First time painting the Matryoshka Russian dolls :)

On our way to Suzdal, we were brought to the Matryoshka Doll Factory. It's located hidden from the main road and the buildings looked quite old. It's said that the factory has been there for 66 years. Wow!

Shaping the wooden base for the Matryoshka Russian dolls

This gentleman above showed us how he shaped the wooden doll using the special machine. It required skill and experience to be able to shape it nicely and comfortably. When asked, he said he started working when he was only 15 years old and has worked continuously for the past 45 years using that machine. No wonder it looked easy on him to shape those dolls. He even made the smallest doll shape as per shown on top of the palm above :)

After that we went inside the room where there were tables and chairs provided, plus some brushes, many basic water coloring, and a cup with water to wash the used brush on top of each table.

My niece and I with our creations: Before and After

Each of us was given a chance to paint our own Matryoshka dolls. And look at the above picture, before and after paint! Weren't the dolls beautiful??? But there were actually not our painting. Hahaha... They were actually the sample of the dolls that were put on the table, to give us inspiration and idea on how to draw and color it beautifully ;)

Seriously painting the colorful dolls

Well, it looked easy and simple, isn't it? But tell you, it wasn't easy at all to draw and paint a nice one.

They had few rules on which part to be colored first. The sequences were as per follow:
1. Sleeves part
2. The cloth part - front and back
3. The apron
4. The face area (eyes, eye brow, eye lashes, nose, lips, and hair)
5. The top part outside face and back side too
6. The base of the doll
7. Signature at the base of the doll

Everyone at different ages were having fun with it. We could paint it at any color that we like, any design that we want. Every doll became a very unique creation. While painting it we could hear funny funny comments from the other participants and made us laughing. It took us more than an hour to paint but yet, still not enough time to decorate now beautifully.



My own painted Matryoshka Doll :)

Lalalala.... That's my creation! :) It was just a simple and basic. I didn't have enough time to decorate more. I made agreement with my niece that this doll would be a gift for her upcoming birthday present, while her doll would be a gift for my upcoming Birthday present :) Our Birthday are just separated by 1 day.

She also hasn't finished hers and she wanted to continue it back home plus doing many repair jobs to make it much more beautiful. Well, let's see the final result when the time comes! ;)

The Manager cum owner explained the dolls to us translated by our guide, next to her :)

So, we were all having great time at the factory. And before we left, we shopped some of the doll products. Although the price set was slightly expensive, we were still buying one or two as a souvenir and after went through the painting workshop, we became appreciating the artist's effort in making beautiful dolls :)