Hey Everyone!
I just recently finished a new project, and I love how it came out!
Hey, cutie!
I’ve been really enjoying making sample Dollfie models for the showroom, and this girl is one of my top favorites.
But how did she get from this:
EB-E Base Body
to what she looks like now?
Follow along below to find out!
We decided that it might be fun to show you the road to completing a 27cm (or 22cm, or 25cm) Dollfie from start to finish. Remember, we also have a manga available that you can request with your order!
Dollfies are great fun. They are small, affordable, and they allow you to express your creativity in an endless amount of ways.
They are a good project for those people who don’t have a lot of time, even though they are time-consuming. You can do a little bit, stop, and come back to it when you are ready. I painted this particular girl’s face in a couple of hours, but the hair took me a long time because I had other work that needed to be done. However, I could just put it down and come back to it later!
Even though all of our dolls are customizable and meant to be tailored to their owner’s image, the Dollfies really take that to the extreme! They epitomize the custom doll hobby. Every Dollfie you make will be-one-of-a-kind.
They come in an array of body types and three skin tones, so you can create anything from sweet young girls to muscular soldiers!
Some wear removable eyes, some need to be painted. Some wear wigs, some have rooted hair, and some are bald! Regardless of what kind of character you are trying to create, there is a good chance there will be a Dollfie for you!
So without further ado, here we go!
My initial sketches. I only had a vague idea, but that is how I like to work. You might want to have a more concrete plan, or no plan at all!
The very first thing you will need to do is decide what you want to make. Do you want to make a boy or girl? Do you want them to be young or mature? Athletic or sexy? Deciding on these things ahead of time will help you pick what body to start with.
Once you’ve decided, you can pick a body from our lineup of Dollfies.
Next, decide is whether or not you want to spend time rooting the hair or not. Most of our bodies come with a bald head, but you can buy pre-rooted Custom Hair Heads for them. We have them available in nearly every size and skin tone.
Some Dollfies, such as Dollfie Plus, some of the EB-Beauty Line, and the WTG-Boyfriends, can wear removable eyes and wigs. These are good choices if you’d like a realistic look, or if you want something closer to a Super Dollfie.
Remember, if you ever have questions about what items would be suitable for a doll, or other Dollfie-related questions, we will be more than happy to answer them. So please contact us at service@volksusa.com
I chose a New-EB-E / Tan skin base body.
She comes with a bald head, so I chose to root her hair in Rooting Hair 17: Pale Blue with streaks of Rooting Hair 16: Pink.
Gather your materials. Say hello to her little sister, Tamago! She's there to inspire me since I wanted them to be done in a similar style.
Pictured here:
Toothpicks
Tissue/Paper Towel Pieces
Sketches/Scrap Paper/Pencil
Not pictured:
Other materials.
More stuff:
Various acrylic paints in needed colors – Make Set/Basic Set
Paintbrushes – I am using ZM Special Brush 05 and 07
Chalk Pastels – ZM Make Pastel/Base Color Set
Cotton Swab
Doing a basic plan will help a lot.
The very first thing you should do is wash your head in warm water with a gentle soap. This will remove any lingering dust or materials from production.
The second thing is to draw out a basic plan with your Make Pen. This water soluble pen is invaluable when planning any Dollfie painting project (for SDs and DDs too!).
If you mess up or just want to clean up, you can do a couple of things.
I love the Mr. Cotton Swab, but unfortunately, we didn’t have any left because we used all of ours! So I used some wet paper towel and a toothpick to make this:
Ta-da!
Something small like this will help to clean up your planned makeup to something like the bottom of the previous picture, as well as get rid of any stray wet paint.
First marks.
Next, do your basic outlines in a very light brown, following your basic design for the most part.
The key here is layers. Layers, layers, layers. You want your paint to be thin here, with an almost ink-like consistency. It should go on smoothly and lightly, but not bead up or drip.
It is normal to see some of the skin tone here, so don’t focus on darkening anything. You will do that step by step as we go along.
Both the Make Set and Basic Set acrylics come in small bottles, and already have thinner included. I would recommend using the thinner instead of water because it will help minimize the beading effect.
Also, the little bottles are great because they only give out a little bit of paint at once. So if you happen to get your paint too thin, you can do it over without having wasted a bunch of paint.
I like to fill in a layer of the eye white at this stage and then wait for the paint to completely dry before removing the Make Pen with a little bit of water.
You could also do your basic lines and then remove your Make Pen plan before laying down the white. It is up to you.
More layers.
Here I have laid down another light coat of white, and the base color for her eyebrows.
You will need to let the layers dry in between coats to prevent clumping, streaking, and other problems.
Showing her colors.
You can see here that I have started putting in her color. It’s a bit messy right now, but that is fine. As long as it’s not too messy you can cover it with your eye outlines later. I decided to give her pink eyes. I thought it would look nice with the light blue hair I plan to give her.
One and one.
Here is the base coat for the pupil/rim. You can do as many coats like this as you want, building the colors up gradually.
My girls only have two colors in their eyes, but doing 3-4, each getting darker as they go in to the pupil, can have a really striking, realistic effect. They can be as blended or as separate as you want them.
I do not usually give the dolls I paint black pupils, as I like the way it looks, but you can add one if you wish.
Getting closer.
In this picture, the base coats for the eyes are for the most part finished. Your color should be smooth from building it up slowly, and it should cover the skin color completely.
Now we do the details.
Triple view.
The eye on the right (her left) has had detailing added in a skin tone around the eye. This is optional, but I like to do it as I feel like it gives the eyes some more realism and helps to make them stand out.
outlines.
Here you can see that I have started the outline of the eyes and lashes. I am painting over my prior light brown lines with a darker brown. The key here is patience and care. Find something that works for you. You can paint a line all in one stroke, or you can use many small strokes. You can do them quickly or slowly.
I find that I work best if I paint these thin lines in many small strokes, with a quick pulling motion. The speed and pressure will be different for everyone.
Blushing beauty!
Next is finishing details!
Giving them “catch lights” in their eyes helps to make them seem more focused and gives them more of an expression.
Decide how many, how large, what shape, etc. A younger, sweeter character will have more, whereas a mature, sensual, or conniving character will have less.
I decided to give this girl large ones in the shape of lightning bolts just for fun (her sister has stars), as well as a couple of smaller ones.
I also added a thin line of green “eye shadow” and darkened her brows.
As you can tell from the picture above, I also added some blush to her cheeks and chin with chalk pastels. To do so, take your chosen color of pastel and make a little bit into a fine powder using some sand paper. Hold the pastel vertically while you push it back and forth.
When you have some powder, pick it up with a soft cotton swab. Pulling the fibers loose will make it fluffier and make the pastel easy to apply.
Press and rub gently where you want the pastels applied.
Some people also add gloss, but I recommend that you do it later. If you want to seal your doll, you should do it after that. Also, if you intend to root your doll’s hair, it will need to be hot water permed, and the gloss is not particularly waterproof. I recommend doing gloss as the very final step of construction.
Done! Basically.
There! I am done with her painting! To finish, I sealed her with some ZM Powder Finishing Spray. This step is optional, but I like to add it to give her makeup better hold, especially the pastels.
I’ll be detailing how to correctly use the spray in a future blog entry, so watch for it!
~Bailey
Tags: 27cm Dollfie, painting, Tutorials
