Amaranth's Guide to Filter Masks Part 1

I am by no means a professional. I did some research on DoA (there are really great threads with good information there), as well as on the internet. Knowing that many people don't have access to DoA, I thought I'd do a simple hobbyist's guide to filter masks. I tried to keep it really simple and not wordy.

Here is part 1, just some basic Q & A and terms. I'll go into detail about numbers and what they mean in the next post.

Amaranth's Face Up Rules

These are the rules I personally follow when painting face ups. Just some food for thought, and of course you don't have to do any of these.

1. Never paint with acrylics on the same layer as pastels.
   Why: If you try to use water to wipe away the acrylic or the acrylic smears, you will ruin the pastel and have to redo it.
2. When you like something, seal it, then keep painting.
   Why: If you like the way something looks, you can always add more. If you end up adding more and hate the result, you'll have to wipe all your work including the part you like. Seal often.
3. Never touch a face up before sealant or paint is dry.
   Why: You'll end up with smudges, smears, and tacky parts and sometimes your sealant will completely come off in spots, ruining your beautiful blushing. I hate when this happens.
   

   

   My face up was ruined because of this....

4. Wash your hands, and often.

Face Up Tips: Lips

As you know, I'm still working on improving my techniques so I thought I'd share what I've learned. Here is my trick for lips.

I'm addicted to shimmer powders.

A little background on this head: She's a recast Volks SD16 Kira. Her original owner tried to blush her to match a yellow skin body, and despite all my scrubbing, I can't completely remove it. [Edit: I have since removed it and redone the faceup.] So, this is making one eyebrow look really goofy. Please ignore that for the sake of the tutorial.



 

1. Block out the face up colors. On the lips, dab some color in the middle on the bottom and on the sides of the upper lips. (For a more solid lip, dab color over the whole thing).

Face Up Tips: Eyebrows

I'm still learning and improving my face up techniques. I'm not the best or anything, but I have figured out some things that help me with my face ups.

I <3 shimmer powders!!!

A little background on this head: She's a recast Volks SD16 Kira. Her original owner tried to blush her to match a yellow skin body, and despite all my scrubbing, I can't completely remove it all [edit: I finally got it off and redid her faceup]. So, this is making one eyebrow look really goofy. Please ignore that for the sake of the tutorial.

Here's my technique for eyebrows. Update: Scroll to the bottom of the post to see recent eyebrows done with this method!

Face Up Removal: Windsor and Newton vs Isopropyl Alcohol vs Nail Polish Remover

I've removed a lot of face ups in my short time in the hobby (I've been around for about 4 years). I've used nail polish remover, Winsor and Newton (referred to for the rest of the post as W&N), and various strengths of rubbing alcohol to remove face ups.

I have a few dolls I've been meaning to redo, and I thought while I was at it I might as well take some pictures and do a few comparison/tutorial posts. The next post will be my face up tutorial. I may film it, but I haven't decided yet.

I've decided to do a comparison/how-to feature for these so you can decide which is best for you.

I'm not getting into the acetone/no-acetone debate thing though. I don't know enough about acetone to say either way. I've heard horror stores, but then I've used products with acetone and had no issues myself. So, it's best for me just to avoid that subject for now.

 

Face Up FAQ and Tutorial

This post is to highlight some of my face-up techniques. I'm by no means the best, and there are lots of face-up tutorials out there, but hopefully you will get some use out of this tutorial. :) I will try to update this post as I come across more face up questions. First, the FAQ, then the materials list, followed by the tutorial.

Note: I don't update this as I improve my faceups because that's a pain in the butt, so if you want to see my latest stuff you can always check my flickr.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/amaranthscastaways/

Face Up FAQ

Q:What materials do I need?
A:See below!