Heterochromia, Scooby-Doo and the Disappearing Smile

No, the title of this blog post is not the title of my next book. My writer's research led me to discover the correct term for when a person has two different colored eyes. Heterochromia is when one iris is a different color from the other one and is not to be confused with two different colors present in one iris. Some celebrities with heterochromia include: Jane Seymour, Kiefer Sutherland, Dan Aykroyd, and Kate Bosworth. There can be any number of possible color combinations. Try not to stare at people or animals with heterochromia. It's probably rude, but I'm sure it can't be helped.

I've also been studying paintings in which the eyes seem to move with you as you walk past. I think Scooby-Doo can be credited for giving us the creeps when we were kids by using this technique. The eyes are painted with an eerie realism. The key is to look at these paintings at eye level, then start walking around the room. Some examples having this effect are the famous portraits of the Mona Lisa, Harry Houdini and Edgar Allen Poe.

The disappearing Mona Lisa smile fascinates me. When looking at da Vinci's Mona Lisa, stare at her eyes and she appears to be smiling. Now look down at her mouth and the smile disappears. It helps with a larger image of the painting. And the closer you are to viewing the painting, the more she will appear to be smiling.

When a person tells a lie, the eyes usually give them away. People tend to look in the upper right hand corner of the air as if searching for an answer. They also get itchy on the tip of their nose or around the collar. I have allergies, so please don't mistake my itchy nose as a sure sign of a chronic liar. Try adding some of these details to your writing for "showing" instead of "telling." Now, go take a peek at the spooky portraits of Houdini and Poe, two of my favorite people in American history.


"You can't depend on your eyes when your imagination is out of focus." Mark Twain

#amwriting #research #MondayBlogs #eyes #paintings
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/2775817.stm

http://entertainment.howstuffworks.com/arts/artwork/eyes-in-painting-follow.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heterochromia_iridum