So, after waiting since Febuary to have all the necessary parts for this project -- and having acquired three other dolls in the meanwhile, I am finally ready to begin work on my water dragon, Seona. I may still need some other assorted beads and trimmings for his clothing, though.
I started with a ResinSoul Jun, in white skin, which I ordered, as I mentioned, in February, from Featherfall. (A month later, I ordered my RS Ai from Junkyspot....doll #2) Now, when Seona arrived, he had a broken ear. So, contacted Featherfall, they got a replacement head on it's way to me, and I made due with the broken head. (I ended up modding the ears on that head, but liked it so much that he became another member of the family: Amaranth Rune, doll #3) So, I order another body, this time a double jointed Wu... (who's head is now going on a Li body, doll #4) and finally have Seona ready.
I'll have to get the list of colors and such from my materials, but this is a start
ResinSoul Jun on a double jointed male body, in White Skin
RIT dye in Aquamarine
Pearl Ex Pigment
Pastels
Liquitex Basics acrylics
Liquitex Flow Aid, and Gloss Medium
Testor's Dullcote, MSC
Minwax Polycrylic Spray Sealer, Satin Finish
Let's begin!
First, I gave him a good scrubbing with a magic eraser and plain water. I've been wondering if ResinSoul neglects to clean the mold-release agents off their dolls or something. I have 4 RS dolls now, and they all had a thin film of.... something. Then, it was into the dye. Half a bottle of RIT aquamarine, and 2 1/2 gallons of water at a simmer, each piece dunked for 4 minutes. Note to self, bring water to a boil, not a simmer, and be careful of the dyed string... it leaves smudges. As each piece came out of the dye bath, I dropped them in cold water and rubbed off any uneven spots, then left them to soak while I dipped the next piece. Here's an example of the color change.
After drying the pieces, and cutting the string, I laid him out, with Vorel's head for a comparison. Lookit that blue! Ain't it purdy?
Sprayed the pieces down with Testor's Dullcote, and on to the first layer of pastel!
Clockwise from far left: Gallery Pastels, Blick Artist pastels (From my experience, these are some of the best pastels around. I've used several brands, and these are just dense and creamy smooth, and loaded with pigment) Richeson Handmade Soft pastel, and Rembrandt pastel
Blick Colors: Red Grey 1, Red Grey 2
Gallery: Medium Pthalo Blue, Indanthrene Blue, Helio Turquoise, Cobalt Blue, Pink Carmine
Rembrandt: Turquoise Blue
Richeson: 053 Blue
Round One Complete! Victory!
Tomorrow: Second layer of pastel, possibly scales
