■ Photoshop Compositing 287
Figure 8.42 The
iris after further
adjustments
before reflections
are added
The following technique for creating reflections on the eyes is based on a demonstration
by Neville Page. Neville is a fantastically talented designer and instructor. You have seen
his design work on films like Cloverfield, Avatar, Star Trek, and Tron. I highly recommend his
DVD on painting eyes, available from the Gnomon Workshop.
- Create a new layer above the iris. Call this layer reflection. Select the Lasso tool and
draw a shape like the one shown in Figure 8.43. The idea is to create the impression of
mountains or other landscape reflecting in the surface of the eye.
- Select a soft-edged paintbrush and select a light sky blue color; here I chose RGB 181
225 232. Brush gently across the bottom of the selection so the most color appears at
the bottom edge of the selection. This will represent the sky reflecting in the surface of
the eye. Dial back the opacity on this layer until the reflection looks natural. You can
also use the eraser to increase the softness of the edges where needed (Figure 8.44).
- Create a new layer and call this sun. Select a small brush and a violet hue from the
color picker. Create a small dot on the upper right of the iris. This will be the reflec-
tion of the light source. Change your color selection to yellow and apply another dot
within the violet one.
- Select white and create another dot in the center of the yellow one. This will create
a reflection of the sun in the surface of the cornea of the eye (Figure 8.45). I also add
another fleck of reflection in the opposite lower corner of the lens to show the light
refracting through the cornea. You may also want to reduce the opacity of this layer.
The final effect can be seen on both eyes in Figure 8.46.
