Our Vitiligo Work of Art

Ndanaka from the Rainbow Nation by Sibahle Collection

After Ndanaka by Sibahle Collection arrived, I was inspired to create a playscale doll that represents someone with vitiligo.  I selected an unknown doll by Jakks Pacific that I found at a thrift store several years ago as the candidate.  I was in such a rush to begin the task that I did not take before photos of the doll.

Areas of vitiligo have been added to the doll's face.  Her original short rooted ponytail has been extended with a piece of Kanekalon hair to create a long ponytail that was bunned throughout the vitiligo painting process.

I began working on her face and carried the vitiligo depigmentation to her body, arms, and legs using a mixture of sunkissed peach and white Apple Barrel acrylic paint.  I had achieved the desired effect on her face, but admittedly the rest of what I had done didn't capture the condition very well.  My husband offered suggestions on how to improve the look of the body and extremities.  I suggested that he do it.  So he did.  His results are shown next.

After removing what I had painted on the arms, body, and legs (which looked liked scratches in calamine lotion) and before painting his rendition of vitiligo, my husband said, "God doesn't make straight lines... Nothing natural has straight lines, for example, a tree, the sun, the moon, the stars, etc."

Several layers of the paint were used with each layer allowed to dry before the next was applied.  After the final layer had dried, I sealed it with Folkart Waterbase Varnish which has a satin finish.  The varnish was applied with a wedge-shaped makeup sponge and placed over the newly painted and originally painted areas.

I thought her body looked like a work of art and hesitated to dress her.  After looking through my playscale clothing bags, I found a gold and yellow ballerina costume that I had purchased as an optional costume for my Misty Copeland Barbie (who to this day still remains in her original box).

The Dress

The dress complements her complexion well.

The lacy yellow bodice is embellished with white roses.  I crisscrossed the gold waist ribbons and extended them up to tie behind her neck.

Because she had no shoes, my husband referred to her as a barefoot ballerina.

Letting Her Hair Down

After dressing her, the ponytail extension I had created with Kanekalon hair was let down.  The two-strand twisted ponytail was next adorned with gold hair accessories.

Pointe Shoes

Since I didn't have any ballerina shoes to fit her, I thought briefly about ordering a pair but opted instead to make a pair using air-drying clay.  The only problem with that was my block of clay had almost air-dried!  I googled "how to soften air-dry clay" and found and followed the instructions outlined in this video.

This is what I did initially to attempt to make the shoes:  After covering the doll's feet in thin plastic and rolling a piece of the clay into the above shape, the doll's foot was pressed into the center.  The plan was to trim off and shape the toe area, which was done, but I didn't like the overall thickness of the shoe.

What was finally done to make the pointe shoes:  I rolled an oval piece of the clay flat, the edges of which extended far out enough to fold up to create the sides and toe of the shoe.  A hole was poked into the heel of the shoe with a toothpick for ankle string to be threaded through later.

The sides and toes of the shoes were shaped and the clay was allowed to dry about 75% before the shoes were removed from the doll's feet to continue to air dry.  (I wanted to avoid the potential of the shoes drying permanently on her feet!)

After air drying, the shoes were painted with gold metallic acrylic paint.

The heel holes were too small for the string I had planned to use.
As a quick fix, I used heavyweight beige thread to make a knotted loop for the gold string I wanted to use for the ankle straps.

The beige thread (used to create knotted-in-place loops for the gold ankle string) was painted gold after the gold ankle string had been threaded through and tied.

After the gold ankle string was looped through the thread, it was tied around the ankles and the ends cut short.  I applied a dab of the paint to the ends of the string to prevent raveling.  A dot of Aleene's Tacky Glue was placed on the knots in the ankle string to hold the string permanently in place.  Before the paint and glue were applied, a paper towel was wrapped around the doll's lower legs and taped in place.  This was to prevent the dabs of paint and glue from dripping onto the doll's vinyl.

She is no longer a barefoot ballerina and can stand gracefully en pointe in her pointe shoes.

Here she is, our vitiligo work of art!

I think she's beautiful!

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There is always something to collect and write about. Black dolls chose me.
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