#7 The Eyes have It

Eyes are a very big deal to many projects. 

They do sell eyeballs in bags at Halloween, 

but they are pretty cheesy. 

Here are a couple methods I love.

First is the Easy Eyes method via the HauntersHangout.com. 
This is such a great method you can crank out a ton of eyes in under 30 minutes. 
Minimum cost, no artistic ability needed.

Click on the picture below and print this template out. 
Then cut out your irises of your choice.

The eye itself can be any white sphere I make them out of fimo, use wood balls, table tennis balls, roll-on ball from deodorant, and then the simplest here... ping pong balls. 

I found some ping pong balls a 4 pack at Target, in the $1 section at the front of the store. Walmart has them as well in the sporting section.

First I poke a hole in them with a skewer and stick the little guy on a tooth pick to work with.

Using a decoupage method apply the Iris. Use glossy Mod Podge or a 50/50  mixture of elmers glue and water. 

Brush the glue mixture on the surface, apply the paper iris, then brush glue mixture over top. 

You can clean up any ink smears on the eye ball with a wet paper towel.

For the red veins a simple red crayon, or even better a red colored pencil 

is the easiest fool proof way to go.

You can draw the veins on lightly for finer lines or press harder for a deeper bloodshot veins.

 I use  mixture of pressure all over.

If you are going to see the whole eye ball, blot on some red paint to finish out the back side.

Last the eye needs to be wet and glossy.

 I have tried all types of things I have on hand.

Simple clear nail polish is probably my favorite though.

And thats it.... a few coats and you have eyes that look too real.

Now lets say you need a whole bunch of smaller sizes eyes stat! 

And maybe your printer is possessed by the devil! 

You could paint a  bunch of eyeballs freehand... but painting a perfect circle on a sphere can be a pain!

Well here is another painted method short cut I made up....and if you have kids you probably have the supplies laying around.

These are 1" wooded bead balls from the craft store. Perfect size for what I needed.

First I drilled a little hole in all of them.

Next I stuck a little tooth pick in each one and put them in some floral foam....

...primed and painted them white.

The kids have these little Nerf Bullets all over the house... so I snagged one.

I made muddy blue color with a mixture of blue, white, and black acrylic paint.

I dipped my bullet end in the paint, blotted it a couple times to loose the excess paint,
then applied it to the ball.

Do some tester stamps on paper to figure out the right amount of paint and pressure you need.

Having the balls stationary is key here. 

Push the bullet down and without sliding or lifting, press down 

while wiggling in a circular motion.

Make sure all sides of the circle are defined. 

If you lift it and see you missed a spot...

 with a steady hand push it back down, and press in the missed area.

The effect of the stamp is perfect.

Next I filled in the black part.
I started out painting with acrylic... but then I thought to grab a sharpie pen.
I used it on the last half... it worked perfect and it's a little faster.

'

then I applied the veins and gloss same as easy eyes method above. 

Here are some things I learned. 

For the red viens... do not use  a red pen or sharpie. 

They will bleed and turn orange when you add your final gloss coat. 

Also watch it when you do your gloss finish at the end. 

The iris may want to bleed too, especially the black sharpie part, 

and especially if you use the nail polish. 

Best to do a very light coat on just the iris, let it dry. 

Then go over the whole thing , so as not to smear everything around.