Chibi Jack Instructions
Painting Chibi Jack's Face

Tues 3 Apr, 2007
Lee Thompson-Herbert


If you're going to try and do the face as an iron-on transfer, use This PDF file
If you're going to try painting the face, then you'll need the tracing stencil, which is part of THIS PDF file

Steps for painting the face with dye markers.


FabricMate dye pigment markers. The main colors used are Black (brush and chisel tipped), Brown (brush and chisel tipped), Yellow-Gold, Yellow, Orange, Grey, Mist (light grey), and Pink.


FabricMate Blending Markers. The clear cap is what indicates a blending solvent, they're usually sold seperately from the colored dye markers.


Delta "So Soft" fabric paint. This textile paint does not require heat setting and keeps a soft, pliable texture. I use White and Buttermilk. I find that the best match for undyed muslin is actually White with a few drops of Buttermilk added. Too much will give the paint a yellow cast. I use white to paint highlights in the eyes and the white/buttermilk mix to correct errors and accidents.


Mechanical pencils for tracing. You want the thickest lead you can find, since thinner leads break easier. .7mm is average sized and available almost everywhere. .9mm is considered "thick" and is more likely to show up in kids' school suplies areas. Softer leads make a darker mark than harder ones, so don't buy anything softer than an HB lead. You don't want the pencil marks to show through the markers.


Print out the Face Template File and cut out the tracing stencil. The light blue outline is there just to give you an idea of how the face is placed in Chibi Jack's head. You want to cut out all the solid black areas on the stencil using an Xacto knife. Make small cuts, working towards the edge of each black area. Cutting on a smooth, hard surface that can't be scratched also helps (I have a tile behind my stencil in the photo)


Pin the stencil to ChibiJack's head. You'll need to put some careful folds into the paper to make it fit smoothly against Chibi Jack's head. Try not to distort the face with your folds. The eyebrows can take more distortion than the mouth or eyes can when you're trying to figure out where to place tiny folds. Make sure the face is centered on the head (check the face center seam)


Using your mechanical pencil, lightly trace inside the edges of the stencil. After you remove the stencil, carefully fill in the broken lines to complete the outlines of the face. Use the second Template (the color drawing) in the file you printed out as a guide.


Using the brush-tipped (small) black dye marker, outline the pupil of the eye. Make sure to outline the highlight area as well.


Using the chisel tip (large) black, fill in the pupil of the eye, taking care not to fill in the highlight area.


Using the Mist (light grey) marker, draw and fill in the center highlight of the upper eyelid.


Using the grey marker, shade the highlights to either side of the central one you just drew in. The "mist" dye will look darker than the grey until it dries, don't be fooled. The cap colors really do reflect what colors you'll see when the dyes are dry. Be careful to not overlap your seperate color areas, or they'll bleed into one another. That can be used as a blending method, but you might want to practice on a piece of scrap fabric first before trying it on the doll's face. You only need to barely touch the marker to an area that's already wet with dye to make the colors bleed into each other.


Using the brush tip black, carefully outline the upper and lower eyelids. Don't fill them in yet. Leave the whole area to dry for at least a half hour to avoid excessive bleeding.


Fill in the eyelids with black, first using the brush tip, then the chisel tip marker to get a solid black. Go slowly to avoid smudging or bleeding.


Color in the Yellow highlight of the iris, then the golden-yellow, not allowing the colors to bleed into each other. When you have them solidly filled, barely touch the yellow marker to the edge of the yellow-gold highlights. This will allow the edges to soften without making the central yellow highlight too small.


With the brown brush tip marker, outline the iris, outlining around the highlights and the pupil of the eye. Make sure not to touch any of the areas that are already colored in. Set aside to dry for 20-30 minutes.


Using the brown chisel tip marker, fill in the iris of the eye. It'll look darker than the outline you already made, but that's because the new dye is wet. It'll even out when the dye dries. Again, set aside until completely dry.


Using the black brush tip, outline the eyebrows


Using the black brush tip, outline the nose and moustache


Using the orange brush tip, outline the edge of the iris highlights


Using the black brush tip, outline the edge of the brown iris


Apply the large Blending Marker to the area just inside the outline of the lower lip. Try not to let it bleed to far, or it could make other parts of the face bleed and run.


Dap the pink brush tip marker inside the lower lip, just a couple daubs from the side of the brush tip. Immediately use the blending marker on the pink to make it spread along the lower lip.


You can use a white paper towel to soak up excess pink dye and solvent. However, be careful not to spread the dye and solvent further over the face. You want just a little bit of color on the lip. Again, this is a technique you might want to practice on a piece of scrap fabric first.


After the solvent has dried, use the black chisel tip marker to fill in the moustache. You can see what happens if the fabric is still a little damp with solvent. I later covered this accident with textile paint.


Color the cheeks using a similar method. Wet the cheek in a wedge shape along the cheekbone, then daub pink dye on in a similar triangular pattern. Use the blending marker on the pink dye in a circular motion at first to blend splotches together, then with a sweeping motion from the seam towards the center of the face (keeping away from already painted lines). Blot with paper towels if neccessary.


Apply color to the other cheek, trying to match shape, area and depth of color


When all the solvent is completely dry, use the black chisel tip marker to trace the outline of the mouth and lower lip.


Notice I've cleaned up the accident around the lower lip where the dye ran by covering the area with a light coat of appropriately blended textile paint.
Using the white So Soft textile paint, carefully paint the highlights onto the pupils of the eyes. Make sure the coat is thick enough to be opaque, and the edges even, not ragged. Allow to dry. The face is done.

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