eyes

[eye_of_toad]

Bic ballpoint, black Posca Pen for the pupils, blue Posca Pen for the border

I think I'm fond of doodling in ballpoint because it has the built-in excuse of "it's just ballpoint" which automatically lowers expectations. If I did these in watercolor or pencil, I'd probably still be fussing with it. I'm still kind of tempted to go over the background with a gray wash just to make the eyes stand out a little more, but that's a decision for future-me.

Just to be clear, none of these eyes are supposed to pair up. I should have done a better job of arranging the eyes so it didn't look like they made wonky faces.

I'd say about two-thirds of these were from reference photos and the rest were from imagination.

Comments

[amberdreams]

Something I've seen done on Instagram with ballpoint pen sketches is to cover the whole page with an ink wash, then paint details in gouache - it's rather cool and effective. I haven't actually tried it myself yet so do post yours if you give it a try!