These same face instructions are in many of my patterns.
On most of my dolls, only the eyes are painted. The lips are colored with colored pencils and the eyebrows are drawn with a fine point marker by Sakura. Eye painting instructions are given here. If you prefer to embroider the eyes, instructions are given on the next page.
If you are not comfortable using paint brushes, don't. There are many lovely new pens and colored pencils available today. I frequently use Berol colored pencils or Sakura's Pigma fine point pens. These are color fast and will not bleed if you use a light touch.
If you use the .01 fine tip pens, never use them on fabric that has been treated with gesso, Createx® or any fabric medium. The point will clog. (You can sometimes rescue a clogged point by soaking the point in alcohol.)
Store your pens and felt tip markers on their sides rather than standing upright, they won't dry out so quickly.
If you use colored pencils, use a light coating of Createx fabric medium after you've finished to make them permanent.
You can use the eye painting instructions using colored pencils, fine line fabric pens, or crayons with sharp points. Use one color over the other rather than mixing paint.
Use acrylic paints designed for fabrics, or use artists' acrylic paints mixed with textile medium. These instructions are for blue eyes. For brown or green eyes, use the appropriate colors.
Hint
Place the face on a piece of fine sandpaper to keep it from sliding around while you are painting.
Mix a small amount of burnt umber, some white, and a few drops of water on a paper plate. The final color should be just a little darker than the doll's skin. Load a small round brush (#0 or #1) and paint the eye lid.
Attention
Be sure to allow each coat of paint to dry before adding another color. (I keep a hair dryer in my studio for this purpose.)
Mix a small amount of cobalt blue with a few drops of water on a paper plate. Load a small round brush (#0 or #1) and paint the entire eye circle.
Paint the eye outside the eye circle solid white.
Mix a very tiny speck (about the size of the head of a pin), of burnt umber into some of the blue. Paint on the eye circle only, far enough down to cover the upper one third of the eye circle (including the part under the eyelid). This is the shadow under the eyebrow. (This shadow does not show on the white part of the eye.)
Mix a little more burnt umber (about three times what you mixed before, about the size of a pencil eraser) into the blue. Use a fine liner brush or the business end of a pin to draw around the front edge of the eye lid. Do not draw around the bottom eye lid.
Here's an easy way to make a perfect pupil. Using a small circle template from the stationary store, find a circle that seems right for the eye and draw it on the painted eye with a pencil.
Fill in the circle. I use a Sumi pen or mix more burnt umber with cobalt blue until it's very dark. The mixed paint looks better than black paint.
Mix a little white into the first blue until it is a sky blue color. Use the small round brush to paint a tiny crescent on the iris outside each side of the pupil, between 4 and 5 o'clock and between 7 and 8 o'clock.
Using the sharpened point of a pencil that has been dipped in a small drop of white paint, place a white dot just inside the edge of the pupil at two or ten o'clock to make the eyelight.
When the paint has completely dried give the whole eye a coat of acrylic gloss or clear nail gloss.
If you prefer, embroider the face before cutting it out. It is easier to put a larger piece of fabric into your embroidery hoop. Cut the face out after the eyes have been stitched.
Use two strands of floss and satin stitch the entire eye in white.
Then satin stitch the iris in blue and the pupil in black.
Satin stitch the crescents and eye light as described under painting instructions.
Outline stitch the top of the eye with brown thread.
The eyebrows are done in outline stitch.
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Copyright © Jim and Gloria Winer. |