So there is this thing that I keep doing to my babies. I always wind up regretting it. It takes a lot of time and a lot of effort and it still doesn't look good. It's my version of painted hair. Yep. I tried (and failed) again to paint hair. Poor Caleb is the latest casualty. Things started off ok. I got him all varnished and glossed. I even used the satin varnish this time because preemies are kind of shiny. I knew that I wanted dark hair on him. So, I grabbed my black prisma pencil (I bet you are already cringing) and did this:
Feedback was positive, so I kept doing it. I did a sepia mid-range color and a beige highlight. I brushed it with thinner to make it look softer, then I painted on top of it with some dark brown hues. I ended up with a dead skunk-toupee.
In low light, he looks alright. In bright light, his hair is horrid. It looks like hair...fake hair. Tried-really-hard-but-can't hair. I don't think I am actually too far off from what I want to accomplish. I am getting better every time. There is just this one trick, or technique, or principle of painted hair that I am missing. I hate to break down and order a tutorial, but we may be getting there.
If I am decent at rooting, why do I want to paint hair? I have asked myself this question over and over. There are several reasons:
It is way faster than rooting (potentially)
Painted hair never has to be styled (this can be a drawback)
You can get that ultra-fine lanugo look around the face and temples
Babies with painted hair are easier to care for and handle than rooted babies
Babies (in my opinion) generally look better even with just a tiny bit of hair than bald
There are numerous reasons to learn this skill. To top it all off, it is damn challenging. I think the challenge is what is attracting me most. It is a pretty cut-and-dry goal for me to work towards. While I am continually updating and improving my painting style as a whole, it will feel so good to say, "yes, I can paint hair."
Now, I would never be a teetotaler when it comes to hair. I will always choose to fully root some babies. I do think though that if I were a decent enough hair painter, that all of my babies would incorporate a bit of painted hair. I would also probably end up doing more combi babies than fully painted heads. The idea of having hair to style while having the back and sides be low maintenance is appealing.
Hey, Caleb...I got an idea...