Painting the Izannah Heads

Time is passing pretty fast, and we are busy with lots of projects from doll making to house renovating and up keep. In my last post I said I would show pictures to follow the development of the three Izannah like dolls I am making, and here they are. Why not just show the finished dolls?  Well, part of doll making is the process, not just ( BOOM ) here is a finished doll for sale. Alot of the enjoyment is actually working on the dolls, from the beginning until they are all dressed up and waiting for people to see them. I discovered along time ago, as much as I like to buy ready made things, including dolls and doll clothes, it is more fun and interesting to be able to work and create them. The techniques used to make these dolls also works for other type dolls too, such as, the Alabama Babies, Philadelphia Baby dolls, French Fashion, and even the Martha Chase dolls, I finally found pictures of the black Martha Chase dolls, which I am going to try my hand at this year. When these dolls are finished it will be time to do some black Izannah dolls and finish my two alabama baby dolls. It is funny that people seem to prefer the white Izannah dolls to the black ones, because the black ones are rare. The earlier black Alabama babies and the black Martha Chase dolls would be rare too and probably more valuable. I like making all the dolls, but the black ones hold a special interest for me. For a long time I couldn't find pictures of the black bisque Jumeau dolls, but I have found them now and since I have a Jumeau mold, I will be making ( or finishing ) two of the dolls I have already made with cloth heads. Putting glass eyes in my cloth heads will be a fun experiment. I wanted to make a real bisque head, but if you spread yourself out to thin, you can't really focus and make anything, you just drift from one thing to another, so best to finish out a few dolls at one time, before moving on. These Izannah dolls still have some finishing work, ageing and so forth to do, but I will post them when they are finished. Each session at the paint table makes a noticeable difference.