The art of Reborning is known by some to date back as far as 1990, but there is some debate as to who was the first to start this art form.
I discovered the art of Reborning in early 2002 purely by accident while surfing for dolls on Ebay. I was captivated by their realism and beauty, and knew this was something I wanted to know more about. There was little information available on the web at the time on this art form, so I relied on the friendly responses to my emails from the reborn artists on Ebay, and found the reborn community at large to be a friendly one.
With help I set about creating my own reborn dolls,and past my first attempts on to family and friends until I gained enough confidence and was satisfied with the dolls I created to start selling them on Ebay.
Since then I have never looked back.
What is a Reborn Baby Doll?
If you are not familiar with what a Reborn baby doll is, let me explain. This is a doll making art form first of all.
Reborn dolls are fast becoming the most sought-after dolls for collectors and enthusiasts alike. The art of "Reborning" is a doll created the most realistically as possible. It is a painstaking and very detailed process, reborn artists spend countless days on the smallest
details to bring their creations to life. When you see a reborn doll, you almost expect to hear their heart beat and hear them breath.
The Reborning Process.
Reborn dolls begin as a normal vinyl play doll, or collectors doll, from manufacturers including Berenguer and Ashton Drake,Sheila Michael,and many others which have good features to bring out their full potential.During the Reborning process, the artist disassembles the doll and strips it of all factory paint and hair. She/he carefully bathes the doll to remove all residue, and it is then thoroughly dried.
The artist uses any one of the following mediums to bring the doll to life.Each artist has their preference to which medium they are happy to work with,which can be any of the following... Genesis paints,Gouache paints,oil paints or oil pastels,or stencil cremes, these are used on the outside of the doll to highlight natural skin tones and give detail to baby creases. Eyebrows are delicately painted on with the artists choice of appropriate paint, and lips are painted and sealed with a gloss or satin sealer.
Realistic paint effects such as mottling to the cheeks and veining to the head and limbs are also applied
Once the doll has been painted, the artist carefully with rooting needles hand-roots/micro roots its hair using Angora Kid, Alpaca or premium mohair,then it is given a pale lilac colourwash inside of the doll head, this is carefully painted to achieve the appropriate tone through the vinyl. The paint on doll is then left to dry completely.Then hair is sealed from the inside with a strong water proof glue,so it wont pull out to allow for styling.
There are different sized rooting needles,the artists chooses the size to how thick they would like the hair rooted.
Eyelashes are micro rooted for sleeping babies, or glued on for open-eyed babies.New more realistic eyes are inserted,which can be glass, realistic polymer,soft glass,or acrylic.
The artist opens the nose so the reborn doll then backs the opening with black felt on the inside of the dolls head,so the nostrils look open like a real baby.Many artist like to keep the integrity of the doll and do not do this,but prefer to paint the inside of the nostrils with their desired paints to give them depth,then add acrylic satin gloss to the inside to make them look slightly damp like a real babies.
The final touch is to paint and seal the doll's toenails and fingernails with white tips.
The doll is then reassembled. The artist fills the limbs with high-quality tiny glass beads or sterile play sand for a realistic weight. Each limb is topped with polyester fibre and sealed with silicone adhesive, or acrylic sealant to prevent leakage. The doll's body is filled with a combination of pellets polyester fibre, or baby fat pellets ,which are Elastomer pellets which are like very soft squishy rubber.
Baby Fat
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Glass Beads
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Polly Pellets
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Fibre Fill
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The artist also weights the head appropriately, by inserting tiny glass bead filled cloth bags and filling the rest with polyester fibre.
Once the doll is assembled, the Reborn artist then has the enjoyment of dressing the baby.
Reborn baby dolls are sold with a diaper and baby clothes. Some reborn artists offer some other great baby paraphernalia such as a Fake formula bottle,Birth certificate's, Magnetized pacifier, removable Magnetic umbilical cord with removable clamp, rattles,soft toys, and other baby items unique to each artist, such baby props are great for displaying the dolls in bringing them closer to realism.
This is a wonderful and vastly growing art form loved by many.
Many do this art form for pure pleasure, and many more have made a very good living from making and selling Reborns for others, selling them via websites and Ebay, or taking custom orders for dolls.
What is classed as a "Reborn" doll?
REALISM IS KEY! The whole idea behind reborn dolls is REALISM.
Therefore, it is not correct to call any customized doll a reborn.
There is a difference between CUSTOMIZING a doll, and the making of a REBORN.
I sincerely believe that a Reborn must achieve a very high standard of realism,
for it to be classed as a Reborn.
Note that Reborn dolls are hand-made, one-of-a-kind masterpieces -
they are not suitable as play dolls for children.
Written & illustrated by Jackie Surtees
Founder of Exceptional Reborn Artistry Guild
Here are some past samples of my past work.
