I hope everyone had an enjoyable holiday season, with family and friends who know about your hobby of collecting/customizing dolls but don’t judge you.
This dolls was my first commission of 2020, and I was happy because it's the first Fashion Royalty doll I had ever painted.
What are Fashion Royalty dolls?
There are many different types of dolls with different themes and collections, all of which are designed by Integrity Toys, a company know for their diverse lines of dolls. For example, their Dracula's Brides line features high-end fashion dolls that range in price, while Jem and the Holograms has a more affordable price range. You can explore these different types on the Integrity Toys website in the "Dolls" tab at the top.
With Fashion Royalty dolls, their bodies are intricately articulated - from the neck down to their legs. Their torsos and hips are also moveable. Barbie dolls are perhaps a more affordable alternative to Fashion Royalty dolls.
The Barbie body type has been contested by many people. This is after I have customized the Fashion Royalty doll's style to look more like a Barbie doll.
Integrity Toys only sell their dolls through authorized dealers, which can be found through the company’s website. The dolls are priced at a range of $120-$200+, depending on the collection and outfit.
How to Repaint a Doll？
The process for repainting a Barbie doll is the same for other Barbie dolls. However, these dolls cost more so it is more anxiety-inducing. For this tutorial I'm speaking from experience but if you want to know the different steps, there's no time for that here.
First Steps First: Take a good look at the factory paint job.
Dolls with specific head details can be reshaped as needed because the factory put-in specific facial features. Because of this detail, it is very easy to see where a nose or eye should be placed for maximum realism. Other dolls should be handled with caution because they lack this detail and will always require an artistic eye.
I recommend taking a look at the doll’s factory paint because that will tell you about how much flexibility the doll offers in terms of expressions. Fashion Royalty dolls have sculpted faces which can only vary between a few different expressions.
Step Two: Prep for Repainting
1. Remove eyelashes
I used the following tools: The tool I'll be using to remove my lashes is here, some are needle-nose tweezers, some are scissors and then over on the side we have eye makeup remover.
You can remove the glue with a small knife. Starting from the outside edge, chip away at the glue until it begins to peel off or fall apart.
Acetone is not strong enough to remove lash glue from dolls and I am not confident there is another product that does this. On top of that, I don't know what nails the problem.
On other dolls with this problem, I was able to scrape away the glue using an exacto knife. This doll had a lot of glue and I couldn’t take a risk of damaging the face by cutting with the knife.
I opted to buff the remaining glue and paint into the doll’s upper lash line rather than removing it. This means that you can’t notice the paint in the final product, even though it chips off more easily.
2. Apply acetone to get the factory paint off!
Some pointers:
Acetone may not ruin the doll’s face, but it will ruin the doll’s plastic body. If you are more paranoid then I am or don't trust yourself not to fling acetone everywhere, you might want to cover the doll's body in saran wrap or foil.
To remove paint from a doll, I recommend wiping the face. You don't need to wrap hair or use acetone before wiping. If you wrap hairs with acetone, it won't damage the hair that much. When hair is wrapped, the wrapping can cover some parts of the face and if these parts are wiped with acetone, paint may stick there and be hard to see. So you want to make sure everywhere is clear of all paint.
He uses Q-tips and quarters to wipe off the paint.
Some problems:
Staining: Vinyl Fashion Royalty dolls can have light staining under their eyebrows, on their eyelids, and on their lips.
Can you fix a broken computer screen?
One possible solution for staining is to use benzoyl peroxide cream, which dries the fabric and will eventually lift away the stain. I haven’t tried this in case it damages the doll's skin.
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Remaining eyelash glue: see above for a discussion of this.
3. Prepare for a first layer of spray sealant.
4. Seal
First cover the doll's face with sealant before drawing on their faces. Two layers are sprayed about 10 minutes apart.
Repainting the Doll
I used watercolor pencils to outline the lids and lashes, with shadows created from chalk pastel. The eyebrows were filled in with black and brown pastel dust.
The factory paint left a yellow-ish look around her eyes. I just blended that into the new faceup.
A short story about art history
The artist then braided the girl's hair and "fuss-rehearsed" with their makeup by adding eye lashes, eyebrows, a mole, and blush.
I apply blush to my cheeks, then the forehead, and so on.
I completed the eye shadowing by adding white highlights and darker eyelashes. I also shaded her eye lids and brow-bone to make them look more lifelike.
What I sealed
This time I added her teeny-tiny lashes and painted her lips in. I also built up color on the whites of her eyes and darkened her mole. I painted on tiny dots of white in her eyes too, which was done with a toothpick or brush.
I fixed her scars with a black paint pen, and erased the bright blue eyeliner pencils with a cotton swap. Remember that glue from her false eyelashes? It provides a texture that prevents the black pen from doing its job as well as I would have liked.
Struggling to get lashes black
The importance of sealant
I applied a satin gloss to her lips and left her eyes matte for photos.
The contoured shadows are created by her own face and the harsh lighting, but I added a bit to make the features pop.
Here is a photo of the doll after I blushed and shaded her body. To learn how to shade a doll to make it look more realistic, click on THIS THIS link.
You are not losing your money if you paint the doll, so don’t sweat it.
XOXO~
EDELWEISS