This is his "intense concentration" face.
[There's a certain satisfaction one gets from working with their hands, of shaping something from raw material and getting something beautiful in return. Of course, thanks to HQ Russia didn't have to carve the wood for his matroyshka dolls himself, like in the old days. They were provided for him along with the paint, and so he's been sitting for hours, diligently painting faces and clothes onto the dolls. He's only about a third of the way through the set, but if you look closely you'll see that the dolls don't just have ordinary faces - they're the residents of HQ.
Come and bother him. He's open to commissions suggestions as to who to paint next.]