Confused about eye sizing

The most used measurement is of the full eye, so the diameter of the widest part of the whole thing. Its odd to hear of a seller deviating from that, because it's definitely the norm. It's important to know the size of the whole thing because if the whites are too small they'll gap in the corners of the eye, and if they're too big they won't fit up against the eyelid right.

As I understand it, "standard" eyes are considered to have iris measurements that are half the full eye size. So 12mm eyes will have an iris that is 6mm. Anything less than that is considered "small iris" eyes, and tend to be used for more realistic or mature looks. Some eye sellers will provide both measurements, and I prefer that because you're right, the iris size can really affect how things look.

I hope some of this info helps!

 

Hey! I've been wondering about this for a long time nowwww!
It seems that the general "standard" eye size for MSDs and SDs is 14mm (sometimes 12mm), however that's the whole eye. Does anyone know what the "normal" iris size for 14mm eyes is? For example when a company sends you free random eyes, or when you're buying eyes on lets say etsy, and it only shows 12mm, 14mm, 16mm, etc.... besides maybe also stating that there's a small iris option, what size can I generally expect those irises to be? (ex. 6mm, 7mm, 8mm, etc)

Also what is everyone's preferred iris size for SDs? I'm ordering my first SD soon after only owning MSDs and am not sure what size to go with!

 

From what I’ve seen 14mm eyes generally have a default iris size of 7mm (8 if they’re acrylic, I have no clue why) or 5mm if they’re small iris

 

I think that this is a tricky question because it depends on the maker as well as how shallow/wide the eyewell is.

In my experience you need to wait for your doll to arrive, measure the open eye dimensions, examine the depth of the eyewell and then look at where you are ordering your eyes from and determine the ratio by which they produce their eyes before you order.

Just because there is a recommendation for eye size from an artist doesn't mean it will fit your taste either. It depends how much of the eye well you want taken up by the iris. SDs can take eyes from 10mm to 18mm depending on what you ordered and your own tastes. Older dolls used to take larger eyes, but newer dolls have trended smaller. Old dolls used to be able to mostly accommodate a high dome, but many of my newer artist dolls have much shallower eye wells.

So yeah, I would wait for the doll to arrive, test out some eyes you already have from your MSDs and then measure and order.

 

I also buy eyes from places that specify which size the full eye is and which size the iris is (some taobao shops and thesecretartstudio on Etsy)

Proportionally speaking, a "normal" iris is a third of the eye, roughly. Of course things vary in real life, but that seems the most common proportion used in drawings IMO. Some people like "small" iris because it looks more realistic, other think bigger is more appealing. I like both, but think that some are more suited to create a certain atmosphere.

IMO, a too small eye will not fit, but a slightly smaller eye can, in some case, give a slightly different look that I kinda like. You can see my girl with a 14 mm eye/ 5mm iris on one side and a 12 mm/6 or 7 mm iris on the other side. You can see that there is more "shadows" on the corner of the 12 mm eye, which make it less flat than the other.

Eye comparison: 14mm with 5mm iris/12mm with 6/7mm iris by Lyam, sur Flickr

 

Iris size really doesn't matter so long as it adheres to the default, is the thing. Very few makers offer more than the usual scaling, and anything smaller than the standard half size iris tends to look significantly worse, even in realistic sculpts. The real goal is to avoid having corner gaps; nothing ruins the illusion of believability more than that, and it's the exact reason why I've always stuck with silicone eyes, both due to their odd number sizes (i.e. 15mm instead of 14mm, so more sclera to work with), and ability to squish perfectly into place.

One thing a lot of people tend to forget, is that when scaling something down, some elements actually need to be larger than they would be to the original source, specifically because they look unaesthetically pleasing, if not outright wrong otherwise, once miniaturized.

 

I'm of the opinion that iris size does make a big difference for some dolls. A smaller iris can really make the gaze "focus" and look more realistic than a standard-size iris. For example, in lyaam's example, the atmosphere of the doll's gaze is quite different between the 12mm (I think it makes her look more mature, more awake) and the 14mm (which looks more dreamy, unfocused, and doll-like). It drives me crazy when eye-makers don't list the iris diameter as well as the whole eye's diameter - it is leading me to focus on custom eyes!

Anyway, @ParlourGoddess eye buying can be a frustrating experience! I was thinking I would make some simple eyes with measurements based on what I'd like to order (for example, a 12mm eye with 5mm irises, 6mm irises, etc.) with clay or something similar to test what it looks like in the eye before ordering. At least then I would know if it looked too big. Maybe you could try that?

 

I also think Iris size makes a huge difference! Most of my dolls wear 14/5 or 16/5 eyes because the standard Iris is way too big for my liking. StellaMarigold is right—it’s about focus, and that more dollike versus more realistic appearance. For some extreme comparisons:

Vidania is a dollmore glamour Eve noir Emile

here are the eyes I’m going to inflict on her:
Eyes 2.0 by Indifferent Red, on Flickr
Top to bottom: dollmore basic 14mm glass (14/7), DollBakery electric purple 12mm (12/6), enchanted doll milky no.65 10mm (10/5), the secret art studio 14/5 (which is more like a 14/4.5 to a 14/4).

Vidania eye comps by Indifferent Red, on Flickr

these are the 14/7 defaults dollmore sent her with—there’s almost no sclera left in her eye, so I went down a size.

Eyes 2.0 by Indifferent Red, on Flickr

12/6, and there’s still no putty showing—her eye openings are small enough you can get away with down-sizing a lot. There’s already more sclera visible. This I’d call that classic “doll-like” look in her.

Eyes 2.0 by Indifferent Red, on Flickr

10/5 I genuinely didn’t think would fit this well! you can see a bit of shadow by the edges but nothing too extreme. These are very likely the eyes she’ll be keeping. You can see she looks a bit more focused with them.

Vidania eye comps by Indifferent Red, on Flickr

and finally, 14/4.5ish you can see looks a bit smaller, and very realistic. There’s no gapping in her eyewells like there is with the 10.

 

Yeah there’s a lot of variance to eye sizes!! I made a post on another thread here comparing the same doll in 4 different eye sizes, to show how the same sculpt can look with different sizes of eye/iris. I collect only SD’s and all of them have between 4.5 and 6mm irises, but the eyes themselves are between 10 and 16mm—it’s really the Iris size that matters.

 

OMG I totally posted this without even seeing that other thread! Those photo comparisons are so helpful though thanks!!

 

All good!! You posted this before I made those posts on that thread!! I’m so glad the pics helped!!

 

@Chameleon - Excellent comparison! Thank you for sharing! That's exactly what I mean - the right iris size really makes the face come alive, in my opinion! I really like the last two you tried - the light blue and light purple. The purple looks especially nice with the maroon/lavender hues in her hair and lip color.

 

Thanks!! The last one are the eyes I normally keep in her, but I liked the second last enough she’s still wearing them!! It was super fun to try all those eyes in her and see what she looked like, and I think you described it perfectly—the smaller eyes really bring them to life!

 

I think if it's a smaller seller, you can ask them for clarifications, just so you know exactly what you're getting. Otherwise, most people will gladly show you the eye/doll combination (or something similar) if you ask! It can be a little bit of a hit and miss when you try to find the right size at first, but then they tend to have pretty standard measurements.

 

I just want to thank those who posted and shared about eye sizing here. Facts shared have helped me better understand the ratios which will help me in purchasing eyes for my dolls with a better understanding at time of ordering. More and more, especially with the higher end eyes, both numbers are being given and was starting to get confusing.