The Process, Illustrated (Peg Post #2)

Happy feast of St. Florian!  

This is my second post about peg dolls.  To see other posts, click here.

I love doing these swaps for a few reasons.  I absolutely LOVE the saints.  Besides Theology of the Body, saints are what I can gush over the most.  I love love love them.  This is a great way to introduce my kids to their family in Heaven and get excited about things like self-sacrifice, joy, heroic virtue, and martyrdom.  YES martyrdom.  I also love meeting other Catholics who are crazy about the saints and want to make them accessible to their kids, too.  It's just great to experience the wider church when we all meet up for the swap.  So great.  I love being Catholic!

The general timeline I have is anywhere between 4-6 months to do a set of 10 (unless the group decides otherwise).  In this post, I'll illustrate the process I used for my 3rd saint peg doll, St. Benedict of Nursia.  I chose him for a few reasons.  He's my son's middle name patron.  Also, the theme I chose for our Saint Swap was shamelessly borrowed from Catholic All Year's amazing post about Saints who were BFFs in real life. Since then, my brain has exPLODED with tons of different themes for future swaps, and I hope to organize more!  Anyways, on to the process!

Purchase pegs

The majority of swaps use  3.5" female pegs and 3 9/16" male pegs.  There are several great places to get peg dolls. I've found craftparts.com to have the best bulk prices.  Super handy if you are doing a larger swap and have plenty of people who want to throw in. 

Saran-wrap work surface

I use this instead of paper.  It doesn't stick to the peg dolls very much if the paint is still wet.


Sand rough spots

Most pegs are pretty smooth, but I tend to watch out for rough spots, as they can make the details difficult to paint.

Pray for inspiration

Ora et Labora: pray and work.  I go to the saint I'm working on.  We don't choose the saints; they choose us!  I try to find as many varied representations of my saint as I can, and start forming ideas.  I also take a look at other peg doll artists out there, as well as various websites.  But more on that in the next post.

Sketch ideas

It really helps me to sketch everything out before hand.  I usually don't settle on one thing right away.  This part of the process gets the creativity flowing, and allows me to look at different details before I start painting them.  It also tells me that if I have difficulty hand drawing certain details, I'll totally suck at painting them on.  This helps me settle on things that are within my talent range.  My internal motto during this stage hearkens back to a quotation I found in high school by Thoreau: "Simplify, Simplify, Simplify," and is complemented by another from St. Thérèse: "Our Lord needs from us neither great deeds nor profound thoughts. Neither intelligence nor talents. He cherishes simplicity."  I feel like simplicity opens the doors for consistency in my pegs.

Paint white basecoat under light colors

 

The wood will suck up the paint.  It's inevitable.  I avoid streaks and uneven coverage with light colors by painting a white basecoat.  I don't do more than two.  Dark colors do not need a basecoat, but I still do two layers.

Plan out color process

Planning out the colors can be a pain, but I try to do it ahead of time as part of my sketches so I can stay on track.  I usually begin at the head of the peg and work my way down.  Or, I cover the lightest major area first, and move on to the darkest.

Sketch on details one at a time
  

One thing I learned with my first peg doll exchange was to sketch, sketch, sketch.  I sketch ideas in a notebook, and sketch them onto my peg doll in light pencil.  This really helps me to avoid making mistakes, and it allows me to be consistent with the details.  If I don't like something, it's early enough in the process to change it.  Tip: Use a pink eraser to get rid of any mistakes in your sketches (think dixon ticonderoga pencil).  It works better on the paint.

Paint details one at a time

  

This is probably the most tedious part, and it takes a bit of brain work for me because I'm starting to layer things.  Again, the original sketchbook comes in handy, but I have to start visualizing how everything will play out with paint.  It's important to focus on one detail at a time so I can get the look just right and be consistent.

Make a facebook poll about facial features

 

  

I can NEVER make up my mind about facial features.  What kind of eyes?  Mouth?  Smile?  Nose?  UGH!  I usually have a few in mind, and I sketch them on the doll.  Then I take a facebook poll.  Sometimes it's helpful, sometimes not.  But either way, it gives me a great place to start.

Label the bottom

      

     

When I'm almost finished with my peg, I label the bottom with the name of the saint and the feast day.  I started using a vinyl sticker stencil because I think my handwriting is sloppy and inconsistent.  Not saying that everyone should do that, but I think it looks wicked awesome.  

Scrutinize and touch up

Now comes one of the most important parts.  I need to step away from the peg dolls for a few days, and return to look at them with fresh eyes.  I look for scuffs, blotches, and other markings that are out of place, and touch them up (this is why it's important to save your paint if you mix it!).  I also save really difficult spots (like overlapping areas) for last.  I want the pegs to look their best because I know that other people are working just as hard as I am to create something awesome.

Seal the pegs

Choosing the correct sealing agent for the peg dolls is pretty important. I typically use a permanent, non-workable spray fixative in matte.  But this doesn't work to well if I happen to use glossy paint, so I have that on standby.  A lot of people also use Modpodge.  I'm not really a fan of it, though.  I feel like it adds too many coats, and if the dolls I've painted already have 4+ coats of paint on them, it can lead to chipping.  The dolls I do have that were sealed in Modpodge are chipping terribly.  Anyways, sealing my pegs prevents them somewhat from being scuffed or marked up by other peg dolls, and the coating protects the paint.  I make sure that I am completely finished painting and let the pegs dry for at least a few days before sealing them.  I start with the bottoms.  After the dry, I use a lazy Susan to coat the pegs evenly.

Pack up & party!

Someone hosts an event.  Food and games are usually involved.  

Set up the pegs like so, and have a blast!

So that's it. Not really as easy as it looks, but easier when you have a solid process that works for you. Coming soon, some posts about tools I use and mistakes I've made.  Stay tuned for more tips and tricks!