Elegant cheerful nesting dolls are a great gift not only for a child, but also for an adult. In the shops where artisans sell their products, there are a variety of nesting dolls: traditional children's toys, caricatures of politicians and even monsters from popular horror films. You can try to paint a company of nesting dolls yourself, if you have at least basic drawing skills.
Select blanks
You can buy blank nesting dolls at an art supply store. They are sold one by one or in sets of inserts of 3, 5, 7, 12 pieces. Larger sets are rare, and a beginner doesn't need them. Choose a company of nesting dolls from 3-7 pieces. Make sure that there are no noticeable defects on the workpieces - knots or chips, as well as noticeable irregularities. The bottom should be flat. Matryoshkas should be free to open and close. You can also make blanks yourself - for example, from papier-mâché.
Materials and tools
You will find other materials in the same store. You can paint nesting dolls with any paints, including aniline, gouache or watercolors. But tempera is most suitable. Sometimes it is mixed with watercolors. Purchase a set or individual tubes of paints in the primary colors - this is the minimum you need. You will also need gold and silver acrylic paints. It is better to take soft brushes, which are usually used for painting with watercolors. Buy brushes in different thicknesses. You will also need:
- palette;
- pencils of medium hardness;
- PVA glue;
- acrylic lacquer;
- parquet varnish;
- a set of files;
- fine-grained sandpaper.
Preparation for painting
If this is your first time painting, start with the smallest nesting doll. There are few small details on it, you can generally limit yourself to painting large fields. Process the workpiece. Grind off large irregularities of files. Smooth the rest of the surface with fine-grained sandpaper. Prime the matryoshka depending on what colors you will paint it with. For example, for watercolors, tempera or their mixture, PVA glue diluted with water 1: 1 is suitable. A water-based paint can become a primer for gouache; a traditional primer made of crushed chalk and PVA glue is suitable for oil.
The first stage of painting
Let the primer dry and paint on. Add guidelines for large brims - face, scarf, apron, sleeves and hands. To paint, too, start with the largest spots, in this case it is a sundress and a shirt. In order for the paint to lay flat, it is better to fix the matryoshka - for example, on a pin driven into a wooden board. Apply paint on large fields in an even layer. You need to work quickly, especially with gouache, watercolors or tempera. The sundress can be red, black, blue, green. It is better to make a shirt white, bluish, grayish, cream. It is also better to make a scarf light.
With a thin brush, draw out the outlines of the apron and sleeves, as well as the folds on the skirt. You can paint with black or brown paint or the same color as the sundress, but take a darker shade.
Face
Draw the face. It's best to sketch with a pencil first. If you have not yet learned how to draw eyes, try the simplest option. Draw two symmetrical arcs with a circle in the middle of each. Draw the arc in black or brown, the circle in black, brown or blue. Be sure to make a black pupil, and next to it - a white or bluish speck. The spots on both eyes should be located the same - that is, either to the right of the pupil, or to the left. Draw shorter arcs above the eyes - eyebrows. The nesting dolls always draw lips (the simplest option is in the form of a crescent with the horns up) and cheeks in the form of circles or hearts. You don't have to paint the nose.
Final finishing
Cover your face with a thin layer of acrylic varnish and proceed with the final painting. You can draw flowers on the scarf. Decorate the apron with floral or geometric patterns. You can also draw lace - this is a wavy line next to the contour line. The outlines of flowers and lace can be outlined in gold or silver paint. Paint the hands with the same color as the face. Let the matryoshka dry and cover it with parquet varnish.
