Long Time, No See

Wow, it's been a long time since I posted, huh? Sorry bout that. For a while, I didn't feel like I had anything of substance to post about, but then that changed and I was to busy or tired to post. I have sold six dolls since I last posted about listing my very first dolls on etsy. Yes, six! And I have several more commissions lined up too. I hope you can tell, I am very ecstatic! And a little nervous, like always, but I think thats just a part of my personality. :0

I sold Cleo, Ghoulia, Frankie, and a Lagoona + Cleo doll I have not yet shown on my blog.

Here is Lagoona, she was a roller maze girl...



I was actually contacted on flickr first after someone saw her WIP pictures, they wanted reserve her in advance! I was so surprised and happy!

And here is the new Cleo that I completed at roughly the same time. She was my first commission, for a previous customer, the wonderfully sweet lady who bought Frankie.



The sixth doll I've sold is a Clawdeen, another commission for Wonderlandfan. She hasn't been shipped out yet, nor have I posted public pics. You will have to wait to see her.

In my last post I had mentioned that I was working on a steampunk Frankie and CAM Witch. I still have to finish Frankies outfit, but otherwise her face is done!



I had finished the Witch and listed her, but she's been on etsy several months now and no bites.



I think I am going to have to take her down and revise her, probably redo her lips. I've already ordered her a cute dress!

And finally, back to some much more recent girls! I only just posted pictures on flickr.

In chronological order, here is the CAM Triclops I repainted...



I decided to stick with her original color scheme, I think it was a good choice. I did, however, order her a spiffy new wig. The one she came with was poor quality and clashed. The wig should be arriving tomorrow and then I can finish her. I am so excited!!

Lastly, one I am very proud of, my demon/succubus Draculaura.



She is also unfinished. I made her some beautiful horns, but still have to do her wings and tail. This was my first time doing freckles, I love love how they look. I used the splatter method, where you dip a ragged paintbrush in paint (I used watercolor, so it was easy to edit) and then flick it with a tooth brush across the doll's face. It was very fun. Also my first time painting such an expressive face. It's clearer in other pictures, but she is smirking and raising one eyebrow. And rolling her eyes, I guess!

I still have a lot to say, but that'll be for tomorrow, when it's not so late.

You can find many more pictures of all of my doll repaints on my flickr, there is a link on the right sidebar. Please check out my etsy shop, too, for very detailed information on the sold dolls, link is also on the right.

And as always, please, please tell me what you think. I love reading other peoples feedback!

Thanks for taking the time to read! <3

My First Things on Etsy!

First of all, I apologize for not posting for so long. I accidently went off one of my medications for a week and experienced some unpleasant withdrawal symptoms. I felt dizzy, light headed, headachey and irritable for a while, it was horrible.

I'm feeling much better now and have gotten busy working on my art. I repainted the Cleo de Nile doll I bought a while ago. I think she turned out rather well!

Here is a pic...



You can find more pictures of her on my flickr account, and I've also put her up for sale on etsy, here. This is my first time selling anything, so I am very nervous and excited! She is only $50, so I would appreciate it if you could check her out and tell your friends.

I've also put the ghoulia I repainted up for sale, $40.



You can probably see the picture quality has improved, my step-mom, Carol, took some pictures of my dolls last weekend using her expensive camera. It was great!

This is a shot from the same photoshoot.

I love how the pics look. You can actually see what they look like in real life now!

I'm working on two more dolls to sell right now, a steampunk B&W Frankie and a CAM witch. I think I am going to make a wig out of viscose for the witch, and if I do I'll post a short tutorial.

Thanks for reading!

Ghoulia repaint Step by Step

Ghoulia repaint Step by Step, a set on Flickr.

I posted my step by step pictures and descriptions to flickr. More tomorrow.

Repainting Ghoulia

Yesterday I started repainted my ghoulia doll. I want to make her soft looking and keep her original eye color.

This is a plan I drew up for her.

What I want her make up and dress to look like

I drew my idea, then took a picture and colored it on my ipad using procreate. I also took a picture of the fabric I had, and overlayed it on the dress design.

What she looked like originally 

So far I have wiped off her factory paint using acetone, sealed her with ZM spray and drawn her basic eyes and eyebrows using Derwent watercolour pencils.

I plan on finishing her tomorrow and posting step by step pictures of how I repainted her.

Thank you for looking!

My first Sculpting from Life and a Quick Eye Tip

Yes, I skipped yesterday as I was exhausted. I had six hours of school and then three hours of life drawing/sculpting, it was nine when I got home.

By the way, it was my first time going to a live nude study, and I'm rather pleased with how my sculpture turned out.

More picture on my flickr

Not perfect, but good. At least I think so. It was definitly a new experiance, having a live nude model. She was a cute asian girl with a buzzcut. I'm just glad it wasn't a fat old man, nothing against fat old men, it would just be even more uncomfortable seeing them naked. At first I was quite embarrassed and it was hard to look directly at her. I soon got use to it though, and it was very helpful having real 3d reference. The sculpture is unfinished and the model won't be doing this pose again so I'm not sure what I'm going to do. I still see many things that need fixing, but can't quite get them right. So any constructive criticism you have would be welcome. I am also unsure of what to do with the sculpture when it is done. I don't want to keep it, and I don't want to squish it. My stepmother suggested I sell it, but as my father says, it isn't the most attractive pose. Any suggestions?

Anyway it was fun, and I think I'm going to go back. I might even take a class there on figure sculpting, though the flier mentions group discussions. And I don't like group discussions, the make me nervous and it's hard for me to speak up. I think it would be worth it even enduring the discussions, to learn from a professional.

And here is a picture of some of the eyes I was talking about last post.

Click to enlarge

I was right, the problem was the type of paint. If I use artist acrylic instead of craft acrylic I can get perfect circles using the dotter/embossing tool or a toothpick. It's still hard to get the pupil centered, but at least now I only have one problem to deal with instead of three.

Also, here is a tip for getting rid of airbubbles in your resin. First try your heatgun on them, most of the time the air in the bubble heats up and rises to the top. If that doesn't work, poke at the bubble with a needle, nudging it to the top. The needle won't pop it, but now if you heat it up again it should work. I think sometimes the bubble gets stuck/attached to the eye and nudging it frees it allows the air to rise when heated.

 One more thing, when using uv resin I find even when the resin is fully cured the surface layer stays sticky and if you touch it, it loses its wonderful shine. Instead of always having to re-gloss the eye, which doesn't even make it as shiny as before, simply use your heatgun or the oven to make them hot - before - you touch them and they won't be sticky and will keep their extreme glossiness.

I received the liv doll that I ordered from amazon. I glad I found her on sale for 6 dollars. I'm going to try to modify her lips, her top lip is just so derpy looking. The space between her nose and top lip is just too large and I hate it. After fixing that I will repaint her. I'm going to be posting more about repainting soon, when I go back to my moms where all my paints and pastels are located. I think I'm going to be posting several repainting tutorials soon. There seems to be barely any at all, especially for monster high dolls. But yeah, expect to see alot more fashion doll repaints, I've amassed a lot of dolls to paint. Three monster highs, one moxie teenz, around 8-10 various barbies and now this liv. I think I must be crazy.

I will still post ooak sculptures, I promise!

Thank you for reading!