Oil Wash and interior coloring...

We use Tapestry Wine Apple Barrel paint to get the undertone coloring - put a good layer inside by pouring the paint in the head and limbs and draining it back out and saving the excess.  Take a paint brush and get the extra out so there is no waste and there is a nice thin layer all over the inside of the limbs and head, even in the fingers and toes and let dry. (Do not use Tapestry wine inside the Lee Middleton doll heads - it turns the baby dusky and must be counteracted with lighter oil washes).

Next put a mix of oil paints and baby oil gel on the outside to give the lighter skin coloring that you want. We use equal parts of crimson and white oil paint with baby oil gel (it smells so pretty, too).  The mixture should be the consistency of soft whipped cream.  If you don’t want it so pink, add a touch of burnt umber for more of a flesh tone.

Having trouble getting the oil wash to dry?  Try this: When you do an oil wash, place the baby on polyfill on a cookie sheet and bake at 200 for 10 to 15 minutes for a Berenguer - for the harder babies like Zapf and SE, bake for 30 minutes and YOU WILL LOVE IT!!

Baby oil or baby oil gel are mediums that allow the color (pigment) in oil paint to float instead of be immediately soaked into the vinyl. Reborners need time to move the pigment over the baby for realistic coloring instead of blotching - manipulation of pigment is very important in achieving realism when coloring our baby's vinyl - baby oil gel also allows for layering of color for veining, etc

When you make an oil wash with baby oil or baby oil gel and oil paints you are suspending the color until you have it where you want, then you allow it to dry so the color gradually stains the vinyl. You can remove some unwanted color by using baby oil or baby oil gel before the oil wash is completely dry by suspending excess color in baby oil gel and wiping off. Oil washes take a very long time to dry - even when you think they are try - they are still curing.

In short - as well as being used as a suspension medium in oil washing our babies, baby oil or baby oil gel can be used to remove excess color sitting on the surface of the doll that has not been absorbed yet.

Oil washes are fun and easy.   Use a good quality oil paint. The brand really doesn't matter because you aren't painting a picture, you are just using the pigment in the paint to stain the vinyl and then wiping it off. We use crimson red and white oil paint mixed with equal parts of baby oil gel.  The gel floats the paint so you can work with it and smells nice at the same time. 

Try to aim for a light bubble gum color. If you don't want the baby so pink - add a touch of burnt umber.

Paint on a layer of the oil wash mixture all over the head, arms and legs and then after 10 to 20 minutes, wipe it gently off with paper towels, using q-tips to get the oil wash out of tiny crevices.  It usually takes around a week to dry if left alone. To speed up drying, you can put a layer of polyfil on a cookie sheet and put the baby on the polyfil and place in the oven at 200 for 30 minutes, checking it every 10 minutes - this dries the paint beautifully.

You can experiment will different colors of oil paints and you can do layers of oil washes if you like.  It's fun.