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Wednesday, January 19, 2011

SATYR (eyes)

I will do my best to show you how I do eyes. First the beads need to be scraped clean of the layer of paint. A quill or tooth pick works fine for this.
A drop of alcohol is used to clean the eye ball to prepare for the enamels.
 The eye color is chosen. Here I will use a light blue eye to contrast with the skin tone. I start with a dark blue glass painting enamel which is found at the local craft shop. The Iris of the eye is painted with attention paid to the focal point of his gaze. I want to be sure he is looking at the nymph when this is done.
While the dark blue is still wet, I mix some white into the blue on a palette and paint the inner part of the iris leaving a ring of the dark blue on the outside.

 I then stipple the light blue of the iris with gold enamel to catch the light.
The pupil is painted in with black.





























The eyes are left to dry for an hour then heated with the heat gun to set the enamel. Once again they need to cool completely and the finished eye is covered with a clear sealant to give the corneal bulge over the iris. The sealant also gives the eyes a wet look where it touches the eyelids.
I used to paint the eyes and insert them but prefer to paint last so i can change the focus if I change my mind.
Have a great day!

4 comments:

  1. Which beads uses white as a base for the eye? Glass or plastic? Thanks Mark. Your eyes look very real.

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  2. I use White Mountain Jade beads (gemstones).

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