Repaint! Pastel Kitty Collaboration with DollMotion

[Music] and young welcome to delightful it's springtime the cherry blossom trees are in full swing the flowers are blooming and i can't hold back my pastel rainbow passion for another minute today's video is done in collaboration with my friend doll motion we're both big animal lovers and have a soft spot for cats in particular so when she asked me if i'd like to join her for a cat-themed collaboration i said you betcha sure to check out her video after this one or if you've come over from her channel welcome i've got a tiny cat doll that's been waiting for me to customize it if you've been with my channel since the early days you may recall the freya and freyr huju dolls i customized this is the same company and doll just in miniature form and isn't the purple color so pretty i had to have it so i purchased this little guy from the good old junkyspot.com let's get to work first and foremost i sketched out my vision for the doll a rainbow color palette even a pastel rainbow color palette isn't easy to harmonize so it really helps if i figure out colors ahead of time my first version doesn't include fur only paint this would be much easier and quicker to make but i couldn't help but draw a fluffy version too and after i did that yeah fluffy always wins i know adding fur will complicate the project but i'll do my best let's make the clothes first since the doll is tiny and has a toddler shaped body i thought a onesie would be the perfect garment many years ago i bought a onesie pattern from an etsy seller called dg requiem i'll link to them below i modified it a bit and have resized it for a number of dolls in the past and i'm going to do that again for this doll so it's not quite the same pattern anymore but you've got to give credit where credit is due don't you know i make a rough version out of paper first hold it up to the doll and try to adjust the size until it looks right it's still a first draft though so i sewed together a prototype version out of some spare cloth guarantee there will always be unforeseen problems in your first pass of a garment case in point this onesie is way too small so i make the necessary tweaks to the pattern scale it up a bit widen the leg hole and here's pass number two then i remembered the light belly patch i drew in the concept art and decided to give that section a pattern piece of its own i cut out the middle add seam allowances back on and now i'm ready to tackle a second try feeling confident that this one will fit i decide to go ahead and cut it out of my tie-dye fabric yes the same fabric that became fins for aquarium the water dragon although in this instance i'm hoping the tie-dye fabric paired with the short round shape of the onesie will evoke an easter egg resemblance i cut out two sleeves four bodice pieces and two belly sections out of white no wait the back pieces don't need the belly section they should be solid there we go at least i noticed before i started sewing first i hem the curved edge along the belly patch then sew them to the right sides of the front body pieces place the fronts together and close up the center front seam also turn over and hem the back flaps iron the front piece flat then place the backs on the front right sides together sew the shoulder seam open it up and hem the neckline before the sleeves go on i sew a cute ruffle to the cuff fold the ruffle over and press flat then attach the sleeves to the armholes and this is when i accidentally deviate from my concept art the idea was to have sleeves and legs mismatched color-wise but i must have spaced out and just sewn the same colors together oh well right sides together fold the garment in half and sew up the side seams including the sleeves as we did with the sleeves i sew a ruffle to the pant cuff turn and iron it now fold the sides right sides together and sew the crotch seams fold it front to back one more time and sew the inseam clip the curves in the seam allowance of the garment particularly around the crotch and armpits where the stitches make tight turns then you're ready to turn it right side out and voila tiny onesie complete the fit is much better this time if anything i overcompensated on the leg and armholes and made them too big but i think it's still acceptable looking good enough to move on to the next stage at any rate using the same mint green 9.5 millimeter ribbon i tie a bow around the doll's neck that looks about right so i cut it down and heat seal the ends with a flame pom pom time i've had this bag of mini palms for a while and you can tell that i've picked out and used all my favorite colors so it's mostly dark shades left thankfully i have one baby blue pom pom left and a yellow one on the other side looks okay i scrunch up the end of the ribbon to a point best i can manage and sew the pom poms to the tip there we go next up is buttons i draw and cut out three circles from an old notepad cover i would describe it as a condensed cardboard i guess it's thin but very firm i temporarily stick them down to the same board using sticky tack which will make painting them a breeze i mix up pastel yellow blue and pink acrylics and give each button about three layers of paint once that's well and dry i coat each button with a layer of duraclear varnish poke four holes into each circle and the buttons are ready the holes i made were smidge tight for the size needle i ended up using to sew them to the onesie but with some encouragement from a pair of pliers i managed to sew all three buttons down the front i sewed them all down the line using one embroidery thread to keep it simple i'm really pleased with this it's sort of clown like one more thing before we can call the outfit done a fuzzy white tail for our tiny friend i eyeball about how long i want the tail to be fold over and twist the wire together to double the thickness and cut i then fold over and tuck in the sharp ends so that they won't poke through the fabric the side with the large loop will be sewn to the onesie i then cut the tiniest scrap of faux fur fabric to fold over the wire and sew it together no need for stuffing this time it's so small that the thickness of the fabric itself will suffice stitch the tail on the back near the bottom use at least three stitches on each side of the loop for a strong connection like sewing on a snap i sewed it directly through the stiff velcro strip which helps it stand up and hold a pose well as opposed to sewing it to the cloth which would just flop over under the weight of the tail time for everyone's favorite part the face up first bundle up your doll so that only the head is exposed then prep the surface with good old mr super clear uv flat sealant what a mouthful a spray specifically designed for models and dolls it provides a layer of fine grit to work on ever try drawing or painting on slippery plastic exactly next i build up a soft white gradient on the muzzle with pastels after each application the doll gets another spray of sealant this is the only way to build up layers of pastels to be honest it almost feels like a waste of sealant this stuff's not cheap but i really really wanted to avoid using my accursed airbrush so it was worth it with the pastel layers built up to satisfaction it's time to move on to paints i'm using the karen dash brand of gouache paints [Music] drawing the eyes is usually my favorite part but of course this doll requires inset eyes so we'll have to have fun on the rest of the head instead naturally i took inspiration from the common stripe patterns you see on your classic tabby cat dark lash lines for contrast white patches of fur near the eyes stuff like that but in a cutesy pastel palette of course getting the stripes symmetrical is tricky but with gouache if you mess up all it takes is a couple of delicate strokes of a damp paint brush to lift off the mistake i did this plenty of times until i got the stripes looking even after the first pass with the gouache i seal it with two layers of msc gouache is easily water activated so it needs that extra layer to protect it from subsequent passes not bad the stripes came out satisfyingly crisp as you probably guessed we will finish with a couple more sprays of sealant unwrap the cat and finish the paint job by filling in those little toe beans and claws i sealed these afterwards with varnish not sealant because i felt like i'd already used way too much msc on such a small doll did you think the face up was done nope it's time to prepare the fur that will be glued to the doll's head and face to do this we'll make wefts out of acrylic yarn prepare a fair amount of oh about three inch lengths of yarn in all the colors you want tie them to a metal hanger and brush them out working from the tips to the base we want to tease the fibers apart without ripping them that's looking nice and puffy for the final step take a straightening iron on its lowest setting and run it over the weft this will condense the fiber and make it shiny once all the wefts are ready cut them off one by one and glue them to a plastic sheet once those are fully dry peel them off and trim down the excess glue congrats your wefts are ready this is going to be the hardest part i could still back out and just keep the painted version as is at this point nah i gotta try it keeping in mind that the back of the head separates i glue on hair in rows from bottom to top coming right up against but not overlapping the gap okay now to gradually blend the fur into the painted face up i take it in tiny chunks at a time matching the right colored yarn to the stripes on the forehead it doesn't matter with the overlapping wefts but the last weft i glue on will be visible from top to bottom this means the glue will show the discolored roots if you will there's no easy way to do it or pointers i can give you other than use minimal amounts of glue required to stick it on and press the hair down in a way that flows with the curves of your design to minimize the awkward transition at least for the stripes that come to a point like the white stripe here i can spin the tip into a point and line it up exactly with the paint i also got lucky that the glue didn't noticeably discolor the white yarn at least not yet only time will tell that's quite the messy mane our cat has with a trim and a whole lot of tedious feathering i managed to tame the hair into a cute fuzzy bob the outfit the bow the face up and the fur that just leaves the eyes here's my bag of homemade doll eyes some look pretty cool others look like complete trash but none of them are quite right so it's time to try my hand at this once again instead of a clay base i thought i'd try a completely different approach and make the entire eye inside of the resin mold based on which homemade eyes fit best this size hemisphere should be the one to use first i sketch up the irises on a sheet of cardstock paper i think a yellow green will pair nicely with the cat's purple complexion i cut those out and now it's resin time i'll be using a two-part resin this time not the uv type which means we'll have to accurately calculate and measure out the two parts go by the instructions on your resin mine has a ratio of 10 to 3 but it may be different depending on the brand mix thoroughly add a lens sized drop into the mold and slide the paper iris on top do your best to avoid trapping air in between as usual i mixed up too much resin so i quick printed out some random irises i threw together in photoshop and made some more eyes why not now here my friends is where i got impatient i should have waited for this layer to fully harden and cure before adding the eye whites but i rushed it thinking that the paper would create a sufficient barrier between colors and that i could do it all in one pass what can i say it was 6 p.m on a friday night but i realized my foolishness as soon as i'd done it the white resin was clearly mixing into some of the eyes rather than letting failed eyes cure i slipped out some of the irises and thoroughly mixed the resin who knows maybe i can use solid eye whites for another project down the line i just hate wasting materials all right cut to monday morning even the promising looking eyes failed while i was away but it's not a total loss i did learn something the resin itself cured nicely meaning the white paint i used to mix up the resin eye whites didn't hinder the chemical process armed with this knowledge and with more patience i repeated this process but waited a full day in between the lens layer and the eye white layer will they look okay looks pretty promising oh yeah look at that they're still not as good as the pros but they're certainly a personal best it's a shame the purples took on a red tone for some reason but overall super happy with this new technique and if you're curious the other eyes came out pretty cool too i don't know what doll will end up with those insane rainbow eyes but i'm sure it'll be fun okay let's get them in place this is silicon putty i pinch off about a pea-sized amount for each eye get the eye into position drop in the putty and mush it around the sides until it's holding the eye in place the doll's head is so small i'm using the end of a paintbrush to get in there [Laughter] with a lot of shifting and poking eventually the eyes settled into a believable position the head snaps back on and we're done let's assemble the parts i almost gave the cat white pom-poms on the tips of the ears i even went as far as making them out of the faux fur fabric but decided i liked it better without sometimes things that work in 2d just don't strike the same chord in 3d and with that our springtime kitty cat is complete here's our spring cat next to my much earlier customized freyr and freya dolls no fur sculpted fur or real fur which do you think looks best good news there's another pastel cat to enjoy over on doll motions channel we didn't plan for this but we were both in a pastel rainbow mood when we started our projects so she came up with this adorable character who i absolutely love our dolls could practically be siblings i'm sure you're just as curious as i am about how she designed her character from that fabulous coat to her chunky platform shoes not to mention the adorable two-tone wavy bob let's head over there together and spread the love there's a link at the end of the video and also one in the description box thank you so much for watching catch you next time stay artsy so 30 minutes

Channel: Dollightful

Views: 942,095

Rating: 4.9753289 out of 5

Keywords: OOAK, doll motion, dollmotion, cat, kitty, hujoo, freya, easter, spring, pastel, rainbow, doll, custom, face up, bjd, repaint, anthropomorphic, inset eyes, resin eyes, diy, how to make, onesie, kigurumi

Id: K7mGjzPOKOw

Length: 21min 20sec (1280 seconds)

Published: Sun Apr 18 2021