Posting Pics of Baby FX Powders and PanPastels

In request to see pics of actual products here we go.

The first photo shows the original Baby FX color pallet from the first run on the left.  On the right are the newer more pigmented version of the powders.  I ordered these as separate pots so they are not all replacements for the first set.  You can see the replacement for the Soft Skin-blue, Sweet Mint-green, Purple Shades & Warming Touch-yellow.  In addition to that I have here the Viridian Shader, Blush Pop, Blushing Bronze, Chocolate Creases, Lost Light, Heavy Creases & Shading Space.

The Baby FX powders are the exact same size as the Coastal Scents eye shadows so if you switch out you can use your Coastal Scents pallets.  All my colors on the right are in a Coastal Scents pallet case.  The Baby FX pots sell for $6.00 each individually.  This is more than  you will pay for an eye shadow pot of the same size but you have to consider you are purchasing a quality art product and not a cheap eye shadow.  

In the next photo are the PanPastel colors I have gotten so far.  I do have some colors here that I don't know if I will use but it was hard to tell from photos exactly what they were going to look like.  To these colors I will be adding Violet Extra Dark for creases & Magenta Extra Dark for between fingers and toes.

To give you an idea of size, the PanPastels are about the size of your average makeup face powder compact in diameter.  The weight listed on each one is 9ml/net 0.30 fl oz.  Each single PanPastel sells for $5.45 at Dickblick and the Blender is $6.17.  You will need the blender for many of the colors to soften them but not all.  

I will list the colors below in order from top to bottom & left to right.  

Burn Sienna Shade

Red Iron Oxide Shade

Burnt Sienna ex dark

Red Iron Oxide ex dark

Titanium White

Violet

Permanent Red shade

Permanent Red ex dark

Permanent Red

Yellow Ochre

Ultramarine Blue shade

Permanent Green

Thank You To Those Who Are On The Journey!

I wanted to take a moment to say thanks to those of you who have been following this blog and sharing your experiences in air dry painting as well as trying the PanPastels on reborn dolls.  I also say Thank You to anyone who has freely shared your methods and good finds for products and techniques.    They say "It takes a village to raise a child."  I think with reborn doll art that having a healthy community of support and learning where everyone has a sharing mentality and is not threatened by the abilities or success of others is exactly the kind of "village" mentality this art needs.

I have shared a lot of my own trials, successes and failures with you all not for profit but for fun and learning.  I may make mistakes along the way and some of you might not agree with my methods. That does not threaten me in the least because I am not trying to gain the approval or endorsement of others.  I am just sharing what I am doing and learning.    I do hope to some day in the near future teach my own reborn painting classes locally.  There is not anything in our area offered like this of which I am aware and I know that others would love to enjoy making their own dolls.   Eventually, I will have my own painting tutorials that I hope will be easy to follow.   I am excited and having so much fun!

So What Do I Think Of Panpastels Powders At This Point?

At this point I have only used them on the test limb. I can tell you that if you are used to the eye shadows they are very different. These are loaded with pigments and they do stain/grab easily to the vinyl.  I can say that you can not just work them with a brush like you do eye shadows, which are not pure pigments but do indeed have makeup binders in them. You will have to use the special sponges. You will need the blending powder to tone down the shade of some colors.  You can do this by adding the blending powder directly to your color pallet and mixing it there or scraping some of each off onto a glass plate to mix and then apply.  If you are mixing 2 or more colors together and adding blending powder you might find that easier to do on the glass pallet.  The PanPastels can be mixed to form other colors just like other paints.    The blending powder is very translucent and said to be colorless.  It has an ever so slight white tint to it but it is indeed translucent.

I know that those of you who have followed the Coastal Scents methods have been warned about too much white causing the skin tones to lose translucency. However, if you look at the recommended Coastal Scents colors many of them DO have white in them. There is no way for example you can come up with Appletini and Cornflower blue without adding some white to green and blue pigments. So it is not that white is a bad thing, it is that the ratio of white must be kept to a bare minimum.  We are painting on vinyl, not real skin.   Just because one person teaches a particular method they like to use does not mean that there are not other ways to paint dolls.  There are LOTS of reborn artists who use white and black in their painting and their babies look fabulous!  I have seen others who used a specific recommended method to paint a doll and it came either over blushed and red or lifeless and ugly.  The ability to bring to life on the vinyl canvas a vision of art is individual specific and not everyone has the same ability.    A lot goes into making a doll beyond just having a knowledge of color theory.   I have also seen a growing trend of reborn dolls being painted to look like a vintage baby come to life.   These reborn babies do not so much look like "real skin" in translucence and coloring but yet they are fascinating and catching on with a lot of people.  Reborn doll art is about a lot more than just mimicking one person's idea of what looks best. I encourage anyone to experiment with color and determine what works best for them.

When asked how the PanPastels compared to the Baby FX painting powders this is my thoughts.   The two products are somewhat different in the way they can be worked on the vinyl. Baby FX tends to not grab to the vinyl quite so much as the PanPastels but it is easier to work with a regular brush and is much more forgiving than the PanPastels. You can also use a damp brush to apply Baby FX for watercolor like shading. The damp brush did not work so well for me with the PanPastels. With the PanPastels you have to mix them with your blending powder to reduce the intensity before applying them to the vinyl.  Therefore you need to feel comfortable mixing colors and working to blend.  The speical Sofft Sponges must be used to blend them well on the vinyl.   With Baby FX you can work straight from the powder as it is already shaded for you correctly and just use your brushes to blend.  Overall I like them both for different reasons and applications.  For those who want a more soft look with simple application, the Baby FX might be your preferred choice.  For those who like to play with color to mix your own hues and are not afraid of some extra work in blending the PanPastels can be a good choice.

I will have to post later how the ethnic shading tones I chose work for me.  Below is a photo of the end of my test limb where I just smeared a little of the powders on so you can see how a couple of the other colors looks.

Final Panpastels Squeeze Test With The Soft Touch Varnish Combo Sealed Test Limb

I has been 3 days now since I sealed my test limb using a combo of DecoArt Soft Touch Varnish, Golden Glazing Liquid (satin) and Baby FX matting powder.  Today I did the squeeze test on the limb to determine if the PanPastels powders and/or sealers would crack or peel.  I am happy to report the limb passed with flying colors!  The sealer has cured the same as it was when I applied it.  Dewy looking but not heavy shiny or totally matte.  For my own preferences I would probably add a little more Baby FX matting powder next time as I prefer my parts a tad more matte but for those who like a dewy look that is not shiny this is perfect.  It is nice and smooth as well.  These photos were taken with a flash so you can see if there were a lot of sheen the flash would be bouncing off a lot and it is not.  I hope this helps answer some questions for you all and invite you to proceed with your own tests and get back to me on your results.  Thanks!

Sealing the PanPastels Test Limb with DecoArt Media Soft Touch Varnish Mixture

In this blog post I will show you photos and videos of the test limb I have been working on and how I sealed it.  This is another products test.

Here we have a photo of the test limb that has been painted with Baby FX paints and PanPastels and set with a DecoArt Media Ultra Matte Varnish spray mix fixative.  The powders seem to be very stable and have passed the squeeze/bend test for me.  You will notice that the fixative did add some sheen to the limb.

The next step in my process was to seal the limb using a mixture of DecoArt Soft Touch Varnish, Golden Glazing Liquid (satin), Baby FX matting powder and distilled water.  In the photo below you see on my 5" glass plate the amounts I used. You can add more or less matting powder depending on the look you want or none at all.    To the matting powder I added 10 drops of distilled water, melted the powder and then mixed all 3 together.  

Here are the links to the Youtube videos with further information:

Sealing the PanPastels Test Limb Part 1

Sealing the PanPastels Test Limb Part 2

Here is a photo of the limb taken by window light about 30 minutes after it was sealed.  

A word about mixing and substituting brands of air dry products when painting reborn dolls UPDATED

There has been a lot of discussion among us air dry paint users about brands, products, what we can mix with other stuff etc. I wanted to open this post with a word of caution to everyone that you be sure to research your products carefully when combining brands. Here is an example of why:

I have had several Baby FX users to ask me if they can use their favorite retarder they already have on hand with their Baby FX air dry paints. Many people who write to me about air dry paints use more than one brand so they mix and match things.

In my research of air dry paints I have found that most brands of regular acrylic retarder do not have any binders in them and therefore the companies caution to be careful about the ratios of retarder used with the paints so as not to overload the paint pigments or break it down. The same holds true about adding water to acrylics. Too much water can break down the pigments decreasing their longevity.

As a primary Baby FX paint user I don't mind using alternative products with my paints but it is important to be sure of their compatibility. This brings to mind my questioning what exactly is in the Baby FX Slow Dry. My question is this: Does the Baby FX Slow Dry contain binders in it as well as retarder or is it just a straight retarder? I have noticed that Melissa George recommends using almost all Slow Dry to thin down her ethnic skin tones when painting ethnic babies. This has lead me to believe that the Slow Dry must be more than just a retarder. I have written her and asked her this question.  This is the answer I have received from Melissa George:

"Hi Angie, Sorry for the delay, I was on and then I was taken away from the computer.  There are different kinds of retarder mediums on the market and these are mostly for use with canvas painting. The dolls do require - painting on vinyl requires a particular care for maximum adhesion and this is why I always say to seal at the end.  The Slow Dry retarder medium does not contain any real binders, however, the paints themselves contain very concentrated binders that when mixed with the Slow Dry retarder (and no water) will create a lovely transparent finish that is easy to blend.  The Slow Dry is a very thin mix unlike other retarder mediums on the market, this is to assist with breaking the surface tension as to allow the paint to glide more easily over the surface for a more smooth and even coverage.  This is why I love to use the Slow Dry medium when doing ethnics especially as it allow plenty of time but also will lubricate the paint as to make it easier to blend and make even.  Now, when it comes to binders, the Sure Bond medium is the best binder and sealer.  Lets say for example you wanted to paint a doll using Slow Dry. You could use only Slow Dry and paint and yes, this will take longer to dry between layers and can take longer to cure, if the ratio of Slow Dry is greater than 100% of the paint then you might find it take a very long time to cure however, there is a quick way to fix this.  Either, a quick wash of Sure Bond and water or you can add Sure Bond to your paint mix as to assist with the adhesion.  There are many ways to use Baby FX and this is what makes it such a fun way to paint dolls.  Lots of customers have enjoyed making their own mixes and I think this is what it is about, we set out to give solutions but did not want to limit people to only one way of painting a doll.  I hope this helps to answer your questions, please do let me know if I can help with anything else lovely!"

I have myself have tried the Jo Sonjas Retarder with the Baby FX paints and it does work well with Baby FX paints. However, I know that it is a straight retarder so it does not have any binders in it. Therefore, the ratio of retarder to paint should not be greater than 15% in order not to reduce adhesion factors of the paint. I have to admit I have used higher ratios when painting hair before I discovered this fact. I have not had any ill effects from this and my assumption is that it was because I sealed the hair down with Genesis Satin Varnish afterwards and therefore it is locked down. I do not plan to continue to use this high of ratio of Jo Sonjas Retarder to paint now that I am aware of the possibility of adhesion issues.

My caution in this is that if you find something else to use that is cheaper make sure it has all the necessary properties not to reduce adhesion.

Being a teacher of reborn doll art

I have been thinking a lot lately about teaching some classes on reborning babies using Baby FX air dry paints and products. It is still very much in the thought process at this point and not the moving forward point yet. However, there are some things I have pondered that has led me to my own conclusions about a lot of things I see being said and done in the reborn doll art community.

First of all, there are a good many people now days teaching reborn methods either via video, online classes, tutorials or in person classes. Some charge money and some offer their info for free. Some use Genesis paints and some use some type air dry paints. Some use some sort artist grade pigment powders or chalks and some use eye shadows. Some root heads and teach how to root directional hair and make swirls and some teach how to paint hair. Every teacher or artist has their own style and way of doing things. There is a lot of overlap from class to class and many of the same methods are being taught by multiple people.

Since reborn doll art has been around many years now, it is quite the norm to have people teaching the same thing just from a different slant. No one has a patent on the reborn method. No one has a patent on a painting style. No one has a patent on a rooting style. It is all informational and no one owns any of it. Lots of people like to say "I was the first." "I developed that method." "That is my idea." Realistically speaking though anything they came up with was based on knowledge that someone taught to them and they took it forward another step. No one owns artistic expression other than their own. Even when people try to mimic what another person is doing, it always comes out slightly different. Have you ever noticed that 10 people can sit and paint the same doll using the same paint colors and the same instructions and all 10 dolls will come out differently and NONE of them will look just like the teacher's? Then someone will like the way one of the 10 students performed a particular method and that person suddenly births their own style that they can then go try to teach to others. It's like a domino effect. One starts and others follow falling and they may all move in the same direction but not a single one falls exactly in the same spot.

Having gone through that thought process I have come to the conclusion that if I do teach classes, I will not be teaching something no one has never taught before. I struggled a bit as to whether I would be justified to charge money for that in light of those who complain loudly saying someone stole their teaching methods.  I too may use some methods that I learned some where along the way and then tweaked to my liking and my expression. I will teach with many of the same tools and products that others have used. So is it okay to charge money for that? I think so. Because the fee is for my time, my own experience, supplies, the benefits of my having made mistakes so the student does not have to make the same mistake, the insight or perspective I have on this art and the methods I am using.  Not to mention that via live classes the student has me present to assist and try to answer their questions. And you know what? My ideas will no longer be my own if I share them. Some may not like my methods and find my ideas a waste of time. Others will take ownership in them and use them as their own and teach them as their own.  It doesn't mean they stole anything from me.  It means they are spreading the knowledge that has been given to them.  The dominoes will continue to fall forward and that is something I have to be comfortable with if I want to be a teacher. I think that is ok by me.

Baby FX Air Dry Paints Color Conversion Chart

Saving this chart so we all have it for future use. Anyone converting from Genesis Paints to Baby FX air dry paints, this chart helps you to convert so you can still use your Genesis tutorials you may have.