How to create a realistic eye texture using Photshop.

Instead of my usual photo repair posts, I have decided to have some fun creating a Realistic eye texture using photoshop.

Eyeball. Colour Pupil and Iris

Realistic eye texture using photoshop

This is a texture that I found to be very effective for the Iris of an eye.

Start by creating a new file around 1000 pixels square.

Your colour palette should be set to Red foreground, white background or

You can use Red foreground, black background if you want flecks of red in your iris.

Filter/render/clouds
Filter/texture/stained glass/ cell size 10/ light intensity 4/ border 3
Filter/blur/radial blur zoom/distance 80

Starting the eye texture

Image/Adjust/Invert
Image/adjust/exposure (adjust for more contrast)

Next step of the eye texture

New Layer. Draw circle on a new layer. Almost filling the canvas. Feather 1 pixel and fill with black.

Next from the drop-down menu, Select, modify/contract/ set to 6.
Feather the selection by 5, delete. You should now be left with a dark ring.
On a new layer draw a new circle for the pupil, not too big and fill with black.

In the Layers palette, select this layer and add outer glow. Choose a green that compliments the blue textured iris. Make it wide and diffused, just play with the setting until you are happy.

Adding Iris and outline to the eye

On a new layer create the highlights by drawing a circle and filling with white, but use the graduated fill set to colour to transparent. Shape the catch light how you like, but bear in mind you should be following the curvature of the “ball” of the eye.

Cutting out the eye and adding some shape and form

On new layers add more catchlights or reflections as you so desire and vary the transparencies of the layers to get a varying degree of reflections.

To finish, select with the magic wand the outside of the larger circle. Keep the selection active and create a new layer and fill the selection with white.

A final burning in of the mid-tones around the edge of the eye should create a further illusion of a bulge in the eye.

Final eye design

Update

I made the iris outer glow a bit brighter. Added another outer ring underneath the existing one with a thicker and heavily feathered dark green. Then on the “iris rays” layer, i used the smudge tool to create the dividing line between the green glow and the outer colours. I added a more convincing highlight to finish the realistic eye texture using photoshop!

A newer version of the eye further refined

Back to photo repairs and restoring in the next post.

Download the action below if you want to automate most of this

• Download 1 – Eyeball Action from the create an eye tutorial