Painted Dolls

Ken and Barbie

2010-03-10T18:06:00.000-08:00

The original couple...except these two are nothing like the classic dolls of the past. This Ken has an incredible face sculpt...the handsomest Mattel has made for a Ken doll I think. Barbie is also much more fun with articulated arms so she can push back her hair or put her hands on her hips. These two were listed on eBay this evening.

Matt, Kira and an Obitsu boy named Ezra

2010-03-09T18:19:00.000-08:00

These dolls are now up on eBay. Matt is a wig doll with a flocked head and a short beard. Kira is a barbie I repainted last summer. Ezra is one of my favorite "little" dolls. He is an Obitsu doll and so much fun to pose and display. He is just about barbie and fiends size. I'm quite partial to him.

My latest two....

2010-03-07T18:03:00.000-08:00

Tyler is redone....I like her better this way. She has more character and more of a model look. Also included is a Brenda Starr...I had forgotten how much I love this dolls face. These two are up on eBay for this week.

Antoinette and UB Tyler

2010-02-27T11:47:00.000-08:00

These two Tonner dolls are my latest to go on ebay. Meera is the blonde UB Tyler. She is my first attempt at the newer Tyler face. Rosanna is my first Antoinette repaint who is not technically a repaint since she started out life as a blank mannequin. I think its a wonderful canvas for repaint artists. I hope the Tonner doll company does more of these type of dolls.

A sampling of Tonners

2010-02-24T13:51:00.000-08:00

These examples of some Tonner dolls I have repainted are mixed up in order of date. It should be pretty easy to tell by the quality of the photos. In the beginning of my repainting I was using a fuji finepix 2 mp camera and later switched to a very nice Nikon Coolpix. I also think taking pictures outdoors results in a much nicer photo with truer color.

A sample of Gene repaints...

2010-02-19T14:17:00.000-08:00

Gene Marshall is my favorite doll to repaint. She has a face that can be molded with just a small addition of paint and shadow. These are some example of repaints I have sold. I have yet to paint the newer Integrity Genes and Madras. These are all from the discontinued Ashton Drake line.

Some of these were painted years ago and others are very recent. I may have painted over a hundred Genes but it never gets boring. She is a wonderful doll and quite easy to find on the secondary market now. Gene's man, Trent, is also included in the above pictures.

Some of these dolls were done as a commission while others were sold on ebay. Gene is also a doll that I have never tried to reroot. She has amazing factory hair that usually turns out soft and silky once washed and conditioned.

Gene's mouth is also nice for creating an open mouth look. Her eyes are just smooth enough to play with the dimensions. These and other qualities make her a repainters dream.

Different dolls...

2010-02-19T13:54:00.000-08:00

Group shot of Obitsus.

The above dolls are just a sample of some of the other types of dolls I have repainted. Old Brenda Starr, Butterfly ring Jaclyn, and a toddler doll named Avery. Below are just a small sample of my own Obitsu dolls and others that I have sold.

I am a big fan of Obitsu dolls. I have quite a few in my own collection. Most are the barbie sized 1/6th scale dolls. They come with various head sculpts, rooted hair of many different colors. Both male and female dolls have a few different body shapes to choose from as well. My favorite thing about them is that they can be bought with completely blank faces so an artist can customize them. So much fun.

Alex and friends...

2010-02-09T12:23:00.000-08:00

The Madame Alexander doll company has a line of 16 inch fashion dolls. They are Alex and friends which include Paris, Jadde, Sofia, Suzette and a couple of others. They come in a standard straight arm body and a very articulated one. Here are some examples of Alex repaints I have sold in the past. She is a beautiful doll to repaint but I have not attempted a reroot of this sculpt.

Fashion Royalty

2010-02-09T12:18:00.000-08:00

These two examples are my favorites so far. I haven't gotten into the Integrity dolls very much. I have done a few repaints but Veronique and Erin here are my best two. I am looking forward to trying out the different characters Integrity and Fashion Royalty have out. The Hommes, Dynamite girls, Eve Kitten and many others will be fun to try out.

More Barbies...

2010-02-08T12:04:00.000-08:00

The doll below is the Scarlett barbie from Gone With the Wind. She has on her original jewelry. Already the sculpt was well done but now she has lavender eyes and dark lips. The character faces from Barbie are also very interesting to repaint.

I have painted hundreds of Barbies in my repaint history...only some are shown. It doesn't get old even after years. Just as there are an untold number of human appearances so too can a doll's appearance change when given a blank face to start.

When I start a repaint I don't usually have a plan of attack. The features form on their own and develop as the strokes continue. Even so the same sculpt will yield different looks. Some dolls knew right away who they were going to be...others needed a bit of fixing after to get the final touch.

I am still working on getting the teeth to look natural on these dolls. Some collectors still prefer the solid white but others are warming up to the idea. It adds a bit of detail and realism. Beauty marks and freckles can also add to the new features.

The photo shoot consists of many outfit changes and sometimes the hairstyle is changed or a hat is added. I crochet little caps for these dolls and sew small articles of clothing. Even with a smashing outfit and jewels it takes time and patience to get a flattering shot of a doll.

The best lighting for pictures of these small dolls is outside in non direct sunlight. Artificial light (fluorescent and phosphorescent) are a bit trickier. They can cause a glare on the vinyl and paint surfaces. Professional set ups are better for indoor photography. I am still a fan of the outdoors though.

The Kayla sculpt Barbie was a big favorite of mine. She had lovely tanned skin that was striking with a light blond or dark haired reroot. These days I don't see her as much as I used to. These past repaints were done on Kaylas without the over sized head.

Some of these dolls that have been sold on ebay were in complete outfits with matching jewelry. Some of these dolls now live in places overseas that I can only dream of seeing in person. Dolls are international in their appeal!

There are a couple of group shots in this sampling. My favorite set up is when there are more than a few dolls to photograph. It takes a long time to get everything ready for a shot but I love the results.

Among Barbie's friends shown here are Skipper, My Scene, Silkstone, and vintage face dolls. Some Ken dolls have been rerooted with long hair. The Silkstone Barbies are heavier and much higher quality than the playline dolls.

Painting these little faces is a very relaxing past time. The only issue is that the tiny brushes used for detailing wear out incredibly fast. Some artists trim their brushes down. I have tried that and was not satisfied with the results.

These little divas and friends are such fun to customize. Here is a sample of some of my past sold repaints. I used to make a jewelry set to go with them. These were removable and made from silver wire and glass beads.

Then the bigger dollies....

2010-02-06T11:24:00.000-08:00

These three above are from private commission work. All were characters from stories the collector had written.

Gene Marshall and Tyler Wentworth dolls became my favorites to repaint. The Tonner doll company was coming out with contemporary and diverse face sculpts that were so much fun to transform. Rerooting these big girls was much more difficult.

Sydney was also a favorite from the Tonner line. She could look incredibly cold or sensually warm with the right paint job.

The doll below named Linda was my very first Gene repaint. She sold on ebay and is named after my sister. I gave her extra smoky eyes and fell in love with Gene dolls from then on....

The beginning....

2010-02-06T10:50:00.000-08:00

This post shows some of the first barbie repaints I sold on ebay or did by private commission. This was many years ago in 2002 or 2003.

Later came the My Scene barbies whose large heads gave so much more space for eye detail. This was another chance to try new techniques. Barbies were also easy to reroot as the heads were soft and easy to remove from the bodies.

Mackie face barbies were my next favorite as they had beautifully shaped lips. Those barbies with an open mouth were given teeth. This proved controversial as some collectors loved the teeth and others did not like the look. This is a method I love to do as it really gives a doll's face much more life and realism.

My favorite barbie to work with was the Lea/Kayla face sculpt. I believe it was the freedom of the eye sockets. These faces did not have an outlined eye area as the Mackie face and Teresa barbies did. Once the factory paint was removed new features could be added at the whim of the artist. It was so much fun to see how different she could look.

The hardest part of learning this art was the photography. I experimented with inside and outside lighting. These dolls liked to give a nice glare if the lighting was not perfect. I'm still trying to get better at photos. So far the best results are outside with natural light.

Barbies were the easiest to practice with and it was a lot of fun to see how different little personalities would emerge from the plastic features when my brush left its mark.

Here are a sample of repaints from the start of this hobby. Most were barbies and Tonner dolls. I have noticed that in the beginning my dolls were painted with very dark shadowed eyes.