Doll Customizing: Custom Maurice From Beauty And The Beast

For the last month or so, Sister has been working on a secret project…a custom doll!  Would you like to know who she’s creating?

It’s Maurice from Beauty And The Beast!

Sister has wanted a Maurice doll to go along with her Film Collection Belle for quite some time now and recently decided to create her own using one of the Disney Classic Prince dolls.

So, buckle up for another adventure in doll customizing as we take a look at Sister’s custom Maurice doll from Beauty And The Beast!

It’s no secret that we prefer the Disney Classic Princes to the average Ken doll.  Why?  The Disney Princes have elbow joints, plain and simple.

Sister chose John Smith for this repaint because she felt his head sculpt matched Maurice better than the other Disney Princes.

Here is a list of the supplies she used:

1. White glazing medium.
2. Acrylic paint (grey, brown, white, and black).
3. A matte sealer that was safe for plastic and vinyl.
4. A semi-gloss sealer that was safe for plastic and vinyl.
5. A fine-tipped paint brush for small details.
6. A larger paintbrush for painting on the sealers.

As you can see, there is nothing super fancy.  We were able to find everything she needed at Hobby Lobby.

Painting The Doll’s Hair And Beard:

After cleaning his face and removing his eyes using nail polish remover, Sister used three coats of grey acrylic paint mixed with glazing medium to give Maurice solid grey hair.  Once that was good and dry, she went back and added a few white highlights.

She used the same mixture of glazing medium and grey paint for his beard but this time applied the paint using small, quick brush strokes to give the illusion of individual hairs.  After recoloring his hair and giving him a beard, she sealed everything with a matte sealer.

I’m impressed with how well she drew in his beard, especially considering that John Smith didn’t have a beard sculpted to his face for her to use as a guide.  But what really amazes me are his eyes.

Painting Doll Eyes:

I don’t know about you, but the thought of painting eyes is what stops me from attempting a doll repaint of my own.  However, Sister says it’s not as hard as it looks.

Using Gaston as a guide, she simply eyeballed (no pun intended?) where she wanted Maurice’s eyes and which direction she wanted him looking.

I’ve watched a few doll repaints on YouTube, and most of them start by painting the eyes white then add the darker colors later on.  So, I was surprised when Sister told me that she reversed this technique and painted his black pupils first and the white areas second.  According to her, this is a shortcut she invented to prevent the paint from building up.

She outlined his pupils with light brown paint, cleaned up the corners of the eyes using a light flesh tone, then finished up the repaint by sealing Maurice’s eyes using a semi-gloss sealer.

With the repaint successful, she could now move on to her favorite part: the costume!

Maurice’s Costume From Beauty And The Beast:

Sister puts A LOT of detail into her doll costumes!  Right away we can see the large overcoat she made for Maurice.

The coat is sewn from dark blue, cotton fabric.  She embroidered french knots down the front of the coat to look like buttons and gave each sleeve a rolled cuff.

Maurice wears a blue vest under his coat.

The vest is a light blue, floral printed fabric and closes in the back with snaps instead of Velcro.  Like the jacket, the vest also has a row of french knots (faux buttons) embroidered down the front.

Since it’s pretty much impossible to find fabric in the exact colors and patterns worn by the actors, Sister had to take a few artistic liberties with some of his clothes.  Such as his vest being a bit flowery and his tie a bit Christmas-y.

Speaking of which, let’s take a look at his undershirt and tie.

His undershirt is a long-sleeved, white cotton shirt with a folded collar at the top and a red-checked tie sewn around the neck.

Next, we have Maurice’s brown trousers and stockings.

The trousers are a brown suede fabric and the stockings are sewn from tan cotton.

Lastly, we have his shoes:

Would you believe it if I told you these are John Smith’s original boots?  Well, they are!  Sister cut down his tall boots and transformed them into a pair of brown shoes for Maurice.

And that, dear friends, is Sister’s custom Maurice!

I’d say she did a pretty good job, especially considering this was her first attempt at repainting a doll.

Before we go, though, here are a few tips and tricks Sister would like to share.

Custom Doll Tips:

Tip 1: If you want your doll to resemble a specific character, try to find several good images of that character to study.  Get front views, side views, back views, three-quarter views…as many as you can find and look at those images while you’re painting your doll.

Tip 2: Be patient and go slow.  Rushing only leads to craftastrophies.  Take your time and let each layer dry thoroughly before adding the next.

Tip 3: Don’t overthink your repaint.  Mistakes happen and trying to get every single detail perfect can kill your creativity.

Tip 4: Above all else, use a glazing medium!  Layers of color make a doll’s face come to life, but multiple coats of paint can become gunky.  The glazing medium stops this from happening by thinning your paint without diluting the color.  This way you can build layers of color without it looking thick and gloppy on your doll.

So, whether you’re considering doing a repaint of your own or just looking to give some TLC to an older doll, I hope this look at Sister’s custom Maurice was helpful and sparked your imagination!