Sariel

Unlike Gabriel, the doll I'm going to show you today was one of the most inspiring Ariels in the whole group.  She really stood out from the pack with her dark hair and distinctive eyebrows.  While (spoilers!) I didn't preserve very much about her original appearance, those eyebrows gave me the idea I needed to make this girl different from Cassiel and Gabriel.

Thanks to Lilium's excellent suggestion, this version of Ariel will be named Sariel (yet another angel name!) which I tend to shorten in my head to the cute nickname Sari:

2001 My Twinn doll with the Ariel face.

Here's another headshot of Sariel where her hair is pushed back from her face a little more:

Her dark eyebrows were very cool, although there was a scratch through one of them, and the overall shape was a bit blocky for my taste.

Sariel has a 2001 body with just a few picks on her cloth torso:

Sari's worst defect was that she had some dark staining on her legs:

Here's a closer look at her face:

She had a thinning wig, brown eyes that looked suspiciously light, mangled eyelashes, and that scratch through her right eyebrow:

I brought Sari into my workshop, at which point I took another picture of her head.  I got into the habit of doing this so that I don't get the Ariel dolls (or their photographs) confused!  At least you can see how different this camera's coloring looks:

I removed Sariel's head and wig:

I'm not sure where the white mark on Sari's left eyebrow came from, but I must be responsible for it because it wasn't in the other photos!

Good job, Emily.

Those white marks wash off pretty easily (thank goodness) but the defect in the other eyebrow was more permanent:

I pulled off Sariel's eyelashes and inspected her eyes:

I was on the fence about replacing these eyes at first, but with the lashes gone I could see that they were starting to loose their definition:

Also, I'll admit that I'm getting better at replacing eyes...and I like doing it!

I cleaned the head and stripped away all of the original paint:

I wanted to choose eyes for Sari that would be nothing like the eyes on the other Ariel dolls, so I chose some green glass eyes from Lauscha Germany.  These are not quite as detailed as the Hand Glass Craft eyes, but they're also not as expensive:

These eyes are handmade, so the little details in each eye are slightly different.  Here's the left eye, with a small ring of yellow around the pupil:

And here's the right eye, which doesn't have as much yellow:

Because Sariel had such distinctive factory eyebrows, I wanted to do something different with her new brows.

I've gotten into the habit of painting eyebrows with a certain amount of arch.  With Sari, I wanted to try and make the brows completely straight--in the hopes of creating a different expression on the Ariel face mold.

As usual, I penciled in a rough shape for the brows first:  

But I had to paint the actual eyebrows a few times before I got what I was looking for.  Even while following my pencil guidelines, habit took over and I kept adding a curve to the brows!

I finally got some eyebrows that are fairly straight:

Here's a closer look:

I wanted to do something new with Sariel's mouth paint, too.

I made her upper lip nice and thick, but I shortened the width of her lower lip so that it almost looks like she has a mild overbite:

I finished up the paint job by giving Sariel some blush and very light freckling:

While I was working on Sariel's head, Remove-Zit was working on her stained legs.  I didn't treat these stains for as long as I treated Cassiel's stains, so the result isn't as good.  

In this picture, the legs actually look pretty bad because the vinyl is still swollen from the treatment:

Yikes.

That mottled effect will fade over time, but I applied one more thin coat of Remove-Zit to the entire surface of the legs after I took this picture, hoping to even out the coloring a bit more.

Sariel's body didn't need much work beyond the stain removal, but I cleaned all of the vinyl parts and inspected the joints.

The right arm felt loose, so I opened up the body and found that the foam had pulled apart from the vinyl:

I re-glued both arms and then re-stitched the body.

Once the body was ready, I re-attached Sariel's head and gave her new eyelashes and a new wig!

As much as I dislike the actual process of applying eyelashes, this last step is fun!  I feel like the dolls go from alien to "alive" in just a few minutes.

All of my crystal charms came in the mail last week, so I was able to start making birthstone necklaces for all of the Ariels. 

Sari got my own birthstone (the amethyst) and a dark purple satin sash to match!

Here's a close-up of the necklace:

It's just a simple sterling silver chain with what's advertised as a Swarovski crystal pendant charm.

The wig I chose for Sariel is the Meredith style from ZaZou Custom Dolls (this is the same wig I put on my Sharon doll):

As with Gabriel, I only finger-combed this wig.  I've found that using a brush on these long, curly wigs just makes them unruly.

Here's the wig from the back:

The legs are looking a little bit better, but it's going to take a bit more time for the swelling to completely subside:

Better, but still a bit blotchy.

Sariel is an unusual-looking doll and I had a really fun time photographing her:

The wig is fabulous and thick and I like working with it so much better when it hasn't been thoroughly brushed! 

I usually take a few photos with the specific intention of showing off the wig, but in Sari's case I couldn't stop taking wig-centric pictures!

I tamed the hair in order to get a front-on portrait of Sariel:

And then I brushed her hair back away from her face a little bit so that her facial features were more visible:

Here's her comparison GIF:

I might just be suffering from Ariel overload hallucinations, but I don't feel like this doll looks much like an Ariel anymore! 

Her mouth makes me think of the Danielle mold, and her eyebrows make me think of a young Brooke Shields!  In any case, I was happy to have a result that looked (at least to me!) different from Cassiel and Gabriel.

My husband had the suggestion that I should do a big comparison GIF of all six Ariels once the project is complete.  That way, we can see just how different they all are!  In the meantime, here's a GIF with the three I've done so far:

Sari's eyes look wider-set than the other two to me, but I know from experience that the angle and distance of the camera can influence that.  It also might be an effect from her large glass eyes.  Whatever is going on in the photos, Sariel is not one of the "Melissa" Ariel variants with wide-set eyes.  As I understand it, those dolls are all from 1998.

I clipped Sari's thick hair back for a few more pictures:

She's such a serious girl, but I think she looks cute with this hairstyle:

The hair can really get out of hand with the curls arranged like this...

...but it's possible to tame them without getting out a brush.

I like how Sariel looks with half of her hair pulled back and half of it hanging free, like this:

And I think this is my favorite picture of her:

I battled the extreme humidity (and subsequent mosquitoes) in order to take Sari out into the daylight:

Somehow she managed to avoid getting any mosquito bites, but I got about five.  We also have these caterpillars here in Maine that release microscopic irritating spines, so those are a lot of fun.  The caterpillars were supposed to disappear in June, but I swear that their spines are still floating around and making me itch.

Anyway, Sariel was much more fixated on the trees and the greenery than she was on the bugs:

She was especially delighted to find these green leafy plants (weeds?) that she feels are almost exactly the same color as her eyes:

I ended that photo session early because of bugs, but I took Sari out again the next day, when it was a bit more overcast.

I find it so interesting that Sariel looks more brightly lit on a cloudy day than she does on a sunny day!

This lighting shows off her glass eyes and wig color really nicely:

I really love this challenge.  I thought I might be tired of the Ariel face mold at this halfway mark, but it's just the opposite!  I keep seeing new things in those familiar features.  I only have a vague idea of what I'm going to do for the next doll, and I suppose that's also part of the fun--letting the project choose its own path.

Sariel feels special to me.  I'm not sure exactly why, but maybe it's that I forced myself to veer a little bit further away from my usual instincts while I was painting her.  It might also simply be that she has beautiful glass eyes and one of my favorite new wigs!

Here's a summary of all the work that was done on Sariel:

-her head was detached from her body and all vinyl parts were thoroughly cleaned

-the foam of her arms was re-glued into the vinyl

-stains on her legs were treated with Remove-Zit and then cleaned with Formula 9-1-1

-her body seam was re-sewn

-her wig and eyelashes were removed

-her factory paint was stripped away

-her face was coated with Mr. Super Clear sealant

-she was given new green glass eyes from Lauscha, Germany

-her face was repainted, including lips, eyebrows, blush, and light freckles

-she was given new eyelashes

-she was given a new high-quality wig from ZaZou Custom Dolls

-her head was re-glued to her body with Gorilla brand hot glue

-she is wearing a white peasant-style dress from Doll Clothes by Carole.  The dress is accented with a satin ribbon and a crystal birthstone necklace

Sari's biggest flaws are that she still has some discoloration in her legs, she has some picks in her cloth torso, and she has the odd scuff or mark from being old.  Her wig has only been finger-combed.  Using a brush will alter the appearance of the wig slightly.  To see brushed-out wigs of this style, please reference Elsie or Sharon.

I'm so curious to know what you all think of Sari!  Your ideas and comments are so inspiring to me.  I also really appreciate those of you who have shared some of your own amazing work in the comments section.

I'm eager to get back into the workroom and find out what happens next!  See you soon.