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Step Four: Color
*Note: You might want to keep an inexpensive Lots to Love doll around to experiment on before you put anything directly on your reborn.*
Gather all the body parts, oil paints and linseed oil. I use Q-tips to mix paints and a paper plate to mix them on, plus paper towels to wipe your hands on. I have begun painting with stenciling tools, a sponge-ended pouncer and a stippling brush (pictured above), and makeup sponges work well also. Cotton rounds are perfect for buffing and blending. A paper towel is good for taking off most of the paint if you've overdone it, but it's too abrasive for blending.
Take all your supplies to an area with lots of natural light so you can see how your baby really looks as you work. Bring photos of real babies for inspiration.
First put a bit of the flesh tone paint on your plate and add a couple drops of linseed oil with a Q-tip - careful, not too much - then mix it around. The linseed oil thins the paint so it is easier to spread and blend on the vinyl, but too much can make the vinyl shiny.
I always start with the head to set the tone for the whole body (plus, it's just more fun!). You can use your fingers, a stenciling pouncer or a makeup sponge to dab a small amount of paint on each cheek and on the forehead, nose and chin. Then blend the colors, rubbing them in until you see no lines. The effect should be subtle, just enough to add a little more depth to the skin tone. Use Q-tips to blend in crevices, if necessary. Then buff over the whole thing lightly with a cotton pad to remove any excess.
If your flesh tone doesn't look attractive on the doll - it should be very close to the original skin tone - stop rubbing it in as soon as you realize it won't work, then try to wipe it off with a paper towel or cotton pad. You may need to add more linseed oil to help it come off. You can try adding white, red, yellow or blue to the flesh tone to make it more desirable, but mixing is difficult so make sure to practice on something first. If you can't find a perfect flesh tone, skip this step.
Repeat this process on the legs and arms.
Next, you need to add shading/veining. At this point the crevices of the face should be a bit darker from the dyeing inside (if you chose not to dye, you may want to enhance them with the oil paint). The contours of the face should create natural shadows. For shading, I mostly do around the eyes, where the skin is thinner and more veins show through. I mix purple and mixing white to create lavendar, or blue and white to create a pale blue, then mix in a couple drops of linseed oil. Then I dab a little dot of the lavendar on the inner corner under the eye, beside the nose, sweeping toward the outside slightly. Then I blend until the color is almost gone, more like a faint whisper of color. If you need more, add more. Several thin, faint layers are better than one thick layer because it gives you more control over the results and lets the paint dry better. If the doll has closed eyes, you'll also want to shade the eyelid, particularly above the crevice where the lids meet. Remember how babies are usually a bit purply red along that line? Depending on the doll, you may find other areas around the eye or elsewhere on the face that need veining. Babies often have touches of blue around the temples and forehead also, but don't go overboard because it could look unnatural or like bruising if overdone.
I also like to add a faint touch of blue to the middle of the soles of the feet to add depth.
Next comes blushing, which is so fun to do that a lot of people get carried away. We don't want a sunburned baby; real babies have very subtle coloring, unless they've been out in the cold.
Put some red paint on your plate, add a couple drops of linseed oil and mix. Put a small dab on the fat part of each cheek and blend up, down and around, leaving the hollow in front of the ear with no blush. Use your judgment of what would look right on a baby (and compare with photos); less is more. Put even smaller dabs on the end of the nose, on each browbone and on the chin and blend. You can use the stippling brush to make a blotchier skin tone and blend lightly with a cotton pad. You might want to experiment with different shades of pink and red depending on the skin tone you're aiming for.
Then blush the arms and legs, putting small dabs on the backs of the hands, inside the palms and on the tops of feet. Also, barely blush the tops of fat rolls. Always blend and make sure it's not over-blushed.
The best part of blushing (at least for me) is the bottom of the feet. Look at your own feet for inspiration ... see how the instep is pale and the "footprint" shape - toes, heel, ball - is pinker?
When you're satisfied, give the color time to soak in and fully dry - overnight at least, or longer depending on how much oil you used to thin the paint. You may decide it needs more color and do another round.
For lips, I recommend this tutorial by another reborn artist: Debbie's Reborn Gallery.
© 2004 Kristin Walters
Step Five: Details
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