So you are casually scrolling down through the Doll category when a lovely Barbie, Gene, or Tonner doll catches your eye. You click on it and discover it looks NOTHING like the dolls you buy from the shops! It's eyes are more detailed, the lips are fuller, and the price...YIKES! What makes it so high?!

More than likely the doll you are looking at is a "REPAINT." Or a "OOAK" (One of a Kind) creation. Sometimes they are called simply "MAKEOVERS." Usually one or more of these key words is found in the title. But what do they mean?

REPAINT: When all a doll's face paint is removed and replaced by hand.

  This is the preferred term for these dolls. When a fashion doll such as a Barbie, Gene, Sydney, Tyler, etc. recieved a repaint, it undergoes a major change.
  Factory dolls are painted using decals, a sticker-like transfer that is moderately wear-proof, or facial screening. If the dolls are a higher-end item, they may also have a little bit of hand-detailing added, but not much else. Factory paint is sufficient enough to give features form and even portray moderate character, but each doll in that batch will look eerily like the 27 dolls before it and 9,653 after it.
  When a repaint artist purchases a doll from the store, the artist must first erase the dull factory paint using a solvent like Once-Removed. The labor intensive process removes every trace of factory paint from the doll, leaving behind the blank, sculpted features only. The doll is now ready for feature and character development!
  Each artist has his or her own way of completing th repaint process, but most dolls recieve the following:

Eyes: The artist lays down many sheer layers of paint and delicately applies washes of color to form the irises. Tiny brushes are employed to paint the teensy details, right down to the light reflections! The eyes are lined and nearly-microscopic eyelashes are brushed on. New, more expressive eyebrows are added. The eyes are usually the most difficult part of the doll to create and show the artist's level of expertise. The eyes can be capped with gloss to give them a life-like glitter.

Lips: The lips on store-bought dolls are often only one or two colors. The repaint artist may employ five, six, or even more colors, shadows and highlights to achieve a pillow-soft pair of lips. The application of the shadowing and highlights can be used to re-define the lip shape.

Blushing: Often extra blushing is done to give a doll a lively glow. On larger dolls, the body may also be blushed and contoured to make the creation more real. Some recieve breast enhancements (I believe that is self explanatory!). Freckles, beauty marks, and facial shading can be done, especially if the doll is being made into a portrait of someone!

Make-up: Besides the obvious make-up such as lip color and eye liner, a doll may recieve the movie-star treatment involving colorful, seductive, or flirty eyeshadows, painted designs, and tatoos. Gothic and fairytale dolls often recieve paint flourishes around their eyes and on their bodies.

Facial hair: This applies to male fashion doll repaints (unless the artist wants to portray Madame Mustache!). The artist uses mulitple brush strokes to add sideburns, mustaches, and beards to define the character of their repaint.

OOAK: This is a loosely used eBay search word that stands for One Of A Kind. Repaints are not 100% one of a kinds in the traditional sense, owing to the fact that they are not sculpted by the artist who paints the face. HOWEVER, each repaint is a work of art and cannot be duplicated. In this sense they are OOAK.

MAKEOVER: This encompasses all the things done in the repainting process plus one or more of these optional processes:

Hair: Four things can be done to the hair of a repaint if the artist chooses to change it.

Hair cuts: The artist must have the ability to realistically and nicely trim a doll's hair into a new style. THIS IS HARDER THAN IT SOUNDS! A 16" doll is 1/4th the size of a human, so if a doll artist cuts off one inch of hair on the doll, it's the equivalent of chopping 4 inches off your hair! Yikes! Doll hair doesn't lie perfectly flat when cut either, so to achieve lifelike "hang" the artist has to know how to train the hair to lie flat.

Re-rooting: Factory fashion dolls come with hair rooted into their heads. If an artist doesn't like the color/texture/style they can remove the old hair and replace it completely. The way this is done is an artist removes the doll head from the body and cuts the hair as close to the scalp as possible. Then they remove all the hair from the plugs (holes) in the head. When that is done, they use special needles or tools to thread new hair back through the old holes. IT TAKES PLENTY OF TIME TO DO THIS CORRECTLY. The hair is secured inside with a fixative or by knotting the strands. The hair is then styled as desired.

Wigs: Wigs allow the proud, new owner of the repaint to play around with the doll's hair without having to cut or re-root it. The artist can prepare a doll to recieve wigs by either cutting the doll's hair short or completely removing it. Sometimes a wig is permanently attached to a doll's head.

"Trolling": This is a newer technique that was adapted from hand-sculpted fairy dolls. An artist removes all of the doll's original hair. Then locks of soft mohair are applied to the scalp to create a frizzy, fluffy effect, often used on fairy and gothic dolls.

Wings/Fins: If the doll is to be a fairy or mermaid, the artist creates wings or fins for it. There are so many processes for creating these and each artist prefers their own method.

Outfits: The majority of 16" and 17" repaints are sold nude. Barbies and some 16" repaint may include a handsewn outfit or even a wardrobe! Usually fairy makeovers have their outfits permanently sewn or glued to the doll. Other repaints may include outfits that can be removed, replaced, and shared! An artist may decide to use a store-bought outfit for their doll or they may decide to flex their creative muscles and sew thier own! Still others collaborate with other artist that specialize in doll clothes to create character dolls in the image of movie stars, book characters, or flights of fancy!

The more processes a repaint has undergone, the higher the price. Same goes for the quality, brand recognition, artist recognition, and bidder whim. Repaints are amazing artist miniatures and in the hands of a skilled artisan, they become treasures! Long hours and tons of talent go into making each new doll come alive. It's a metamorphosis!

I hope you understand a little more about what a repaint is and the amount of work that each involves. If you have any questions, I am glad to answer them. Never hesitate to ask the artist! Some are closed-lipped about techniques, if you are trying to learn the craft, but others gladly give out tips!

Cheers!

LIZ H.

Creations Creating Reality in Fantasy

Seller ID: tinsel_izzi