Scout portrait in progress 3 - How I made an eye

How I made an eye...

1

I usually start an eyeball by creating the eye structures that are around it - eyebrow, corner of eye, eyelids, and shape of the eye socket - and work inward, first adding the white parts of the eyeball (which are usually minimal in dogs)…and continuing to work inward until I have outlined the iris (the colored part of the eyeball). Most often that is outlined with black or a dark color. 

I make sure that outline of the iris is perfectly round. (Not counting any part of it that may be hidden by eyelids.) Then I do the iris and pupil (the black “hole” in the center) all at once. That is the most nerve-racking part of any portrait.

And sometimes the colors of that part of the eyeball - the iris and pupil - can be surprising....

2

I create the iris (the colored part of the eye) and pupil, following what I see in the reference photo. You must follow what you actually see…what is there in the photo, not what you think is there. Note that the pupil is not black, or anything close to black. The lower curve of the iris is not orange, or rust. It is mauve. These colors are a result of reflected light on the shiny eyeball.

3

Now I’m working outward (toward the left side of the face) from the lower eye socket, filling in the black coat. There are large areas of solid black on that side of the face.

First I put in some of the lighter strands (Scout’s upper cheek). They don't look lighter on this light grey paper, because they are darker than the paper. 

4

Then I go dark between/around and over them - with dark greys, Sepia + Denim Blue (that makes the darkest grey possible, short of black), and Black pencil. 

Some colored pencil artists believe you should only create black by building up multiple dark colors. I’m not afraid to go in with a black pencil, coloring it as solid as I possibly can into the paper tooth. I don't see any point in spending time layering multiple colors to get black… If you can just use Black.

5

These five pictures were one day’s work.

🎨 Prismacolor pencil on “Flannel Grey Canson paper, 20 x 26 inches.

The first depiction in a triple portrait of “Scout”, commissioned by Annette Riehle.

From a photo by Faith Lyman.