Realistic Eyes Workshop in Minnesota!

Class is in session!

This week I hosted one of my Realistic Eyes workshops in Minnesota for a great group of local painters! I love hosting smaller workshops in my home in Mound. Space is limited to 6 students to ensure everyone has plenty of space to spread out their supplies and paint along!

All set up to go!

Today's class schedule!

Whenever I do workshops I have tons of visuals. My years of experience working in a corporate office and giving Powerpoint presentations, even in a technology company itself, has taught me not to ever rely fully on technology to work!! So, I always create an "analog" Powerpoint! Here is my little flip book that works as my notes and visuals for my students...

My analog powerpoint!

...I never have to worry about the connection being bad or having the wrong cord, and it's easy to bring along for my workshops across the globe!

Reference photos...a key piece to realism painting!

In this workshop we start by covering some of the physical properties of the anatomy of the eye...their shapes, textures, and proportions. We then "dissect" they eye, so to speak, focusing first on the "whites" of the eye, then the iris, pupil, eyelids, lashes and finally highlights.

Hands on with lots of visuals!

We learn tricks and tips along the way for how to achieve realism, what tools to use, and how to achieve certain effects. While we spend much of the class studying every component of a realistic eye painting, I also throw in some tips for creating a realistic eye quickly, sharing a few on the job design ideas, so that our lessons can be applied even to busy gigs with long lines. It is vital to start slow, studying the details of realism first, in order to understand how to best use the speed tricks we have up our sleeves!

And speaking of "up our sleeves," check out the awesome eyes on the arms of these ladies during class!

 I always love to get a photo of everyone's arms during and after this class! I always tell my students to take pictures of their work, along the way and especially at the end...and especially if they don't like it! Chances are, when you go back and look at it on the screen later, you'll be amazed at how much better it looks than when you were working on it. Sometimes all we need is to step back from the design, and look at it with a fresh pair of eyes. ;-)

What we all painted today!

At the end of class we had a little time to paint a couple animal eyes, and I demonstrated a dragon eye and a tiger eye. 

This week's wonderful students!

Huge thanks to all the ladies who came out for this week's class! I had a great time and hope you did as well! If you're interested in attending an eyes workshop in Mound, Minnesota, or would like to have me come to your town to teach workshops, check out my workshop page to learn more and contact me to discuss your needs! If you live in the Twin Cities, be sure to follow us on Facebook and check out my events page for local jams and workshops!