[Callynne]

Since several people have asked how I do my eyes, (Thank you for the compliments!) to give them that 'alive' look, I'm going to paste my reply here, in the hopes it will help anyone else interested. This is the 'final step' after painting the eye. NOTE: for a perfect guide to painting eyes, see Susan's 'Santa's Eyes' posting in the Finishing and Painting Section.

Treasure Crystal Cote is tricky to use but very, very effective for giving you a perfect looking eye. I was told to use the end of my paintbrush or a toothpick to put it on. What a disaster, I found it often took the paint off the eye!! Not a good experience!

I'm happy to tell you a better way to do it. I use a small paintbrush to paint the Crystal Cote over the entire eyeball surface and let that dry (it only takes a short time). Next, I dip the very tip of my paint brush straight down into the Crystal Cote, when lifted straight back up, a little 'ball' of Crystal Cote will be on the tip, I touch and smooth this onto the colored part of the eye only. This is what will give the domed appearance to the eye. I may do this step a couple times until the shape looks right to me.

Now, the only down side to doing this is between each coat you have to clean the paintbrush out. I keep a very small amount of gasoline in a glass jar, NOTE: Mel advised me of something else to use that works equally as well, it's called Goof Off and is available at places like Wal-Mart...thanks Mel! I swish the brush around in it a couple time, give it a quick wash with soap and water and reshape the brush. This takes only a couple minutes but you have to do it, if not the brush is ruined!

A couple more tips, if you are going to antique your carving you want to do this step first, it will protect the eye color! Afterward you will need to reapply a light coat of Crystal Cote, as the shine of the eye will be dulled by the antiquing.

When you seal your carving, you will probably again have to add a light coat, depending on the sealer, as I find it often takes some of the shine away also. These final coats are just a very light coat, applied over the entire eye, just to bring the 'gleam' back to the eyes.

That's it guys, a very simple, but very effective way for doing eyes that look real. I've even been asked if I'm inserting glass eyes in my carvings, the effect is really that nice!

Hope this helps you, if you have any questions, feel free to ask! Deborah

[Hi_Ho_Sliver]

Another little tip, do the eyes last, if you do them first and then spray your carving as I do with Deft or Poly, then it will dull the eyes.

[AlArchie]

Another suggestion for cleaning the brushes.....if you are going to use gasoline (YIKES), try using white gas (Coleman Lantern Fuel) instead. It hasn't got all those nasty addatives that gasoline has and doesn't smell nearly as bad. It's still highly flamable but has a little higher flash point than standard gasoline and is not quite as volatile.


Al

[Hi_Ho_Sliver]

started using oderless paint thinner years ago when I was painting....doesn't stink the house up either.

[Callynne]

See, that's the great thing about posting on here....I KNEW gasoline was a terrible thing to use to clean brushes but it was the only thing I found that worked well...thanks to you guys, I have better options! Thanks guys! Deborah