Hi! Brand new here!

Jumping in with both feet! I just ordered my first two kits yesterday, fell prey to the fourth of july 50% sale.
As a newborn photographer who never has enough models to catalog my handknits, props and backgrounds, I was curious about reborns so bought a cheap vinyl baby from walmart and tore it apart, gathered up my random acrylics and started to play.

First time I overpainted the flesh tones waaaay to much and ended up with a chalky baby.

Second time I way overdid the creases, third time I watered down my paints way more and they ended up building up in the creases turning them white. OY!

Fourth time I went overboard on the mottlingā€¦ I really thought it would dry lighter than it did and I panicked and did a heavy wash with my flesh color and turned her chalky again.

Iā€™m getting ready to paint her for the fifth time and I think Iā€™ve kinda gotten the hang of it finally. I know I donā€™t like heavy creasing or mottling Iā€™m curious to paint with the genesis but I donā€™t have an oven to cure them. Maybe if Iā€™m a good girl and stick with it Santa will bring me a nuwave oven :heart_eyes: Iā€™m itching to see the difference in how the paint reacts with kit vinyl vs the one I bought at walmart. I didnā€™t strip it since it was just for practice anyway.

I have so many questions for everyone. My first is those beautiful white dots on the noseā€¦ what do you use for that? Iā€™m thinking white pencil or something I remember using for tracing sewing patterns on dark fabric.

Second which is easier, or more gratifyingā€¦ awake or asleep babies? I ordered asleep June and Shyann, so I got one of each. As a photographer I spend alot of time putting babies to sleep so it would be neat to photograph a baby whoā€™s eyes stayed ā€˜focusedā€™ . :wink:

My goal is to work with Silicone, but my husband said baby steps lolā€¦ those kits are expensive and kudos to those of you talented sculptures who can make their own. :star_struck:

Iā€™m looking forward to learning alot from you all! Iā€™ve already seen such beautiful workā€¦ I canā€™t wait for my kits to arrive

Kelly

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Welcome! Iā€™m also a newborn photographer with a lack of babies lol But I started reborning before I started photography.
The ā€œwhite dotsā€ are typically done with a light cream-ish colored paint. Usually itā€™s fairly thick so it doesnā€™t run and drip.
I prefer sleeping babies. I donā€™t find either sells better than the other but I like the sleeping babies a lot better.

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Welcome to the Forum @PhotographyForLife Uh oh, you are stuck in the Reborn world now, lol! What a wonderful place to be. Milk Spots are done a variety of ways, I tried it once and failed. I prefer Awake babies but have recently accepted some sleeping babies in my collection. Yes I have a collection. I did not start out wanting one but there are so many talented ladies on here, how can I resist! Enjoy this hobby and ask away, there is always someone on here that can help you!

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Nice to meet you :heart_eyes: I love that we are both newborn photographers and making more babies to photograph LOL . I honestly canā€™t get enough of them :heart_eyes:

so for the dots, I could use the end of a small paintbrush. (the non business end, to make the dotsā€¦ Iā€™ll give that a try next!)

ya know what I just realized I didnā€™t take pictures of my mistake paint jobs. I wish I had LOL so I could make notes on what I did wrong ::wink::

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Yes! Pm me if you ever wanna talk real baby photography! I donā€™t get to talk about it enough lol
You could try that, I would probably use a toothpick to make sure theyā€™re really tiny and subtle. I donā€™t do them often because theyā€™re hard to get perfect.

thank you for the gracious welcome! Iā€™m so excited to learn! I know Iā€™ll probably start with the asleep baby first but I have such a hard time with getting run off paint in my creases Iā€™m afraid to gunk up her eyes! So maybe Iā€™ll start with the awake baby instead.

hmmm

I think I should have bought an ugly kit to start with (are there any of those out there?) . So I wouldnā€™t be afraid to mess it up!

Welcome to the forum! Itā€™s a fun place to be.
Thank you for your nice introduction :slight_smile: . Canā€™t wait to see the masterpiece photoshoots of your reborn babies!
For help use spyglass to find all (or almost all) answers to your questions.
I prefer awake babes, they just have more personality to my taste.
Be warn, this hobby is addictive and your 2 kits will be turn into twenty before you even know it :wink:

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My first doll was a Thrift Store Doll and Folk Art paint just to see if I liked the craft. I threw her away and bought a kit and Air Dry paint the next day.

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Thank you! Iā€™ll definately make use of the spyglass now that I see it!

Iā€™ve definately limited myself to these two kits until they are completed before I get anymoreā€¦ although I did find someone selling a kit that looks exactly like my son when he was born. :heart_eyes:

That idea terrifies me thoughā€¦ I donā€™t know if I could do it justice. Weā€™ll see ā€¦ time will tell :money_mouth_face:

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So, Iā€™m guessing you liked it then :heart_eyes: Did you take pictures? I was looking for dolls at garage sales, swap meet, thrift stores and everything is ā€˜antiqueā€™ or ā€˜vintageā€™ and too much money!

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Welcome :slight_smile:
You may want to try Panpastels for creases. I use them, mainly for creases, blushing, and blue shading. I also use yellow ochre for some skin around the eyes and nose on newborns and sometimes the cartilage in the ears. Here is the free tutorial that I started out with, its from one of our forum members and amazing artists @sweetiepieapril http://www.sweetiepienurserybyapril.com/freetutorials.html
She has a lot of other really good tutorials listed on her web site as well.
Cant wait to see your first reborns!

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Hi thereā€¦

I use Genesis heat set paintsā€¦as for creases and avoiding building up of paint or paint poolingā€¦I use a dry brush to remove any exces paint as soon as I stroke into the creaseā€¦then a cosmetic sponge dampened with odorless mineral spirits to blend the lineā€¦

I mix all my paint very thin and pounce, pounce, pounce to make sure it is evenly applied!!!

For milia I use a rooting needle to apply the dotsā€¦then very lightly tap with dampened cosmetic sponge!!

Looking forward to seeing some of your babiesā€¦and hang in thereā€¦it takes a while to find your hand and your own way of doing things!!!

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Welcome! I am a horrid photographer, LOL, and look forward to seeing your work :smile: There are so many wonderful tutorials out there to help you get started. I highly recommend the video series, Reborn with Me by @Kim_CustomDollBaby and the series by @Gabriell. Both of them are on youtube and can give you a great primer. You are going to be hooked before you know it!

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Go watch Reborn With Me

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I need to watch Gabriella videos myself.

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Welcome to the forum! And as the others will tell you, to a somewhat expensive hobby! :slight_smile: But we all love reborns and there is a wealth of information in this group of artists!

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Welcome to the forum!

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Welcome! There are definitely lots of amazing artist here that are so nice and willing to help everyone out!
Happy reborning! You will love it!

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No pics as it was just a Test Doll to see if this was not one of my many craft ventures.

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Lol Iā€™ve learned all hobbies are expensive :heart_eyes: Iā€™m excited because this one combines my love of photography and knitting too :thinking:. At least thatā€™s what Iā€™ve been telling my husband!

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