Midnight Eyes Fairy Wings

Another pair of fairy wings? Yup.

For those of you looking for more detailed instructions on how to make wings like these, I wrote a tutorial a while back, and I also have a couple other pairs on the blog: mini wings, and dreamcatcher wings...I got a lotta wings.    

As usual my wings begin with wire hangers, and two pairs of the cheapest knee high nylon stockings you can find. I like the ones that come in the little plastic capsules, I can usually find them for around $0.99 at the drugstore.  

Usually, I prefer to work on white stockings because its much easier to get colors to show up vividly on a lighter colored canvas vs. a darker one, but recently its been rather hard to find white stockings at my local store. I opted for black because it seemed better then other options: brown or band-aid tan. 

I was originally inspired by the patterns on butterfly wings that mimic owls eyes in order to scare off potential predators. My design turned out a bit more literal, but who doesn't love a giant pair of unnerving blue eyes? (I am reminded of Dr. T. J. Eckleburg) 

However, before committing to the design with paint, I decided to cut out some paper templates and test a few sizes to see what looked proportional. 

The next challenge was trying to figure out how to tie in the eyes with the rest of the design. Swoopy lines...admittedly, I didn't really have much of a plan to begin with for these wings. A fact which became painfully clear when I tried (and failed) to get this design perfectly symmetrical on both wings.  

Getting cheap white paint to appear opaque on what is essentially super stretchy black netting (because stockings are so sheer) is a bit of a nightmare. Trying to get clean flowing lines...impossible. Regardless of the futility, I kept painting in thin layers until they looked decent from a distance/I wanted to burn the damned things.

Frustration aside, it was necessary to paint the design in white first if I wanted the colors I painted next to actually show up, but I don't think I'll be using dark stocking for wings again any time soon.

Unfortunately, all of the lovely pastel colors I mixed up and painted on the wings refuse to show up nicely on camera...well darn.  

At this point things were getting a bit tedious, and I really wasn't satisfied for how the wings were shaping up. (Should I mention I paint both sides of my wings? So that the design is visible from the front and back...I went through all this nonsense twice) 

And here you can see how rough the edges of my lines were, despite my best efforts. 

I thought some gems might liven things up. I was wrong.

Perhaps a hint of gold glitter will add a little dazzle? Meh.

They're pretty...I guess, but for how much time and fussing these wings took, the finished product is just a little lack-luster to me. They were tedious to make, don't look nearly as nice in photographs as they do in person, and there's just something lacking that I can't quite put my finger on.