I joined Suzi Blu's Petite Dolls Workshop, so I've been working my way through the lessons. I began doing some practice sketches of eyes and getting the shape and placement correct, head shapes, head tilts, lips, gesture sketches, shading and blending. When I felt confortable with the beginning level, I moved on to sketching faces, drawing and shading and blending the eyes, and working on hair styles. Suzi is a great teacher, and her pdf's and videos are uplifting, entertaining, extremely instructional, and fun. She makes each step look easy, with the emphasis on practice, practice, practice. So far, I've been sketching on paper, but I'm ready to try sketching on a piece of birch playwood and then using a woodburning tool to outline the doll. I'll use watercolor pencils and acrylics to shade and paint the doll. I think one of the most important things I've learned from Suzi is to take chances, and that it's ok to mess up or ruin a piece because it's part of the learning process.
