MY PERSONAL PAINTING
SERVICE ~ I will now prepaint any molded doll (and
hair if applicable). If the doll also has molded hands and
feet, these will be painted as well. Style of painting must
be consistent with my presentation of the doll (no custom
requests). Prices vary depending on the doll involved
and its complexity, but run from $45 - 65 (on average) and
does not include cost of parts which are purchased separately
or are already in a kit you are purchasing. If you add this
item to your cart, we will email you with a confirmation
of actual price depending on the doll parts or kit that this
applies to. Add
to Cart Or, you may call us with inquiries.
Note: Stuffed dolls cannot be accomodated
due to the wide variance in other people's stuffing.
PAINT
BRUSHES
Brushes can be confusing. This is a complete selection of the
brushes I use in all aspects of my dollmaking. You don't need
to own all of these to get started, but if you continue, eventually
you will find you need every one and face the fact that you
will need to replace brushes now and then depending on how
much use they get and how well you clean them.
Note about brush sizes - these are very inconsistent from brand to brand and even within a brand. For instance a size 18/0 can look and behave identically to the same type of brush labeled as 10/0. So, I have stopped putting in the sizes as stamped on the brush. Also, sometimes I get one type of brush from one company and other types from another depending on what I would chose myself. This may also be reflected in prices I ask you to pay seeming to be inconsistent. Just know that if you respect my work, I am using the same brushes as I sell.
A
BASIC SET TO GET STARTED (newly revised with more brushes) - In doubt about what to
have? This basic set of 13 brushes has all the ones I use
the most, including the concealer brush used for cheeks below. Price is about 10% less than buying the brushes individually. $94.00 Add
to Cart
Liners -
These are fine brushes designed for dragging along to make
fine lines, but for smaller dolls I also use these for doing lips, the inner eye colors and pupils. To paint fine lines on small dolls such as eye lines and eye brows, I use the extra fine line brush.
Use the script for painting longer lines (eyebrows, eyelids) on larger dolls (14" and up),
stripes or making starting lines for tops of painted doll shoes. Tip: never use a spotter or a typical round brush for lines (eyelining or eyebrows). They may look like you would have control, but they are not designed for holding paint along a line.
Extra Fine Line $6.75 Add
to Cart
Fine Line $7.00 Add
to Cart
Script Liner $7.00 Add
to Cart Script Liners are good for dragging longer
lines such as eyebrows and garter stripes on legs.
Special Note -
I find that to get the just right size for doll painting
in my scale (dolls 14" or under), that the best lines
are painted by removing a quarter to a half of the bristles of all of the liners. I keep one of each brush on
hand - trimmed and untrimmed - and feel they are my most
important brushes. I used to offer to pre-trim these brushes for you, but with the new source of brushes I am now selling, it is not so necessary. But because it is something everyone should know when and how to do, I now include a little set of instructions with each of the liner brushes so that you will know when you might need to do this to your brush and how. If you do trim your liner brushes, I do recommend you have in addition untrimmed ones to use in other places.
Rounds - Used for
outlining and filling in touch up areas such as when painting lips or eyes - the whites, irises or pupils. On tiny dolls, also are the filler-in brushes. Can also be used as an initial outlining (such as hair or painted on shoes) where the filling in is done with a broader flat brush.
• Extra fine work
$6.75 Add
to Cart
• Fine $8.00 Add
to Cart
• Medium-Large $8.50 Add
to Cart
Flat Brushes - Good
for surface painting in broad strokes. I use the Extra fine for filling in whites of eyes, irises, and lips on dolls bigger than Hitty. I use the 1/16 - 1/4 for edging and filling in for hair and painted shoes. The 3/8 - 1/2" ones are used for spreading on larger areas of paint like
skin and sealing coats.
Extra fine $6.25
Add
to Cart
1/16" $6.50
Add
to Cart
1/8" $7.00 Add
to Cart
3/16" $7.25 Add
to Cart
1/4" 8.00 Add
to Cart
3/8" 10.50 Add
to Cart
1/2" 15.00 Add
to Cart
Curved End Flat Brushes and Filberts - These brushes are flat with curved ends. They are essential for good blending. The smaller concealer brush is the best brush for doll cheeks in acrylic or oil. I use both sizes of Concealers for any stippling.
• Small filbert for small areas and dolls (6-12") $7.00 Add
to Cart
• Med filbert for med areas and dolls 12" up $8.25 Add
to Cart
• Large filbert for lg areas and lg dolls $9.00 Add
to Cart
• Concealer brush (3/16") for cheeks (dolls larger than 3") and fine stippling. Used most often. $4.25 Add
to Cart
• Concealer brush (5/16") for larger areas of stippling. $4.50 Add
to Cart
• Concealer brushes Set of two sizes $9.50. Add
to Cart
For
Cheeks and Stippling - (Concealer
Brushes) ~ In my top 3 most-used brushes (for easiest-ever
cheeks) are not available in art supplies. They are called
concealer brushes sold in the makeup section of drug stores.
I use two sizes and the ones I look for are called
Fine Concealer (3/16" across) and Concealer (5/16" across) brushes. As of this writing, I find it increasingly difficult to find the same quality, so I no longer recommend searching out your own unless you are willing to experiment. Although in the
art world these resemble filbert brushes, they behave much
better,
and for the low price you simply cannot get a better brush.
It seems to dry brush better and stipple better for lots
longer. I use them for cheeks and applying paint where
I want to stipple or pounce the paint on to achieve shading. Other brushes
lift off previous paint, but these are better at not. See section above to buy these.
Comb (or Rake) Brushes -
These are for painting in the strokes that look like hair on
Columbians and Izannah Walkers. They are constructed of alternating
small clumps of long and short bristles. The longer bristles
absorb and transmit the paint (usually somewhat thinned down)
leaving spaces where the shorter bristles don't touch. At least
that's the theory, which more often than not does not work
as planned and you end up with a glob of paint where you really
wanted individual strokes like hair. I used to offer (and try
to use) varying sizes, but in 2011, I had a contract to make
250 dolls who would require using comb brushes. I tried every
brush out there and in the end I found two important tricks.
One is that unless your doll is very large (say 20" or
more), it is unlikely that you would ever really want more
than the one size brush I am now devoted to. It is sold as
a 1/8", but really is a bit wider especially when the
bristles spread as you put any pressure on the brush. Using
this size brush means that it might take you longer to cover
the intended area, but you will have so much more control over
what you are painting, that it is well worth a few extra strokes.
But what, you ask, do I do with my stash of bigger sizes of
this type of brush? You can trim in from either side right
next to the metal ferule and still get some good use or save
them for larger areas. I will continue to sell the 1/4" size
as well for dolls in larger sizes.
The key to success using comb (or rake) brushes is to run the bristles freshly
loaded with paint through a very fine tooth comb held in place
in a small stand which holds the tiny comb horizontally with
tines up so you hands are both free to hold the doll in one
hand and use the paint brush in the other. Every time you get
fresh paint (after cleaning off your brush), run the bristles
thru the tiny comb stand which will nicely separate your bristles
so as to paint nice parallel lines. This little tool makes comb brushing hair details easier, an otherwise difficult task to master. In fact, in my experience, I don't think you can use these brushes without this tool. Instructions included. Clean this tool
frequently and use for a long time.
1/8" (more like 3/16")
Comb/Rake Brush 11.00 Add
to Cart
1/4" Comb/Rake Brush 12.75 Add
to Cart
Comb Tool Wooden Stand with Comb and Instructions
$5.75 Add
to Cart
Extra Tiny Comb for Cleaning Comb (or Rake) Brushes (with Instructions)
$1.00 Add
to Cart
Fantastix Paint Sticks for
Easy Cheek Painting - These are like the insides of
felt tip markers. They can be used to dry brush (blot or blush)
on cheeks or other areas that need a blended-out look. They
are disposable, but can be used more than once if cleaned and
caps put on. I like to use them for small doll cheeks (Hitty
and smaller). They also make good erasers for stray paint.
They accomplish the same thing as the silk cheek tool above
but are ready made and disposable. Packages of 6.
Fine Tip Size $6.30 Add
to Cart
SQUEEZE
BOTTLES (For dispensing paints, drops of water, drops of
retarder - These small squeeze bottles are a great
size to keep these supplies not only readily at hand but
ready to dispense while you work. And good to travel with
too. Set of 4 $6.50 Add
to Cart
PAINTS $2.75
ea.
These are my own blends and therefore more costly. You can
also use commercial liquid acrylic paints in similar colors.
1 oz. size containers in:
Original Body Tan (rosier and lighter tan; FYI this color exactly
matches a vintage Izannah Walker as compared to a paint swatch
from under her clothes where no fading has occurred) Add
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Vintage Body Tan (darker tan) Add
to Cart
Light Body Color (Queen Annes, Tuck Combs, Kate Greenaways,
Springfield Woodens and Wooden Hittys) Add
to Cart
Off-White (snowmen, angel wings, general use) Add
to Cart
Cheek Color Add
to Cart
Lip Color Add
to Cart
Light Brown (softer brow & eyeliner and shading color) Add
to Cart
Blue Eyes Paint Add
to Cart
Dark Brown (shoes and hair and darker brow & eyeliner) Add
to Cart
Black-Brown (for pupils) Add
to Cart
Blonde Hair Paint (use Dark Antiquing below on this color) Add
to Cart
PAINTS
FOR BLACK DOLLS $2.75 ea.
Black Doll Body Paint Add
to Cart
Black Doll Antiquing Add
to Cart
Black Doll Gesso - when body paint sanded, this golden color
shines through and brings the skin tone to life. Only use where
gesso is called for. Add
to Cart
WAX
ANTIQUING MEDIUM (Not for painted surfaces)
This is a product that I worked on for years. Its use is limited
to unpainted dolls or fabrics that can be ironed. Comes with
detailed instructions to "antique" dolls to really
look vintage - not just tea-dyed. Package comes with a small
tin of the wax medium, sandpaper and sample overdye, all that's
needed, except spray starch, to do a realistic job. $6.50 Add
to Cart
ANTIQUING
GLAZE FOR PAINTED SURFACES
This is my own antiquing formula and is painted on over painted
surfaces like a glaze that imparts the look of age. Best to
apply using a little of the Retarder to help the blending time
and over a sealed surface (use a matte or satin varnish - sold
above - or a spray sealer). Varying degrees of lightness are
achieved by adding more of the Retarder. For darker skinned
dolls, see next item. $3.50 1 oz. Add
to Cart
NEW - ANTIQUING
MADE SURE AND EASY - MAKE YOUR OWN OIL BASED ANTIQUING
I know for so many through my classes that people have a hard
time with antiquing and are rightly afraid that in the end
after all the effort of painting, that they will jeopardize
their work. And yet it imparts such important depth and character
that is so necessary even on dolls intended to look more pristine
than primitive. This story goes back to my early days of going
primitive when I called upon a wonderful old standby from the
paint industry for my antiquing which was an oil based product
just for this. But when I wanted to kit my work, this oil based
products like the other oil based paints I only used in those
days, would not last once out of its metal can. So began the
long struggle for a water based antiquing, the best of which
came about after many long struggles and is the Antiquing Glaze
sold above. Due to my kits I became adept at antiquing and
so forgot about that old product until I too would have the
usual difficulties and then I would long for it. Recently a
classroom emergency caused me to have to improvise and when
I did I realized that though we could not put the new solution
into a kit either (no shelf life once the product is out of
its tube), I could help out dollmakers by letting them in on
how to do an oil based antique that is easy to mix up, doesn't
take too long to dry (overnight), can go on over acrylic paints
or oils, is easy to adjust and remove if you get too much and
is, in general pretty darn fool proof. You need three ingredients:
an alkyd oil paint, turpentine or substitute, and some cobalt
drier. Here is a tube of alkyd Vandyke Brown which will last
you for many scores of dolls and the tube will probably still
be good for your children. The cobalt you can also get here
but the turps can be found readily at most craft stores - I
recommend Turpenoid in the blue can (not the green one).
Tube of Alkyd Vandyke Brown (Comes with How-To Instructions)
$7.95 Add
to Cart
Trial small paint pots (just to see - it won't last long
so be ready to try it) of the oil paint and one of some cobalt
drier $2.50 (Comes with How-To Instructions) Add
to Cart
Cobalt - .5 oz container with eyedropper lid. $7.00 Add
to Cart
DARK ANTIQUING
FOR BLACK DOLLS AND HAIR ACCENTS ON LIGHT HAIR
This is a mahogany rich warm brown
antiquing glaze that is good to use on black doll skin and
as an accent color on lighter colors of hair (regular antiquing
is too close in color to lighter hair). $2.75 Add
to Cart (Same as Black
Doll Antiquing above)
VARNISH This
is a high quality varnish with a nice finish in a soft sheen.
2 oz. $3.75 Add
to Cart
HINT ~ My
recommendation for the best finish and sealer with a low
sheen is to use Mod Podge Matte, available most everywhere.
Also, read my Hints page about matte finishes.
RETARDER (painting extender) - This medium is standard
fare on my painting table - I use it in nearly every water
based paint I paint with, especially the detail painting
and antiquing which requires fuss time. This is a JoSonja
brand product that is more liquid than gels, but lots better
for allowing you to spread paints and antiquing with more
working time. Vastly helps the whole antiquing process and
also good for getting paint to paint fine lines with ease.This
is only added to water based paints. $2.50 Add
to Cart |