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?