How to: Face Paint

fine paint brush (sizes 5/0, 10/0, 18/0 or finer) - You can buy 5/0, 10/0, and 18/0 at your local craft store. These are the finest paint sized brushes I can find in the hobby stores. I have gotten ahold of Volks paint brushes and they are more finer and easier to control than these hobby store brushes. I can actually make beautiful eyelashes with Volks paint brushes. That's mighty fine paint brushes!

water based acrylic paints (Apple Barrel, Tulip, Liquitex) - I listed these paints according to the skill level needed to use them. Apple Barrel, Tulip and Liquitex are a common craft store brand that anyone can use. A lot of American professional customizers use Tulip and Liquitex. Tamiya and Mr. Color (not listed) are imported paints from Japan and are oil based acrylics. They're a little harder to use and less forgiving of mistakes.

Depending on the paint brand, there's a chance that certain colors might stain the doll head vinyl. Reds, browns and oranges are notorious for leaving marks on dolls. Use these colors with caution and always test paint in an inconspicuous spot if you're wary of it staining. Use with caution.

I do not recommend mixing paint brands! If you are going to paint a face, pick one brand of paints and use it throughout the whole project. Some paints will not mix and some even have chemical reactions to each other causing the paint to curdle or worse.

plain white tissue or paper towels - Paper towels are harder to tear and are more absorbent... I use this to wipe off my paintbrush after I dip it in water or paint. If you use a colored paper towel or one that has print, the ink from the papertowel has a chance that it will get on the dolls face and stain. Use white only.

paint pallette - Use artist pallets, disposable paper pallettes, plastic lids or ceramic dish.

acetone - Clear nail polish remover or 100% paint remove acetone. Be careful if you use regular nail polish remover. Sometimes it will mix with the paint and just stain the face. Revlon nail polish remover is highly recommended and can be purchased at your local beauty store. 100% acetone is much stronger and it'll take the paint off quicker. You can purchase this at your hardware store. If you use pure acetone please test on a dummy head before you use it on your project head. It might melt the vinyl since it's so strong. Volks and Noix de Rome heads are OK to use with pure acetone, but use with descretion just to be sure. Make sure you don't get any acetone on the plastic body. If you do, quickly rinse off the body with a little soap. Acetone can also melt the plastic if it sits long enough. (Volks, Jenny, Barbie... you name it)

clean water or acrylic thinner - One or two drops per dallop of paint is a good mixture. Paint that is too watery will not stick to the vinyl.

If you use thinner, make sure you work in a well ventilated area. The fumes can get to you pretty quick resulting in headaches or worse!

cup of water - This is different from the clean water for thinner. This is to rinse off your paint brush between paint dabs. It's very important to keep your brush clean of other paints so you don't taint your colors and clog up your brush. You don't want to use dirty water for thinner so make sure this is different water. I mean... you can use the same water, there's nothing wrong with that. But I wouldn't recommend it. Change the water as soon as it gets too cloudy to see through.

toothpicks - Toothpicks are for scratching away unwanted paint. Dip the toothpick in clean water and lightly scratch away at edges to get the shape you want. Scratch only the edges. If you scratch inside, you're digging up the paint and that will cause a little crater where the paint was and you'll get an ugly, uneven finish to the eye. (If working on a harder plastic like a doll body or Super Dollfie, don't wet the toothpick.)

Scratch lightly at the vinyl. If you scratch too hard, you can scar the vinyl permentantly.

Q-tips - Dip in acetone and lightly rub away any unwanted paint. Be careful near the paint. Since Q-tips aren't very sharp you might end up wiping more than you want to and might ruin your paint job.

cotton balls or old t-shirt - Used to quickly wipe off large amounts of paint. Also you can take a toothpick and wind a thin strip of cotton or t-shirt around it to make a small, sharp Q-tip to get the smaller places.

mirror (optional)- You'll be needing a mirror, trust me. Any time you want to see if the face is really even, look at the dolls face in the mirror. You can tell how badly off you are and make adjustments accordingly.

paint mixing pipette (optional) - Just makes it a whole lot easier to get paint out of the bottle if it's not a squeezy bottle. You can also use it to measure how much paint you use by how many drops you use.

white milky gel pen (optional) - This is just a personal thing I do. I mark up the face in sections so I know approximately where the eye should lie on both sides of the face. Since it's a MILKY WHITE pen it won't stain the vinyl and it comes off with ease.

Painting Eyes fine paint brush (sizes 5/0, 10/0, 18/0 or finer) - You can buy 5/0, 10/0, and 18/0 at your local craft store. These are the finest paint sized brushes I can find in the hobby stores. I have gotten ahold of Volks paint brushes and they are more finer and easier to control than these hobby store brushes. I can actually make beautiful eyelashes with Volks paint brushes. That's mighty fine paint brushes! water based acrylic paints (Apple Barrel, Tulip, Liquitex) - I listed these paints according to the skill level needed to use them. Apple Barrel, Tulip and Liquitex are a common craft store brand that anyone can use. A lot of American professional customizers use Tulip and Liquitex. Tamiya and Mr. Color (not listed) are imported paints from Japan and are oil based acrylics. They're a little harder to use and less forgiving of mistakes. Depending on the paint brand, there's a chance that certain colors might stain the doll head vinyl. Reds, browns and oranges are notorious for leaving marks on dolls. Use these colors with caution and always test paint in an inconspicuous spot if you're wary of it staining. Use with caution. I do not recommend mixing paint brands! If you are going to paint a face, pick one brand of paints and use it throughout the whole project. Some paints will not mix and some even have chemical reactions to each other causing the paint to curdle or worse. plain white tissue or paper towels - Paper towels are harder to tear and are more absorbent... I use this to wipe off my paintbrush after I dip it in water or paint. If you use a colored paper towel or one that has print, the ink from the papertowel has a chance that it will get on the dolls face and stain. Use white only. paint pallette - Use artist pallets, disposable paper pallettes, plastic lids or ceramic dish. acetone - Clear nail polish remover or 100% paint remove acetone. Be careful if you use regular nail polish remover. Sometimes it will mix with the paint and just stain the face. Revlon nail polish remover is highly recommended and can be purchased at your local beauty store. 100% acetone is much stronger and it'll take the paint off quicker. You can purchase this at your hardware store. If you use pure acetone please test on a dummy head before you use it on your project head. It might melt the vinyl since it's so strong. Volks and Noix de Rome heads are OK to use with pure acetone, but use with descretion just to be sure. Make sure you don't get any acetone on the plastic body. If you do, quickly rinse off the body with a little soap. Acetone can also melt the plastic if it sits long enough. (Volks, Jenny, Barbie... you name it) clean water or acrylic thinner - One or two drops per dallop of paint is a good mixture. Paint that is too watery will not stick to the vinyl. If you use thinner, make sure you work in a well ventilated area. The fumes can get to you pretty quick resulting in headaches or worse! cup of water - This is different from the clean water for thinner. This is to rinse off your paint brush between paint dabs. It's very important to keep your brush clean of other paints so you don't taint your colors and clog up your brush. You don't want to use dirty water for thinner so make sure this is different water. I mean... you can use the same water, there's nothing wrong with that. But I wouldn't recommend it. Change the water as soon as it gets too cloudy to see through. toothpicks - Toothpicks are for scratching away unwanted paint. Dip the toothpick in clean water and lightly scratch away at edges to get the shape you want. Scratch only the edges. If you scratch inside, you're digging up the paint and that will cause a little crater where the paint was and you'll get an ugly, uneven finish to the eye. (If working on a harder plastic like a doll body or Super Dollfie, don't wet the toothpick.) Scratch lightly at the vinyl. If you scratch too hard, you can scar the vinyl permentantly. Q-tips - Dip in acetone and lightly rub away any unwanted paint. Be careful near the paint. Since Q-tips aren't very sharp you might end up wiping more than you want to and might ruin your paint job. cotton balls or old t-shirt - Used to quickly wipe off large amounts of paint. Also you can take a toothpick and wind a thin strip of cotton or t-shirt around it to make a small, sharp Q-tip to get the smaller places. mirror (optional)- You'll be needing a mirror, trust me. Any time you want to see if the face is really even, look at the dolls face in the mirror. You can tell how badly off you are and make adjustments accordingly. paint mixing pipette (optional) - Just makes it a whole lot easier to get paint out of the bottle if it's not a squeezy bottle. You can also use it to measure how much paint you use by how many drops you use. white milky gel pen (optional) - This is just a personal thing I do. I mark up the face in sections so I know approximately where the eye should lie on both sides of the face. Since it's a MILKY WHITE pen it won't stain the vinyl and it comes off with ease. Setup: Pick a time when you won't be distracted a whole lot. Once you get into the groove of painting, you won't want to break it. So make sure everything is within hands reach so you won't be having to get up often. Make sure there's enough light so you can see the doll's face well. Painting can take anywhere from a few minutes to a couple of hours. So get comfortable as possible because you don't know how long you'll be going at it. For your doll, pull all hair back and out of the face. You definitely do not want hair getting caught by your paintbrush. Painting:
1. Plan it out! Draw the eye you're planning to do on a piece of paper. Make it large and label what color you wish to use so you have a direct reference when you paint. If you are using a milky white gel pen, mark the face like the little diagram to the right. The eyes should lie anywhere between the two horizontal lines. The eyebrows should be around the top-most horizontal line in the diagram. The diagram is just a reference and does not always need to be followed. Make sure you take advantage of your creative freedom to make the best choice for your layout. The lower the eyes are placed on the head or the bigger the eyes, the more childish the face will look. Likewise, the higher the eyes or smaller the eyes, the more mature the head will appear.
2. Paint the eye whites. Start small and work your way bigger. This will be your mantra as you paint heads. Paint a little and check in the mirror to see if you're even. Use toothpicks to remove unneeded paint. You can either not paint where the iris will be or just paint the entire eye whites. Your choice. Their might be a slight color difference of the iris because of the white backing (or lack of).
3. Paint the iris. Once again, start small and work your way bigger. This time you shouldn't use a toothpick to correct your mistakes as you might risk messing up the eye whites by scratching too much, so be careful. Some people dip a dowel rod into the paint and "stamp" the eye to have a good circle going. Constantly check the dolls face in the mirror during this time because getting the iris the same size and shape can definitely affect the way your doll looks.
4. Paint the eyelid and bottom of eye. The top eyelid is usually a little thicker than the lower lashes. Too thick of a lid however will make the doll look heavy-lidded. While it's not necessary to paint a lower eye lid line, it does ground the eye and gives it a more complete look.
5. Paint the pupil. Once again, start small and work larger. Check to mirror to see if these are even and matching in shape. Keep in mind that small pupils in a large iris will make the doll look beady eyed. Likewise, large pupils in a small iris will make the doll look doe-eyed. So try to make the pupil a size reasonable to the iris.
6. Paint highlights. Highlights should be a lighter color of the iris. How you paint the highlights is up to you. A common way to do it is to paint a solid patch. I do streaks to simulate the human iris.
7. Paint light reflections. Keep reflection dots on the same side of the eye (either both left or both right side). Since the idea is that light is hitting the eye from one direction, it would look akward if the reflections were in two different spots. Remember! Large reflection dots make the doll look doe-eyed, starry eyed or about to cry. Small reflection dots make them look more serious or like they're staring. Reflections are what bring eyes to life! They give the eye a wet, natural look. If done well they can even make the eye look 3-D like glass eyes. In art studies, a student learns that there are two light reflections that happen in an eye: entry and refraction points. The entry point is the main reflection, the large white dots. The refraction points are where, in a human eye, light comes through the eye, bends, and lights the side opposite from where it entered, giving the refraction point a small sliver of reflection itself. To show the refraction point in an eye, paint a small white curve that matches the curve of the pupil directly opposite of the main light reflection.
7. Paint the eyebrows. Eyebrows take a lot of practice to get even. All I can recommend is to check the mirror often to see if they are even. Although human eyebrows are the same color as the person's hair, it is better on a doll to paint eyebrows a shade slightly darker than the hair. The eyebrows will stand out better and give the doll a more striking look.
8. Paint the lips. Depending on the shape of the lip, your doll's facial expression can really change. Experiment with what works best for the look you're trying to achieve: for a smile, thinner, wider lips work best. For pouty lips, a thicker bottom lip with sides drawn downward slightly gets the look across.
	Volks dolls have small lips. While it can be frustrating for those who want bigger lips, don't just paint past the lip line! If you do, the doll will look like she had unnaturally fat lips. Draw the mouth line wider with brown or black to give the illusion that her mouth is wider than it is, or physically cut the mouth wider with an exacto knife.
Tips: Use thinner in a 3 parts paint to 1 part thinner mix. Using thinner makes the paint less likely to turn globby when you're painting many layers. Also, using thinner makes the paint dry a little faster. Let the paint dry between applications. If you don't let it dry throughly, it'll come out chunky. Your paintbrush can catch these junks and end up tearing off the paint. (yikes!) If your paint is still globbing. Clean your paintbrush after ever paint dip and use fresh paint from the pallette. If you don't clean your brush in water often, the paint in the center will start to harden and the globs start. If it's just not coming to you no matter how hard you try, put down the doll and try another day. Sometimes you just can't get in the groove of things and it's very frustrating. Just wait another day when the passion is running high and try again. Practice. Don't expect your first paint job to be absolutely perfect. The more you paint eyes, the more it'll become natural and easier for you.