Update 1/26/22:
Almost seven years later, Marinette's eye makeup got a long-awaited update! I used littlebittyhearts' vinyl decals to add top and bottom lashes, achieving the look I wanted to give her from the start, but didn't trust myself to be able to paint well enough!
Posted on Instagram - January 26, 2022
---
Introducing Marinette Dupain-Cheng!
(I’ll take better pictures of her soon. These are from my phone.)
To recap, Marinette started out as a Grace Thomas doll that I got while AG had their amazing 20% off sale going on. I thought Grace would be a perfect base for Marinette because she has a very similar face shape and the same blue eyes, and both come from a family of Parisian bakers! Marie-Grace would’ve been another good option, but more expensive.
I removed Grace’s freckles, then gave her a new blue/black wig from Zazou Dolls.
Yesterday, I glued the wig on – and I made the mistake of trying to “test” it before it was fully cured. And then had to re-glue part of it and let it cure for the full two hours it needed. But, after those two hours, the wig was nice and secure! She still needed something, though…
I used Photoshop to test out different makeup configurations for Marinette – eyeshadow only, defined eyeshadow, light eyeshadow, eyeshadow and eyelashes, just eyelashes… and finally settled on eyeshadow only. I mixed together two shades of brown acrylic paint with fabric medium and carefully painted it on in the “creases” of her eyelids.
I practically held my breath the entire time I was painting. I was SO afraid of smearing the paint or messing up in some way! I think both sides turned out pretty even! I’m happy with the color, too. It’s a cooler brown that works well with her skin tone and the blue of her eyes and hair. The fabric medium made it harder to smooth out the paint, and up close you can see some of the brush strokes, but I’ll just pretend she’s using cream eyeshadow.
I’m really pleased with how she turned out! I’ll probably take a break before I work on making her clothes, though. Today’s rain brought a lot of the ants living in our walls into our bathroom and kitchen. Yaaaaay… But at least Marinette turning out well is a good distraction from our tiny invaders. Now if only she could transform into Ladybug and get rid of these ants for us!