Hermione Doll Art

[amanuensis1]

I've been so busy trying to finish holiday exchange fics that I forgot to post these! I made another Potter-themed doll back in October. I made her for a dual purpose; I put her in a Halloween contest and so, as a result, she's a bit more...glam...than Hermione would likely dress, heh. Okay, say it, she's miniskirted and a tart! But g'wan, take a look anyway.







Yes, beaded boots! Well, I never claimed to be a professional at this. I did try to keep the face painting on the modest, non-tarty side though, and am happy with that. That little thing that looks like a garter is actually holding her wand holster on the side. Crookshanks is made out of clay and so's her wand.



She started life as a Mystery Squad Kenzie, so, I can't take any credit for the hair, it came like that.

Comments

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

Thank you! I don't really want to pose the dolls for stories 'cuz that's just not me; I think it's because I take my own doll creations too seriously. Which I shouldn't! ^_^

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

I do seed bead work on doll clothes but nothin' too complicated--mostly the sort of thing you see here!

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

The Mystery Squad was a Barbie line that was meant to be detective-style girls--sort of like Scooby-Doo taken seriously! Kenzie is the first such doll I've seen with hair like that.

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

Oh, I just had to have Crookshanks! Thank you so much. ^_^

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

His face did come out kinda silly-appropriate, didn't it? Hee!

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

Ooh, you noticed the bit of bare arm between her sleeve and glove! Thank you!

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

Yes, indeedy! XD

[leelastarsky.livejournal.com]

She's GORGEOUS!! :~D

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

Hee, thank you so very much! *smooches*

[no1auntie.livejournal.com]

squee! the boots! love the boots!

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

Hee, thank you!

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

Thank you! She's one of the Barbie line, and all her face paint is removed with acetone and she's repainted with acrylics. Her clothes are hand-stitched and Crookshanks and the wand are made of clay. Especially skilled one-of-a-kind doll artists can get really elaborate results with face paint (and with clothing design)--I'm still just an amateur! ^_^

*hearts* glam!Hermione

[rectpropagation.livejournal.com]

Wow, Hermione is truly outrageous!

I love how Crookshanks is like the 'hang-in-there' kitty but looks like he's only hanging in there against his will.

Re: *hearts* glam!Hermione

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

It seemed right for Crookshanks, to be the sort of kitty you only hold awkwardly--the kind of independent cat who's waiting to go about his own business. ^_^

[sine-que-non767.livejournal.com]

OMG yay. :D

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

So happy you likey!

[oddlilfruit.livejournal.com]

Oh, she's adorable! -- Hi, by the way. I've been secretly worshipping you from afar (I LOVE your fanfiction, you're my idol m(__)m), and this was just the final straw -- dolls and doll customizing have been my hobby for almost a year now and I HAD to comment on this.

The face is incredible -- did you really paint that? Wow! The outfit is perfect -- I don't think it's too tarty for Hermione. It's kind of hard to explain but she looks like an older Hermione who's fed up with A Certain Someone not noticing her and is aiming to change that. ;D I think the outfit is incredibly well-done, too, it's really hard to make things in that scale and to make them look so nice. And Crookshanks is just...perfect. I don't think it could have been done better. <3

Now that I've finally come out of lurkerdom, may I friend you? I love reading your journal. :D

[oddlilfruit.livejournal.com]

Also, just out of curiousity -- what kind of paint did you use on the doll's face? I know there's a kind of paint that fuses permanently with vinyl that some people use to re-colour their dolls (but I guess you wouldn't use that on a face because you wouldn't be able to wipe away mistakes). Did you use a sealant on it to keep the paint from rubbing off, or is that not a big problem with vinyl dolls? Sorry for the silly questions, I've only ever worked on polyurethane resin and never vinyl. ^^;

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

You are very welcome to friend and stay! You do dollcraft as well? Ooh, it's so cool to find more of us! I'd love to see what you've been doing! *hugs*

I really am just an amateur at this though I started a few years back--I got interrupted by fanfiction. Being less skilled than some, I try to make sure, when I paint the face, that it looks pretty even if it isn't very elaborate. ^_^

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

The paint is acrylic. You know those Ceramcoat Delta and Apple Barrel paints that come in 2-oz. plastic squeeze bottles? Those kinda things. I read a bunch of how-to things before I started; it has to be acrylic so it doesn't bleed into the vinyl, yes! The same people who make the acrylics also make the thinner for the paint, which you MUST use to get the proper effect, and they make matte and gloss sealants which are recommended for the purpose of long-term preservation. I didn't start out using sealant myself; even though my dolls from a few years ago aren't flaking or anything, I still try to make a habit out of it, but I sometimes forget!

If you have any questions please ask; I am happy to share tips!

[oddlilfruit.livejournal.com]

Ooh. I should've read more how-to things before I started; I didn't use any thinner on my paint at first and it glooped horribly. The nice thing about polyurethane resin though is that you can use coloured pencils on it to get a similar (and sometimes nicer) effect, which makes it a lot easier because pencils are easier to control than a paintbrush (especially if you're a perfectionist like I am and trying to do indiviual strokes for the eyebrows, which is nigh impossible on 1/6 scale dolls). You can't really afford not to use sealant on it though because the resin doesn't hold paint as well as vinyl does, so anything you do on the face will probably end up rubbing off in a few days.

Thank you! I have a ton of Barbie dolls I've been wanting to customize, but I've never been able to figure out how people do it, even reading all the doll customizing magazines. If I have any questions I'll be sure to ask. ^^

[oddlilfruit.livejournal.com]

Thank you! <33 I'm really just an amatuer too, mostly because I've been too scared to try anything other than face-repainting by now (though I'm hoping to someday mod a certain boy doll into a girl doll...which promises to be a pretty interesting experience...). One of my dolls is in my icon right there (*points up*) although he's been repainted about three times since that picture was taken. ^^;

In all honesty, no matter how elaborately you paint a face, it may still not be pretty -- so I think you have a better idea of face-painting than a lot of other artists. ;D And I think you did a beautiful job on Hermione -- she really does look lovely, and not overly made-up like Barbies tend to.

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

I saw a doll just the other day that had, like, four different tones on the lips and amazing detail on the irises and...she was cross-eyed. I swear. Just, all wrong. ^_^

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

Eyebrows, OMG, they're, like the bane of my existence. I would like so much to do individual hairs for the eyebrows, but they all run together, and I end up doing single-line eyebrows after all, and then it takes two hundred tries to get them symmetrical.

[raynala.livejournal.com]

I think she's awesome. :D