MIRROR IMAGE
ONES ALTER EGO OR HIGHER SELF
PAINTING THE ACRYLIC EYES
RESEARCHING TECHNIQUES, BRINGING THE EYES TO LIFE
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-Use a nail file to clean the edges of the eye and smooth over the surface. A screw is fixed to the back of the eye for steady painting and security. If you are needing one eye it is best to paint three, for accuracy in the painting.
FIRST COAT:
-Reference eye images are very important. The average human eye is around 12mm, a circle template in mm is used for painting. Load up a base colour in the air brush, stay away from pure liquitex colours for the eyes. Gloss varnish is used and life tone paints for painting the eyes, very natural and organic colours. Finer acrylic incs will work just as well, stay away from enamels if using dental acrylic, it will bleed into the acrylic and ruin the piece.
-You want a darker basetone, the eye is painted in layers and you will get lighter with the layers. Acetone refines the lacker paints, add acetone to the paint mix and stir it up. Start with a higher air pressure with a solid tone, two coats may be needed depending on how they look. Take a bigger brush and the gloss varnish from liquitex... The eye is placed in the end of a drill to apply an even layer quickly, then dried off with a hairdryer.
BROWNS AND GREENS:
Mix the paint and again mix it with acetone, to paint the darker ring around the outside use a paintbrush and place the eyeball in the end of a drill. Clean the airbrush with acetone in between layers. Begin adding texture with reds around the eyeball, spatter with the airbrush by gently pressing and releasing only a small amount of pressure. Build up by adding more concentrate, place the eye in the drill for a different texture effect- broken capillaries. Again seal with varnish
A small amount of blue is added around the white of the eye and then orange minit stain is applied over the top. Lighter greens are created using the original green with a yellow and white mix and applied with a paintbrush following an x and y pattern, try not to make the same mark twice. Again apply a sealer coat with varnish to the iris. Work lighter with the detailing 000 winsor newton brush is good for detailing. You have to work quickly as the acetone based paint dries very quickly. You do not want the eye to look painted. Seal again with varnish.
SUPER DETAILING:
Take some of the existing shapes which have been made and shadow them, then mix a red brown very translucent. Seal it and begin adding veins by taking a small piece of red yarn (thick threads), squeeze one end and pull a thread out of the other. Use varnish to lay on the fibres and brush the varnish over, separating the fibres with the varnish. Brush the matte medium down and then brush the medium up. Minit stain liquid is used to break the surface up, giving the veins depth. The final sealer of the eye is an ultra violet light cured resin, this step you do not have to do, you can seal with gloss varnish with 2-3 coats.
PUPILS:
Polyester resin, often used for fibreglass, is used with black urethane tint. You want it to look a grey/ black tint in a bead, rather than a cartoon black. Add a catalyst and stir it thoroughly, take the resin and drop it inside the pupil.
THE CLEARCOAT:
Monomer and polymer- clear With added blue and violet for the finishing shape over the iris, another mould is ran for the top clear layer. Then the eye is polished against a buffing machine.
EYE FORM MASTERS:
Two different shapes, the clear coat is 1 inch and 1/8th in diameter, an average size for a human eye. The core is a little smaller in all dimensions and has a flat top where you would paint the iris on.
If you do not have a vacuum at home then a high pour is necessary, you want a large distance in the stream so that no air bubbles are trapped in the mould
A quality level in clean moulds is respected within the workshop, a good work ethic in having everything as clean as possible.
Wax release is sprayed over the plate and then blown away with an air hose
Monomer is mixed with polymer and a hard shape is formed. When mixing, you want it to feel smooth, it will begin to go shiny once it is ready. Next it is placed into a dental compressor chamber, like a pressure cooker without heating.
Cherevka, J. (n/a). Making Creature Eyes: Stan Winston School. [DVD] Stan Winston School.
Cherevka, J. (n/a). Making Creature Eyes: Stan Winston School. [DVD] Stan Winston School.
MEDICAL FIELD
ANAPLASTOLOGY AND MAXILLO FACIAL PROSTHETICS, PRO TIPS
In the main, it can be said that in the older patient there is a leaning towards grey and yellow tones and in the younger patient sclera tends to be more white and transparent (this can be achieved by the addition of clear acrylic) and there are fewer veins.
(Institute, M. F. T. 1980- 82. P.264)
Finally, strands of silk or Terylene in colours that simulate the veining executed by the patients intact eye are placed over the scleral form and tact in position with acrylic varnish. The tinting and the veins are then overpainted with acrylic varnish and allow to dry for approximately 30 minutes. Finally a thin layer of acrylic clear is processed over the eye and the iris-pupil unit. A high gloss is then imported to all surfaces of the eye.
(Institute, M. F. T. 1980- 82. P.261)
Painting the pupil-iris unit:
Whilst some inherent artistic ability is certainly an added bonus when painting the iris pupil unit, the particular skills can be developed with practice. As the paper disc is the basis of the iris pupil unit it is advisable to paint the disc in a colour which reflects the basic iris shade. For example, a patient with a blue eye would be an indication to paint the iris shade with a mixture of white, grey and a small amount of brown to form the optimum background colour.
All images: Institute, M-F-T. 1980-82.Proceedings of the institute of maxillo-facial technology: and international ocular prosthesis workshop 1980- 82 . n/a. p.270
IRIS PAINTING AND COLOUR MATCHING:
When painting the iris-pupil unit the ease of colour matching is dependent on the technician's ability to recognise and translate the information relating to the patient's individual eye colour and characteristics into a natural reproduction. As a guide to the basic colours that make up the various iris colours the following is offered as a guide to the individual colours that are contained in five eye shades. Institute, M. F. T. 1980- 82. P.306
WINDSOR NEWTON OIL PAINTS:
Blue:
French ultramarine
Flake white
White zinc
Vandyke Brown
Yellow ochre
Ivory Black
Orange-Brown:
Burnt umber
Yellow ochre
Rose madder
Burnt sienna
Ivory Black
Hazel:
Raw sienna
Burnt sienna
Yellow ochre
Flake white
Olive green
Vandyke brown
Grey:
Rose madder
Flake White
White titanium
French ultramarine
Vandyke brown
All above text: Institute, M-F-T. 1980-82.Proceedings of the institute of maxillo-facial technology: and international ocular prosthesis workshop 1980- 82 . n/a. p.307
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I would have like to of intrinsically painted the eyeballs myself, however, due to the short duration of the project there physically wasn’t time to do this along side everything else. Instead, I looked to buy human eyes from the glasseyecompany and other retailers. After speaking with Pete Tindall I discovered a dolls shop in Kinson, Bournemouth, they sell dolls eyes which to an extent- look like human eyes and I purchased two sets of 26” eyes in hazel and green.
After removing the backs from the eyes I watered down acrylic paints and created different colour washes to slightly manipulate the natural shade of each eye. I lightly sanded the surfaces before hand to create a rougher surface for the paint to sit against. Once I was happy with the shade of the iris I began adding washes of blue and yellow- red to the sclera, after researching how to paint realistic eyes I understood that this was a common painting technique and it seemed to bring the eyes to life. I looked at the photographs of James Hall and Emma Freeman’s eyes as reference guides constantly and mimicked the veining in each.
Fine wool strands in blue, purple and red were used to create the veining effect and I used clear acrylic varnish in between layers. Afterwards, I applied a layer of clear varnish and buffed the eyeballs to emphasise the iris pupil unit.
I also watched a Ken Banks DVD called eyes made easy and in my third year of study I would like to practise the intrinsic painting technique for creating realistic human eyes. All of the DVDs I watched were helpful and fascinating to watch, however, I didnt have the resources to create the eyes in this way and would have to look at funding the equipment next year. The medical prosthetics book was the most helpful as it simply refrains from using the new methods and explains in depth, the painting style necessary- including what colours to use for particular eye shades (see above).