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Friday, June 15, 2012

Dolls: Practicing Faces with Acrylic Paint

   One of my favorite parts of making dollies is drawing the face; it gives them personality. The dolls I've made recently had their faces drawn with Sharpie Stained fabric markers. I really liked the results, but as a creative person I felt like they didn't completely fulfill the look I was going for. They were not opaque so I couldn't use them on dark fabrics, the colors were limited and the ink bled way too much to trust them. It actually took a while to draw the faces with them. I had to let the ink dry completely before putting any other colors or they would mix together making a mess of my cute doll face.


   So I decided to paint the faces. I wasn't sure if I should just get fabric paint or if it was a better idea to get a fabric medium to mix with acrylic paints. After a little bit of research I found that the fabric medium with acrylic paint would give me more versatility, colors and a better price. I went to my local craft store to see what I found, not completely opposed to the idea of the fabric paints if they convinced me. Then I found a rack with acrylic paint that was so messy I couldn't find the colors I was looking for and the paints didn't really look fresh, but that was all the paint they had. Eventually, I found the fabric medium and decided to hunt for a few colors just to be able to try them. When I went to pay, the cashier told me that they were on sale at $1 each, SCORE! I got home, stirred the paints and they were good as new. So I decided to practice on a panel of natural muslin and this is the result!

Acrylic paint without fabric medium

   I'm in LOVE!!!! I think I'll never go back to embroidery or fabric markers, ever. I love to be able to add highlights and shadow to create a little bit of a 3d look, though I'm more fond of a cartoonish look.

Acrylic paint WITH fabric medium

   Now I need to see which one of these faces I'd choose or what features I'm going to mix and match for my first try on Kona. Any ideas?

8 comments:

  1. Very cute! I like the one with the glasses.

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    1. I think that's my favorite!!! I really like painting these.

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  2. They all look great! I use acrylic paint for my faces too and love the effect. Nice work!

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    1. Thank you Johanna! The effect of paint is definitely not comparable to that of markers or pens. It's obvious on your dolls! The amount of detail that can be given with paint is beyond words.

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  3. So cool! My faves are the one with the freckesand the one with the glasses

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    1. Thanks! The one with glasses was my fave from these.

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  4. Thats so awesome that you make dolls.n I admire people like you who have so much creativity. I wish I were more creative and did more crafts but it guess that's why we have people like you. Adorable blog... S glad to have found you!

    New follower :)
    Bonnie
    Bonnielouisa.blogspot.com

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    Replies
    1. OMG! Thanks for the comment, the follow and your super kind words. We can all create if we want, the key is really wanting. ;)

      Have an awesome day!

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