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Alluring Watercolor Paintings Prove that Eyes are Windows to the Soul

There's a classic saying that “the eyes are the windows to the soul,” and Spanish artist Jone Bengoa conveys this sentiment perfectly in her alluring paintings. The 19-year-old creates realistic watercolor portraits where a set of pupils and eyebrows are the only things visible on a stark white page.

Devoid of other facial features, Bengoa's artworks are intense. Although minimal in composition, they express an incredible amount of emotion. It demonstrates just how much can be shown in a single look. Anger, sadness, confusion, and surprise are conveyed via the shape of the upper eyelid and a simple furrowing of the brow.

Bengoa also editorializes and plays on emotions by adding decorative abstract shapes and unnaturally bright pinks and purples in with the peach-colored skin tones. In addition, long drips of paint fall from the eyes, but appear less as tears and more as a beautiful homage to the watercolor medium.

Jone Bengoa Deviant Art page
Jone Bengoa Facebook page
via [Samsara]

Sara Barnes

Sara Barnes is a Staff Editor at My Modern Met, Manager of My Modern Met Store, and co-host of the My Modern Met Top Artist Podcast. As an illustrator and writer living in Seattle, she chronicles illustration, embroidery, and beyond through her blog Brown Paper Bag and Instagram @brwnpaperbag. She wrote a book about embroidery artist Sarah K. Benning titled 'Embroidered Life' that was published by Chronicle Books in 2019. Sara is a graduate of the Maryland Institute College of Art. She earned her BFA in Illustration in 2008 and MFA in Illustration Practice in 2013.
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