Into February...

Here are the featured nesting dolls for February- the "Queen of Hearts" set that I painted in 1996. I'm showing front and back views. The Queen shows off her tarts, the King has a stick to take to the Knave and the Knave has tied a cushion to his tender rear. The last piece is a tart. Since I only used the three outside parts of the wooden nesting dolls, I used the "leftover" smaller bits to make a very small snowman set. When I paint a set of nesting dolls, I first gesso them and sand slightly. Then they are painted in acrylics and finished with a gloss acrylic varnish . Sometimes they have to have a bit of sanding with fine sandpaper at the joins, then I use beeswax to rub along the joins so that they will come apart easily and not stick. The outside dolls can have accessories such as the crown or a lot of modelling as there is no fitting inside to think about. I find it really adds to the fun to make a three-dimensional addition to the outside doll of a set. I don't remember if I used Fimo or modelling paste to make the tart. I have a general plan when I start a set but I also find that once the painting starts, extra ideas for embellishment flow.