I have been a portrait painter in pastel and oil since 1989s.  In summer 2008, after two years of reading about dolls, I began to repaint some dolls, finding happiness in the work.  Please see the pictures below.

My face painting is less stylized than is some repainting, probably because of my background in portraiture.  I paint each doll face in a way similar to my commissioned portraits of children.  You may see portrait examples at my website, if you Google my name, which will reassure you of my credentials in fine art. 

After years of coaxing a flat canvas into the forms of the human face, it is a joy to paint on a dimensional  face, on a contoured sculpt.  While I long to sculpt a doll myself, my art focus has always been on painting instead of sculpting.  (Perhaps I will take more training in sculpting in the future, I hope!)  I admire sculptors greatly, both those who create dolls and those who create bronzes. I especially like the gentle facial sculpts of American doll artist Helen Kish and French artist Heloise.

Marsha of Hankie Couture (eBay name hankiecouture) has designed a custom dress for each doll. It has been a joy to paint upon the lovely contours of the doll sculpts, to give each doll her own personality and spirit. It has been a joy to collaborate with fabric artist Marsha.  When I was young, my mother made lovely doll dresses.  Mom made skirts with designs that used every fancy stitchery pattern that her Singer machine could make. She also taught me to crochet and to embroider on pillowcases.

The dolls I use were factory painted. I would never repaint a doll that the artist (Helen Kish) had painted herself, such as some of those in the Kish Signature Line. I would not paint one in a limited edition of fewer than 300 (preferably 500 or more). I consult the beautiful book I own: Helen Kish: The Artist and Her Dolls by Louise Fecher (hardcover published in 2006). I am NOT affiliated with any doll company, creator or manufacturer.

Kish Spring doll as received new

Factory-paint mostly removed here

Kish Spring, New Face & Custom Clothing by Hankie Couture
In my painting of Kish Spring as Laura, I aimed for more childlike innocence than the original factory paint.  I sold Laura on eBay.

Following my dad's long decline and death in 2003, I found renewed hope in life by looking at the dear doll faces in Doll Reader magazine.  The friendly faces cheered me up, for reasons still mysterious to me, reasons best understood by fellow doll lovers.  On a similar note: When hospitals include gardens, water features, and restful artworks of nature, studies have found that their patients need less pain medication. The beauty of nature and art bring joy to our lives from childhood to old age.  Art and kindness help heal emotional wounds, too. (Is my background as a registered nurse showing up here?)  Back to dolls!

Repainting is pure fun for me, except for the part of removing the factory paint, which is tedious and time-consuming.  All of you doll lovers can be most assured that factory-applied doll paint is very sturdy. While preparing and painting a doll, I wrap her in a cotton baby blanket to protect her from handling.

TIPS
I am using artist-grade oil paints (in thin glazes) with the addition of alkyd resin to make the paint surface become as flexible as the doll’s vinyl skin and to make it adhere well. I sand the surface lightly to give the vinyl surface "tooth" to better hold paint. If you are new to doll painting, you may prefer to learn with acrylic paints. Most doll artists use acrylics, which are naturally flexible when dry and adhere well to vinyl. Acrylics dry quickly. Some artists use a air brush, a tool I have never used, but one you may like to use for cheek blushing. Some artists seem to like heat-set oil paints, too, especially for reborn babies. Paint manufacturers continue to make innovations, many of which are worth trying. The main considerations are: (1) Do you like how the paint brushes out? (2) Will it adhere well to the vinyl surface? (3) Will the colors remain permanent? Please do a through investigation of the last two questions, since you want your doll to remain beautiful.

On the first few dolls I painted, I did quite a bit of measuring. I was considering how to center the eyes and how much cornea (the white part of the eyeball) to show. In adults, lots of cornea shows. In babies, very little. Different amounts of cornea suggest different ages. When new to portraiture, you may be surprised to learn how important the size of the cornea is. Did you realize that pupil size in eyes can suggest emotions?

After my first few doll repaints, I began to relax, to measure less, and to paint more from intuition.

On dolls, often one eye has been sculpted a bit larger or is more curved. First I try to consider the sculptor’s intent. Then, as a painter, I use delicate highlights and shading to add symmetry and to align the doll's gaze. I refine the face in delicate layers until she seems to speak to me and to express emotion. This kind of refinement is what I have done on all my commissioned portraits of children for two decades.

What has been the most fun about painting dolls? I have most enjoyed seeing one sculpt, like Kish Seasons, come “to life” in different ways. One sculpt, yet many moods and colorings. The details of painting are fun with a tiny brush. When it comes to fixing (Kish) Riley’s mohair, however, my fingers seem way too big and clumsy. How I admire wigmakers!

Eyes
For dolls, glass eyes have one definite advantage over painted ones.  In glass eyes, since the pupil is below the clear layer of the glass cornea, light can travel through the clear layer to make reflections across from it, just like in a real eye.  In a painted eye, however, whether on a doll or on a canvas . . . this illusion must be created.  On a doll, the pupil is actually highest part on the curve of the eyeball.  How, then, to make it recede? I study doll eyes I have purchased from various glass makers. I keep file folders of photos of children with appealing features.

Many dolls are painted with bright, large highlights in the eyes. I have been trying a different approach. While I paint a tiny highlight in each eye, I let the glossiness of the eye paint provide its own reflections. In a human eye, the wetness of the cornea is what reflects light. If you look at one of my doll auctions, you will see that the position of the eye reflection changes from photo to photo, since it is reflecting window and lamp light differently in each pose.

Like any teacher, I am leaving some questions here without answers. As each doll painter finds some of her own solutions, she (or he) will develop her own recognizable style. If we all paint the same way, our dolls will look alike. Boring! Then doll collectors won't have the joy of picking unique faces and styles. I suggest you read some of the guides about reborn baby dolls for ideas about blushing the body and enhancing the creases and shapes. Like any student, I am always learning, too. Reading about reborn-baby techniques has helped me to learn.

About eyelashes: At college level, most professors of fine art & portraiture discourage the painting of eyelashes in even, doll-like rows. "Too fussy," they explain, "Too Decorative! Less Artistic!" I actually find the even, one-brush-stroke eyelashes on dolls to be lovely & admirable. But then I remember the admonitions of my professors and end up painting soft suggestions of lashes with only some individual hairs showing. I hope some doll collectors like that style, too.

P.S. about eyelashes: Some artists insert individual lashes of human or synthetic hair.

A safety note:
None of my oil pigments use lead or cadmium. Though I paint dolls for adult collectors, I want the paint to be safe around toddlers and babies, who tend nibble on everything. My own dear babies are grown up now.


Here is a letter of mine that was  published in the April 2008 issue of Doll Reader magazine (with my last named misspelled as Morgan):

Dear Jill Jackson and other editors of Doll Reader,
   I am glad that doll artists continue to make progress in having their creations seen as Fine Art, as artistry worthy of galleries.  I have been a professional portrait painter since 1989.  I see doll artists as being on par with painters and sculptors, combining the beauty of sculpting, textiles and painting.
   I find joy in studying the faces in your magazine, in seeing the unique beauty of each face and the loveliness of fabrics.  The dear doll faces cheer me up.
   I have a small collection of dolls.  Sometimes I sketch one of the faces, to practice my drawing.  Dolls sit still, while the children I paint are always in motion.
   At St. Francis Gift and Thrift, where I volunteer, I have had the pleasure of restoring and cleaning some older dolls, too, which were donated for resale in the charity shop. In back issues of your magazine I have found information on how to clean the dolls without harming them.  Thank you for many happy hours of reading.   Nancy Lee Moran

For more information about repainting dolls,
See the excellent eBay guide written by tinsel_izzi: Repaint?!?!