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The eyes are the most important part of any wildlife painting. In my opinion you must dedicate the most time to the eyes.
Painting the eyes bright and full of life can turn a good painting into a fantastic one that captivates and draws in the viewer.
The secret to painting realistic eyes are the subtle details that most of us don’t even see. By utilising these and putting them all together it make such a big difference to the final appearance of your painting.
Tricks for painting A Realistic Tiger’s Eye
• Tone your surface with watered down brown paint
• Roughly block in the dark lines with black paint
• Block in very dark base colours with burnt umber and black
• Add a line of saturated burnt umber between areas where black and white fur meet
• Various mixes of white, black and yellow ochre for the white fur
• Leave gaps between your light fur to add layering and depth
• Add shadows to the iris when dry using thinned down paint
• Add some blue to the reflections to give the impression of the sky.
Before I start I study my reference material closely, I look at the shadows and highlights I look at the shapes and structures of the eye and most importantly I look at the edges specifically whether they are hard of soft.
Most beginners draw with thick dark lines, giving everything a hard edge even in places there isn’t one. By softening up some of the edges in places and getting rid of those sharp hard lines it can add more depth and realism to your work. So visualising where these are is key.
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