My downfall in the reborning process comes in the form of creases and veins. I can get through several layers of flesh tones, mottling, etc and be totally pleased with my progress only to muck everything up with crusty creases and over-corrected veins. I don’t know why I struggle so much in these two areas, but it’s driving me nuts! I will have to say that my veining is getting better now that I’m doing them a bit darker from the start rather than over correcting too light veins later on, but these creases….good gracious! When I’m doing the creases, in my mind I feel like I’m doing everything right; not putting the paint on too thick, checking for caking, etc but after I bake they look horrible & crusty. Generally this happens only on the hands and feet, the other creases usually look fine. I don’t know if I’m mixing my paint too thick, or just putting too much on. I’ve tried it multiple times with liquid thinner and thinning medium and the outcome is pretty much the same…Benjamin Button feet lol. I experimented last night using a premixed creases that I didn’t have to add any thinners too, and I started just on the bare vinyl, no other layer first. So far it seems to look better than what they normally look like, but I’ll have to wait and see once I get a few more layers on. What am I doing wrong?
The premixed creases when on very smooth and I found it much easier to blend, and work with, but I already recognize the problem I’d run into if I continue doing it that way. I purchased the premixes in 3 different shades; rosy, peachy and berry, once the creases are down first I’d have to match skin tones to go with creases colors, instead of the other way around. When I’m working on a baby I don’t always know what color the flesh tones are going to end up, as I just let it unfold as I go (which may be wrong), and then I mix a creases color to compliment the skin tone. I don’t know if I’d be able to mix/math the other way around.
I would help you, but every time I do Creases, it looks like blood!!! Arrrggghh! I hope some people help you out on this one, I’d like to see their responses too.
What types of paints do you use?
I use Genesis and I fought with that when I started. I use super translucent color for creases now, like water with a slight hint of color. Looks like a very faint blush. I build that up over time slightly modifying the color as I do. But I start with barely noticeable. Sometimes I add a tiny bit of flesh to soften it. Also, when you pre mix, what colors do you use? Straight red looks pretty harsh and is harder to work with, at least to me it is. I neutralize my reds. And use a fan brush after they flash off, and after any other layers, sometimes flesh or mottling layers can build up in creases and are not always apparent to after baking.
I bought these 3 piece sets in berry, peachy and rosy. I like that I didn’t have to add any other medium to it, but I suppose you still could if you want the color even more faint. @Sydster is the BB creases mix one you can use straight from the jar or do you still have to mix it with liquid thinner/thinning medium?
I use Ghsp lips, blush, & mouth, I thin it with liquid thinner. Then I add a touch of white to get a pink/peach color. The trick is you need enough thinner liquid that the color is not thick at all and stir a lot, Like between each stroke. Once this paint settles and you pick it up, it will be dark dots on your vinyl once dry, thus giving the old rusty look. I do creases like 10 times if not more-each time letting the paint dry and then heating in the oven I use. It needs to be like water colors. Not thick. Trust me the build up will be what you want with no dirty creases look
I have been using the cosmetic powders for the creases, shading and blushing and I love it. If I get it to dark or I don’t like it I just wash it off. It blends very smoothly and I can control it much better than the paint.
I use the Coastal Scent makeup powders. This is a fairly new technique for reborning. Melissa George has recently released her own set of powders which I haven’t tried yet. The powders have been mentioned before on the forum and you can look them up if you like to get more info.
I’ve been using the powders for all my blushing and shading (and hiding my already gross creases lol) at the very when once all of my painting is done, but haven’t tried using it alone for the creases. So do you wait until all of your painting is done and then do the crease with powders, or do you sandwich it in between other painted layers?
on YouTube, watch videos from Kim of CustomDollBaby.com I think that’s right…she is soo easy to follow and gives very good advice…I love her videos, and I think they will help. Good luck!
I used to use GHS thinning medium for my creases, but no matter what I did or how thin I mixed it, I often saw chalkiness in my creases. I stopped using the thinning medium a year ago, and now I just mix my crease color with enough odorless thinner to make it runny without being too runny (so kind of thick but still thin enough to not go on dark but translucent; takes some experimenting). I tend to do three layers of creases, each in between other layers on my babies. I find the way I mix the creases now appears more natural and blended and there is no chalkiness or crustiness. If you want you can mix it with odorless thinner like I do and then add a touch of GHS thinner to it to give it a little thickness but you won’t have enough to lead to chalkiness. I think with the GHS thinning medium, it can be too easy to mix too much of it into the paint which makes it appear chalkier and can even fade down the color you’re trying to make the creases. I have a lot less frustration now that I no longer use the thinning medium.
