How to Paint Eyes in your Acrylic Portrait

How to Paint Realistic Eyes in Your Acrylic Portrait

/ Video Tutorial
/ By Matt Philleo

Bring your portraits to life: Essential techniques for painting realistic eyes

Introduction

Painting realistic eyes is one of the most essential skills in portraiture, as they serve as the focal point of a portrait, bringing the subject to life. But with just a few carefully placed strokes, you can transform a flat, lifeless face into one that captivates with expression and detail. In this tutorial, we’ll walk you through how to paint eyes in your acrylic portrait using subtle nuances, helping you achieve realism with ease.

1. Gather Your Materials

Before diving into painting the eyes, ensure you have the right materials on hand. You’ll need:

Acrylic paints (raw umber dark, ultramarine blue, alizarine crimson, burnt sienna)
Brushes (small round brush for precision)
Clear acrylic medium (for glazing technique)
Palette for mixing colors
Reference photo for accuracy

These basic materials will help you create the details necessary for capturing the eyes realistically.

2. Start with a Good Reference Photo

To paint eyes accurately, a reference photo is essential. I will emphasize in this video by using a detailed reference image, ensuring that the direction, shape, and placement of the eyes are correct. Choose a clear, high-quality photo that shows the eye’s reflections and shadows. The finer details in the photo will guide your painting process.

3. Mix the Right Colors

I starts by using a neutral palette of raw umber dark, ultramarine blue, alizarine crimson, and burnt sienna. These colors create a natural-looking shade for painting eyes, particularly for the whites of the eyes and the shadows. Eyes aren’t stark white; they have subtle shadows and variations that can be achieved by using these earth tones.

Use a small amount of acrylic medium to thin the paint, creating translucent layers that give depth without overwhelming the painting.

4. Focus on Nuances

When painting eyes in a portrait, subtle details make all the difference. Start by using a small brush to add tiny dabs of color where the pupils and irises will go. In my technique, I carefully apply these nuances to make the face “come alive.”

Pupils and Irises: Use a small, round brush to lightly dab the area where the pupils should be. A gentle touch is key—if the paint is too thick, it can appear unnatural.
Shadows Around the Eyes: Create depth by darkening areas around the eyes. This enhances realism and makes the eyes stand out from the rest of the face. You can apply glazing layers to build up the shadows gradually.
Highlights: Adding a small highlight in the eye, just above the pupil, can simulate light reflection and create vibrancy.

By focusing on these small changes, you will see an immediate improvement in the overall appearance of the eyes.

5. Use Glazing for Depth

I utilize the acrylic glazing technique, which is perfect for painting eyes. Glazing allows you to create many thin, transparent layers that build up depth while preserving the sketch underneath.

Here’s how you can apply glazing when painting eyes:

Thin Your Paint: Mix a little clear acrylic medium with your paint. This will allow you to create subtle gradients around the eyes.
Layer Gradually: Apply the paint in thin layers, letting each one dry before adding the next. This technique creates a luminous effect, especially when building up the shadows and highlights.
Blend Carefully: The beauty of glazing lies in its ability to blend naturally. With soft, sweeping strokes, smooth the edges where the light and dark areas meet.

6. Adjust the Eyes to Match the Angle of the Face

When working on a portrait, it’s crucial to place the eyes correctly in relation to the direction the face is facing. In this demonstration, make small dabs of paint on the left side for a subject looking to the right, ensuring the gaze is aligned with the overall pose. Be mindful of the orientation of the head and use tiny corrections to ensure the eyes appear natural.

For a subject looking to one side, the whites of the eyes should show more prominently on the opposite side.
Use reference points like the nose and mouth to position the eyes accurately.

7. Refine the Expression with Small Details

After placing the pupils, irises, and surrounding shadows, it’s time to refine the expression. I often emphasize this point: small touches around the eyes can drastically change the emotion conveyed.

Add Eyelashes and Creases: With a fine brush, add delicate lines for the eyelashes and the creases of the eyelids. These are not stark black lines but rather subtle strokes that suggest the texture.
Smooth Out Harsh Lines: Dab your brush lightly on any overly sharp edges. This helps blend the painted areas for a softer, more natural appearance.

8. Final Touches: Creating Cohesion with the Rest of the Face

Eyes should not stand out unnaturally from the rest of the face. Make sure the tones and shadows around the eyes blend into the surrounding areas. This creates a seamless transition, adding to the realism of the portrait.

If the eyes appear too sharp or bright, use a glazing technique to tone them down, layering slightly darker hues over the highlights. You may also want to darken the shadows underneath the brows and beside the nose to help frame the eyes and make them pop without looking out of place.

Painting eyes in an acrylic portrait might seem challenging, but with careful attention to details and the use of glazing techniques, you can achieve stunning results. I demonstrates, it’s the small nuances—tiny dabs of color, subtle shadows, and highlights—that truly bring a portrait to life. By following these steps, you’ll enhance the depth and realism of your artwork, leaving your viewers captivated by the expressions in your subject’s eyes.

Tips and Techniques:

Use a Fine Brush: Precision is key when painting small areas like eyes.
Glazing Technique: Layer thin, transparent washes to build depth without losing the initial sketch.
Subtle Highlights: Add a touch of light to the eyes to give them vibrancy and a lifelike appearance.
Work Slowly: Patience is vital for getting the right amount of detail in the eyes.

By using these techniques, you’ll be able to master the art of painting eyes, transforming your portraits into realistic works of art.

LEARN MORE

I’d love to hear your thoughts on this video. Please share it with your friends and family. Let me know if you have any further questions. I’ll greatly help you.

If you’d like to learn more, sign up for my free email tips and video class today.

Learn How to Paint Acrylic Portraits With My Free Mini-Video Course!

Thank you so much for taking the time to read this tutorial and watch the video. That means a lot to me. I hope you find it very helpful in your portrait painting.

Yours for Better Portraits,

P.S. Did you find this post helpful or encouraging? If so, send it on ahead! Let others know with the share buttons below. I’d love to hear your comments. Thank you so much! Also, do you have a question on acrylic portrait painting you’d like answered? Let me know, and I’d be happy to help!

Previous Post How to Add Raw Umber Dark & Ultramarine Blue to Your Portrait Next Post How to Trace for an Accurate Portrait Sketch