Photoshop Tutorials: Shadowy, Sultry Eyes

Step 10: Add A New Blank Layer Above The "Dodge" Layer

Make sure the "dodge" layer is selected in the Layers palette, hold down Alt (Win) / Option (Mac) and click on the New Layer icon at the bottom of the Layers palette. When the New Layer dialog box appears, name the new layer "left highlight", since we'll be using it to add a highlight to the left of each iris, and then click OK:

Step 11: Add A Highlight Along The Left Side Of Each Iris

We're going to add a highlight to the left side of each iris this time. First, make sure the "left highlight" layer is selected in the Layers palette. Then set white as your foreground color if it isn't already by first pressing D and then pressing X. Then once again using a soft-edged brush at a size roughly the same as what you used a moment ago for the Dodge tool, paint a white highlight on the left side of each iris. It will look completely fake at first:

Doesn't exactly look realistic just yet, but we'll fix that in the next step.

Step 12: Change The Blend Mode Of The "Left Highlight" Layer to "Overlay"

With the "left highlight" layer selected, go up to the blend mode option in the top left of the Layers palette and change the blend mode from "Normal" to Overlay:

Now things are looking better: