Monday, November 27, 2017

Lovely Patsy Veterinary Set Makeover




Lovely Patsy Veterinary Set

After sharing photos of my Lovely Patsy Chef with members of my doll group and mentioning that the doll reminded me of someone, one member commented that the doll reminds her of Michelle Obama. I agreed, but the chef has brown hair.   Because of the nose shape, I also now see Karyn Parsons of Fresh Prince fame in the chef.

To possibly transform the doll into Michelle Obama, I visited a different Family Dollar and purchased Veterinary Lovely Patsy because of her black hair.  Intentions were to change the doll's eyes and restyle the hair. This would be my first complete eye makeover. Scary idea it was, but with a five-dollar doll, I only had that much to lose.

Before sharing the process, I took photos to illustrate her original hairstyle and sparsely rooted hair.

Original hairstyle: two side sections pulled up into a ponytail, the mid section of which is attached to the lower section by a rubber band to create a second ponytail. 

Before removing the lower rubber band, the rooting was examined.


She can wear her hair down to cover the bald spots or in a ponytail.  An inch trim of the ends made them even.

The Eye Repaint:

The original eye paint was removed with fingernail polish remover.  A smaller area for the eyes was next painted with ivory acrylic paint.
With black acrylic paint, a circle was drawn in the center of the eyes and a dot added to the center of the circle with the same black paint.  Next, the iris was colored in with a dark brown color pencil.  I avoided the use of paint to darken this tiny area because getting the paint in the desired area would be too tasking.  The eyes were lined with a thin layer of black paint and full upper and partial lower eyelashes painted in.  I used a combination of a toothpick and the tip of a sewing needle dipped in paint to line the eyes and add the eyelashes.  The strokes are still wider than I desire.  With the proper tools, a cleaner look could have been achieved.  The eyebrows were also painted over with black paint, again using a toothpick.  I was going to stop with the above image on the right, but her eyes were missing depth.
The irises were widened with additional black acrylic paint and the glimmer in her eyes created with additional ivory paint added to the upper right corner of each iris.  The eye color was sealed with matte varnish.  I did not apply varnish to the eyebrows.  There was a small dot of discoloration on the side of her right eye that I colored in with black paint to create a beauty mark or mole.

She doesn't look like Michelle Obama, but...



...her eyes look much better and more realistic (for my first attempt) than they did before.


What to Wear:

She definitely needed an upgrade in her original clothing.  First she tried on a blue Barbie ensemble and settled on another Barbie fashion as illustrated below.

This short blue dress shows too much of her super thin legs.

She looks better in this slightly longer red dress, which I accented with a sheer ribbon to create a shawl wrap.

As a final touch, her ears were pierced.

The next time I repaint eyes, I will have a better understanding of the process and use better painting tools to achieve an even more realistic-looking eye.

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Before even attempting this repaint, I studied the diagram of hand drawing eyes shown here and viewed the following video.  Neither was followed precisely, but both gave me the necessary information needed to proceed.



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10 comments:

  1. This post has given me confidence to experiment with eye repainting. Your steps and instructions where very easy to follow and the illustrations where helpful as well! Thanks Debbie great job I agree she looks more realistic and not like a cartoon character!

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    1. You're welcome, Doll Party. It was not as difficult as I imagined. As I indicated, with the correct tools, I think I can do even better the next time around. I will share with you the illustration for drawing eyes that I actually studied and the Youtube video that I viewed by adding this information to the blog post (as soon as I re-locate the links and as soon as time permits me to update the post).

      Good luck with your repainting.

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  2. Lovely Patsy may not look like Michelle Obama, but she looks like a PERSON now, not a generic doll. Brava! Repainting eyes is a PROCESS. I bought a Rothschild Margaret O'Brien doll and one painted eye flaked off completely (with no assistance from me whatsoever) on the way home. It took me a week and MANY tries to paint new eyes and eyebrows on her face. I like to think she looks less vapid now (those dolls do not look anything like the real Margaret O'Brien).

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    1. The original eyes were awful on this doll -- too large and decal-ish.

      The Rothschild Margaret O'Brien is a beautiful doll, but you're right; it looks nothing like the real Margaret O'Brien as a child. Eye painting is no easy feat. I am happy for you that you were able to repaint new eyes for your doll.

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  3. I have been looking at many videos on repainting doll eyes. Someday, I will give it a try! You are braver than me, I think!

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    1. Phyllis, you can do it! If I can, anyone can. Grab an inexpensive doll and give it a try.

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    2. Well, I do have PLENTY of those! LOL!

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    3. :-) My Christmas sweater and "stocking" from the Animal Rescue place arrived today (well I actually received them today -- long story). I called them! They are sending me out two extra sets. If you haven't called them already, give them a call about yours. Their website is very misleading.

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  4. I remember when I first got into Barbie a number were sacrificed to the make over gods...I wanted a Twiggy doll so butchered Barbie hair and over painted the eyes to give her those Twiggy lashes. I did the same with a Black Twirly Curl who was supposed to be Naomi Campbell and an Italian Barbie who was supposed to be Linda Evangelista, so I feel you having a go with the above doll. It’s amazing to see what eye size on a doll does for the look. I always was aware of the difference between a late 70s early 80s Doll eyes vs. the 90s Barbie with her almost anime look. You go from the look of a little person to the classic Barbie look that became so cookie cutter and prevelant (but that I have a renewed soft spot for, as I find myself nostalgic) in the late 89s through the mid 90s.

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    1. Trial and error was definitely at play here, Julius. I knew the results would be imperfect, but I had to give it a try. I am always amazed by the realism seasoned repaint artists capture. They too had to perfect their technique.

      The eye size of a doll can add to or diminish realism. The 80s Barbies' huge eyes gives them a cartoonist look, but I understand the nostalgic appeal.

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