You are right Rosie that when you are making a puppet you have some creative license.   You don't have to sink the eyes the way they are in a real person.

Rosie,
     Here are examples of how I built up the face on my Grouchy Old Man (Uncle Phil) puppets.  I used painted spoons, but built up the brow, forehead, under the eye etc.  Let me know if that helps and you have any questions.

Julie
   
       The green furry guy has half dome eyes foam balls painted yellow with only fabric to build up the eyes.

Hey Julie, nice work there, really effective aging.
Here's what I've undone and redone so far today, I'm thinking to make his chin stick out slightly if I can





I'm thinking that as Shawn says, as I add to it it will develop.

Rosie,......it is coming out very well now....waiting to see the pic of the finished puppet.

Julie,... Wow I like your Uncle Phil puppet...  you have done wonderful sculpting using
foam pieces to give that old man look. I am impressed!!.

Bhanu

Here is an example. The two puppets are nearly identical except for their pupils and hair.

Gotcha, Matt, it really does make a difference, I'm not sure why though. I'm hoping that adding hair like that will have that kind of effect too. Thanks for the pictures.

I've been thinking about better solutions for my 3d eye problem, I think I've got it, finally. I bought a pair of dome white buttons today, solid white shiny half balls is what they are, with the attachment for sewing on the other side. What I like about this is that I don't have to cover them with fabric or countersink them, I just stuck some felt rounds on them and voila! Glad I waited and thought it through. Has anyone else used domed shaped buttons before?
I'll post a picture of Joel a bit later today, I think

Domed shaped buttons are great for eyes but they are often hard to find in a large enough size to work.  You are lucky to find them.  

Maybe I should have bought all they had, lol, but I just bought 2 to try. They measure 1 1/4 ins. across the back, they seem to be just the right size for Joel's head.

Here's a temp of how they will look:

Looks like a perfect fit to me!  More then likely since you have found a store that has them they'll keep them stocked up when you buy them.  Make friends with the person who orders for the store and you are guaranteed they will always have them.