Faceups First faceup - FairyLand MiniFee Chloe - with progress pics

Anwen - my Fairyland Minifee Chloe - finally got a faceup:
Anwen faceup 2 by helgie, on Flickr
It is my first ever attempt at a faceup, the result is not perfect, but I like it and it is certainly better than Anwen continuing with a blanc face.

Anwen arrived to me in October 2021, and I've been procrastinating on painting her face for the whole year, but recently got the necessary materials and myself together.

What I wanted:
- mostly natural look with some fay elements;
- dark blue - gray - brown palette, no reddish colors;
- high, small eyebrows;
- freckles in unusual colors.

Some of what I used:
Faceup materials by helgie, on Flickr
Not featured: watercolors, white acrilic base, lots of cotton discs an q-tips, toothpicks for eyelashes.
I carefully rubbed the head with acetone, applied 2 layers of Mr. Super Clear and started on the colors.

1st layer:
Faceup progress 1 by helgie, on Flickr
Pastels: red on cheeks, lips and tip of the nose, dark blue and blue-gray around the eyes, brown on sides of forehead.
Brown aquarelle pencil: eyebrow placement.
There was a mishap with the chin: I put too much red on it and couldn't rub it off, so I had to use acetone to remove it together with the base layers. As a result, the chin was of a lighter color than the rest of the face. I applied a bit of red pastel with the next layer, and the difference in color became almost unnoticeable under the following coats of Mr. Super Clear.

 

2nd layer:
Faceup progress 2 by helgie, on Flickr
Pastels: dark blue-gray on outer sides of eyes.
Aquarelle pencils: blue and black on eyebrows and lower lashes, red on lips.

3rd layer:
Faceup progress 3 by helgie, on Flickr
Watercolors mixed with transparent acrilic varnish: blue-gray and gray-brown on brows, upper lids, lower eyelashes; red on lower lids and lips.
Aquarelle pencils: freckles - this was mostly unnecessary, I covered all pencil marks with acrilic watercolor mix in the next layer.

4th and 5th layer layer - finished:
Faceup finished 1 by helgie, on Flickr
Watercolors mixed with transparent acrilic varnish: freckles.
Another layer of Mr. Super Clear - because I wasn't sure how the acrilic mix would hold up.
White acrilic base - highlights on eyebrows, creases of upper lids, lower eyelashes; white freckles.
Acrilic varnish: gloss on lower eyelids and lips.
Eyelashes attached with acrilic glue.

 

More views of the finished faceup:
Faceup finished 2 by helgie, on Flickr

Faceup finished 3 by helgie, on Flickr

Faceup finished 4 by helgie, on Flickr

 

There is certainly room for improvement. The 3rd and 4th layers could have easily been done together. I'm not entirely happy with the eyebrows and freckles. The color of the upper eyelashes is a bit too light. I suppose this look in general is not to everyone's taste.
But all in all Anwen looks nice:
Anwen faceup 1 by helgie, on Flickr

 

@kiraabsol Thank you!

@Valdemagra Thank you! And yes, I've never done fuceups before. My first bjd came with a custom faceup that I like very much, so until I got Anwen (my second bjd) there was no need.

@Urushi-kitty , thanks for the tip. Acetone was recommended in some of the tutorials and it worked ok. But if/when I try agin, I'll look into other options.

@rainglow Thank you. A gradient effect with the freckles is a great idea, I will keep it in mind for the future I painted each freckle individually with a brush, worried that the watercolor-acrilic mix would not allow corrections after it dried if something went wrong with the composition, so as soon as it seemed that there were enough freckles I was happy to let them be and did not attempt anything more fancy.
And the color combination does look like pebbles. I didn't have a precise reference in mind when choosing the colors, so it's interesting to know what associations it evokes.

@AlisonVonderland Thank you! River rocks and bird eggs are very nice comparisons. The only thing I could think of after it was finished was tiny scales, and I wasn't sure that would fit with the vague character backstory I have for this doll, so other association options are welcome.
And part of my motivation for finally doing Anwen's feceup was that since I got her I also bought or made all other necessary things (wig, eyes, clothes and even boots), but could not do photoshoots. There are photo adventures in her near future