How to Make a Porcelain Doll

Create your own porcelain doll.

Porcelain dolls are beautiful collectors' items and can be quite expensive. Greasy clay is often the preferred clay when it comes to making such dolls as it is firm enough to shape yet will not dry out like wet clay. The following method of doll making requires some skill as a sculptor however there are other ways to make porcelain dolls that use doll molds. Such molds are better suited to those who are first attempting a porcelain doll.

Things You'll Need

• Greasy clay
• Sculpting stand
• Sculpting tools
• Foil/any type of paper
• Tape
• Kiln
• Pencil
• Rose-colored paint
• Doll clothes and accessories

Instructions

1. Make a "support ball" on your sculpting stand to form the basis for the head. Use foil or any type of paper to make this ball. Secure with tape if you are using paper and add clay to the ball.

2. Smooth the clay with your fingers until you have a nice-sized head, making sure there is a little clay at the bottom to form a neck of sorts. The "basic alien head" is a good model to use when shaping the head. Add more clay to the forehead area, the back of the head and the front of the face while maintaining the alien shape and keeping everything smooth and free of sharp edges.

3. 

   Use a pencil to create lines of symmetry.

   Use your thumbs to create deep eye sockets and make sure they are even. Draw lines of symmetry in the clay with a pencil to help with making features. Use your thumbs again to make the corners of the mouth and place a small round ball of clay as the nose and two smaller balls on each side to form the nostrils.

4. Sculpt the mouth, nose, brow, chin and cheek features. Use a reference model for help if needed. Add a small ball of clay to each eye socket ensuring they are the same size; use sculpting tools to make basic almond-shaped eyes and press down on either side of the eye.

5. Detail the features until you are happy with how the head looks; always remember to keep everything rounded while sculpting. Add lines of symmetry to both sides of the head for creating the ears. Make a hole on each side of the head for the inner part of the ears and make coils with the clay to serve as the outer parts of ears.

6. Cut off the neck and scoop out the excess clay so you have a concave base to fit on the rest of the doll. Sculpt a shoulder base and torso that will fit the head. Start with a square clay shape to make hands and arms.

7. 

   Place doll parts in a kiln for eight hours.

   Add details to the fingers like nails and knuckles and make sure the arms match and are in proportion to the rest of the doll. Sculpt the feet and hands in the same method. Add details to feet and toes. Fire all sculpted pieces in a kiln for about eight hours.

8. 

   Paint features and add accessories as desired.

   Once the doll has been fired paint its features with rose-colored paint. Add doll eyelashes and clothes of your choice and glue on a wig. Tie on shoes and a hat if desired.

Tips & Warnings

• When shaping the head make sure to rotate and sculpt it from all angles to ensure everything is even and symmetrical.

• Be sure to throw your clay for a considerable amount of time before sculpting to avoid any air pockets which will cause the clay to explode in the kiln.

References

• ScottDolls: How To Make A Porcelain Doll
• Desert Rose Dolls: Porcelain Doll Making: Pouring Dolls

Resources

• Doll Artisan Guild
• YouTube: How To Create Porcelain Doll Bodies: Porcelain Slip For Doll Making