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After 13 hours of rooting, we've finally covered the top of his head ear to ear. I also finished rooting the fuzzy little area on the temple and the rest of the hairline. As I mentioned previously, blonde hair is very hard to see. But when you look closely, you can see that he has plenty of soft, wispy hair. Tonight's playlist: Disney's Oliver and Company and Tangled. Tangled has given me an exciting idea for a doll: Baby Rapunzel. Can you imagine a sweet, green-eyed baby with 12 inches of soft blonde hair? Irresistible!
I'm such a Disney princess at heart. I love rooting because it is a very relaxing process. However, it takes many hours to carefully place every individual strand of hair on the baby's head. So that Wyatt and I are both entertained as I root, I like to play movies in the background. Since I am listening to the TV rather than watching it, to qualify for my rooting playlist, a movie needs to have either great music, funny dialog or both.
Today's selections were all Disney: Hercules, Princess and the Frog and Frozen. I think Wyatt enjoyed Hercules the most. :) We've finally reached the top of the right ear. Next, we'll do the same on the other side. His light, wispy hair is filling in very nicely. And its so soft! Sometimes progress doesn't look like progress. But we're making our way around the head...one strand at at time. :)
We just completed the crown and the area on the top of the head where the hair is thickest. For no particular reason, I like to root in strips from the edges to the crown. Maybe because, as I go, the back of the head, reminds me of a pie chart gradually approaching 100%. Always an analyst at heart. :) When we're done, this little guy is getting a haircut!
Now for some real magic! One thing I love most about reborn dolls is the fact that they appear to have hair growing out of their scalps. This is thanks to the process of micro-rooting - inserting premium hair a strand or two at a time in a natural hair growth pattern. Before starting, I painted the hair growth pattern on his head so I'd know which way to angle the hair as I'm rooting. Then, I rooted his eyebrows. One thing I learned from this experience so far: blonde hair is very hard to see! Once I had a section of hair rooted, I could see it well. But looking at one strand at a time against peach skin took bright lights and high magnification. Good thing I'm equipped for that! Over the years I've learned that if there is anything I dislike in the painting of a doll, I don't typically notice it until the baby is done and I can't do anything about it. So this time, we did an interim review to make sure Wyatt's painting is as lifelike as we can get it. He passed his review with flying colors. Indoor lighting, outdoor lighting, from every angle he's a sweetheart. Enjoy our pictures from today! Today's focus was fine details. To create the illusion of depth, I shade all the creases and folds of skin on the baby. I also continued blushing for that perfect rosy look.
Today, we continued our painting journey. As I mentioned yesterday, creating a lifelike baby involves many, many, many...many layers of paint. Each additional layer adds subtle depth and life. Unfortunately, the details are so subtle that your eyes see them better than my camera can. Still, I put together the time lapse photography video below to show the steps that we covered today. Looking at just his right foot, it starts with the blank vinyl, goes through the primer and all the mottling, ending with blushing. Can you see the transformation? Mottling!To create lifelike baby skin, there are six layers of mottling. Each layer is a different color. Each color, has a special sponge. I pattern each sponge by hand to create a natural-looking skin pattern. As you can see, red, blue, purple and even green are needed to bring a baby to life. Once the mottling is complete, I hand paint veins on the head, hands and feet. Then, I add a few flesh tone layers (Flesh 08 as requested) to place these veins under the skin. Blushing!I love everything about creating dolls, but blushing is one of my favorite parts. Once I'm happy with the skin tone, I begin to add a little extra sweet rosiness to the fingers and toes, cheeks and nose. This detail really brings the doll to life. So far, I've only done the first layer of blushing on the hands and feet. Next time, we'll blush the face and continue to work on some more details. More to come! |
Reborn Doll Babies
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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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