UV Gel Eye Test Piece

Here is the test eye I made from the UV gel .
I think I like the other one better. This eye seemed to grab hold of the paint and not let go. It got cloudy after baking also. I like the technique but like the polyclay technique better.

Same as before, I made an indent using a pencil to accept the eye.

Here is the eye in the clay.

Some lid worms are added.

Lid worms are smoothed with knitting needle then smooth flat paintbrush. I also added an eye pin so I could add some dangles later. I baked the piece at 250 for ten minutes.

Some Genesis colour is added. then the piece is baked again for five minutes.

I added more detailed paint but pretty much know at this point that this technique for eye making isn't going to work as well as the other. I baked it again for another five minutes to set the pigment.

I decided to frame the piece in bugle beads.

I added an amber dangle.

and as always a bow.

Here is the finished piece.

Polymer Clay Eye Test Piece

I thought I'd better test bake a couple of the eyes I've been working on to see how well they make out in the oven. I've had terrible experiences when I've not done tests with pieces being ruined with oven heat, either melting or yellowing.

Here is the test for the polymer clay eye I did with Genesis paint. Keep in mind that the over all sculpted piece is no more than two cm wide, the eyes themselves are a half to three quarters of a cm . Also keep in mind that this is a rough test, there are fibers from my sweater and fingerprints in my work and they're staying there. I will take great care in the finished work but with tests I don't like to waste the time.

I started by filling the indent of this pretty metal finding with Fimo soft and smoothing it over by rubbing gently with my fingertips.
I got the metal finding from
Snapcrafty

I used a pencil end to create an indent that was roughly the same size as an eye ball.

I added the eye ball.

Added a worm of clay for the top eyelid.

and another worm for the bottom eyelid.

I used a knitting needle to smooth out the join lines in the clay and start to sculpt out the shapes I want.

I used a small flat soft paintbrush to smooth out the whole thing so there were less tool marks and fingerprints. Then I baked it at 250 for ten minutes.

Here I've added some blush to the brow ridge and the cheek area using genesis heat set oil paint. The eye has made it through one oven test and come through with flying colours, there isn't any yellowing or melting. I baked it again for five minutes to set the blush.

Here is the painted piece. I'm pretty impressed with this technique for eye making. I can go back now and make more eyes with greater detail.

I cut out a piece of black felt the same size as the back of the piece and sewed some lace to the edge of it.

Then I glued the metal finding to the felt.

I added some beads and a bow.

and I tried out some options for wearing the piece.

This is what we went with.
Maggs has taken ownership of this one.

DIY eyes for BJD Using Polymer Clay

I want to try a few different tests for home made eyes to see what works best for me.

Here are some made from white Fimo, polymer clay.
I used Genesis heat set oils to paint the colour onto the eyeball, but you can use acrylic. I'm just using what I have.
I top coated each eye in clear gel topcoat and cured under a UV lamp.

I made a few different sizes of polymer clay balls. I tried to make sure I had matching pairs.

I put each ball onto the end of a bit of armature wire and embedded it into a hunk of clay so it would stand up nicely and I could paint them.
I baked them at 250 for 10 minutes and let them cool.

I painted some colour onto each eye trying to make matching pairs. This is harder the smaller the eye is, and these are teeny! I baked them for another 10 minutes and let them cool again.

I gave them all a couple coats of clear UV gel and cured them in the lamp for two minutes each coat.
Can't wait to try them out.