How to Repaint Fashion Dolls- A look at the Art of Doll Repainting

Repainting takes a lot of practice, so you will want to start with a lower price doll, as you will be painting and removing the paint many times.

Barbie dolls are great to start with, even if your goal is to eventually paint 16" fashion dolls. They are cheaper and it doesn't hurt so much if you ruin a $5.00 doll as it is a $50.00 doll. Get your practice and techniques down and then move on to bigger projects as your confidence grows.

A clean, bright place to work is essential. I use an OTT light above me, and one to the side, as well as two more over my desk. Bright, natural daylight is also good.



The ONE thing that helped my improve my repainting more than anything, and I wish I found it sooner, was a magnifying lens visor. It has a 2x and a 3x magnification, for a total of 5x. This really made all the difference in my repainting, and for once I could actually see every single tiny stroke of the brush up close.


The paints used on vinyl fashion doll repaints are acrylic paints, which can be found in any craft store or art supply store. I use a variety of colors and brands, as each has it's benefits. Golden, Liquitex, Folk Art and Apple Barrel are all some common brands.




The brushes I use are tiny ones, and can be found along with the paint in art supply stores. I find that craft-type stores don't have very good quality brushes. I use an "American Painter" 10/0 spotter for most of my work, and a nail art brush found at Sally's Beauty Supply for the eyelashes.

Cleaning your brushes frequently in a soap-based brush cleaner is essential to maintaining the shape and health of your brushes, so pick up a jar of brush cleaner.

Removal of the original factory applied paint is done first, so you have a clean canvas to work on. Many doll artists use straight acetone, and then wash the face with a little baking soda and water afterwards to remove all traces of paint and chemicals. A careful removal with acetone on a cotton ball and Q-tips works well. Do not let any acetone get on anything other than the face, as it will ruin the vinyl.

If this is just too scary for you, (a blank face can be very intimidating!) you may want to do what is called an "over-paint", or "enhancement". This means you paint right over the factory paint and change the color of the eyes or lips to your liking.

This can be much easier, as you are just painting over what is already there, using it as a guide to learn your technique. This is a great way to "test the waters" and get a feel for painting on a three dimensional surface, which is very different from painting on a flat canvas.

This is a brief explanation of a repaint, just to give you an idea of what it entails. It is vastly simplified for the space I have here. The entire procedure in detail can be found on my 124 page CD on Repainting Fashion Dolls, which I offer for sale on my website Fantasy Dolls by D

I like to start with the eyebrows, to set the tone and expression for the face. Where you start is a matter of preference. After the eyebrows are done, I do all the outlining of the eyes and lips, as well as the shading of the face.





Every doll artist has their own style and technique, and you may find yours very different than mine.

After outlining the eyes, I then go on to filling in the whites of the eyes, and adding the shading and tear ducts, to give them dimension and realism. I want the eyes to appear rounded, and this is achieved with shading. With a proper shading technique, you can take a flat surface and make it appear rounded, like a real eyeball is. It is a matter of having both light and shadow.





From there I will work on eye shadow, and then the iris of the eye. Eye shadow is a very tricky thing for people to master, as it requires very thin washes of paint, built up to achieve the depth of color you desire. Paints can be blended with flow improver or just water. To each his own, again.

I have heard many a doll collector say that the eyes are really what makes the doll. This is very true. Think about it. What is the first thing you notice when you look at a doll? Be meticulous and take your time and make sure both eyes are looking in the same direction.....LOL! You don't want the eyeballs looking in two different places.





When I am satisfied with the iris, I paint the eyeliner and then the very delicate eyelashes. These are the hardest to paint, in my opinion, as the paint has to the perfect consistency, and the brush has to be a very fine point and the stars have to align in the heavens just perfectly...oh well maybe not, but almost. It is true though, that most people have a heck of a time with eyelashes.

After the eyes are complete, I move on to finish the lips. This usually involves many shades and washes of color, to acquire the proper shading and dimensional look of rounded lips. Then I seal them with either glossy or satin sealer, depending on the look I am trying to achieve.





Blush is the last thing I do to my doll. Again, this can be tricky, and you always want to use a light hand. I prefer using a watercolor pencil for this, as I have better control over the blending process. Blush should be very light, and blend into the vinyl seamlessly.

If you like the results of your repaint, you can proceed to seal the paint. If you don't like it, here is the good news. You can use regular isopropyl alcohol on a cotton ball and remove all the paint. Then you have a blank canvas again, and can practice to your hearts content. Practice on as many dolls as you can, and you will see improvement as you learn brush control, the correct paint consistency, and technique.

When the doll is complete, I seal all painted areas with a UV protective varnish. I use an ultra matte on the eyebrows and eye shadow areas, and a satin or gloss on the actual eyeball. This is an individual preference of the artist. Matte paint is sometimes preferable when photographing the doll, as you won't get any reflection from it, but to me, glossy gives a more life-like appearance to the eyes. Experiment and see what you like best.

And that, in a very brief nutshell, is a doll repaint.

All of my repaint tutorial CDs can be found at my website:
www.fantasydollsbyd.com OR www.repaintdolls.com