One of my favorite tricks for painting expressive, realistic pet eyes is using a soft milky-blue highlight to capture reflected sky light. When animals are outdoors, the highlights in their eyes often reflect the sky and clouds, creating a cool blue glow rather than a pure white reflection.
To create this effect, I love using DANIEL SMITH King’s Royal Blue. It has the perfect soft, cloudy blue appearance right out of the tube, making it an easy, ready-to-use choice for subtle eye highlights. With just a touch of water, it creates beautiful luminous reflections that instantly bring life and realism into a portrait.
You can achieve a similar effect with a watered-down Ultramarine Blue, but I find King’s Royal Blue gives me that perfect creamy sky reflection with much less mixing and guesswork. Sometimes the smallest details make the biggest difference in creating soulful, believable eyes.