Don't forget to poke the photos to enlarge!

Wednesday, June 13, 2012

It'll Be OK Soon.....

That was Tessie talking to the new being that is going to come to life over the next couple of days...

But before I go there, I wanted to show you the pattern that I found in one of the books from the Internet Archives site.  It was in a book of embroidery put out by Liberty of London around the turn of the last century.  I think that this is what I am going to be working on for the stretchers in the Crooked Cottage.  I will do it in sewing thread on silk.  Wish me luck...
Now about that person....Tessie has decided to play nurse to my Doctor Frankenstein. 

It started with her talking to three chenille stems.  I took two and twisted them together and folded them in half.  Then I took the third one and folded it in half and twisted it together.  I slid the short one between the halves of the longer one and made a stick figure.  The arms are about three quarters of an inch down from the top.  By twisting the body/head portion, with the arms in between, I forced it to stay together. 

By that time, Tessie had decided that this was her new best friend and that I should be very careful with her....

That's her in that pile of Super Sculpey that you see by their feet.

I don't think that the new friend is aware of what is going on around her yet.  Hopefully not.  she is going to get a lot of rough treatment before she comes to life. I cut about 3/4" off of the ends of her arms and legs to get the right proportions for a lady that is a bit taller than Tessie.

The next step was to wrap her upper torso, forearms and legs below the knee with floral tape.  I would have preferred white, but all I could find was green.  It will all be covered anyway, so it really doesn't make a difference.  It is simply to make the clay not stick to the chenille stems.

By the way, this is simply how I do dolls.  I don't think that there is any right or wrong way.  I have been doing it for 30 years and this is what works best for me.

OK...Back to the action.  The container that Tessie is holding is eyeballs.  They are perfectly round white glass beads. 

I took a piece of clay about the size of the end of my middle finger and formed it into an egg shape.  I stuck the neck bone into it closer to the back than the front.  Then I flattened a piece of clay and wrapped it around the neck and smoothed it into the head.

I them put a flattened piece of clay on each shoulder and wrapped around to the under arm.  This was also smoothed into the neck area.

I put a pad of clay on the upper back and a thicker one on the chest area and gave the lady a bit of shape.  That's just in case she wants to wear a low cut dress. 

And yes, I added a bit of cleavage with a toothpick.

You will notice that Zar is not allowed to come into the area.  This is a women only activity.

About half way down the face, I poked a couple of holes for the eyeballs.  There should be an eye width between the eyes.  That's just how people are built.

I have to quit for today.  Other things to do.  I will get to the rest of the face tomorrow. 

If you want to see someone do a really great demo of sculpting a doll's face, I recommend that you go watch Jodi Creager on U Tube.  She has a series that is outstanding and tells you a lot more than I could here in the blog.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xo4COOhPk3k&feature=relmfu She has a lot of other dolls  there also.  Take a look.  You will have a wonderful time.

The doll in the tutorial is a larger doll, but she does a lot of outstanding 1:12 scale dolls too.

I will be back with Tessie and friend to show you more.

See you tomorrow.

7 comments:

Phyllisa said...

Hi Casey. I appreciate your letting us in on your secrets to making a mini "person". I have not tried making one yet, but I have one who has a broken leg that needs repair. Perhaps I can figure out how to do that by following your directions.
Phyllisa

Kathi said...

Love that stitching design you found. So intricate. I could never do that!

I've watched Jody's videos and agree they are great. I tried. I failed.
Your doll already looks pretty. Love the shape of her head. :D

Can't wait to see more!

Lucille said...

What an exciting new project, Casey. I love it when you make dolls.

Natalia's Fine Needlework said...

Casey, your embroidery intrigues me. Good luck. Will be waiting for the progress of stitching impatiently. Mini hugs, Natalia

AuntLou said...

Loving that pattern! Wishing you luck. It looks intriguing to work upon. :)

Marisa said...

I like Kathi tried and failed...so I moved on to Mini Food :) but I think I will try again I need my own Tessie to help me out around here.


Love Marisa:)


(what am I saying..I see what you go through with Tessie and I want one of my own???..I should probably re-think this)

Sandra said...

Casey, thanks for the tutorial and the link. I'd like to try to sculpt a mini figure one day and you (almost) give me the courage to do so vbg! I have to keep reminding myself that you have 30 years' experience and that's why you make it look so easy, but it is still daunting for a beginner.
Sandie