Tutorial: Geometry Node Eyelids for Stylized Cartoon Eyes in Blender

Create stylized rig-ready cartoon eyelids controlled by very easy and simple geometry nodes. This eliminates fiddling with lattices and shape keys.

When converting my cartoon characters into 3d, there seemed to be no easy way to create flat oval shaped eyelids. I tried using lattices, snapping drawn grease pencil lids, and shape keys. None were very repeatable and required a lot of tweaking to work. Then geometry nodes came to the rescue! By orienting a sphere for longitudinal eyelids, we can move the surface geometry with “Vector Rotate” nodes for a repeatable perfect fit with very little tweaking. The lids can be easily animated using drivers with whatever rig you choose. Note: will not likely work with eyes that have a cornea bump; it should be smooth. Enjoy and have a great day!


00:00 Intro
00:40 Modeling the eye
03:00 Creating the upper eyelid
06:45 Adding geometry node controls
11:00 Creating the lower eyelid
12:31 Adding geometry node controls - lower lid
13:15 Combine lids with eyeball
14:15 Create separate controls for each lid
17:23 Applying materials
22:18 Flattening and shaping the eye and eyelids
23:30 Adding tilt and tidy up nodes

[Anonymous-uedl]

absolutely loved it😂, i am going to use it for my small project❤❤

[TonytownInc]

Thanks! I'm still trying to wrap my brain around geometry nodes, but this helps. Those eyes are just what I need too.

[vickee.official]

Wow. 😱This is fantastic. 😍 Of course, I'm still beginner to blender, but this is just a discovery for me. 🤯Such a simple solution is just what we all need. 😅Thank you for the tutorial. ❤

[dadscastle]

Hello Blender Community, based on requests from viewers, I've modified the geometry node eyelids to include eyelashes. Stay tuned for a tutorial coming soon!

[wilfredog.]

Very well explained everything. I appreciate it a lot. Be very happy!😊😊

[DisPlay-polc]

Best tutorial ever. you did not just explain how to achieve the task but also explained the basic vector mathematics concept behind it. Just one question sir: how to join (not literally "join", but I mean stick) the eyes to the body to rig the whole character? (i tried to crtl+J with head and also tried to make rig as a parent of an eye but either it loses geo-nodes or it (eyes) doesn't move with the head by rigging).

[santhoshsivan]

This is your first video and it's great man. What are you do for living? I am blender beginner...

[gunderalex]

Very cool! Have you ever experimented with putting eyelashes on these eyelids?

[kellyjohnson]

Thanks so much for this. But say I have a spherical eyeball with a black dot as an iris? How do I get the that black dot to move along the surface of the sphere without disappearing into the eyeball?

[ToonyTinglesASMR]

Is it just me or you completely jumped the part were you show us how you rotate the eye? I mean the eye lid sure but you just said you added some stuff for the rotation of the eye but I don't see the part where you show that part especially because your controls of the eye rotation are not even in the modifiers tab

[malikaagouram]

I don t find button of eye rotation in blender 4.1
Where can i found it ? ( Eye rotation )