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notalent111 · Senior Member

darker flesh tones

Buffington · Guru

What kit are you using the paints on hun? Some vinyls will have areas that will not consistantly take the paint like other areas. Also, most people of darker skintone do not have an all over even skintone.

So let me know which kit/doll you have, that will make a difference. :)

notalent111 · Senior Member

Thanks for the response Pat! I am doing the Joey kit (BB) as a monkey so the skin is going to be rather dark. It looks really bad, l know skin tones are supposed to be even all over, but this looks so obvious and bad that I'm not going to be able to pull it off. Also, I am getting a shiney orangish tone. I have been using the burnt umber and it is soooo shiny. I've never had that problem before. Anyway, I will appreciate any tips, because I really want to get this doll done.

-- Edited by notalent111 at 04:21, 2008-08-06

notalent111 · Senior Member

*Bump*
Can anyone help me with this? Would really appreciate it. Thanks.

Nai Nai's Nursery · Senior Member

The only thing I remember when I was working on Secrist's Starling is that I needed to keep my paints very moist by adding more thinner than usual and to keep pouncing and pouncing. Eventually the tones evened out, and the sponge lines disappeared.

You are right. It was very hard to keep her complexion looking even and not splotchy or patchy. At the time I wasn't sure if it was going to work out, but eventually it did.

I changed my avatar back to Starling (Toni) so you can see her.

Best wishes on your little one.

precious_lullabies · Guru

ok to get rid of the orange you need to add purple to your mix... also, stripping back such a dark skin tone can cause even bigger headaches -- believe me i know from experinace. Paint remains in the creases, aroudn the nose etc that it almost impossible to remove, and when you go over it again that bit gets even darker and everything gets so frustrating!! My first dark baby was easy and turned out so well that i thought "wow, why was i so nervouse over doing this"... haha, my second was a nightmare that ended up having to be hidden in a calico-bag for about a week before i could bring myself back to trying again... and even not i'm not happy with her end result. The first one i did was such a dream and ease.

the other thing i'd suggest is to not try and get the depth (darkness) to the colour in just one or two coats... your going to need to build up slowly as with your white babys. Add in some purple and that will take out that orange that seems to accompany the burnt umber. the shin factor can be to do with the BB kit... the amount of silicone in their vinyl mixes makes their kits a little more sensitive to the heat, drop the temp down about 2-5 degrees and cook for 10 mins instead.

all the best hun

notalent111 · Senior Member

Thanks so much Rosemarie and Naomi! I can't tell you how much I apprecaite the replies about this. I was really upset about the way it was turning out. Toni looks great by the way.

Unfortunately I was so frustrated with how it was turning out, I already stripped it, but honestly I had no other choice...it just looked too bad to leave it. It looked just like a fake spray on tan gone wrong, LOL. I'll just have to find a way to get into the creases...but it's coming off pretty good so far. I ran out of paint remover, so I'll have to finish stripping it tomorrow. I had about 6 or 7 coats on it, trying to go slow...but it was just getting worse.

Do you me use one of the dark flesh tones verses the burnt umber color?

Thanks again for the replies, Huge hugs for the help!!

precious_lullabies · Guru

sticking with the burnt umber is fine, but you might find it goes better by adding a little of flesh 06 with it... just a little as it gives it a more denseness to the umber... even though this is a really dark colour it works on very tansparent which can be really frustrating. So add a little of a flesh, even if you don't have flesh 06, your flesh o7 will in fine, just use even less. and the purple will take that orange right now too.

really stick with the stripping now you've started, you want to get it ALL off though. I removed mine once and left some in the creases and when i re-painted ended up with a bigger mess than my first go was looking and so then i had to strip it yet again. the second time i made sure to remove every little trace of the paint and then it worked out fine, but it took so long to get it all off.

Nai Nai's Nursery · Senior Member

One other thing I just thought of. . .I had two painted heads (Secrist preemies. . .They've asked not to be identified since they said that the whole thing was very embarrassing for them!) that were just hopeless. The painting was NOT good. I had made them look even worse by trying again and layering some more paint over the first 5 or 6 layers on their little heads.

I hid them in the closet in a box on the top shelf.

Then, amazingly (about a month ago), I discovered this product--Winsor & Newton Brush Cleaner/Restorer. I brought those babies out of the closet, used a cotton swab to test what would happen, and the paint just melted off! I was amazed! Afterward, I gave them a little baby bath, and voila! Their little heads were completely restored back to exactly the way they were when I bought them!

So, now, I don't worry any more. I'm not an artist or a reborning expert. I'm just someone who LOVES the fun of creating these precious babies. Now, if I make a terrible mistake, I can just try again.

If I want (especially if I can't afford a new kit!), I can do the same kit over and over! LOL

Today I saw the Cleaner/Restorer at Michael's, the arts and crafts store that's here in the US. (I'm not sure if the store is world-wide.) I purchased the cleaner online, but now I see I can just go to my local hobby/crafts store to pick it up.

Good luck on your little one! You've gotten some terrific painting tips, so maybe you won't have to resort to extremes. I was just happy and relieved to realize that if it doesn't work out the first time, I can try again!

BTW, I could have even redone my very first baby (from the Missy sculpt), but I told my daughter that I thought I should keep "Toby" just as he is, flaws and all, since he was my first! He is ruddy! But, I do love him!

notalent111 · Senior Member

Thank you guys so very much! Great tips, I appreciate it more than you know! I really want to get this doll done.

I'm going to get the Winsor and Newton cleaner...add some purple...and start all over!

Thanks again for the advice!