Eyes finally made a successful pair of eyes!

I have failed so many eyes before this with bubbles and whatnot but finally there is success!
things I found helpful -- I used polymer clay (fimo white that I had laying around) to make the eye texture, and used pastels+pearl powder for the colour. the limbal ring is done with acrylic. the pupils are nail art pieces and also a 2mm? point-back rhinestone
I had issues with the resin bubbling when I was curing the pupils but applying layers drop by drop with a toothpick helped a lot! it also helped dome them for that sweet sweet refraction of light

I'll probably take some process photos next time!

 

thank you!!! I'm really really happy with how the blue ones came out

 

thank you guys!! 333

I actually had that same problem with my earlier eyes! I think what helped for me this time was that I used unbaked fimo which might have some tooth to hold onto the powder? and for the orange ones I tinted it with alcohol ink (I conditioned some clay, let some ink dry on it, then mixed the colour). It might also have to do with the amount of powder you're putting on, I've been applying mine with a small brush.

For the clear resin I'm using a bottle of qiaoqiao DIY hard resin! I think with UV resin it's often a hit or a miss, but also I was applying it into the pupil by drops using a toothpick so that I could gradually build up a dome and also avoid bubbles. i think that might negate any viscosity problems?

hang in there!! this is actually like my fifth? sixth time trying eyes and it's only now that I've finally gotten something decent out of it, the more you try things out the more you will find the way to success!

 

update: Round Two, with a little bit of process work for people who might be interested in making their own!



So I coloured some white fimo clay with alcohol inks to serve as a base. I tried pastels and acrylic inks but those didn't work too well + didn't have a lot of colour, alcohol inks I think are ideal or oil pastels! I could never get acrylic paints to stick to the resin base, I don't have spare nail polish, and while pigment+UV resin worked well I'm not sure what to use for a reusable applicator.



then I basically stuffed them into the wells and carved out a small concave shape, then detailed with an exacto knife. if you're not interested in the 'filled and detailed' pupil style you can just put a layer of clay over the well and smooth it out with a qtip+rubbing alcohol!



I used soft pastels to colour around the edge of the pupil (you can see how much the overall hue is altered even though the base is the same colour) and also used some gold pearl powder. the black eyes were painted with acrylic paint.
I think loading a small amount of pigment + using the brush to kind of tamp it down a bit helps the clay hold onto the powder, and reduces the chances of pigment floating into the resin?



this is what I used for the pupils -- 2mm black no-hole beads from a nail shop, 1.5mm? pointed back rhinestones, some bigger flatback rhinestones, and some nail art metal accents. There's a real difference between the pointed back and flatback rhinestones, the pointed back is required for the refraction to make jewelled eyes! the flatback rhinestones will essentially turn into reflective discs once you pour the clear resin for the dome.
I had issues with shifting pupils previously before I started using the clay, and I find that being able to use the clay as an adhesive helps with that. That being said, I still have issues with some small bubbles trapped underneath the clay (especially with the detailed pupils) but I think a very very small initial layer of resin might help with that.



filled! you'll notice that the eyes changed because I messed up that first set but I think you can still see the difference between the pointed back rhinestones and the flatback rhinestones (the bigger green eyes)



these are the eyes in use, I'm really really happy with that last pair of hazel eyes!! doming is always a hit or miss for me because I still need to practice, I think it might be worth it to try and make my own molds for like....a cap of sorts, so to speak, that I can just stick on top with some resin.
You'll also notice that the green eyes with the flatback rhinestones don't have an especially jewel-like look to the pupils unless they're seen from the side.

also very encouraging is that all of these eyes are extremely messy in terms of doming and some have dust particles trapped in them, but you can't really see it when they're in use!! I couldnt sell something like it, of course, but for personal use they'll do just fine.

 

thank you!! they're really rewarding to make ;u; well as long as it's a successful pair made, at least haha

 

I find it works really well!! I've actually got an addendum to add in that if you paint the unbaked clay with acrylic then leave it for long enough, the stuff that keeps the unbaked clay soft will also make the acrylic soft and sticky and it will Never. Ever. Dry. orz if you do other resin stuff acrylic inks are a good investment! but if you're not interested in making other stuff then honestly you don't always want to get supplies you'll only use literal drops of xD

I've been doing that with the toothpick! thankfully my last batch of eyes avoided the bubbles problem with a really solid base layer of resin keeping the pupils in check hehe

from what i can tell it doesn't have to be baked! most of the stuff I saw warned about air bubbles but i think with the tiny amount used here it's fairly negligible (and also you unfortunately cannot bake the eyes with the resin base, though you *could* technically use whatever eye mould you have for polyclay and just bake that?)

and i'm glad you like the dark pair too! that's his 'canon' eyes and i'm really happy with the way the gold pearl doesn't make his eyes super golden but give enough reflection to make it shine!

yeah!!!!!!! tbh i was ordering a pair of eyes from enchanted doll and i really wanted to know where they got those flat discs for the pupils? and then the person kept on calling them crystals and i was like ??????? i kept on looking at like 2mm flat nailheads and such too but it was just rhinestones all along!

i'm glad it's been of help good luck with your own eyes!! these are super fun to make

 

thank you so much!!