The Secret Garden Nesting Dolls

This post could be subtitled: "How I learned That I Know Nothing About Acrylic Paint Or Painting On 3-D Objects." So, I had this idea several months ago that illustrated nesting dolls might be a fun project to do as a silent auction donation for the upcoming SCBWI Austin Conference. A couple of other illustrators decided to take on the challenge, too (you can see an adorable set by the talented Marsha Riti here). Things with my set started off promising enough. The robin and the key were a pretty straightforward choice with The Secret Garden theme (one of my favorite books). The largest nesting doll, which is the garden in bloom, ended up being the most challenging. After ditching the randomly placed flowers I pencilled in, I decided to use a lamp from my grandmother as an inspiration point. I went on to repaint sections of this doll at least 4 times. Lesson: opaque acrylic craft paint is nothing like watercolor and wants to clump up on your brush any chance it gets. Above you can see the attempt at translating a 2-D sketch onto a 3-D object. And the completed set, after two full afternoon sessions and lots of revisiting. This was taken just before they got their clear coat, which made them look super-glossy like real nesting dolls! They're drying for the next 24 hours, and I hope to post some photos of the final set before conference. Overall lesson: while these did turn out to be fun, they would have been even more fun if I had built in a little more learning curve time.