Eyes - The Make or Break Part of the Face

Figure by Renata Jansen

When I create a figure I am thrilled with everything until I get to the eyes. The eyes can make or break a sculpture. Until now, the eyes of my sculptures have been an inset eyeball that I paint once the doll has been baked. They are hit or miss, some good, some not good at all, usually they are passable. But I need them to be better. I need them to be more realistic.

This week I tried something new. Something fabulous! I made two polymer clay iris canes and used them to make much more lifelike eyes to inset into my sculptures. The process is fairly lengthy but if you make many sets of eyes in one session it is worth it.

The tutorial I used was created by Renata Jansen.  I love the look she has achieved with her eyes. You can view her iris cane tutorial here. For her tutorial on adding the iris to an eyeball click on the image above.

Here is my first try at this technique. I'm pleased with the results. The iris' I used were a bit large for this face but I'm OK with it! I still have to put a gloss in them as a final step which will make them even better. (The wires you see are the wing placers. they will be removed and wings inserted later)

I rushed them a bit but I learned a lot! I did get several pairs of usable eyes and will be experimenting with different iris designs. I'm really excited about the possibilities with this technique.

Here is my old mad, I've adjusted his eyes a bit, I have to remove some of the gloss that leaked but they are much better than before though I still like the eyes above better. I'll definitely be using this technique a lot!