Thursday 26 September 2013

"Inside"











Watercolor, Ink, Gouache and Acrylics on Arches Watercolor Paper in Tin Box...

Friday 13 September 2013

"Bed of Peonies"



Watercolor, Ink and Gouache on Arches Watercolor Paper...

I was rather busy the last few weeks and I'm sorry that I did not post more regularly. I hope I can get back to this blog again, since it helps me to keep everything organized.


Saturday 3 August 2013

Black Unicorn

As promised, here is the process post of the black unicorn. The process for this one was basically the same as for the white unicorn, except that I added the hair at the beginning. That way I did not have to worry about a seam at the top of the head, but it made the whole process much more complicated because the curly hair was sticking to everything and started to look gray when I sanded the head down, because the dust clung to the fake hair.



I started with an aluminium foil, wire and sticky tape armature and glued the hair to the back of the head into a deep cut I made with a scalpel. I used a lot of glue and it was a messy affair.


This is with the first layer of clay added. I wrapped the hair in foil so it did not get stuck to the clay. The nostrils look really stubby and kind of awkward here, so I changed them the next day.


I looked up some pictures of draft horses and changed the nostrils that way. And I added a little beard which you can barely see in any picture because the head is always resting on the chin.




The base coat of the unicorn is black gesso. I like the idea of the big black unicorn head but it was hard to add any details like I did with the white unicorn, and taking pictures is kind of hard.


 

Here it is, all finished. It has a gilded horn as well, and yellow-ish eyes. And you can see the beard in this picture. There is nothing else to say, except that I really like handling the two heads, but I put them away for now because i want to use a mat varnish and I have not found one yet that won't turn yellow after some time.


Wednesday 17 July 2013

White Unicorn

Like I promised, here is the process of the white unicorn in pictures. It was, like I mentioned many times before, just an experiment, even though I would not call the finished head an experiment. But I did not know how I wanted the finished thing to look like, which is why I changed some things pretty late (like the hair).



I started with an aluminium foil, wire and sticky tape armature. It looked good at first but it was not stiff enough, so when I added the clay I kind of ruined the armature because the Magic Sculpt hardened while I used it (Magic Sculpt is a two part epoxy clay, it hardens through mixing resin with hardener) and I had to use force to get a smooth surface.



First pic shows the rough surface, on the second one I smoothed it down a bit (mostly with my finger nails and water) and decided for a place for the eyes.



Added more clay to the upper side of the head (I had to sculpt the head in two parts, since it had to dry on one side first). This part was pretty much finished, until I decided to try to get some fur texture in it, since I worked with that on two of my three dolls and it would be important to know if the clay was still soft enough for that.


I added the the texture with a pottery needle. Some parts were still pretty soft, others were hardening pretty fast, which made the whole process a pain in the butt. It all worked out in the end, but it stressed me out because working on the texture was a timed event. I should not have been any slower.


The horn and ears were very useful for working on the lower side of the head. I was adding the fur texture starting at the seams to the upper side so they were not visible in the end.


This is the finished head. At first I thought this was it, but for some reason (I really can't remember the reason) I decided it needed some hair.


It took some time to find the right kind of hair, I tried different things, but in the end I used some silvery gray plastic extensions. The picture above shows a bit of the hair. It was not that easy to add the hair because Magic Sculpt is hard as a rock when it has completely hardened (which takes about 6 hours). In the end I just added the extensions which left a bit of a bump, but it is not very obvious. I used white gesso as a base coat for the acrylics I usually use to paint the faces.



Painting at night has its disadvantages, one of them is that colors sometimes turn out all wrong. The first paint job of the fleshy parts turned out very yellow-y, so I added some pink. And I gilded the horn at the tip because I love to use that gilding wax.


And this is how the head looks in the end. I am very happy with it. And the long hair and blue glass eyes gives it a magical look.

There is still the process post of the black unicorn incoming, which won't be that exciting because it was pretty much the same process. Only that I added the hair straight at the beginning. But more on that  in the post itself.

Saturday 13 July 2013

Black and White

This blog is kind of quiet, and I am really sorry for that. I am currently learning for my last exam, but in my spare time I was working on some experiments. I wanted to try how magic sculpt would work for my dolls faces. It is really different to what I am used to work with, but I like it. At the beginning I only planned to do one head, and it was only an experiment, but over the course of working on it I added some gray extensions and even gilded the horn. I really liked how it turned out and started a second one, this time in black (because somebody told me to make a black one). The second one was inspired by draft horses, so it is bulkier than the first one. Here they are...




If you read this and are interested in purchasing one of them (or both) they are still up for grabs. There will be more detailed posts about them and their process soon.

Friday 28 June 2013

Frida

You might remember that black fox doll I was working on. Yeah, I never posted a picture of her finished, so here is a complete update, pictures from the beginning to the real "birth".





I always start with the face. Usually I use some air drying clay which works find for that kind of face and snout. Currently I am trying some new things, but I am fighting with myself...


When I am cutting all the parts and sewing them together I am often working on the floor, since I don't have a table that is big enough for all of it. And I can vacuum after scattering fake fur everywhere, which is a plus.


A wip pic. Nearly done with sewing everything together.




Done with the body. It has a wire armature inside so it is poseable. This was the first time I worked with an armature, and it was really hard. Sadly, it did not work out completely, one of the ears slipped out but all in all it does not look that bad for my first time. After I finish the body I start to paint the face. I always wait until the whole body is assembled and dyed (I usually dye the body, but black velvet does not show much of anything so I skipped that step) because I try to fit the colors of the face and fur.


Working on the cape. The black lace is lovely, it has the perfect weight for a cloak or cape.


I added a wire to the collar because I wanted the whole thing to look witchy or like an evil queen or something like that.


And here it is, all finished. I really love her look but hate how hard it is to take decent pictures from all the black with my mobile phone. Hope that my camera won't have such a hard time.



Well, I hope you like the whole thing. I will make some decent pictures soon.

Wednesday 26 June 2013

The Custom Toy Show

This post is really late, but there are so many things to do right now, papers to write and stuff to learn for university. And I am working on some experiments as well!

The Custom Toy show took place at U5undvierzig and it was my first show, so I was superhyped. So hyped that I forgot to bring my own camera, so all pictures here are courtesy of Patrick Weinhofer. The show took place on my birthday, which was awesome. I was very nervous because I have never showed my dolls outside the internet, and it is a very different feeling, having people comment on your art right into your face. But everything went well. I was super nervous because I am not used to being "outside" and at "social events" but I made some friends anyway.

And I wish I could display my dolls as beautiful as that at home, but sadly, I don't have neither the space nor the materials. Maybe when I have a bigger apartment or even a studio.



Albino Deer and Rodrik


Sophie and Frida


Albino Deer (Custom Raffi) Close-up

There were so many awesome toys. 










You can see all of the pics over here, so go have a look!

I am already working on some new dolls, but it is taking a bit longer than usual since I am experimenting with new materials. The clay I usually work with is a bit to fragile for the deer doll I am planning right now.

Wish me luck with that!

Sunday 9 June 2013

Why I haven't posted in quite some time...

I am not dead, and this blog is neither.

Four weeks ago the side of my belly started to hurt. I thought it was only muscle pain, maybe I was tense because I tend to tense up when I sit on the couch and sew a lot. But the pain did not go away, and I started to have a fever instead. On monday three weeks ago my boyfriend decided to call an ambulance and they brought me to the hospital. It turned out that I had Pyelonephritis and I spend the rest of the next week in hospital.



So yeah... I am better now. I learned that I should listen to my body because hospital visits are no fun, especially if syringes creep you out. And I already felt better after three days in hospital but they were waiting for my blood tests, so it took me a week to get out. But even with the free time on my hand, I did not draw much.





The white walls were not very motivating. 

All I wanted to say is, well, I'm back and will post some more in the next week. I finished some stuff in the last two weeks and have some plans for more to come. I guess you could say, stay tuned... if you were stuck in the 90s or something...

Wednesday 15 May 2013

the frustration of not knowing your materials

I am usually a very spontaneous person when it comes to my art projects. I have an idea and I need to create it... right now. The only thing that is allowed to come between me and my art progress is a trip to an art supplies store to get everything I need. Yes, reading up on materials and techniques would probably be an immense help, but it always seems like such a waste of time to me. And finding things out on my own and experimenting can be very rewarding. Sometimes my way of doing it works, which is awesome. And sometimes it does not work.

One of these examples is the Raffi custom I am currently working on. I saw it and I had this instant idea... it had to have some antlers, big ones. Just.. because. I had already worked with wire armatures before, but the one for the Raffi turned out very wobbly. It might be because I only had some golden jewelry wire but what did it matter, it would have to work!

This is a picture of the very beginning. You can see the golden wire and the antlers in the back of the pic. And yes, I cut myself and used a Hello Kitty bandaid. I regret nothing!




I still had some super light air dry clay at home, so I decided that, when the antlers had to be that big, they should be light, because else they would probably bend down to the floor, which would look stupid. It took a lot of fumbling with the clay and the wire, both did not seem to like the idea to start a relationship for my little deer project. When I was done, it looked like this.




It was not that bad. They looked nice, but even after drying it was still bendy and wobbly, which was not what I wanted. I let it dry completely and decided to add another layer of light air drying clay. The antlers ended up a bit thicker, but still nice. Nice to look at at least.




But then, today, I moved it from the table, very carefully, to another place because I needed to clean a bit and one of the antlers broke. It did not fall off because of the wire underneath the clay, but I could not keep it like that. While staring at it in despair and thinking of some easy way out, I saw another crack on the other side.

 I decided to follow the fastest and probably easiest solution at that point, use some Magic Sculpt. I don't have that much experience with it yet, but I initially did not want to use it for the antlers because it is really heavy. I used it for the head and the whole thing is in danger of falling over if it was not for the tail of the same material that kept it kind of balanced. 





The antlers got another layer of clay and look really thick now. It is currently drying, but I have no experience at this, and I have no idea if it is the remedy for my breaking antlers.

So.. what does this whole experiment tell me? I should start planning things out a bit. If I had used the right thing from the beginning, this would not have happened. The right wire, the right clay... On the other hand, these failures help me realizing just that. That there are things I should not use in this or that way. But it probably cost me more time finding it out this way than it would have if I was just looking for advise on the internet.

I can't wait for the clay to dry. There is not much more I can do now but wait...