The Eyes Have It

No matter whether you are a BJD collector who likes creating your own acrylic eyes, or a vinyl doll collector who likes doing re-paints, here's a little tip that may (or may not) help you.

When painting doll eyes, it's good to know a little about the anatomy of the human eye.

Sclera ~ the white outer layer of the eyeball.
Iris ~ the flat, coloured, ring-shaped membrane behind the cornea of the eye, with an adjustable circular opening (pupil) in the centre.
Cornea ~ the transparent layer forming the front of the eye.

As you can see by the pictures above and below, every eye is different and each one has a combination of many colours, with each of those colours forming slightly different patterns.

The sclera is not actually a bright white, it also differs with every eye, some show noticeable veins while others appear much clearer.

One could study eyes all day and not see two identical, not even when they are a pair. Try it yourself, look your own eyes when you have some free time, I'm sure you'll find them quite fascinating and it will certainly help you understand how to paint them better and make your dolls appear more lifelike.

Project: Benchtop

It's quite amazing the products that are on the market these days. We renovated our kitchen a little while back, but never got round to changing the bench top as it was still in good condition. However, I wasn't happy that the colour no longer suited the rest of  the room.

So this week, and for as little as AU$190, with the help of Giani paint and a little masking tape (above) we began the task of updating the benches.

This is what it looked like after the base coat was applied.

This is after three random sponge applications of minerals. First you dab on a Pearl Mica, then Inca Gold and finally White Limestone, to give this granite look. You can put as much of each colour as you want, it's entirely up to you.

Then after two applications of a clear top coat and the tape has been removed . . .

. . .  a whole new look kitchen!