I will start by breaking the rules and posting photos of a couple babies. I don’t have one favorite baby.
(By the way I think this is a cool thread and it is a super great way to get people to self affirm, our inner critic can really mess with our heads, appreciating the best parts of ourselves makes us better people at the end of the day thanks)
I use GHSP. I have used air dry for a couple alternative babies and although I do illustrate and paint in acrylic I am not a fan of painting with air dry on vinyl, I get frustrated with shading and drying time.
I started painting babies a couple years ago by accident, a friend asked, I said no, felt bad, got on you tube, bought the paint and a kit and made her a baby (not a pretty one). I had left over supplies after that first baby so I kept going, sold a couple on Etsy and thought, I am gonna do more of this, it is so relaxing and fun.
In order to justify the cost I turned it into a business (that honestly I did not put enough thought into at the time).
Here I am a couple years later, still having fun, the “business” is doing well and I have met some really awesome ladies I consider friends. Never in a million years did I think I would be here doing this and saying no to other projects so I could get babies made.
No regrets.
I am starting silicone in March.
I think my style would be…hard to say. I paint deeply, that means I am gaudy. I like a lot of color, shading, shadow, depth, I like to see the paint on a baby. I am shooting for realism but not at the cost of being a bit painterly, if that makes sense. I guess what that means is I will sacrifice realism if I think something looks interesting and appeals to me.
I love hair painting and I root like a cave man. It isn’t terrible but I love that beautiful very detailed one strand at a time rooting some ladies do. My goodness rooting is a labor of love. I root directionally and I process and dye most of my own mohair now. I get one, maybe two hairs in at a time but mostly I am rooting for affect not perfection.
I struggled with hair painting at first but I was determined to figure it out. I don’t use realism when I illustrate so my baby hair looked a bit like a drawing hair instead of actual hair, but I just keep practicing and it is coming along nicely, my favorite part of the whole process is painting hair, it is meditative. Really if you think about it, it’s a mandala.
Why I want to be a prototype artist:
I want to have worked hard, developed my skills to point where another artist trusts me to paint their sculpt in a way that will make people fall in love with their baby a little bit more. I love collaboration, and really that is what is happening with prototypes, artist and artist are blending their craft to create something beautiful, how cool is that?
I think I am a hard worker, I am efficient, I try to work from a place of integrity, I know how to stick to a deadline without compromising creativity, I deliver the best of what I have. I will admit that pressure to perform well can stress me out a little but I have developed a way to ride that out, mostly just doing my best and surrounding myself with supportive art friends who are honest and kind.
Here are some random photos of babies I have painted over the last couple years.
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