be the issue. Meaning, this user is desiring help on fixing their facial anatomy, as they’re having trouble getting it right.

The artist's main concern in this piece is the wink. Rather than looking like a deliberate expression, the closed eye feels as though the character is simply closing one eye while the other eye looks somewhat disconnected. The artist also suspects that facial anatomy is contributing to the problem.

That is an important observation because a wink is not simply an ordinary eye with the eyelid drawn shut.

When one eye closes, the surrounding facial structure has to respond. The relationship between the eyebrows, eyelids, cheeks, nose, mouth, and face shape all affects whether the expression reads naturally.

With two open eyes, symmetry gives you a useful starting point. You can compare their height, width, angle, and placement.

A wink removes that symmetry.

One eye becomes a compressed shape while the other remains open. If the closed eye is positioned or angled incorrectly, the face can suddenly feel lopsided rather than expressive.

The solution is not necessarily to make the two eyes more similar.

Instead, think about the relationship between the two sides of the face.

The open eye establishes one major visual anchor. The closed eye needs to belong to the same face, even though its shape is fundamentally different.

This is why construction lines become especially useful when drawing expressions like a wink.

The paintover adds a clear vertical facial centerline and makes several structural corrections around the face. The red marks also adjust the eyes, eyebrows, nose, mouth, ear, jaw, neck, hair, and raised hand.

One thing I have heard of many times over the years was the ⅓ rule, or in other word the face is made up of three major sections spaced out by ⅓ . When it comes to the eyes, they should be right below eyebrows, in the middle-center line. The eyes, generally, tend to sit one eye away from each other. So, if you’re working digitally, you can copy and paste one of your eyes in between the pair to check your proportions.

I think a good example to look at for reference is this feedback submission here with a similar face angle. The eyes are placed about an eye apart and the nose and mouth also follow the structure of the face. 

Another art piece you could look at would be, Sketch anime girl arms looked easy until i started drawing them, while this user was struggling with the body anatomy they have a very solid structure of the face.

If you want anymore tips from me, I have a Artwod account: @gabrielle34427

That broader approach is useful because the wink should not be corrected in isolation.

Before refining the closed eye, check:

• Where is the centerline of the face?

• How does the head tilt?

• Are the eyebrows following the face?

• Is the open eye sitting correctly on the face?

• Does the closed eye occupy the corresponding position?

• Does the nose align with the facial center?

• Does the mouth sit naturally beneath the nose?

• Does the jaw connect consistently to the ears and neck?

If several of these relationships are unstable, repeatedly redrawing the wink itself may not solve the expression.

A useful workflow is to build the expression from structure toward detail.

1. Establish the head shape.
   Draw the basic face and decide its tilt before refining either eye.

2. Add the facial centerline.
   Use it to understand how the eyes, nose, and mouth sit across the face.

3. Construct the open eye.
   Treat it as the main reference for the scale and placement of the eyes.

4. Build the closed eye as an expression.
   Instead of copying the open eye and simply flattening it, create a curved closed-eyelid shape that fits the face.

5. Check the eyebrows.
   Eyebrow position can strongly affect whether the wink feels playful, relaxed, strained, or unnatural.

6. Recheck the whole expression.
   Look at the eyes, nose, mouth, and cheeks together instead of judging the wink independently.

7. Add the final linework and hair details.
   Details should come after the facial construction is convincing.

The key is to resist the temptation to make the closed eye the entire focus of the correction.

One of the easiest mistakes when drawing a wink is assuming that the closed eye should simply be a smaller version of the open eye.

It should not.

An open anime eye usually has a visible iris, pupil, eyelid structure, and surrounding shape. A wink compresses that visual information into a much simpler closed form.

The closed eyelid therefore needs to communicate compression and direction, while the open eye communicates gaze.

A wink eye tends to follow a stronger upside down U shape. When the eye is closed, I find it's better to put it closer to the center line of the other eye, instead of putting it where the bottom eyelid would be. This better emulates the compression that happens when you wink, even if in this style we lack heavier wrinkle details.

The two sides can be different while still feeling like they belong to the same character.

This is particularly important for a cute expression. If the closed eyelid becomes too straight, too thick, or too detached from the surrounding facial structure, the intended expression can lose some of its softness.

The paintover also addresses areas beyond the eyes. Red construction marks appear around the nose, mouth, ear, jaw, neck, hair, and raised hand.

That is a useful reminder that facial anatomy is interconnected.

For example, moving the facial centerline changes how the nose and mouth relate to both eyes. Adjusting the jaw changes the apparent placement of the lower face. Correcting the ear and neck can make the head feel more structurally connected to the body.

The goal is not to make every anatomical feature perfectly realistic. Anime drawing allows substantial stylization.

The goal is to make the stylization feel internally consistent.

Try drawing the same anime face three times.

• First: draw both eyes open.

• Second: close the left eye while keeping the rest of the face as consistent as possible.

• Third: close the right eye instead.

Compare the three drawings.

Pay particular attention to the facial centerline, eyebrow position, eye height, nose placement, and mouth position.

Then draw the wink again without looking at your previous version.

This exercise helps separate the expression from the character's identity. You are practicing how the face changes when one eye closes rather than memorizing one particular wink shape.

A single line can work for highly simplified anime styles, but it may not communicate the intended eyelid shape in every pose.

Check: Make sure the closed eyelid follows the curvature and orientation of the face.

The closed eye needs a different structure from the open eye.

Check: Ask whether the closed eye actually communicates an eyelid closing rather than an eye being erased.

Eyebrows are part of the expression, not just decoration.

Check: Compare the eyebrow positions on both sides and consider how they support the intended mood.

A wink can look wrong because the facial construction is wrong, not because the eyelid itself is poorly drawn.

Check: Add a centerline and inspect the eyes, nose, mouth, and jaw together.

This submission contains an original artwork and a paintover, not a completed before-and-after transformation by the original artist.

The paintover therefore should not be described as the artist's finished "after" version or as proof of an art glow-up.

Instead, it demonstrates a possible correction path. The red lines clarify the facial centerline, adjust the eye and eyebrow relationships, reshape parts of the face, and address additional structural areas such as the ear, jaw, neck, hair, and raised hand.

The important lesson is that the wink is being treated as part of the whole facial construction, rather than as one isolated eye detail.

• A wink changes the balance between the two sides of the face, so symmetry cannot be your only guide.

• The closed eye needs to communicate an eyelid and expression rather than simply replacing the open eye with a line.

• A facial centerline can help diagnose eye, nose, mouth, and jaw placement.

• Eyebrows contribute significantly to how an anime expression reads.

• When an expression feels wrong, inspect the surrounding anatomy before repeatedly redrawing the individual feature.

Expressions are a good example of an art problem that can be difficult to diagnose alone. You may know that a face feels "off" without knowing whether the problem is the eye, eyebrow, facial centerline, jaw, or another relationship.

Sharing a drawing with the Artwod Art community lets you explain the specific issue you're struggling with and get another artist's perspective. That kind of targeted feedback can help you identify which part of the construction is worth revisiting before you spend more time polishing the final lines. If you’re looking for advice for anime style drawings, Artwod has an anime category for that.

Start with the head construction and facial centerline, then establish the open eye before building the closed eyelid. Check the eyebrows, nose, mouth, and surrounding facial shapes together so the wink reads as one expression.

The problem may be more than the closed eye. Facial proportions, head angle, eyebrow placement, or the relationship between the two eyes can make the expression feel disconnected.

No. A wink intentionally breaks the symmetry of the eyes. The important part is making both eyes feel as though they belong to the same head and follow the same facial construction.

Focus on the overall expression rather than adding more detail to the closed eye. Eye shape, eyebrow position, facial proportions, and the surrounding features all contribute to the impression.

Practice constructing the head with simple forms and a facial centerline before adding detailed eyes, hair, and expressions. This makes it easier to identify structural problems early.

Yes. Another artist can help identify whether an expression problem comes from the eye itself or from surrounding facial construction. Explaining the exact issue you are struggling with makes the feedback more targeted.

The main lesson from this anime girl wink drawing is that a convincing wink is a facial construction problem, not just an eyelid problem. The closed eye needs to work with the open eye, eyebrows, facial centerline, and surrounding anatomy. Going over the structural integrity of the face proportions and anatomy first can often help identify why a wink may look wrong. In my personal opinion, the eyes in particular can easily make the whole face look off (especially in anime styles where they are so big) so it’s good to check over to see if they’re right.

The paintover does not show a completed transformation, but it demonstrates how stepping back and correcting the larger facial structure can provide a clearer path toward a more convincing expression.

If you're struggling with a similar drawing problem, share your artwork with the Artwod Art community, explain what feels wrong, and ask fellow artists for feedback on the specific feature or construction issue you're trying to solve.