Today I started the undertones, veins and mottling layers on Phoebe
I have already painted her base layers so starting this post on her undertone layers
This is Phoebe so far...
So getting started.
As I showed when reborning Walter I set up everything ready
I generally do the same with each reborn when painting undertones, I do tend to change the quantity of paint used depending on the sculpt but as a whole the colouring does tend to stay the same with very slight variations. I'm going to cover these again now with Phoebe as it was a while ago since I went through them with Walter but if I miss anything out this time round, please refer back to Walter as I think I covered in a bit more depth with him.
Anyway........
As I have mentioned before I always start with blue undertones.
(I'm reusing some of my older images to give you an idea without having to scroll down to find them and so I don't have to retake the same image over and over again)
I put a good quantity of thinners in one of my ceramic pots with the use of my pipette and then with the tip of my brush I collect a small amount of paint and add to the thinners.
I want the blue very thin and watery.
As I have said before, blue is rather unforgiving on vinyl so it's better to add small amounts rather then adding too much!
Using my brush I add the blue to the parts that would normally be thinner translucent skin on a baby for example, temples, bridge of the nose, tops of the hands, wrists, ankles etc.
Not all at once of course but working each area at a time blending using a make up wedge as I go.
A good tip is to use kitchen roll to blot of some of the paint from the brush and also to check how thick/thin the paint is :o)
I am going to apologise for the next few photos, unfortunately the battery in my camera decided it was time for a nap when I started painting so I used the camera on my phone.....hmm not the best quality pictures but hopefully will give you an idea
I didn't take photos of every area, to be honest I get carried away and lost in the world of painting so taking photos tends to take a back seat and then I think...oh I should have taken a photo of that!
After I have done all the areas that require blue I then move onto the lips and mouth.
I always struggled to get the colouring correct on this area and then a friend who happens to be a fantastic reborn artist give me the best tip every......Put a layer of blue on them first!
The blue is showing quite darkly in this photo but I must point out a thin layer of blue on the lips/mouth is used, you can always add another layer of blue later if needed.
Next I move on to the veining.
I'm sorry to say I don't have photos to share of Phoebe at this point as my phone camera wouldn't pick the veining and the battery for my camera was still charging. So I will do my best to describe but if you need an example please do visit reborning Walter as it is generally the same.
VEINING
Using my paint brush I now mix a very small amount of ultramarine blue to my Phthalo Blue 04 just to darken it very slightly.
I then tip my pot up a little bit leaving some paint on the bottom of the pot.
I use the paint from the bottom that is left to paint my veins - again blotting my brush on the kitchen roll as I don't want my brush to be too full.
You can have a look at baby pictures or photos to get an idea of where you should be putting the veins
I always start on the head and work my way through the other vinyl parts.
After painting the veins I gently blend with a sponge wedge as I don't want to leave a hard line.
Once the veining is complete I heat set.
Unlike when I was reborning Walter, I now no longer use my normal oven.
I now have a very snazzy Halogen Oven.
I put a couple of t.towels in the bottom so that the vinyl parts do not touch any of the glass area.
I have had to play around with the temp to get it set correctly, I know that halogen ovens very but mine is set between 150 - 170 (ish) and I heat set for approx. 12 mins
Please don't take my word on the temp, like I said I did have to spend some time getting my oven set right and I wouldn't want to be responsible for you melting your beautiful lovely sculpt.
Remember to check and make sure that your paint is set by using a damp cotton bud - as long as no paint comes off you're good to carry on, if paint does come off pop it back in the oven for a little longer.
Phoebe is quiet a large sculpt at 23-24" and I have had to take time in heat setting her as I was unable to get all her parts in the oven at the same time.
Once cooled we're ready to carry onto the mottling.
MOTTLING
Now I love the mottling stage as I always find that this is where the sculpt starts to come to life (if you know what I mean) and it completely transforms from being a blank doll kit.
Again I'm sorry, not to many photos here but will cover in as much detail as I can
I use I good mixture of paints for my mottling.
I don't have a set order in which I add my mottling colours but my red mix is always my last layer sometimes I add red layer first too.
I don't always use all these colours with every reborn I create, it really depends on the colouring of the vinyl and also how mottled I want the finished baby to be and what age I am trying to recreate, for example a prem/new baby I would have a deeper mottling to that of a toddler size.
With Phoebe my first layer is my red layer.
First I need to mix the colour that I want to use.
In my ceramic pot I add a good amount of thinners. Then using my paint brush I add Pyrrole Red 02.
I'm now going to add a very small amount of burnt umber and Phthalo Blue 04
This is a bit of try as you go but the colour I want to achieve is blood looking colour.
I want this to be quite water.
Using my brush I transfer the pain to my cut "multy" sponge and blot onto the kitchen roll - I don't want the sponge too full of paint as I'm after the hole effect that the sponge with give. You can also use a make-up wedge and pull out little bit to make holes.
I now carefully dab the sponge over all the vinyl parts, taking care to avoid the finger/toe nails. Once the thinners has flashed off (dries off) I blend gently with a sponge wedge just to take of the sharpness of the lines left.
I now make up the other colours that I want to use, with Phoebe this are Yellow Ochre, Dioxazine Purple 01 and also burnt Umber. These colours again are made very water as I don't want to have very dark colouring.
I now repeat the same as I did with the red, using each colour one at a time and blending with a sponge wedge in between. I then finish off going over with the red again but not all over just a bit of a pounce here and there. This gives a beautiful depth to the skin.
I now also go back to the mouth/lips and do a layer or two of the blood red colour over the top of the blue.
After these layers are all done, blended and flashed off (dried) it is time to heat set again.
The lighting isn't brilliant but I'm glad to say my camera is now awake after the battery recharged.
Here is Phoebe after her mottling layers
I have kept her mottling light as she is a slightly bigger baby
Next step - more flesh layers.
Will update again soon.
x Lena x
