Making Aspen the Dryad, part 2

This is a kind of post-dated post. A lot's been happening in my life and I've gone Pro as an artist so things have been rather hectic for 2017! But I did finish Aspen and she's such fun to play with!
Here's how it went.

After my thumb healed I was able to finally do her blushing. I went for a very simple and dramatic faceup, with greys and browns. He skin has been painted and blushed, with those little marks on it that birches and aspens get. I made those dimensional by using a little grainy acrylic texturing gel.

Then it was just a question of popping her wig on... and she was done! She's a ton of fun to photograph and her body takes some getting used to in the posing department but I love her expression.

I probably won't bother making clothes for her. Trees don't wear clothes! With Autumn coming up, I will need to finish her other wig- the golden Aspen in full glory!

Making Aspen the Dryad, part I

So I've wanted for ages to make one of the weird super-slim alien jointed bodies sold by Doll Chateau into a Dryad. I found the perfect body for this, the K-08 male, and while it is 52cm with a head on, in scale it counts as Mini sized. She'll just be awfully tall for a 1/4 doll.

I chose the boy version of that body for this project because the girl body has huge hips and almost no ribcage ....and i know it's weird but just looking at its frail and tiny torso makes it hard for me to breathe- it's a personal anatomy nitpick/phobia/involuntary reaction I can't get around. So I bought a boy doll and will be making it into a girl who could plausibly have organs and inhale or exhale.

Then I just needed to find a head. I wanted it to be more than just another pretty face. The right face for my dryad would need to be something special, striking, otherworldly. Armeleia of Seed Doll/Seed Arts made this little bird faced head called Wol, and I knew she'd be perfect. I snagged one as soon as the order went up.

In the months before Wol arrived, I spent a lot of time working out how I would make her into a dryad. I knew I wanted a very special kind of wig, not just a green hair wig. I wanted to give her leaves, and do four or more wigs that I could change seasonally to take her outside for photoshoots. I settled on hand dyeing a LOT of fringey lace.

So much lace. So much hand dyeing. Partly I used Dye-Na-Flow by Jacquard, and partly just fabric markers for the brown twiggy bits. Each piece of lace was laid out flat, then painted and marker'ed one.
strand.
 at a time.  ....Yikes. Sometimes I wonder about myself and my idea of fun.

 Then it was time to work on the body mods. I shaved off the boy bits on the hip piece, which was easy, but the chest was a little trickier. I wanted her to have some small breasts, so I had to sculpt some in. Luckily this body has wide, low, long pecs so there's plenty of room. Here's the first few cuts with the ceramic scraper knife, and you can see my pencil guidelines. Nothing too extreme, just an A-cup size.

 Making things symmetrical before I refine the shapes. A certain amount of symmetry is desired here.

 Then a LOT of sanding! So often the key to a good mod vs a kind of shoddy one is the amount of time you're willing to put in with the sandpaper and descending fineness of grits to get a good smooth finish.

 

 Even at this stage she's not quite done. I hurt my thumb with an S-Hook at this point, (you do NOT want to know, it was pretty bad) so sanding had to stop while my poor digit recovered. 

Luckily Wol arrived to distract me!

 

 Here she is! And with her genius little s-hook holder made in the shape of a cluster of crystals! It's super sparkly in person. Armeleia hand cast it herself to include the glittery bits, so unless a bigger company wants to go to that kind of trouble they might not steal the concept. (fingers crossed. it's such a nice detail) Wol herself was in a cute little printed cloth bag I will be keeping.

I spent some time with my bandaged thumb and engaged in an evening of wigmaking. I'm pretty pleased with the results.

 Here she is, starting to come together! I am so excited! Her eyes are some I'd already owned and used on a doll I had sold on, and I was hoping they'd work for her. I love her look!


What you're seeing here on the blog is the Summer Wig, but she'll have other seasons too. From similar lace I've made her an Autumn wig in full Aspen Gold. I want to make a Spring wig with budding leaves and flowers, and a Winter wig full of ice crystals and dusted with snow.

I plan to blush her like an Aspen Tree, with lots of little black bark texture marks, and greyish brown shading and faceup.

PSA- why you NEED a proper respirator when spraying Sealants or paints.

Dear friends, Let me show you guys why respirators are VITAL no matter what you are spraying.

I have a shop where I do my spraying work. It has a filter and a fan that sucks the air out of the spray chamber, filtering as it goes.




This is a few sprays of a paint onto some doll parts. You see that square in the wall? That is the filter. It was white when I started this. That is what was pulled out of the air while I sprayed, the can was never aimed at the filter. 

That's what ends up in your lungs when you inhale aerosols. it just shows up here because I was using a paint which has a strong color.

Please, PLEASE use a properly fitted and rated respirator. You only get one set of lungs.

Aneirin- Saint to Monster, part VI

This is part 6 of a series.  (Other posts may contain Anatomically Correct Doll Nudity.)
Part 5
Part 4
Part 3
Part 2
Part 1

Well, it's been a long haul, and the most intensive modification I've ever done, but he's pretty much finished.

 I went back and did more contouring to his faceup, and an absurd number of coats of Tamiya spray enamel to the lengthening mod I did on his neck. He has two pairs of ears so far, the Shy/Sad/Sleepy ears, shown above, and his regular Upright ears. I mean to make a few more pairs, but those will be further projects. These are his minimum needed ears. (not a phrase I ever anticipated typing...)

 Here is his full body glory! (but this was before I added color to his nipples. Oops.) I may be adding more color to his claws on his feet, since they don't photograph like I blushed them. He does stand on his own pretty well.

 

Here he is all finished up and wearing his little raggedy kilt wrap. People on Den of Angels commented that he looks confused about being indoors. he does look quite baffled by walls and carpet, when his preferred home is a forest. I can't wait to get him outdoors for some photoshoots.

Thanks for following along! I really appreciate everyone who's been following this whole long escapade! 

Aneirin- Saint to Monster, part V

It's been a long term project, but we're almost there!

 (This post and the links below are likely to contain Anatomically Correct Doll Nudity- NSFW or for especially shy people) 


This is part 5 of an ongoing project.
See Part 4
See Part 3
See Part 2
See Part 1

I've been very busy but I've had snippets of time here and there to work on my dolls as art therapy against depression. It helps. 

Here's what Aneirin's leggies look like now!

They've been  bulked up with Apoxie Sculpt, sealed, and sprayed with Tamiya paints. His hip sockets, which were prone in testing to chipping, have been sueded with actual leather pliver suede. This helps him to stand pretty well by himself.

Next he'll need body blushing. I was gonna do some of that today but the weather turned out too cold.

I also made him a raggedy lil' skirt cloth thing to wear. He's not big into bothering about his clothes.

I remade his wig, because the poofiness was bothering me. This time I made a "hard" style cap and applied the little yarn dredlocks to that.

His new hairstyle is a lot of dreds with the top half of them tied back. I also started his faceup in this shot. Just some basic contouring and color. His ears will get done when I do his body blushing. He looks weird without his eyebrows. So:

All that's left to do is a few more touchups and then to get this boy body-blushed!

Next part! 

Part VI

"I aten't Dead". Dolly Plans as they stand now.

So I've been off this blog while the school year kicks my butt. So much has happened this 2014 that it's hard to fit it all in. I will now attempt to anyway.

Personal news:
I have moved to a House, and my downtown art studio is being moved to my home. Now I'll have a room for dollies sewing and photography, and an outdoor studio for sculpting, modding, armoring, leatherwork, woodwork, casting, prop making and other messy pursuits. There will even be a ventilated Spray Booth for Safe Faceups in any weather! Right now I have the indoor Craft Room half set up, and it's been SO much easier to do things in there.

In June, I finally figured out what's been so wrong with my health, probably for years now. I am diagnosed Non-Celiac Gluten Intolerant. Making the change to eating totally Gluten Free has been a daunting, life altering shift ,and I've been taking it pretty hard, but I'll adjust eventually. I am trying to find a balance that will work for me, with ways to make vegetables my number one food pyramind base when I hate them so much. Uck.

Dolly News:
Some dolls have been let go, and some new faces have come along!
Sir Malcom, an Iplehouse SID hybrid from the Court group, and Fiachra, a Nobility doll hybrid, have both been sold on. Their characters are not fleshed out enough to justify me keeping such a huge bulk of costly resin around.
I posted my work on Moira, my new FL Minifee Mirwen mod, earlier this year.

 I have also acquired a longtime Grail dream, a ResinSoul Ju head on a Soom Adamelli/Shale body with clear "crystal" hooves.

 Isn't she darling? I made her a wig after a few false tries. Somehow the braids  kinda make it. I've always loved the Ju sculpt. I had to blush her to match her snowy RS resin to Soom's ivory, so I hope her head will mellow out soon and make that color match a bit easier. Maybe I can put her head under a UV lamp to hurry it along. I've done that with other resin- doesn't harm it a bit.

This is Jules! He and his gal-pal Freckles have come to live with me! They are sharing a Pukifee body. I finally have every body size of FL tinies, so I can craft reliably for each of them! Jules is a Juri '11 Multihead, and Freckles is a Zio Multihead faceplate set (Not shown, obv.)

Dolly Plans:

Remember this guy? Aneirin is my Dollshe Saint frankendolly mod, and I am so excited about finishing my outdoor Studio because I will finally get to really get busy with sculpting and modding in a work environment designed for that! I want to finish Aneirin so badly. He and a few other half done mods that really needed the right facilities will finally get my attention.

Sculpting! 

All I can say is those of you who have been wishing there were more >Size 0-2 dolls available out there... Well, start saving your pennies because I have planz.

Things the doll hobby does not have much of: Dress size 14-16 Ladies, in SD or MSD size. Men who have any body fat whatsoever- I don't mean obese, I mean not-shredded or lean. Mature faces. Mature MSD faces.  All in skintones from white to pink to tan to black, heads separately available from bodies, multiple hand options, multiple bust options, possibly even multiple limb options.

If those things interest you, watch this blog.

If, on the other hand, you are a recaster (thief) or recast supporter (buyer from thieves), get lost. You are not welcome here until you quit giving thieves money for stealing.

Golem of Ivory and Brass - Aleph

Aleph is a Luts event head on a Dollzone 70cm body, and has been much customized. His eyes glow in the dark, his chest gem flashes and flickers, and the music box key in his back lets him play Fur Elise. Work by me.

Mod Project- Minifee Muscular Girl, Part III

 Doll Nudity Ahoy! NSFW.



This is part III of a project. 
Part II is here. 
Part I is here.

Now that I have moved into a place with a yard, I can spray sealant whenever the weather permits. This let me get on with my Minifee mod project.

(Good News: Gradually I will be moving my studio operations here to my home, and when I have an In-House studio I get a LOT more work done.)

 I was able to blush Moira and give her the scars appropriate to someone who fights. I got her a head set at last, and those got faceupped to match. She is a Minifee Mirwen sculpt. (In this pic her chest piece looks like it really doesn't match the rest of her, but that's an optical illusion- only her bust does not match, and it'll be under clothes.)

 Here's a close look at that faceup and her hand with all the little scars and nicks on it.
The only thing I've left undone is to give a touch of satin gloss to her fingernails and lips, and that's because I don't have gloss here. I'll have to fetch it from my downtown studio.

 Here's the full effect of head finally on shoulders! I am so excited to finally have her in one piece! I was worried the head wouldn't match the dynamism of the body, but I think the Mirwen sculpt's strong brows and resolute expression make it work.
(Yes, I know her breasts don't match the resin- I got it as close as I could, and gave her a hint of nipples so she wouldn't look too weird to me, but she's never gonna be in shoots fully topless so it doesn't matter that the paint is not perfect.)

 Here's how she looks so far! I've made her a burnt orange tunic and these little cropped short pants. I tried to make her some shoes but I am not happy with the results yet. Besides, she needs boots. I'll have to make them myself because no one sells what I want her to wear. Sigh, story of almost all my dolly wardrobes. I think this here is what she'd wear while she's working out- just pants and her 'bra' top.

Annnnnd that's as far as we've gotten! I got her sword from eb@y, if anyone is looking for similar.

So far she lacks eyes and wig, but there's a Doll Fair coming to my area soon, and while it's mostly traditional vinyl and china dollies, in the last few years there have been a few people selling BJD things and supplies as well. I'll take her to the Doll Fair with me and get her some eyes and hair. I love the thought of being able to try wigs on her before I buy them. Some looks will just not work for her. I am imagining her with probably brown hair, but we'll see.


Update!

 I made these shoes a few years back for my Medieval Reenactment hobby, and I wear them all the time for comfort. Since they are quite simple in structure, I opted to duplicate them for Moira to have some casual footwear. (*history soapbox* These are often called Ghillie Brogues or "bog" shoes, and are a very simple shoe of a type worn in many parts of Northwestern Europe, from the early Dark Ages all the way into the mid- and even late- Medieval period.)

 Here they are on her feet. I took Moira with me to a local Doll Fair to get her a wig and some eyes, and our matching shoes amused several people.

And here she is! I did not expect her to end up with this hairstyle but I tried the wig on her and it was just right. It's a Monique "Alexis", and I think it's a 6-7, snug fit. It needs some product on it to smooth flyaways but I do like it. Her eyes are glass 12mm Greens of an unknown brand, I think the dealer said something like "Anna Tina"?


 

 That completes her modification! Someday I'll do another Project post set when I make her some armor.

Hands Rides a Horse

This is a repaint and re"wigged" Our Generation toy horse I have worked on, in my first attempt so far. These horses look like stocky little warmbloods or big ponies for MSDs. Someday when I get an airbrush I'll redo some of the paint, but for a brush job it's not bad. The horse will not belong to Hands, but he was the only MSD dressed to go riding so he got to do the shoot.

Mod Project- Minifee Muscular Girl part II

This is part II of a project.
 Part I is here.
Part III is here.

 Here is the current muscle body next to a Minifee female body with "small" (medium) bust.
Now, I tried, and tried, and tried to get the paint to blend into the resin, but here is my Modification Achilles Heel- I can't get that to look smooth. I probably won't until I learn to use an airbrush. I realized after failing the 8th or 9th time that what I was trying to paint over would be almost always clothed anyway, and for the rare exception I could smooth it out in PS. Someday I shall redo this with an airbrush, but not right now. So for now, I painted it to be close to the resin color, and then got on with making her some underwear.

Here's her bra: kind of clumsy compared to modern lingerie, but I have her character in a fantasy setting, not a modern one. Her clothes aren't going to look modern. I plan to post stuff I sew for her here,  because she's going to require custom clothes. Stuff that fits either male or female MNF bodies won't fit her.

Here's one more shot of her in her little mini-shorts and bra. I can't wait to get her a proper head and do her blushing and faceup. Aithne there next to her is a MNF/Unoa Sist Hybrid. 

Part III is here!

Mod Project- Minifee Muscular Girl -part I

 NSFW Doll Nudity Ahoy!

This is part I of a project.
Part II is here.
Part III is here.

Artist's foreword: Yes, I am constantly modding something. Yes, it makes me happy, so I'll probably keep doing it. Yes I have several other projects on. Yes, each of them will get done in due time, don't worry.

I glanced at a very feminine pic of someone's Fairyland Minifee Muscle bodied boy, (I don't recall which) and for a moment I saw something else. The idea of what I saw stuck with me. I often get the best ideas for art from what I think I see for a moment, not what I am actually looking at. I saw the idea for a Minifee girl with muscles, but still very much a girl. Her own different kind of beautiful. That vision captivated me, and I had to create this doll. She'll fit very nicely into a fantasy story I've been pondering in which the main cast is mostly girls.

So far she's just a male body I bought and have been modding. Eventually I'll get her a head and a sleeping head; I've already chosen which sculpt. Here's where we started, for a reference. A Minifee A-Line Muscle boy in NS. Ignore the horse, please.

First, the obvious- Removing the male genitals and replacing them. I haven't finished by giving her labia yet, but here's how far this part's gotten. I also removed all the seams on this hip piece.

 I've been removing seams as I go. I've found I like dolls without visible seams when I can get them that way. For any of my own dolls I mod, I've started just doing seam sanding as a matter of course, while I have them in pieces anyway.

 Then, reshaping the abs. Most women have generally different abdominal shapes than men, and every individual has different ab shapes anyway.
This is a nice soft shape for a slim and athletic girl, but the gal I am making here has even less body fat, so I'll need more definition than this. Still, I will remember this shape when I do other sculpting work.

 On many women, the outline of the main "sixpack" muscle set is like a chubby vase sort of shape. I added the bottom edge of the ribcage above the stomach muscles, and I have scraped away a teeny bit of the waist on each side, to give the impression of the hourglass torso slim women have, resulting from the curve of their hips and how the muscles anchor to it. Much of female anatomy is determined by the bowl shape of their hips- men's hips are more of a box.

 Here's the lower-body-fat, redefined abs, and the chest piece.
All that sanding changed the resin tone of some places a little, so I will have to blush and sand to get it all to match again. Not a problem.
I've scraped and sanded down the "adam's apple" of the throat, which does not protrude on a woman as it does on a man.
I sanded off the male nipples so they'd quit distracting my eye as I try to position the female breasts over the pectoral muscle.
Seams also got sanded again, wherever I found them.

 The Apoxie here is tinted so I can cover it easier- blueish grey Apoxie is harder to paint over and blend into the NS than peach-brown. The breasts of a woman with this much muscle definition and this low of body-fat are usually quite small, and her muscle tone would give them a nice perky shape, perhaps. Breast tissue in humans sits right on top of Pectoral muscle but does not necessarily cover it entirely, especially if the pecs are large and the breasts are smaller.

Part II is here.
Part III is here.

Native Son

Pic shot for photography class.
Hands is a Minifee Ruth modded and dyed by me.

Aneirin - Saint to Monster, Part IV

  (This post and the links below are likely to contain Anatomically Correct Doll Nudity- NSFW or for especially shy people)
This is part 4 of an ongoing project.
See Part 3
See Part 2
See Part 1

I've picked up with this project again, so there'll be more added to this post over the next few weeks as I update.

I got the right paints to go over my modifications, and I've been sanding the mod work carefully, so this evening I put on my mask and did some spraying. The grey is a surprisingly close shade to match the grey resin. Blushing will even it out. The off-white is called Racing White, but it seems to have gone on sort of... glossy, so I'll be trying another lighter coat later. I've also been doing some adding bulk to the thigh parts.

Update, Oct 20

Here's a shot of the built up thighs, in the rough stages:

On to Part 5!

Aneirin- Saint to Monster: Part III

As of April 2013 (just posting this here now!)

This is part III of an ongoing project.
See Part II.
See Part I.



Post contains Anatomically Correct Doll Nudity

Been working on Aneirin's wig. Felt cap, fancy yarn, hand-stitched a loop at a time to the cap. Certain yarns give the effect of messy dredlocks.

Practice shots with those ears of his...

I also worked on adding some better locks to his joints so that he'll be able to stand unaided. Balance is pretty tricky on them big ol' legs.

This is a pre-existing lock at the knee joint, but those little points were not high enough for the fit I wanted, so I added to it.

I built these ridges on the fronts of the hip parts to stop him pitching forward when he's standing. They will get sanded and smoothed like the rest of everything I've modded.

  I obtained Soom wrist parts for long fingered Soom hands! He won't be using his default Little Monica hands that came from that company with his body. They're cute, but hardly right for him.

I have dyed his pinky white Little Monica body parts, so that they now match the more greeny-yellow Dollshe and Soom parts. I used a bit of Rit Liquid Lemon Yellow and a lot of Rit Liquid Apple Green. He's still WS, just a different tone now. Here's an undyed LM hand in pinky white against the newly dyed midsection.

So now the white resin all matches, with one ironic exception- The neck and chest part. It's the right tone but not quite deep enough to match the head, so it'll get some blushing to make it match perfectly.

Advance to Part 4!