Question...
After setting the eyes, and sculpting in the shape with clay, should the pupil be dead center vertically, or more towards the upper eyelid? It seems like unless you really open the eyes wide, that the pupil would end up being towards the upper eyelid. In the Breakthrough book it has a drawing of the pupil being dead center. So I am guessing that you would have to use more clay on the lower half, and thus move the whole opening up the glass since the lower lid and the upper lids are not the same shape.
Thanks for the input.
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Since you said vertical pupils I can only assume you're talking predators like fox, bobcat etc. I like to see about 1/4 - 1/3 of the pupil to be tucked up under the upper eyelid, this will force to show the sclera under the pupil on the bottom of the eye. This is the proper look for most of your predators. Coyotes have a round pupil, but still requires you to show sclera under the pupil and the upper pupil to be under the upper eyelid see a good look at this in this picture:
http://animals.timduru.org/dirlist/coyote/COYOTE02.JPG
Here's some good ones of a fox:
http://animals.timduru.org/dirlist/fox/Calender-April_98-RedFox-WaterMirror.jpg
http://animals.timduru.org/dirlist/fox/RedFox-FaceCloseup.jpg
http://animals.timduru.org/dirlist/fox/RedFox-FaceCloseup.jpg
I might have been a little high on the 1/4-1/3, it's more like about 1/8 of the pupil up under the upper eyelid, it does depend on what eye you are using too (maker).
Sorry, I meant vertical alignment (up and down position) of a deers pupil. I make sure they are level horizontally with the floor, but it seems like they are always closer to the upper lid when I sculpt out my eye.
Thanks for all the good info on predators though!
The pupil is in the upper 1/2 of the eye, generally. From Judge Cochran's seminar, the pupil is above the front corner of the eye and in alignment with the back corner, provided your eye shape is correct.
Thanks, that is where my pupils always end up is in the upper half after I sculpt the shape. Funny part is, I looked at some of my old mounts and they were dead center, but the eye shape sucked. In my later mounts they were in the upper half. And, funnier yet, I looked at a mount I had done from another taxidermist before I was into it, and it was near the bottom!
Thanks again.