How To Paint a Realistic Eye in Watercolor Video Lecture - Master the Art

hi there Lindsay here the frugal crafter
we are going to paint and sketch an
eyeball and we're going to start with a
basic drawing I'm using just a regular
ol pencil you can use whatever whatever
you want I would recommend a pencil over
a watercolor pencil just so that you on
you can see your lines as we go on to
paint but I am going to sketch fairly
fairly lightly I'm going to start well
you know what I'm gonna sketch darker
that I normally would because I want you
to be able to see it really well so
don't sketch as dark as I am but I just
have to make sure you can see it so I'm
starting with kind of a rounded line
this is the top kind of lash line of the
eye and then I'm going to just going to
kind of curve it around and make a not
quite as rounded line on the bottom but
notice it curves up a little bit more on
the end okay now we're going to have a
little rim there so I'm just kind of
doubling that line up and oops let's
stick it up a little bit over there and
now we are going to put the circle in
for the iris but we're not going to see
if you put up just a regular circle in
the middle this person is going to look
so surprised okay well you have a big
circle inside of like the whites of the
eye it looks like a shot surprise face
so we want this to be more of a low
relaxed eye so we're just going to have
kind of like a relaxed circle there now
over the eye we're going to have a
crease okay so you've got a kind of a
little line starting there it's kind of
tracing our eyeball shape but it's a
little more angular and then up here
we're going to have an eyebrow but I am
just very very lightly going to sketch
that in because we're going to we're
going to I'm going to show you some
shading techniques we're also going to
do some color mixing and the colors that
I'm using today and I'll just show you
my swatch just so I can point them out
to you we're going to use cerulean blue
we're going to use permanent alizarin
crimson if you don't have that you can
use permanent rose
any sort of cool base thread we're going
to use Prussian blue we're going to use
yellow ochre and we're going to use
burnt sienna and we're going to be able
to get a variety of skin tones this way
you don't have to use those colors you
can
get to the same point that we're going
to get to using other colors but but
those are those are nice and easy to
work with because they're not super
strong the crimson and the Prussian blue
are strong but the other colors really
aren't so it's um it's a little bit
easier I also want to just get this
little um membrane in here and the edge
of the whites of the eyes just so you
can kind of see where we're going to put
our colors in that's really all we need
for the sketch I'm just going to tip it
away from the light a little bit so you
can see it for a second a little bit
clearer without the glare either that's
a trouble with having enough lights to
have a nice crisp broadcast it kept
going some bounce off the paper so see
if I shade it a little bit you probably
see it better so let's mix up our colors
together I know this is a much asked
question like how to get those colors um
so I'm going to start with yellow ochre
you could probably use like a raw Sienna
or golden oak or anything you have
that's fairly close this is what my
color looks like on its own the next
color I add to it is some burnt sienna
and I like to kind of paint on to the
side and then I can just mix together
the proportions that I need now you
probably noticed boy that's awfully
orange so to temper that what I do is I
go into my cerulean and I'm going to add
that in and see how it makes it a little
bit more shady but sometimes that blue
is going to make it want to go a little
green so I'm going to grab a little
crimson permanent alizarin crimson or
permanent rose or whatever cool red you
have now the thing is when you're
looking at a face you are going to see
all these different colors you're going
to see shadows that are more green or
blue you're going to see highlights that
are more yellow you're going to see all
these different colors so we don't we
don't just mix it into one pot and call
it a day we actually have to keep these
colors we have to adjust these colors as
we go so I'm going to go with my kind of
a mixture of all four of these colors
it's going to give me a fairly neutral
kind of skin tone and this is a
Caucasian skin tone and we're going to
go in we're just going to kind of paint
that in I could see I've got a little
bit darker than I want so I'm going to
go ahead and just paint it in my darker
areas I'm not going to worry about
eyelashes right now I'm just going to
get this in the darker areas
the paint under the eyebrow - now to
lighten this up I want to add a little
water to it cuz I like the tone that I
have here but it's just a little too
dark so I'm going to add a little bit of
water right into my mix right fresh
water here and then I'm going to add
that right in there right next to that
wet paint and you could do this in a
sketchbook wherever you want I mean it's
not like you're going to frame a
solitary picture of an eyeball generally
so I mean I'm using cheap paper I'm just
you know just practice you know this is
90 pound aqua be paper or very
inexpensive and I think I'll also get a
little bit more of the crims in there
and get this lash line let that blend
out now any place I look and I'm
thinking I want a warm or shadow I'm
going to go right in with that crimson
add that in there we're going to be
doing some glazing so we don't have to
get it right on the first go
now the whites of the eyes aren't really
white the whites of the eyes can have a
lot of different colors in them so I'm
going to grab a little this ruling on
its own a little of the burnt sienna
very very watery see how we're going so
so light one kind of like a grayish
color so we get kind of like this is
cool gray here and a little bit of that
in here right on the white to the eyes
like I'm gonna brush off and I'm going
to pull it down
can add a little bit of the bird cm to
that if that's a little too purple and
if you have any puddles so come up with
your brush so that you don't end up with
um so you don't end up with with blooms
on the face and let me just see I'm
going to dry this I'm going to take a
quick peek at the chat while I'm drawing
it see if any questions have popped up
right now but keep in mind I will take
questions at the end of the demo I'll
tip this a little bit just so you can I
think it's a little easier to see if I
tip it you don't quite so much
reflection it's very light still so dry
the back of it to to make it flatten out
okay now we're going to work on the iris
a little bit and again we're working in
glazes getting a lot of glare there
apologize and I am going to use I'm
going to start with on some cerulean
blue because we want to keep using those
same colors some of that in there I'm
going to grab some yellow ochre I'm
painting on the dry the dry eyeball I'm
not I'm not pre-wedding it because it's
such a small space and I want some of
these colors to kind of have their own
identity little flecks in them get that
later bit around the iris under around
the people
and I'm going to grab some pression blue
now of course if you wanted to do an eye
ball that was a different color you'd
use different colors pression blue is
really nice because it's a great color
to mix blacks with it's going to give us
that extra shadow colors that we need
for like our eyelashes and what-have-you
okay we're going to let that dry and
while that's drying we can go ahead and
work on mixing a color for the eye brows
so first thing you want to do is add a
little bit of a base shadow there so I'm
going to grab a little more that
cerulean blue and kind of mix that in
with that skin color that we had made
that's going to darken it and cool it
down a little bit and I'm going to go in
and just kind of paint not the hairs but
more just like kind of like paint the
eye brow in kind of where I want it to
be that's going to be it's going to dry
a little bit lighter that's just going
to kind of give me a little bit of
shadow like the hairs on the eyebrow and
we're still using a number eight round I
haven't gone to anything small yet it's
kind of tip that away from the glare so
you can see and I'm also going to put a
shadow on the lid under the crease I
think I'll do a little bit under the eye
they're very very light watery washes if
you get too much just wipe your brush
off and just go blend it
you
touching over to a smaller brush pretty
soon here just just say no and now we're
going to make some darker color for the
eyelashes and eyebrow and stuff so we
can mix that while you were waiting for
our iris to dry so for that we're going
to go with a Prussian blue
that's our darkest color we're going to
go with our crimson so that's also one
of our darkest colors we're going to add
some burnt sienna into that because it
has a yellow undertone to it but it's
still it's darker and it's more
transparent than the yellow ochre so
it's not going to give us a muddy luck
and now we're adding a little bit more
of the of the Prussian blue because the
key with the with mixing dark darks is
to keep them transparent when you get an
opaque pigment in there it's um it makes
it much less transparent okay so now
with a smaller brush what we're going to
do is we are going to do a little bit of
detailing I'm blotting my brush off I
don't want too much on there I'm going
to go in and give this inside of the rim
of the eye a little definition and I'm
going to let see our eyebrow our
eyebrows dry so I'm going to turn my eye
so that I can comfortably reach it I'm
going a little bit more burnt sienna and
that mix just because that's a little
dark there's subtle little adjustments
is all you need
watch out for any beads of water on your
brush you want to pull those off and
you're doing the individual hairs hold
your brush at a ninety-day on my hands
in the way if I do that so I'm going to
hold it up this at an angle but while
you're doing it you want your brush in a
90 degree angle with your paper and
you're just barely going to um going to
touch the paper with your brush I can't
upright if I do it at the right angle
I'm just I'm in your way I apologize for
that but you just
want to do little little hairs
and we'll let that drive we'll come back
and add some more in a little bit I'm
going to darken the crease here again
you're right up on the tip of that brush
when you are on when you want a really
fine line because this isn't a tiny
brushes and number two it's fairly small
but it's not like as teeny tiny as a lot
of different a lot of different like
spotter brushes or superfine brushes
that you have it's much larger than that
okay so now I think I'm going to go
ahead and paint in the pupil of the eye
and again we're going to use that
Prussian blue is going to be the most
prominent color because it's the darkest
a little more crimson I'm just mixed I
know I'm going to need more of it so I'm
just going ahead and mixing more and I
can go ahead and put it right in the
pupil area try to keep here try to keep
it as circular as you can we will be
lifting out a highlight so don't worry
if it just looks a little bizarre that
it's just kind of staring at you I try
to keep it as as round as you can and
now because the iris is dry and we can
work on the outside of the iris a little
bit and you can see my palate there we
can work on some of the the thread enos
you can see that just the texture of the
eye so I've got the Prussian I've got
some cerulean I'm going to grab some
yellow ochre and I am going to go in
with the Prussian blue feel free to turn
your work if you need to and I'm just
kind of giving these like um this little
line kind of going in towards the center
of the eye you can have a little bit
darker at the top because the eyelashes
are going to cast a shadow
so you can throw in both shades of blue
yellow ochre it's okay if they blend
here and there and you actually even
have some flecks of burnt sienna it's
kind of like a like these little hazel
flecks in there it gives it a nice
dimension your eyes are in just one
color there's all kinds of flecks of
other colors in them or different shades
of the same color we will be blending
the edges of the iris into the eyeball
because you do not have a hard edge
between your iris in the whites of your
eyes so we will want to adjust that I'm
going to grab some crimson so we need to
make the membrane around the eyeball a
little bit darker a little bit redder so
we're going to go in like that little
bit over here and I am going to rinse my
brush and pull some of that out little
veins and just the reflected color I
don't like to paint the little veins in
I mean you could but I think you have to
such a fine touch and such a control of
your color that it can look kind of
creepy and horror movie ish now I'm just
gently kicking up the paint at the edge
of the eye just like a gentle little
wiggle wiggle wiggle and that is giving
me the soft transition between the iris
and the eyeball and then I'm bringing
some picking up some of that color and
bring it over here because I feel like
my whites are too white I think I'm
pulling a little bit of that ah that
other color and add some that kind of
just grayish mud
my palate and add some of that in there
too it's very subtle I think that's a
that's a tricky thing is subtlety now
I'm a lot of times you're going to
notice a lot of different shadows around
the eye so I'm going to grab some of
this more cerulean tone here and really
water it down add some of that into the
over the eye area a little bit under
here too and a little bit up here
we also a little more pink in the crease
a lot of times where you have skin
folding over it's going to be a little
bit warmer in color so I'm grabbing a
little the crimson a little of the burnt
sienna to get those rosy tones and
that's going to go there taper it off a
little bit hold it under there too and I
mean if you're doing like a portrait and
I mean this I is pretty much life-size
if you're doing a portrait with a
smaller eye you're not going to need to
put every little detail in there so so
don't fret about that so much little bit
of yellow in the I remember the eye a
little more of that okay like a little
more yellow ocher around the rim of the
IRS I'm just going to turn it happening
because it is that is a more opaque
color so I can kind of just tap it on
and now we'll want to lift the highlight
out of the eyeball and for that I like
to use a little scrubber brush this is
my favorite one I think I think they
still make it's by Lowell Cornell and
it's called Maxine's mop it's
it's 27c Maxine's mop quarter inch I
really like it because it's just um it's
really great if I like wanted to blend a
couple calico colors together or if I
just want to lift out a highlight and
what I'm going to do is lift out this
pretty bold highlight here it's not
going to be completely white I just want
to kind of tone down color and I feel
like the older this brush gets the
better it works and I can lift it down
to the weight of the paper I want to I
might have a little bit of a higher high
life it's that bright but all of a
sudden it starts to make it look a
little bit more like an eye did you get
that glossy look and I want one little
streak that's way to the paper and then
just kind of soften up the edges if you
got a little um got too much paint into
the whites of the eye you can go ahead
and soften it up and if you took too
much out we can go and paint a little
bit more back so now let's work on
eyelashes we're going to go back to
we're gonna go to our number two you
need a mix that is about the consistency
of milk like whole milk and I'm going to
turn this because I need to kind of
approach it for a comfortable angle so
when you're looking at I like to start
kind of in the middle of the eye and
kind of in the middle your eyelashes are
kind of going straight up and then they
as you get towards the outside of the
eye they're going to curve more because
we this is a round thing I and again as
well it seems Rory I want him I brush
straight up like that but I don't want
to be in your way so I think I might
just kind of hold it in my would not
paint like this this is not like
comfortable if we're gonna mix so I
don't suggest you do it but I'm just
trying to be able to hold my brush at
the right angle to my paper so that you
can kind of see how how to approach it
so you do a little bit of a curl to it
but as you get to the middle of the eye
your brush your eyelashes going up and
then you're going to find that they
start
going the other way look in McNair you
know if you don't believe me look in the
mirror look real close at your eyes look
real close at your eyelashes and try to
get that little curve on the bottom same
deal I like to do the top one first
because you usually have more lashes on
the top so it's a little bit a little
bit less intimidating and on the bottom
the same thing I just I personally just
start in the middle I find it a little
bit easier just go real light on those
uh on those bottom lashes because it's
really easy to get kind of like a fake
look to them if you're not careful it's
almost not about I'd get just kind of
spray a little bit of water on your pal
instead dipping your brush in the in
your bucket because it's sometimes easy
to get a little too much water on there
and it can make it difficult to get
those detailed really fine lines if you
have too much water any brush use the
biggest brush you can handle if this is
like if this brush is just too big for
you go ahead and use a smaller one
you'll just have to reload more often
that's why I like to use the use a uh a
larger brush it's time to reload so
often and you'll have some lashes that
this stick out longer you'll have some
lashes that are sure you'll have these
like strays that go in the wrong way
then just kind of sticking out like why
is that
you know sticking out in some like crazy
crazy direction that's totally fine I'm
just doing in a few more hold my hands
not completely in the way there but I
think it's kind of crazy how all of a
sudden they start to look realistic it's
like a hot mess is like wow that looks
like an eyeball you know isn't that
crazy
and you can build up slowly you can take
a break if you need to I want to thank
all my moderators that hopped in today
because I haven't been able to keep my
eye on the chat but I will take your
questions at the end of the broadcast
for those of you watching live I know
you're all busy I do appreciate you
taking time to to come out here okay
also can looking better already can we
need a little bit more going on in our
eyebrows so we're going to go ahead and
grab a little more burnt sienna and add
that to our mix and we're going to work
on some eyebrow here this is a great
thing to do on your sketchbook I mean
honestly
hopefully all my hand is right in your
way I'm gonna see if I can do that thing
where I hang GLE it a little bit um
great thing to do in your sketchbook
you know just doodle when you get a when
you get a free minute and there's and
it's not your sketchbooks not precious
is not that worried that oh I'm gonna
mess up a whole painting you play around
with it in your sketchbook or on a scrap
of leftover paper that you don't have
any plans for or a paper you pick up off
the floor cuz your cat's an acht it down
and lift a paw print on it you're not
using that for anything else you might
as well use it to paint some eyeballs
okay I think I want a little more color
in the iris so I'm going to go I'm gonna
go in my yellow ocher first because I
feel like I kind of want just some more
of those kinda thready yellow curry bits
it was so hard for me not to grab a
white gel pen after I was done my first
eye box I call I just one that really
shiny shine on it but I resisted and I'm
glad I did because I think I would have
I think it would've made it look a
little too cartoony and I'm going with
fresh and blue I think some of that and
there you can get more crisp as you go
along
you
just remember it's not a real sharp line
there between the iris and the whites of
the eyes I'm going to add I'm adding a
little water to my brush and just kind
of tapping off the excess I do want to
put a little bit more color back in here
in the cast highlight so that's all I'm
doing they're super super faint okay
same thing with a little yellow ocher
they're super super faint I just want to
get that cast highlight a little bit
more realistic and a little bit more
that dark color just in that cast
highlight area try not to lift up any of
the other people color while you're
doing that it can be a little tricky
most of these colors actually the
collagen tree using today are very
liftable the crimson were probably the
one most likely to stain but we use it
in such faint amounts that ition give us
a problem but that's nice because then
you have that workability that you can
always go back in so I've got a mix of
the burnt sienna a little bit of crimson
I'm just outlining that bottom lashline
a little bit in towards the center
because it's just looking a little um
undefined a bit more of that up there
too and I feel like I might want a
little bit over here I did go a little
dark with my pencil line there but ah
not a huge deal and maybe a little more
Brent Sienna in my iris
oops I look I picked up any paint there
then of water my brush for one thing I
wonder how many people are painting
along they're probably not chatting if
they're painting along too busy look at
that
or in Sienna okay something else it's
kind of interesting is that the
eyelashes are going to cast a shadow I
still feel like I want a couple darker
lashes here so
I'm just putting in a few it really kind
of be lashes clumping together like I
went a little light on my eyelashes when
I begin not a big deal though because
you can always go darker nothing's
permanent all right we also want to have
a reflection of the eyelashes on the
eyeball but the only place you're really
going to see it is on the is on the
colored part of the eye on the iris so
what I'm doing is that same black color
that we mix them and add some more of
the Prussian blue to it so it's I'm
almost going for like a midnight
midnight blue colors that kind of a navy
color and this is one of those things
where it might kind of freak you out you
got to trust it and you got to know when
to stop and that's going to be the most
difficult part of this whole process I
think so what I'm going to do first is
put in my lash line big shadow which is
kind of a line here just going as far as
the iris and then your this is weird
your lashes your reflections and a curl
back okay and they're even going into
that bright highlight which i think is a
little a little tricky a little
disconcerting I think I think it's it's
kind of scary to put that in there and
you're not I mean you could water it
down I guess quite a bit if you want to
put some of that shadow in the white of
the eye but you're really not going to
see much you have to go so so super
light if you want to do any on the yeah
on the white of the eye but you can just
kind of pull in a little bit of grey
there but try but don't overdo it this
is like subtle subtle detail now look
how fun and shiny that looks
isn't that cool now of course if you
have a different skin tone then um then
white you just adjust those colors you
can get pretty dark with the burnt
sienna you might want an ultramarine
blue instead of cerulean blue
and then when you mix the red Santa with
the with the ultramarine you'll get a
much darker color that will be a little
bit I think easier to work with and you
might even want a cadmium red or a
warmer red versus crimson for the
undertones but um you know play with
that if you if I think women have a
little bit of an advantage in this
department mixing skin tones because
we're so used to putting on makeup and
mixing it to blending it to fit our skin
tone so I think you have a little bit of
an advantage there but it's definitely
something that everyone can learn and
there's no need of it being you know
completely mystifying or tricky I am
going to UM thank everyone for joining
us and I'm going to take a look at the
chat if anyone has any questions please
feel free to pop them in the chat and I
will spend out of five or ten minutes
here answering any questions that come
through let's see and I want to thank
Valerie grace in Dominic designs all of
our moderators that are still hanging
out with us here um oh okay the upper
shadow reflexion was what I was waiting
for love it thank you so much BKB RP 64
eave bolt thanks for coming thanks uh
thanks for joining us today hi Cathy hi
Taylor Taylor wonders what's my opinion
on Copic alternatives I really think
there I like the looks to do markers I
think they're as good as Copic I am NOT
a big name-brand person I think they all
work about the same I really think a
brush tip it gives you a huge advantage
for blending um let's say oh thank you
guys so much for coming and for leaving
the lovely comments I'm just finally
getting a chance to peek at the check ad
if you left a question earlier um I did
not see it so please go ahead and pop it
back in there now if you had trouble
lifting your highlight back don't don't
feel bad if you want to go in with some
white paint there's nothing wrong with
that um I think you totally can do this
without the white paint I didn't you
know this lifted up really well for me
but if you're in a sketchbook or working
on some crazy paper and it doesn't work
go ahead and add white all right kid
asks how are you finding the Windsor and
Newton set they're pretty cheap in
Europe compared to America
well this is the first these are the
first paintings I've done with this set
I really like it I found the earth tones
to be a little bit weak but um but other
than that I'm really happy with them um
that I got mine on a good deal they're
usually very expensive so if you have a
decent a decent price go for it Rhonda's
asking for some more acrylic painting
I'm going to be doing some gouache
painting which you can totally do in
acrylics I just I like that I can lay
out my paints and leave them in my
palette not waste any so it just works a
little better for me but but any of the
gouache tutorials Rhonda you can totally
do in acrylics oh thank you Susie I
appreciate the comment thank you Claudia
uh oh yeah somebody's asking me to do a
video on a face uh okay Munira I do plan
on doing that I hope I pronounced your
name right I do plan on that definitely
um Jessica wonders do I like watercolor
pencils I do I think there are a lot of
fun um whenever you know sometimes I'm
in the mood for that sometimes I'm in
the mood for paint question what's your
favorite color in this palette let me
take a peek gosh I love that Prussian
blue
I like their olive green this is my
little bookmark laminated palette here
and I like their permanent rose there's
really nice colors I'm not as crazy
about the earth tones but they work
really good for skin here yes grace I
plan on doing more people videos um
Amina wants to know can you use any kind
of paper
I really think you could probably use
most like well sighs sketching paper or
watercolor paper this is cheap 80-pound
watercolor paper um it I think you'll be
fine this is just a practice sketch oh
you should be fine um would you put
makeup over the painting would you put
makeup over the oh well you could and
yeah if you wanted to you could
definitely glaze on some eyeshadow color
do it before you put the eye the
eyelashes on though because you can kind
of muck that up pretty easily Thank You
Jessica
I appreciate it yes I'm making some more
drawing tutorials Maria thank you for
asking I am planning on doing some
portrait drawing tutorials
and blue wants to know what's my
favorite thing to paint I really like to
paint flowers probably the most alright
everyone thank you so much for watching
I'm going to sign off if you think of
any other questions that I didn't get to
answer go ahead and pop them in the
comments and I will get back to you then
and thanks so much for joining me on
this impromptu live stream I really
appreciate it
till next time that be crafting