I'm revisiting my modern take ("Viola Ruth") on antique Alabama Baby dolls. I made one this past March for the ODACA Day Sales Room in New Orleans. She sold almost immediately.
This is a cloth doll with a baked polymer clay face and occiput, air-dry clay that fills the gaps, covered with a knit fabric, then painted. The pattern is available on my website, but I'm running quite low on the pressmolds used to form the face.
I've started two more dolls as I want to write an article describing my process for "antiquing" painted dolls for the upcoming issue of Expressions, ODACA's quarterly newsletter issued to Artist and Patron members. You can become a Patron HERE.
So let's begin:
(the following seven photos are from my pattern instructions)
(the following seven photos are from my pattern instructions)
The body is very simple. Darts front and back define the neck, and the bottom is boxed. Because the polymer clay can make the doll top-heavy, I add a basic wire armature while stuffing to strengthen the neck.
The baked polymer clay is glued to the cloth head, allowing the glue to dry completely.
I apply white tacky glue to the exposed fabric head and upper chest/back. Air-dry clay is added to fill the gaps. This extends beyond the neck, which strengthens the neck and creates a sort of shoulder plate. This usually requires sanding, smoothing, and adding more paperclay. I use the drying time to sew her clothing.
Knit fabric is adhered with white tacky glue and covers the entire head, neck and shoulder plate. After the glue has dried, I paint two layers of gesso to the knit.
Gesso also covers the ears, then they are glued to the head.
Paint the head, shoulder plate, arms and legs with flesh-colored acrylic paint. I like this light neutral color (Jo Sonja's Artists' Colours in unbleached titanium).
The shoes/stockings are painted with a color that complements the clothing.
The first step in antiquing the dolls to use a ONE-STEP crackle. There are other brands available, but I've only used DecoArt (note: product label may vary) or Jo Sonja's. Do NOT use a 2-step crackle. Apply the crackle to the painted areas quickly, and don't over-work it. A thin coat will produce small crackled effects. A thick coat will produce larger crackled effects. Allow to dry thoroughly - roughly 2-4 hours depending on thickness of application.
The following photos are from my current project:
Painting has been completed and shading and details have been added. I use soft pastels for the shading, applied with a small stiff brush.
Quickly apply the crackle medium with a soft brush. Don't overwork it, and don't touch it while it's drying!
*Note: I use the last of my bottle of DecoArt, so used the Jo Sonja crackle medium on one set of arms. I was not happy with this so gently sanded it off and used the medium from a new bottle of DecorArt.
The next day: crackle is completely dry.
Apply a dilute wash of brown acrylic paint (I used burnt umber) and water. You can also dilute the paint with a thin acrylic medium instead of water.
Wipe off the dilute paint, some of which will remain in the minute cracks.
The brown wash has not yet been applied to the leg on the left. The effect can be subtle or more pronounced, depending on your taste. When the antiquing wash has dried, spray the parts lightly with a workable fixative or varnish.
Arms have been sewn on and lace has been applied to the edge of the shoulder plate for a finished look. When the glue is dry, the legs will be sewn in place.
The girls are dressed and getting ready for their official photo shoot.
