The owl featured in my Free Painting Workshop is one of my favorites to create, especially when I’m stuck and need to paint a character with its eyes closed (this makes painting eyes so much easier).

But lately, I’ve been painting a lot of characters with their eyes open.

One of my favorite ways to begin these big eyes is to start with two fingerprints on a solid background.

Then I add in my eye outline and definition with a black water-soluble pencil (the one I use in your free workshop… it’s what I use for all of the black lines in my paintings).

Next, I go back in with more color on a thin brush and add a little white paint pen on the sides and at the center of the color to show a light reflection (a simple white dot of paint pen at the edge of the black center of an eye works too).

Once this initial layer dries, I add more definition with my water-soluble pencil, then more color, and repeat this process again and again until the eyes don’t look painted on, but instead reflect whatever I’m feeling or trying to express.

I’ve learned that if I’m striving to be perfect, I just end up frustrated and make a muddy mess. So instead, I pretend I’m looking into a mirror and play.

This new painting is called ‘Manifesting Dreams’ 16” x 16” on stretched canvas (original available).

For this piece, I wanted her to reflect a sense of magic and wonder. She reminds me of a fairytale and is meant to be an inspiration to manifest even your wildest, most impossible-seeming dreams.

I’m almost finished with a few more of these fairytale-inspired portraits and can’t wait to share them with you!

If you’d like to learn more about the inspiration behind the Portrait Painting Masterclass, what’s included, and how it works, you can learn more HERE .

I’d be honored to have you join me for this new class. It’s going to be so good and I can’t wait to see the gorgeous paintings you create!

With love + gratitude,
xo Juliette

P.S. I’ve also put together a Free Painting Workshop to share more of my favorite techniques – from covering up the white space to finished painting… click HERE to join my Free Painting Workshop and learn how I create a painting in 30 minutes.