Johnston Original Art Dolls

Some artists use oil paint, others use Genisus, and I use China Paint Powder for the blush on the faces and back of the hands and feet. I do not put water or oil in the china powder. I use the powder just as you would ladies facial make-up. I do not use matte or any fixative at all, but that is just my style. My dolls are for show only, so people don't touch them. As they are never touched the china paint stays on permanently. If you feel that you must use matte fixative, I recommend that you spray very lightly and stay back about 15 inches from the subject that you are spraying. You may wish to test on the back of your hand first. Write again if you have a specific questions about the process.

Oil paints themselves make my work sticky. I had to drop out of a show because of that. I now paint my piece first with Varathane Diamond Finish Polyurethane Gloss before painting to seal it. Then I paint with oils, give the paint plenty of time to dry, and then use the Varathane Diamond Matt version of that product over the paint to reduce gloss. By the way, this Varathane can be baked to help it penetrate and seal the polymer clay. It has an ingredient that integrates into the clay itself. So, if you are using Genesis heat set oils, that is a great match of materials. Here is the web site that gave me the original idea for the Varathane: http://www.polymerclaycentral.com/cyclopedia/flecto.html Home Depot sells it in my city.

I used oil paints (with "Liquin" to speed the drying of the paint) on my baked prosculpt piece. However, the piece is now too shiny. The paint is dry. Is there a matte spray finish that would work? I have tried some spray matte finishes before, but for some reason they stayed sticky and never dried.