HOW TO PAINT BISQUE or
VINYL DOLL
HEADS, HANDS, & FOOTWEAR TO CREATE THE PORCELAIN OR ANTIQUE LOOK Print
this page
Bisque doll parts are already fired & ready to
paint. No further firings are needed. These methods will also work on vinyl, porcelain, or ceramic.
BACK TO PRINT INDEX
SUPPLIES
Any good brand of acrylic paint. I use Americana
Deco Art in the bottles, but any acrylic paint will work..
Colors:
Medium Flesh - White - Black - Dk. Brown - Cadmium Red - Mocha (optional
for a lighter porcelain look skin tone) - Metallic Gold (for
rings) - Blue Gray (blue eyes)
Acrylic Medium:
Deco Art Extender or Jo Sonja Retarder or any acrylic medium to extend the dry time of the acrylics
GOOD BRUSHES:
1/2" to 3/4" wide square flat for base coating. 1/2" &
1/4" to 1/8" wide flat or filbert (cat tongue) for detailing. A
good liner with a sharp point & bristles no longer than 3/4" for
control. Old worn brushes for optional antiquing.
SEALER:
BE SURE TO COVER ACRYLIC EYES BEFORE SPRAYING
Matte Finish spray:
Krylon Brand for a flat finish & use as a hair spay to finish and smooth
beards.
Krylon Crystal Clear or Patricia Nimmocks Matte Finish (best)- satin finish for a final finish on the bisque. This is
available at most Wal-Mart & craft stores.
Any brush on water based (acrylic)
Satin Varnish to use instead of the sprays.
OPTIONAL Antiquing......Bt. Umber oil paint.....odorless
mineral spirits or odorless artist oil painting brush cleaner.
Or Bt. Umber acrylic paint + acrylic
medium........Old brush & soft rags.
BRUSH CARE:
Acrylic paint is very hard on the brushes. Dampen the brush before
loading the paint. Clean the brush often if painting very long. When
finished painting, clean the brushes in water + dish soap or invest in acrylic
brush cleaner for the final cleanup. I keep a jar of the acrylic brush
cleaner to clean my brushes after cleaning the paint out in soapy
water. The acrylic brush cleaner will last a very long time.
SAND THE BISQUE PARTS:
Sand ONLY any imperfections or seams before
painting. Purchase the foam sanding pads in the fine texture. I find
these in the painting department at Wal-mart. I cut them in half.
PAINT BISQUE HEAD
Using the larger flat brush, base coat the head with two coats of flesh color acrylic paint thinned with a
little water or extender. Dry
between coats of paint. Keep the
paint smooth as you
paint.
PAINTING EYES:
(If you are not using set in
eyes.) Base the eyeballs with 2-3
coats of white acrylic. If you get
the white on the eyelids, let dry then just re-paint with the flesh.
Do not worry about mistakes when you are painting with the acrylic
paints.
Just let dry & start again.
Start in the center of the eyeball, and paint in
the iris/pupil area with medium blue acrylic paint. (or brown.)
OPTIONAL: Slightly
lighten the lower iris with white (or orange for brown eyes.)
Pat blend to soften the colors together.
Be sure to wipe the excess paint out of the brush before blending. Darken
the upper iris with black. Paint the
pupil with black. Again, pat blend
to soften. Dip the pointed round
brush or liner into the white acrylic. Put
a sparkle dot at the 10:00 or 2:00 position on the iris/pupil.
DO NOT place this in the center of the iris.
OIL PAINT: this method is much easier. Just use the instructions for
acrylic. The alkyd oil paints dry a lot quicker. I use just the
alkyd white and the darker colors regular any brand oils.
BLUSH & LIPS:
Brush a fairly heavy coat of the flesh color + some acrylic medium on the cheeks
and lip area (one at a time) (about 2/3 paint to 1/3 extender or retarder).
This will keep the paint from drying too quickly.
A good idea is to have two brushes, one loaded with the flesh and the
other with the red. Brush a small
amount of cad. Red on the cheeks, and brush blend into the wet flesh acrylic.
Wipe the brush on a paper towel to remove excess paint. Keep the
strokes going two directions in a back and forth motion.
If the paint starts to tack up too quickly, dip the brush into the
medium, and continue blending. Pick
up the flesh acrylic to blend over the hard edges of the red to soften these
harsh lines. This does take some
practice. Remember, keep the brush
moving in two directions in a back and forth motion!
If you are not satisfied with this, acrylic dries quickly, and you can
start over.
Brush some of the red + flesh color on the lips, but do not paint them too red.
NO PAINT
method for blushing the cheeks and lips is buy a red makeup pencil or
stencil creme. First spray the face with the Matte Finish & set until dry. Apply a small amount of the makeup to the cheeks & lips with
a dry brush or your finger (use very little makeup). Then blend or soften with a
finger, dry brush, or paper
towel. When satisfied, spray again with Matte Finish.
EYELASHES: With a small liner brush, mix water + black acrylic (or
black + bt. umber). With
the side edge of the bristles close to the metal ferrule, paint the inside
edge of the top eyelids.
Drag the bristles on your palette surface to remove most of the paint.
Practice painting lashes on a plastic lid or palette paper. Too much paint
in the brush will make FAT lashes. Pull some tiny lashes from the
corners of the eyes. Do not
put too many lashes or too red lips on Santa so he will not look like he is
wearing makeup.
TEETH: Mix white and flesh acrylic, and brush this on the
teeth. Let dry, then with
almost all white paint, high light or add more to the surface of the
teeth. Remember teeth are NEVER pure white
(except in Hollywood).
PAINT BISQUE
HANDS Base coat &
let dry per
instructions for the head.
Blush (optional).....Mix some acrylic retarder with the flesh color, and
brush a generous coat on the top of the hand.
Tap some red acrylic on the joints and knuckles on the hand.
Wipe the excess paint from the brush, and blend and soften the red areas
before it has time to dry.
You can also use the "makeup" method described above for the
blush. When dry, spray with the Matte finish or brush on a coat of satin
varnish. Paint the
ring metallic gold.
PAINT SHOES OR
BOOTS:
Base coat with two coats of paint using the following
colors:
Socks – off white (or color to match clothing)
Shoes or Boots– brown
(or black) & the soles
– black or brown. Remember to keep the paint thinned for easier control.
When dry, load a liner with black + water.
Paint the detail lines on the shoes, and the laces.
When dry brush on a coat of satin varnish or spray with Matte Finish.
ANTIQUE
THE BISQUE OR VINYL (optional...to create the old weathered look)
Acrylic method:
Seal the bisque with Matte Finish or brush on a coat of Satin Water Based
Varnish & let dry. Mix dark brown with acrylic medium
(40% paint to 60% medium) Brush
over the bisque, then wipe off with a soft old rag to the desired effect.
If the antiquing dries or tacks up too quickly, pick up some of the
acrylic medium, and brush on the bisque to re-wet the surface.
Be sure to clean the paint off the
eyeballs with a damp brush before the antiquing dries.
When the antiquing is totally dry, brush on another coat of the satin
varnish or spray with a Matte Finish spray.
DO NOT let sprays of any kind get on the acrylic eyes.
Cover with bits of masking tape before spraying.
Oil
Paint Method: (If I choose to antique, this is the method
I prefer)
Mix burnt umber oil paint with turp (artist oil paint brush cleaner) or mineral
spirits (more turp than paint).
Brush on the bisque pieces, let set 5 to 10 minutes, then wipe off with a
soft old rag. Clean
the eyeballs with turp or mineral spirits before the antiquing dries. If there
is too much antiquing, just brush over the pieces with the turp, & wipe off
with the rag. When dry, spray with Matte Finish.
OPTIONAL.....I really like to mix bt. umber oil paint with a product
called "Liquin" by Winsor Newton company, or "LiquiGlaze" by
Martin/F. Weber (Permalba) company for antiquing. It is an
oil painting gel medium. This leaves such a nice finish, there is no need
to spray with the Matte Varnish after antiquing. This will dry overnight.
If you cannot find this product & would like to try it, please contact us,
& we will add some to your order.
Also, remember that you can put an oil base product over any acrylic product,
but DO NOT put any acrylic product over an oil based product or paint.
FINISH
Lightly spray with matte finish or Krylon Crystal Clear.
OPTIONAL....PORCELAIN LOOK FINISH....After
spraying 2 coats of Matte Finish, lightly sand the finished
pieces with the foam sander. This is the step that really smoothes the
surface to create the porcelain look and feel. The
formula for the Krylon brand Matte Finish has changed. It is now a very
flat no shine what so ever product. I now use Patricia Nimmocks Matte
Finish
spray for a final satin finish. This is available at most Wal-marts or crafts stores. Find in the craft paint area......Cover
acrylic eyes with bits of masking tape before ANY sprays.
Even hairspray will dull the eye balls.
www.diandolls.com