Progress

 Notice the eyes in this first photo.  They are painted on, not carved.  Notice also the eye area.  The top of the eye area (bottom of the brow) is carved at right angles to the plane of the face.  The area of the actual eye ball is flat.  This is what I am attempting to move away from.  I need to have an eye that is carved, not painted.   I also want to do all the carving with a pocket knife.

This photo is where I am today.  The eye is carved.  As soon as I practice this carving technique, and can achieve consistent results, I'll move on to carving smaller eyes.  My goal is to be able to carve eyes that are about half this size.

Notice the eye area in which I carved this eye.  The top of the eye area/bottom on the brow no longer is carved at right angles to the plane of the face.  It is angled so that I can carve the eye lid, and have more room to carve a rounded eyeball.