Questions about skins

As i've looked through search history, i know that skin questions are a fairly common occurance on SL..and i have more to add to the bunch!
I've done pretty well with the body..shading...etc..so i'm not too worried about that, but the makeup is killing me. And since it's the most visible part of the skin, i want to make it very nice. My biggest thing right now is the eyes. First of all...what are techniques for drawing eyeliner and eyeshadow? Does anyone use special brushes...how do you get the lines looking so nice and fine with out it being pixelated? I've tried blurring..but then it just looks like an ugly blurred line. Also, i can't get a nice brush line that tapers off with a mouse, it stays fat from beginning to end..any remedies for this? I have a wacom tablet, but it doesn't seem to matter.

Thanks for any help anyone can give me!

Kit

oh and p.s....if Eloh Eliot happens to read this...in my search of the forums i came upon your skins and some tips you gave other ppl. I freaking love your skins, gorgeous! Props!

i dont do avatars, but i do a lot of hand-brushed digital art. use a tablet such as a Wacom intuos. that will allow for pressure sensitivity and much more control, allowing you to use tools closer to real makeup tools. nobody puts on makeup with a mouse

Someone posted a great sample image of eye makeup a few days back. I think it might have been Namssor. The trick to getting nice sharp looking eye makup is to work large then scale down. That way you aren't trying to do detail work while limited to teeny brushes. It also helps to realize that the eyes are mostly closed on the templates and the inner loop of polygons around the eye slit is the inside edge of the eyelids. Adding some shading helps a lot also so that the center of the eyelid is lighter than the corners of the lids. It helps it not seem flat. Also don't use solid flat colors. Give it a touch of texture. Remember that makeups are powder based generally, not ceramics.

Edit: The sample was generously posted by Eloh Eliot. You can find it here: /109/5f/225465/1.html#post1774367

Thanks, yeah...I saw those eye makeup pictures earlier..it's what turned me on to those skins in the first place. I love the shading!
I appreciate the tips, and also discovered the path tool last night, which makes very nice smooth curvy lines. How did i exist without it???