Create Life-Like Characters
FREE LESSON + FREE 7-DAY TRIAL
Make real progress on your character design goals by painting 4 eye styles in real-time with me. Access our entire library of past course broadcasts plus a new LIVE course every month!
Learn By Doing
Start Now – Watch the First Lesson Free!
From organic creature eyes to tech-inspired robot optics enhanced with LED effects, learn to paint realistic eyes with me for life-like addition to your projects and characters.
I’ll show you how to get incredible results for projects of all kinds like puppets, masks, animatronics and other electronics projects using affordable materials and painting techniques that beginners can pick up quickly, with a few airbrush modifications for more intermediate artists.
$29.99/MONTH + FREE 7-DAY TRIAL!
40% OFF ANNUAL MEMBERSHIPS
What We’ll Do Together
What You Get
In This Course
- 1 FREE lesson!
- 4 real-time, create-along style lessons.
- Easy acrylic painting techniques for fast realistic effects, perfect for first-time painters.
- Airbrushing options for more intermediate painters.
- Masking techniques for sharp paint lines.
- Forward and reverse layer painting methods for acrylic/glass spheres and hemispheres.
- Course activity feed where you can post your assignments, projects, get personalized feedback and ask questions (including from myself).
- Updates & revisions so you’re always working with the latest materials and best practices.
Course materials sold separately.
TAKING A COURSE IS JUST THE BEGINNING
Your creative journey doesn’t end after the last lesson. Accelerate your growth with a supportive and inspiring group of peers as a member of our Engineering Artists community.
In addition to this course, members have access to:
COURSES
- All live and on-demand courses for a more well-rounded skillset.
- All course activity feeds.
- Updates & revisions to all courses.
WORKSHOP SOCIAL
- LIVE virtual community making sessions where we dedicate time to our projects, share skills, showcase what we’re working on, ask questions and interact with peers.
COMMUNITY
- A community of supportive and engaged makers who are excited to offer encouragement, accountability, and feedback on your projects (including me).
- A mobile app to help you stay connected with our community anywhere, anytime.
Previous Live Recordings
Watch On Demand, Create & Paint in Real-time
Lesson 1
Painting Eyes on Glass Cabochons (Dome Tiles)
We’re kicking off our course on everything CREATURE PEEPERS with perhaps the most budget-friendly option of all – painting eyes on glass dome cabochons. The flat bottom makes for an easier painting surface and the curved top gives your design believable depth and movement. Cabochons also come in a variety of shapes from round and oval to tear drop.
Lesson 2
Painting Eyes on Acrylic Hemispheres
We’ll be getting more practice by painting another style eye using a different color palette. You’re welcome to continue using the glass cabochons from the last lesson, or if you were able to get them, acrylic hemispheres. The higher dome shape of the half spheres give your eyes even more depth and movement than the shallower glass cabochons. Either way, the brush painting techniques are the same. We’re also going to be breaking out the airbrush for even more realism and better shading.
If you don’t have an airbrush, no worries. I’ll show you techniques with your brush to achieve some great results!
Lesson 3
Painting Acrylic Spheres with Pupil Reflection
Full sphere eyes are a great option if you want maximum rotation and movement with your eye mechanism. Unlike the cabochons and half spheres where all the artwork has happened in the back of the eyes, we’re now going to paint the entire surface. Another advantage to full spheres is that by masking a pupil shape beforehand so that it’s clear acrylic at the end allows you to look deep into the eye and get a realistic reflective effect inside.
We’ll be using our airbrush to basecoat our spheres black and white but you can also basecoat them with regular spray paint. With cabochons and hemispheres we layered paint from the top to the bottom but now we’ll be going in the reverse order.
Lesson 4
Robot & Cyborg Eyes with LED Backlight
Up until now we’ve done a variety of animal and creature-themed eyes so it’s time to move towards the other end of the spectrum – from organic to tech. We’ll mask off a more complex pupil and paint mechanical elements on our eye. Then it will be time to wire up an LED, drill a hole at the back of the eye for it and watch the light shine through our pupil!
Grab another roll of tape because this one will be our most masking-intensive eye yet!
Rachel
Is a Regular On-Air Expert Featured On:
LIVE or ON-DEMAND
Create & Paint in Real-time WIth Me
Whether you prefer to keep up with the live lessons or go through them on demand at your own pace, you benefit from the same create- and paint-along experience and you’re never alone on your creative journey. Along with me, our community is open 24/7 to review assignments, provide feedback and help you troubleshoot projects.
MATERIALS
What you need to get started
Although you can watch and participate, getting hands-on with the process is where the real learning and growth happens.
1″ / 30mm Glass Cabochons
30mm Acrylic Balls
Acrylic Paint Set
Fine Detail Brush Set
Airbrush (optional)
Airbrush Paints (optional)