How to Paint Eyes - The Biggest Mistake Artists Make

Learn my MOST Effective Oil Painting Techniques in Only 4 Minutes:

In this portrait painting tutorial, realist painter Alex Tzavaras will demonstrating how to paint eyes, he also shows you the biggest mistake artists make when painting eyes and how to avoid it.

To see the full length version of this portrait visit:

Most tutorials on painting realistic eyes only focus on how to paint just one eye on its own, but painting one is actually quite straightforward compared to painting both eyes together. By far the most challenging thing to do when painting the eyes, is making sure both eyes are alligned correctly with each other. Not only is it really easy to make the eyes crooked, but there are some other really common art mistakes to avoid. You can also paint the eyes too far apart, too close together, or you can make one eye bigger than the other.

In this portrait painting demonstration, Alex will be showing you how to paint both eyes together and he will be sharing with you the techniques he uses and the artistic anatomy he checks, to help him avoid making these really common art mistakes

Connect with Alex:

[epm]

Hi Alex! Again, I love your videos. The one-on-one via Patreon was awesome. I feel like I learned a wealth of instruction in a single meeting. I sincerely appreciate the time and energy you invested. Can’t wait til the next video…

Racquel

[oakwood]

Your model deserves much praise for being the "perfect" art model. Very Well Done!

[kilgoretrout]

The eyes are the window to the soul... so best to get them right! Thank you for the well articulated instruction

[shobestudiosartphotography]

Hey Alex.. I really appreciate your style of narration that helps describe to the viewers what you are focused on as you lay down your brush strokes. For myself, it helps to align my understanding of your perspective and it will be put into use on developing methods for my own paintings. I feel it''s not only important to understand how to paint... it is also important to learn how and why to see, think and feel through the process. THANK YOU!

[carlosreira]

I like the way the artist reduced contrast, for example the shadow along the nose, and reduced the fullness of the jaw, maintaining the bow of the lips to give her a Renaissance look. Very cool. He also toned down the eyebrows somewhat and increased their distance above the eye.
All this is good, and historical, even if he doesn't know he's doing it!

[press]

Great video.. I must say I would not be able to paint her . She is absolutely stunning to look at ..
You are a great teacher. Love your videos..

[tabbi]

my eyes are about 4mm different in hight when you look at the corners of the eyes. if I was to paint a self portrait it wouldn't look like me if I didn't offset them, and although more attractive probably definitely not accurate. My eyebrows sit at different heights too. Having an uneven face is extremely common to varying degrees and personally I wonder if these old masters didn't make a mistake but portrayed it actually accurately. As with me if you were to correct this it actually takes away from the likeness.

[WMatthewRogers]

Beautiful painting of a beautiful model. The way you used color to achieve the end result is amazing to me. That alone is such excellent instruction. Thank you for your insightful and precise explanations. You truly are an exceptional portrait painter.

[ideasareLIMITLESS]

Absolutely fantastic explanation / teaching here..really learnt a lot in this one video. You are a born teacher because you explain WHY you do everything too.

[rhondaporro]

WOW!!! I AM TOTALLY BLOWN AWAY BY THE
INCREDIBLE CONTENT OF THIS VIDEO!! THANK YOU FOR MAKING UNDERSTANDING THIS TOPIC CRYSTAL CLEAR TO ME. BRAVO!!!
I HAVE NEVER USED OILS( I OWN ZERO ) OR ACRYLICS ( I HAVE THEM ).
I HAVE BEEN DOING A LOT OF GRAPHITE & A BIT OF CHARCOL DRAWING, ALSO, COLORED PENCILS, WATERCOLOR PENCILS, PASTELS AND WATERCOLOR PAINT.
THIS VIDEO HAD ME ABSOLUTELY, AND TOTALLY MEZMERIZED
100% + + !
THANKS SO MUCH!

[vocalpro]

Mind blowing. I'm not an artist but that was fascinating watching her come to life on the canvas

[EugenTumarkin]

It is masterpiece of a young master. fresh, characteristic, the eyes are wetty, great.

[boltneck]

Bravisimo Maestro! You've captured her perfectly! You have my utmost respect, and much can be learned here!

[myalicioglu]

Oooow long long comments. Alex you are perfect and the piece is wonderful. Thanks

[themanyone]

If it doesn't click right away, take heart, and don't worry. Ability can improve subconsciously over time. It was a pleasant surprise to discover a natural talent for painting that was not there a few years ago. Information is picked up and stored somewhere. Coming back to videos like this helps to pin labels on the workflow that would be difficult to describe otherwise. To see what improved and what has not. And what to do about it. Good video.

[kathrynmcintosh]

Alec thank you so much for your sharing your knowledge. I wanted to become an artist when young, but my parents could afford to send me to art classes. Only recently due to disability I had to leave work. This left me time to focus on developing what was left, this happened to be my artistic desire. I’ve never had any formal training and it shows I’m afraid but I have sold a few amateurish attempts of mine through local exhibits.i was comforted to know the m8stakes I was making were the same as the masters. In my last portrait I had noticed the problem with the eyes but wasn’t sure how to prevent it from happening. Then I found your video! The mistakes I was making were the ones you described and Now I know ho to fix them. My next portrait will be much improved I’m certain.

[annamariavonschalien]

I so enjoy your videos you talk so clearly about what you are doing and how to think when painting. Thank you so much for sharing ❤️

[soumyajitchoudhury]

Always love the way you explain so lucidly. And you are one of the best alla prima artists I came accross in YT. Regards

[ElianaLemosArt]

So wonderful! Both technique and teaching, thank you for sharing.

[sandrapowers]

You really explain your steps so clearly and easy to understand. Thank you so much for this lesson.🥰