Whether you’re new here or a long time follower, I thought it’d be fun to go a bit deeper into some of the lessons I share in my Free Painting Workshop… click HERE to get instant-access and sign up for my Free Painting Class.

I hope you can soak in the creativity and lessons and go back to them whenever you need a little positivity, inspiration or encouragement.

The owl that’s featured in my Free Workshop is one of my favorites to create, especially whenever I’m stuck and need to paint a character with it’s 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.

You’ll see some of the playful techniques I use to add color and shading to my faces in my Free Painting Class… click HERE to get instant-access and sign up.

Happy painting!
xo Juliette