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Dannie is beginning to come to life!
Let's Move On!.
By now you may have noticed that the colors are so much softer.
That is a good thing! They should not be washed out!
The color should have a nice satin sheen, but not be glossy.
That could be a sign of over fire
It should also not be chalky looking.
That could be a sign of under firing, or too much matting agent
if you put it in a gloss paint to dull it.
NOTE:
I remember seeing these antique "Flirty Eye" type
dolls with eyes that moved from side to side with
just with a slight tilting motion. I was hooked on
those dolls immediately
and wondered how to translate that to miniature dolls.
China Paint has been the answer for me.
HINT:
Before we move on to the next step, I feel it is important to
talk about the irises
of the eyes. While traditionally most dolls will have eyes
with irises looking
straight ahead, I personally love to make my eyes "side
glancing" eyes.
In other words. I like it when the eyes on my dolls are
looking off to one side or looking up and off
to one side, or looking down, and off to one side. This
will help to convey feeling, emotion,
and give a wonderfully, realistic life to you dolls.
It does take a lot of
practice getting the eye painting technique down before
attempting
side glancing eyes, but they are something to strive to.
For purposes of ease,
we will concentrate on the normal straight forward eyes.
With that in
mind, let's continue!
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Step
#8
Time for the irises.
I cannot stress how important this part is.
Hint: Be sure your paint is a bit
thicker here. We need the color to
stay just where we put it.
Load your brush with either
blue or brown
(Dannie has lovely blue eyes)
Carefully add a dot of color to the
center of the eye. You can gently
apply pressure to the brush
to help it spread a bit.
Hint: If you mess up! WIPE IT OFF
& START AGAIN!
Do this until you get it right
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Step
#9
Repeat this process on the next eye.
This is tricky, as it is very difficult
to get the exact same size iris.
I don't need to repeat myself.
You know what to do if it doesn't
match, right?
It is imperative that you get a good
match & clean lines.
If the eyes seem really wet, let them
set for a moment.
This will be helpful in the next step.
Definitely turn the head upside
down to see how closely
they match.
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Step #10
Okay, This is one of my favorite parts,
but also one of the MOST frustrating!
I will admit, it sometimes sends
me over the edge, lol.
Wash your brush in water, blot on
paper towel. Dip brush in area
medium, and run brush over your
skin (yep) to blot excess medium
without removing too much from brush.
Carefully set the tip of the brush in the
center of the paint. It will blot up
some of the paint.
Now repeat this step several times
until you can see a nice light circle
in the center. Remove enough paint
to leave a radiant circle in the iris.
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Step #11
Ahhh, Dannie, here's looking at you, kid!
Repeat the last step on the opposite eye.
Turn that little head upside down to
make sure the irises match.
This is a really important step.
The irises should be as even as
possible. They should look similar
in size, shape, and coloring.
It is very easy for one to become
lighter or darker than the other
one, and that will show up when
you go to add the pupils. It
will be very noticible.
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If it doesn't look right......yep, wipe
it off and start over.
This is the most painful part of china painting,
but well worth the effort.
One thing I have always stressed to students:
IF IT DOESN'T LOOK RIGHT NOW,
FIRING WILL ONLY MAKE IT WORSE!
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Time To Fire Again!
Okay, I admit it. I could be brave and start adding shading,
lip lines, eyebrow lines, etc., but why chance it!
You have slaved over making those little irises perfect!
Why take a chance on smudging one when a quick pop in the
kiln will set the paint? Trust me here, I am speaking
from experience, very bad experience.
Fire to cone 018 according to kiln mfg instructions
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Hey! Meet me on the next page!
This
is fun!
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