How to Draw Realistic Eyes

Hello! I picked a tutorial this week to improve my doodles during lectures. The tutorial, made by Barakiel or Juhani (the source here is unclear... the photo has an author on it, but clicking the photo suggests another author contributed), can be found here, and the pin can be found here. I will be using a pen to raise the stakes and also because this is what I normally take notes with in class.

THE TUTORIAL
Since I can't really copy and paste this step-by-step, here is the entire photo with my steps below it.

Source

STEP 1: 

My thoughts: Sure. Seems easy enough.

STEP 2 & 3: 

My thoughts: My hamaratia is that I don't read ahead. I went by the photo reference instead of just the text, and drew in that bottom line in the second step.

STEP 4: 

My thoughts: I went by just the text this time and drew in all the lashes at this step. They look pretty weird.

STEP 5:

My thoughts: Let's see how well I can draw a circle...

STEP 6:

My thoughts: My new circle isn't really parallel with the other but I'll get over it.

STEP 7:

My thoughts: Ahhhh this is kinda coming together!

STEP 8:

My thoughts: Rude... the artist on the site said that they used pencil, but it was never clearly stated I must use one. Therefore, my "white blob" is a little screwy. To counter this, I made my iris have a darker outline/limbal ring. Additionally, shading is really tough with a pen to an untrained hand (maybe it's tough if you're trained too, but I can't speak from experience.)

STEP 9:

My thoughts: Totally. I added some lashes here and the tear duct thing that eyes have.

 

STEP 10: 

My thoughts: Where?! It's hard to tell in the tutorial where this should be, so I put shading around the corners of the eye.

WINNER OR LOSER?
Winner. This pin makes it pretty easy to draw an eye. I wish that the shading steps were explained a little clearer (I have no idea how to shade), but I'm relatively happy with the finished product.

HOW TO ACTUALLY PULL IT OFF: 
USE A PENCIL! Pens make this a little tricky for shading, mistakes, and the "white blob" part.

Thanks for reading!
Jaclyn 

First Review

yo yo

So this weekend I jumped on Pinterest to try and find makeup to wear out to the bars while doing homework. There's this British show I used to watch called Skins, and one of the characters had sweet eye makeup in this one scene.

[source]

I thought that this was going to go well. I was hopeful. I was wrong.

Truth be told, it was no fault by the tutorial... Probably. I had very little time to spare this weekend, and used one of the first pins I could find. The link to the pin is right here and the website it links to is here. Notice anything? If you saw that the entire website is NOT English, I noticed that too. But, lucky for me, so did Google Chrome and translated it for me. Unfortunately, some things were lost in translation but I ran with it.

I don't really know how plagiarism laws go, so here's a disclaimer: this is NOT my tutorial. I copy and pasted the tutorial here, for reference. I did not create it, and all credit for creation goes to the author of the page I linked above and below.

THE TUTORIAL: 

Like I just said, I've copy/pasted the tutorial and Google's translation here. 

STEP 1: 

Coat the entire eyelid with a light shadow.

My thoughts: Cool I can do this. I used "Strange" in Urban Decay's Naked 3 palette. 

The shade I used

STEP 2: 

On the upper lash line paint eyeliner dash; best of all is the gel has an intense shade and you can then rub.

My thoughts: Aight I can do this too. I used a black gel liner by Elf, and then went over it with a black shadow to make it a little smudgier. 

STEP 3: 

Black, matte shadow rub notch and start to mark hollow eyes.Triturate and the exact shade until you reach the desired intensity.

My thoughts: Alright let's use the picture for guidance since that was nonsensical. I used Urban Decay's "Moonspoon" for this grey outline thing and then it was too light so I added a little black and blended a little bit. I think this was my first mistake. I believe I should have shaped this better/in the shape of Effy's eyes in the show instead of just going with my crease.

I should have just stopped here...

STEP 4:

The lower eyelid paint the same dark shadow and connect the outer corner of the shadows of the upper eyelid.

My thoughts: Yep definitely missed something in this translation. I again used the picture for reference. I used the black/grey combo I was talking about above on the edge of my lower lashline and also added a little on the outer corner of my eyelid, since this photo looks a little different. 

STEP 5: 

In the inner corner, apply blue or turquoise shade, I I mixed the two.

My thoughts: Sweet perfect time to use all the blue shadows and liners I have but never use. Instead of using a shadow in fear of fallout, I used a Makeup Forever waterproof pencil in "12L." Oh boy. Mistake. Clearly it's supposed to be smudgy, but this eyeliner is waterproof and is pretty precise. USE A SHADOW! 

The eyeliner was a TERRIBLE IDEA

STEP 6:

Wytuszuj the upper and lower lashes.

My thoughts: Ah yes, Wytuszuj time. I decided to instead use mascara. I used something by Lancome and "Smoky Extravagant" mascara from Makeup Forever. 

Post-Wytuszuj application

STEP 7: 

The bottom line of water gently lighten the white crayon.

My thoughts: I never do this step because it's supposed to make your eyes look bigger. I don't want that. 

FINISHED PRODUCT: 

Mouth paint a neutral lip gloss or lipstick.

My thoughts: :(

Not quite...

WINNER OR LOSER? 

Tough call! I'm gonna mark this pin as a winner, because I'm giving it the benefit of the doubt since it was translated poorly. However, I think that even if it were in English, better explanations could have been given. 

HOW TO ACTUALLY PULL IT OFF: 
Follow the pictures, not the words. Make sure to outline your eye/create a faux crease in grey sort of like Effy's eyes, because this look is hard to pull off with my eye shape, and probably other shapes too. Finally, don't use a liner for the blue/teal part. My bad for sure, but just don't try it. 

If you've read this whole thing, you rock. If you're pickin' up what I'm puttin' down, feel free to comment with any pins you might want me to test out for you!

later,
Jaclyn

INTRO

Hi, internet. Welcome to Pinners & Losers! Thanks for stopping by. Since this is the first post, you might be a little confused where this whole operation is heading. The idea is simple: I've created this blog to play around on Pinterest and help others succeed when things go awry. I've often looked to Pinterest in times of superficial need-- makeup and nail tricks, crafts, lifehacks, etc. -- only to deplete my time and energy to yield a finished product that looks no better than a pre-school art project.

On Pinners & Losers, I will be finding pins that pique my interest and test them out. I'll be posting step-by-step what I'm doing and how I'm doing it, as well as the final results. If things go well, great success! Pin's a winner. If not, I'll explain the directional misstep and how to fix it to get things lookin' great. Next post coming soon!