The Process
A lot of people ask me how my dolls are made, and I have to say, it's a fascinating process. So, I wanted to
have a series of photos, showing the basics of how a miniature porcelain doll is created. This isn't a tutorial, but a way to show others all the work
that goes into these dolls.
These photos chronicle the basic mini porcelain doll process, with the exception of dressing and wigging.
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To start off with, this is my workspace for pouring, cleaning and firing. It's in the garage next to the bikes and all of the unpacked boxes from our last move. :) You can see my molds and kiln on the table. |
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Here's a sample of my collection of molds which are all made from plaster. There are usually two parts to a mold, which I then band together. |
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I pour liquid porcelain into a container, and from there I pour into the plaster molds. |
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Here are some porcelain pieces that have air-dried. I've trimmed and polished them (they don't always come out of the mold lookin' pretty!), and they are ready to be fired. |
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Here's the kiln I use to fire the pieces. It's a rather small kiln, some call it a "test kiln". It's the perfect size for miniatures and gets up to the temperature needed for porcelain. It usually takes about 3-4 hours to fire. |
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Here are the pieces fired. The porcelain vitrified and the color, which is a natural skin tone, shows. You can choose many colors of porcelain, and as of now, I use Seeley's "Naturelle". Now these pieces are ready to be sanded with a gentle scrubber, washed and then be painted. |
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Here are the pieces in various stages of being painted. I use water-based china paints and fire about 5-6 times. Each firing takes about 2 hours. This is a lower temperature than the firing of the porcelain to begin with. |
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This is the last step before dressing the doll. I use pipe cleaners and hot glue to attach the porcelain parts, then wrap with strips of cotton batting. There's a whole lot more to do to get the doll looking her final best, but now you can see the basic steps of how a porcelain doll is made. :) |
