Dollieh Sanctuary

Well, paint can be expensive... It dries up, bottles are either too big (craft shops) or too small (Games Workshop) for my purposes... and I often can't find/mix the colours I'm looking for.

However, I have a lovely set of Derwent pencils that have barely been used. Would this work on 27cm doll heads?

What about markers? Are there any markers out there that can be used for face-ups?

So if pencils/marker are doable, is there any priming beforehand, and/or coating afterwards that should be done?

You can use WATER COLOR, or WATER SOLUBLE pencils for a face-up.

Only use markers if you seriously despise the doll and wish it to die a horrible and agonizing death. Markers will bleed over time and make the doll plead to be put out of it's misery.

There is also the option of chalk pastels (NOT the OIL based ones). Those don't dry out, and come in a huge variety of colors.

'Priming' is in the form of "Mr. Super Clear" or "Testors Dullcote".

Never use Krylon, you run the risk of melting the head.

There's a list of 'recommended supplies' floating around somewhere on this forum. Looking at it might be a good thing to do. ^.~

<3

-Kiki-chan78.

Paint doesn't have to be expensive at all. While we generally recommend you use artist quality paints, if you are just starting out or on a budget you can use those craft acrylic paints that come in squeeze bottles. Generally they are $1.29 at the most expensive and can often be found on sale for closer to $1 a bottle. These paints do not dry out unless you leave the bottle open - indeed I have bottles of this stuff that are literally ten years old and still perfectly good. The advantage they have is that you also don't need to mix much - damn near any color you want will be there.

In terms of drying out any acrylic paint is not going to dry up unless you leave it open too long. If you work with jars then use something to dab some out onto a palette - you aren't going to be using huge quantities anyway.

NEVER USE MARKERS. As Kiki said, you have to hate the doll to put it through that kind of misery - and that goes for ANY doll vinyl or resin.

Derwent makes nice watercolor pencils, but if what you have are the regular kind then absolutely DO NOT use them. The binders in non-water soluble colored pencils are more wax/oil based and will permanently stain the doll.

I have a paint question, too...
How are Liquitex acrylics? I found some in my basement...

The best water colors for this are unfortunately the more expensive prismacolors, but they do work a lot better than the Derwent, IMHO. The only problem with using WC pencils is that they're harder to seal without smudging them. I found a spray on sealer works better for me. Any liquid tends to make the pencils run so I try to avoid using a brush sealer, but yeah, I like pencils, the way they look and they are a lot easier for me than paint. I like them for shadowing eyes, outlining. I do use paint mostly for lips though. The good Liquitex is great though you do have to thin it a lot. They make a cheaper student line now but I still prefer the real stuff.

I actually really like the Derwent Inktastic WC pencil for all my detail work (eyebrows, eyelashes, etc). I use ground NuPastel for shading. I only ever use MSC spray as a sealer so no issue with smearing.

Try pastels, it's a more affordable option then paint and you can erase if you mess it up. Personally I love the way pastel face-ups look over paint too, much more softer and realistic.

Also, if you use non-watercolor pencils (I found this out with Prismacolor), when you spray them with MSC to seal the face up, the pencil just runs off. All your work for nothing.

Prismacolor makes many kinds of pencils. Some are watercolor, some are not. There is one set of metallic pencils that can be both. The regular pencils I don't use on dolls, but their watercolors are gorgeous and I love using the metallic set they make for it. But you do have to make sure you have the right set. There is a set of regular metallic pencils that's not watercolors too.

Watercolours! Got it. Thanks all!

So, I'd like to throw another curly one in here.... How about human makeup on dolls?