RevAmp

Today I had to really make myself work on some OOAK dolls again.  I haven't worked on any since... well, since about July of last year I think.  I can't remember.  It's been a while.  Above are several I have worked on over the last few years.  My skills have improved slowly but surely over time.

Yesterday, I took out all of the dolls I keep in a large rolling bin in my studio.  I sorted them all into separate piles depending on the doll.  I also just took a moment or two to look each doll over and contemplate whether or not I wanted to try and sell it as-is or if I wanted to hold onto it to work on later.  I decided to hold on to them for later as I have many, many ideas in store.

So today, I worked on 2 PJs, an OOAK Sun Sun Malibu Francie, a TNT Skipper, a Kissing Barbie, a Titian Stacey, a '75 Ballerina Barbie, 3 custom Strawberry Shortcake pets, and a Ponytail Barbie custom order (which is actually what spawned my deciding to work on the dolls).   I had originally wanted to try to find a way to tie in the doll painting with the next article I am writing for HAUTE Doll magazine, but I decided that trying to wrangle all of those dolls and things and what needed to be done on them was enough to delve into.  I will leave the writing for another time as I can't quite get going with where to begin there.  It have to figure that out soon though because the deadline is June 2 and I am heading out of town in a few weeks.

I think I painted for about 5 hours today, well, that includes the time spent on dyeing a doll's head and resetting several dolls' hairstyles.  But, the painting, oh the painting, how I do enjoy those tiny brush strokes!  I've been thinking a lot about how I want to just focus on that for a while --- doll painting; to let my skills set improve with each new doll I work on.

After perusing the dolls I currently have in my stash, I realize I will be busy with that for a while.  And I would welcome that.  I've grown tired (outgrown) of reselling vintage wares.

I had a hard time getting going today, but once I did, it went pretty smoothly.  One of my favorite things after working on a group of dolls all day is to wake up the next morning with them waiting for me to put the finishing touches on.  I love taking out the tiny curlers that, one by one, reveal the revamped hairstyles.  It's like an extreme make-over show, but for dolls.