excerpt from Classic Portrait Painting in Oils by Chris Saper

presentspaintingeyes & eyeglassesinoil paint:Eye & eyeglass paintingexcerpt from Classic PortraitPainting in Oils by Chris Saper

EXERCISEPainting the EyesFor many portrait painters, the eyes are not just the destination, butthe most fun part of the portrait’s journey—no doubt because theyare so frequently the focal point of the portrait. The infinite color andpattern variety in the human iris is truly beautiful, and the individualityof the muscles and tissues that surround the eye delivers tremendousexpression. In this exercise, my model is a young woman with deep-setblue eyes.Reference Photo1 Set Up the Basic Shapes2 Set the Irises and Paint the ScleraUse a small cat’s tongue brush and Raw Umber, thinned with a bitof medium, to lightly draw the structural shapes on a ground ofFlesh (light) and Flesh + Raw Umber (shadow). With a 7 ⁄8 viewpoint,where the head is angled to show very little of the far side of theface, be sure to draw the perspective of the distant eye—with theinner corner of the eye hidden behind the nose—which provides aclear view of the structure of its lower lid.With Raw Umber, paint the initial upper lash lines. Paint the lids’creases (any area where skin touches skin) very dark and very warmwith Asphaltum + Alizarin + Transparent Earth Red. Once youplace the initial lash lines, it’s easier to identify where to “hang” theiris. Here, the iris on our right hangs from the lashes at about 11:00and 2:00. Fill in the irises with the specialty color Indigo, whichworks well for blue eyes. Place the sclera (the white of the eyeball)with small strokes of Foundation Greenish and Raw Umber.Lighten the Indigo with Foundation Greenish to paint the irisinside the outer, darker blue rim. The darkest part of the iris willsit directly under the highlight’s location. Use your smallest cat’stongue brush to place Ivory Black ovals to represent the pupils.Indicate the tear duct’s shape with a small stroke of Flesh + RawUmber. Correct the values of the left and right parts of the sclera,letting the top of the whites of the eyes run a little darker to suggestthe shadow cast upon them by the upper lashes.50 Watch a free video lesson by Chris Saper at artistsnetwork.com/portrait-painting48-57_Y1754.indd 5010/12/11 11:49:35 AM

3 Place the HighlightsIt’s always better to understate rather than overstate highlights.There isn’t a brush tiny enough to paint the eye highlight properly,so experiment using the pushpin trick. Dip the point of a pushpin(or safety pin or other fine-point object) into your highlight color, inthis case, Flake White. The paint should form a soft peak extendingpast the point of the pin, similar to the peaks that are madewhen you whip cream or egg whites. Touch only the paint to theexact place of the highlight. You’ll need a mahlstick or your littlefinger to stabilize your hand for this step. If you accidentally makethe highlight too large or place it incorrectly, just start over fromthe previous step.4 Complete the Highlights and Adjust the LashesUse a small comb brush with Raw Umber and medium to drag a small counterclockwisestroke from the lash line over the sclera and lower lid. (If you still have enough wet paintfrom the lash line, you can just drag some of the paint already there.) Paint the ledge ofskin that holds the lower lashes using a stroke of Flesh.Add the highlights to the iris and lower lash line on the eye on the left. There’s often asmall highlight in the shapes that make up the tear duct, but it’s best to use Flesh insteadof Titanium White so it doesn’t become too prominent. Make any small adjustments to thelashes, but keep them smudgy and resist painting individual lashes.Visit artistsnetwork.com/portrait-painting for a free demonstration on painting a vignette5148-57_Y1754.indd 5110/12/11 11:49:48 AM

Examples of EyesBlue EyesI’ve painted iris #1 with UltramarineBlue instead of Indigo. The saturationof the Ultramarine Blue makes the irislook unconvincing, and it almost seemsto float in front of the picture plane. Iris#2 was painted with Ivory Black + FlakeWhite. Because the Ivory Black has a bluecast to it, the iris still reads as blue, butis more realistic. The Ivory Black + FlakeWhite mixture is a suitable alternative tousing Indigo.1 2Asian EyesMy Japanese model in this life studywas lit by warm light, positioned justslightly off center. Characteristic of Asiansubjects, the bridge of her nose is flatterthan typical Caucasian subjects, so a rakinglight source helps define the shapes.Prominent epicanthal folds on the lidscreate deep-set eyes whose roundedforms show beneath the upper lid. Herbrows sit rather flat on her forehead, dueto a slightly high brow ridge.Brown, Shallow-Set EyesMost of the young children I’ve paintedhave deep-set eyes, but this little guy hasbig, brown, shallow-set eyes that showa lot of lid. With a lighting source fromabove, the lids above the upper lasheswill always be a bit lighter in value thanthe parts of the lids just below the eyebrows.Look for the structure and amountof depth you’ll need to properly renderthe structure of the lower lid, betweenwhere it touches the sclera and sproutsthe lower eyelashes. In the eye on ourright, that little ledge holding the lashesis lighter in value than the sclera as itmoves away and out of sight. To make aniris luminous, light it opposite the highlightwith a touch of Cadmium Red Lightadded to its basic dark brown. Here, thehighlights come from both directions, butI’ve emphasized the light from our left,consistent with the highlight on the nose.One light source needs to be dominantin your painting, even if it’s ambiguous inthe reference photo.52 Watch a free video lesson by Chris Saper at artistsnetwork.com/portrait-painting48-57_Y1754.indd 5210/12/11 11:49:57 AM

3 Paint the Found Edges of the Frames in One Stroke 4 Create the Shadow Under the FrameWet the canvas with a little medium and paint the found edge Turn the canvas right-side up, and use a small, clean comb brush, wetof the frames in a single gliding stroke with a small cat’s tongue very slightly with medium, to pull the stroke downward in the directionbrush using a bit of Transparent Earth Red + Flesh. Actually, you’ll of the form of the cheek. Again, one stroke is all you need.be finding the edge of the skin it touches, not the edge of theframe itself. If the found edge you paint in one stroke is wrong,you’ll need to take the skin tones back to the previous step. If youprefer to paint wet-into-wet, lay more fresh paint over the mistakenstroke. If the tones are dry, it’s much easier to wipe off the errantline. Don’t fight the natural arc of your hand; as a right-handedpainter, my natural arc runs from about 7:00 to 11:00, so I turnedthe painting on its side for just that one stroke. Lefties may have aneasier time turning the canvas upside down.5 Finalize the EyeglassesThe only parts of the eyeglasses thatare actually painted are the hinge, theearpiece and the highlights. Everythingelse is suggested by illusion—the paintingof negative shapes created by light andshadow.54 Watch a free video lesson by Chris Saper at artistsnetwork.com/portrait-painting48-57_Y1754.indd 5410/12/11 11:50:11 AM

Examples of EyeglassesFull-Frame Glasses, Older StyleThis is an older photograph of the subject in the exercise onpainting glasses. The darker, larger or more colorful the framestyle, the more it will compete with the face for the portrait’sfocal point. The challenge here is to keep as much of the frameas close as possible to the value and hue of the skin tones.Wire-Rim GlassesIn this monochrome oil, the eyeglasses are far more abbreviated.A two-hour session doesn’t provide enough time to fussover details, and in some ways that’s better. These glasses werepainted with just twelve tiny strokes. The highlight on the lens ismuch bolder than the highlights in the eyes.Rimless GlassesI painted this self-portrait life study from a mirror. The difficultyis that I am very nearsighted, so my eyes look much smallerwhen I’m wearing glasses. I first painted the entire study withoutglasses, then added them later. I gave up a bit of likeness inexchange for emphasizing the eyes.A CASE AGAINST PAINTING EYEGLASSESI generally prefer to paint subjects without glasses for a couple of reasons.First, like fashion, styles of eyeglasses change over the years and can datethe portrait and diminish its timeless quality. Second, the eyes may appeardistorted because of prescription lenses—very nearsighted subjects’ eyeswill appear much smaller, and very farsighted subjects’ eyes will appearmuch larger. Try photographing your subject both with and without glassesso you’ll have an undistorted image of the eyes as well as an idea of howthe glasses sit on the face. In a half-fi gure or larger portrait, consider havingyour subject hold his glasses. You might fi nd that the eyeglasses areso much a part of an individual’s appearance that it’s best to paint themon the face.Visit artistsnetwork.com/portrait-painting for a free demonstration on painting a vignette5548-57_Y1754.indd 5510/12/11 11:50:17 AM

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