Sometimes when I can't sleep late at night, I do some rooting. Unlike the crown and the hairline, the back of the head does not have as complex a growth-pattern. So I've decided to fill in the back and save the rest of the hairline for last.
Making good progress, but I still have a long way to go...
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Because Brittany is such a frail little preemie, I'm enjoying using the mottling, veining and shading to really give her that "freshly born" look. I also made a special flesh 08 blend to continue to counteract the orange in the vinyl. This was the first complexion layer. You can see in the photo below that this really helped brighten her complexion. The hand on the left does not have this complexion layer yet. Once that flesh tone layer was cured, I started adding blue-purple shading to the hands, feet and face. After it is carefully blended, this layer really brings depth to the complexion of the doll.
As I'm doing with Zoey, I'll keep adding flesh layers and shading layers until the skin looks just right. I like to work my shading layers in concurrently with the flesh tone layers. This allows me to gradually build up the color of both without accidentally creating too much contrast.
Shading is a beautiful step on African-American dolls that bring richness and depth to the skin. The first few layers are subtle, but by the time I'm done, the colors will really pop. With all the under-the-skin work complete, I'm now ready to add the flesh tone layers. Complexion is built up in layers - which allows me to gradually darken the skin until we achieve the perfect complexion. I'm using a custom blend on Zoey rather than one of the premixed complexion colors. This gives me more control over the rose and gold tones in the colors. Once the mottling layers were completed and cured, I started painting veins. Its easy to make the veins too dark, so I like to paint them in layers - adding more and more color until I achieve that subtle look of veins under the baby's skin. Once veins are done, its time to cure and start the complexion layers. :) Once the mottling was perfected and cured, I went back with the same color as the first mottling layer ("Vein Blue") and starting painting subtle veins on the head, hands and feet. Some artists think the mottling gives enough of the appearance of veins, but I love being able to see an actual vein pattern on the doll. Its funny to see months of rooting fly by in a few second side show. I finally finished rooting the top of Cadyn's head. Cadyn is one of my Elite toddlers with a head full of sing-strand, micro-rooted hair. We've got a long way to go, but she's looking great so far! One of my favorite painting steps is mottling. Mottling is the process of adding several layers of color in random patterns to the dolls skin to create the appearance of blood flowing under the skin. For Zoey, I went through a minimum of 6 mottling layers so she will be as lifelike as possible. Before curing the mottling, I carefully inspect the parts to make sure there are no excessively blotchy areas. I also use a Q-tip and paint thinner to clean any paint from the mottling layers off the nails.
Inspired by Alaina Grace, beautiful little Zoey is based on Chanel by Donna RuBert. Here's my vlog of her early stage painting from Base Coat to the first Mottling Layer. I'm excited to begin a new custom doll baby - Lelou, by Evelina Wosnjuk! Britney is a super-precious preemie baby measuring 19 inches long. This is my first Evelina Wosnjuk kit, and I'm falling in love! Everything about her is perfectly newborn - from her barely open eyes to every wrinkle on her hands and feet. To get started, I had to do several neutralizing layers of Phthalo Blue to tone down the orange colored vinyl. Once I had a nice neutral color, I added my Flesh 08 base coat layer. Now, I've finally got the perfect blank canvas ready for reborning! Amalina
Born Tuesday, July 7, 2015 Weighing 5 lbs and 5 oz Check out her album at: /lifelike-reborn-samantha-donna-rubert.html For CustomDollBaby.com, Amalina ushered in many "firsts." As you know, she's my first commissioned doll with skin texturing. While I was rooting her eyebrows, I decided she would also be the first Custom Doll Baby with rooted eyelashes (just on the bottom). I usually paint the bottom lashes, and glue the top lashes. But the blonde is so fine, I decided to give rooting a try. Can you see them in the photo below? They look just as good as the lashes on the strip! :) I'm feeling very pleased with how this baby is turning out. Finally wrapping up the hair. Once the rooting is complete, I like to thoroughly inspect the hair and re-root any areas that may have pulled out or otherwise seem thin. Looking good! If you've been reading my blog for a while, you may have noticed that I'm not a huge fan of varnishes. The doll vinyl is so smooth and soft when painted, I don't like adding anything to it that changes the texture. Well, Amalina's dad is the first person I could not successfully talk out of getting skin texturing, so here we go! I must admit, he's changing my perspective on the whole concept. Especially in the elbows and knees, it looks awesome! I might be going back and adding texture to some of the dolls in my collection! BeforeShe's got a tiny bit of sheen from repeated heating and cooling of the vinyl, but a nice finish overall. During...The varnish is sticky, and as it starts to dry, it becomes chalky - so I gotta work fast! After, aka, the Awesomeness :)Beautiful, subtle and lifelike. I actually did a few more layers after this to really bring out the texture. :) I really like the matting effect of the varnish - it gives her that soft powdered look.
This may be the beginning of a whole new world of texturing for me! Well, I don't know if its exactly 75%, but if you divide the head in quarters from the crown, I'm about to start my fourth quarter! Normally, I trim the hair as I go. But I'm having so much fun with this mohair, that I'm going to leave the length until the end. :) Amalina is a bigger baby is now and she wears her hair like in the picture above. I think it would be so fun to get some photos with her longer hair. I love that little ponytail! The back of the head is much less complex than the front from a rooting perspective. The front hairline has a lot of nuance in terms of the hair direction, color and how it frames the face. In the back, I have to make sure I properly meet my crown swirl, but otherwise the hairs are pretty much going in the same direction. :) Buckle up and let's root! |
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Reborn Doll ArtistHi! My name is Kim. I am a reborn artist based in NC. I have been creating dolls since I was a child. I discovered the art of life-like baby dolls in 2011 and have been reborning ever since. Archives
December 2016
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