Thread: Setting eyes in 'realistic' animal carvings

A while ago I promised to post a WIP on how I set eyes in 'realistic' animal carvings... well as realistic as I can manage anyway. Sorry for the delay. Anyway...

I do a whole range of things that need eyes of all sizes and colours. I keep a reasonable range so that I usually have what I need when I need it. Living in the country is great but its a long way to the shops so we tend to stockpile stuff to save ad-hoc trips to town.



Once you have selected the eyes you want you need to prepare the carving to receive them. It can go a few different ways from here. You can just find the drill that provides the correct diameter for the eye selected. I use a home made gauge for this. I used to think that all drill sets produced the same diameter holes.... not so... at least not with the drill sets I have. So I've made up a drill gauge which I refer to regularly when selecting the proper drill diameter for the eye in question. Just run the eye along the gauge until you find the perfect fit and you know which drill you're after.



Each eye has a 'stem' which also has a diameter. Pick a drill that will give you a tight fit for the stem. This will allow you to get a good set to the eye, even if you accidentally go a little deep with the rest of the socket. This direct drilling process works well for 'prey' animals who tend to keep their eyes wide open... understandable if you are on someone's menu. However, larger animals the 'lid fissure', the part of the eye that's visible when the animal is relaxed, looks more like a flattened oval.

To achieve this 'flattened' shape one must do one of two things. One can set the eye in a round hole and then create the eye lids out of a mixture of glue or putty and sawdust from the same wood as the carving, in an attempt to match the colour of the surrounding wood. This RARELY works, especially after the sealer or oil hits it, so one is forced to paint the finished project, something I dislike doing.

Alternatively, one can grind the eyeball into the appropriate shape and carve the eye sockets to match this altered eyeball shape. I usually choose this latter method.

After having chosen the appropriate size eye, I fit it in the jaws of a small pair of vice grips.



Next grind the eye to the shape you want. In the photo I'm using a linishing belt that I use for sharpening. First one side and then the other.



Here's a photo of the modified eye



Now that one has a shape to work to, select the appropriate cutters to cut the eye sockets in your carving....



... and carve the sockets to match the eye. This process is delicate, at least in the scale I'm working with in the photo so slow and patient is the go. A high speed Foredom cuts pretty fast and you can't put it back... You're trying for a tight fit around the edges of the modified eye and also the correct depth with a flat surface at the bottom of the socket excavation so the eye will sit flat. You can test this from time to time as you are carving by reversing the eye ball and trying to fit it to the socket. Ideally it will fit snugly and be deep enough so that the entire 'ball' part of the eye is just inside the socket. You don't want the ground edges of the modified eye to show when its fitted.



Here's a shot of the sockets finished.



I forgot to photograph the drilling of the stem holes, but its pretty straight forward. Pick a drill bit that is going to give you a tight fit on the stem. Dip the stem ends in glue and push them in using something hard that won't scratch the eye ball, like the but end of a plastic handled screw driver. If you did go a bit deep with the socket, a tight stem fit can save you here. Just don't push the eye in past where it looks 'natural' to you. The glue when dry, and the socket fit, will hold the eye in place just fine.

Here's the end result.



At this scale you can afford less than a perfect fit around the eye to socket as long as you have a tight stem fit. It doesn't show unless one gets out a magnifying glass, but obviously the closer you can get the fit, the better. This is even more true of things on a larger scale where really fine detail becomes more visible.

Realistic looking eyes can really bring a carving to life. Its worth trying to get them right.

Hope it helps....