This document provides instructions for creating a realistic eye by: 1. Filling the background with flesh tone and writing an eye color on separate layers using diverse colors. 2. Creating a circular selection filled with the first letter's color to form the iris. 3. Adding smaller circular selections filled with black to form the pupil and overlaying swirly lines between the layers. 4. Using brushes, the smudge tool, and varying colors and strokes to blend the iris colors and add definition. 5. Adding white highlights and optionally adjusting the colors and shape using adjustment layers and transformation tools.

1. A. Theinert – Becker College - 2013

2. • New file: 3000 x 2000 px
300 PPI
• Fill the background with a flesh-toned color.

3. • Chose an Eye color (green, blue, hazel,
brown).
• On a New Layer, Write the Eye
color with a hard round brush.
• Write each letter in a different color
• The first letter should be the primary
color of the eye, the rest should be
accent colors
• Use diverse colors! (yellows, violets,
• On a New Layer
Make a Circular
Selection (hold shift with
the elliptical marquee tool)
• Select the Paint Bucket
tool
• Hold ALT and sample
the color from the first
letter.
• Fill the selection with this
color.
oranges)

4. • With the Circle still Selected (re-select it
if you lost it). Hit the Layer Mask icon
the bottom of the layer panel”
This will hid anything outside the
selected area even after you
deselect.
• On a New Layer
make a smaller
Circular Selection and
fill it with black

5. • Select the Masked Layer
• Since the Pupil layer is above this layer
you can make quick lines back & forth
‘behind’ it.
• Overlap these with other ‘swirly’ lines
around the pupil area.
• (it is ok to be sloppy during this early stage!)

6. • Keep sampling from the
colors that you used to spell
the word.
• Use a Large Soft brush to
add darker areas around the
outside edge.
• The center should have a
slightly more solid ring of
color around the pupil.
Once you are happy with the
color ‘scribbles’ on your iris. Use
the Smudge tool and begin
smudging outwards from the
pupil and inwards from the
edge of the iris.

7. Round 2!
Go back in with Brush tool
with varying sizes, and
add new straight strokes
on top of the smudged
lines.
Select the pupil layer, and
use the smudge tool with a
small brush size to break
up the solid line of the
pupil.

8. • Use a Large Soft Brush with
30%-60% Opacity to add larger
areas of color around in the iris.
• The outer edge of the iris and the
inner edge around the pupil are
usually darker.
• Keep switching colors and
brush sizes.
Use the Smudge tool again to
push the color around.

9. • On a New Layer use an opaque white brush to build
up the specular highlights.
• Look at reference images; highlights are unique depending on
the lighting and surrounding environment

10. Once you are satisfied with your
work, you can use Adjustment
Layers to change the color. Or
even the Transform and Warp
tools to change the pupil
A combination of
Color Balance, Hue, &
Saturation Adjustment
Layers work best.