How to Draw Realistic Eyes

Hello! I picked a tutorial this week to improve my doodles during lectures. The tutorial, made by Barakiel or Juhani (the source here is unclear... the photo has an author on it, but clicking the photo suggests another author contributed), can be found here, and the pin can be found here. I will be using a pen to raise the stakes and also because this is what I normally take notes with in class.

THE TUTORIAL
Since I can't really copy and paste this step-by-step, here is the entire photo with my steps below it.

Source

STEP 1: 

My thoughts: Sure. Seems easy enough.

STEP 2 & 3: 

My thoughts: My hamaratia is that I don't read ahead. I went by the photo reference instead of just the text, and drew in that bottom line in the second step.

STEP 4: 

My thoughts: I went by just the text this time and drew in all the lashes at this step. They look pretty weird.

STEP 5:

My thoughts: Let's see how well I can draw a circle...

STEP 6:

My thoughts: My new circle isn't really parallel with the other but I'll get over it.

STEP 7:

My thoughts: Ahhhh this is kinda coming together!

STEP 8:

My thoughts: Rude... the artist on the site said that they used pencil, but it was never clearly stated I must use one. Therefore, my "white blob" is a little screwy. To counter this, I made my iris have a darker outline/limbal ring. Additionally, shading is really tough with a pen to an untrained hand (maybe it's tough if you're trained too, but I can't speak from experience.)

STEP 9:

My thoughts: Totally. I added some lashes here and the tear duct thing that eyes have.

 

STEP 10: 

My thoughts: Where?! It's hard to tell in the tutorial where this should be, so I put shading around the corners of the eye.

WINNER OR LOSER?
Winner. This pin makes it pretty easy to draw an eye. I wish that the shading steps were explained a little clearer (I have no idea how to shade), but I'm relatively happy with the finished product.

HOW TO ACTUALLY PULL IT OFF: 
USE A PENCIL! Pens make this a little tricky for shading, mistakes, and the "white blob" part.

Thanks for reading!
Jaclyn