New duds.

Shade, one of the Art Doll Crew, has finally gotten clothes to suit him. He's a bit of a clothes-horse or fashionista so he requires glamorous or interesting outfits. These were made by Nezumitoo on Etsy.

These are just phone pics, so they're not very good, but at least I now have a skylight in my hallway to add some natural light I can shoot quick snaps in.  (it used to be the shaft for a swamp cooler but I got central air so my Dad built it into a skylight for me)

Fayeth, one of my MSDs, also got into the Nezumitoo order and has appropriated this coat for herself even though it's SD sized.

Making Solas, part 2

Part 2,
Part 1 is here.

I am making a doll of a Dragon Age character called Solas, who is a bald elf male.
I am going to make the lovely but happily inexpensive Resinsoul/Bobobie Tang into this character.

The Plan:

First, facial mods. I need Tang to resemble Solas more closely. I'll be adding or refining his elf ears, and reshaping parts of his face.

Second, Aesthetics. I want to paint and blush him to look just like the art style of the games.

Third, Outfit. I'm going to make him his basic clothing from the game art, with a few accessories.

I ended up going out of order and doing a lot of the sewing first.
Then I did a ton of sculpting. See part 1.

So as of yesterday here is what he looked like.
We went from this:

To this:

And then today I scrubbed my fingers sore doing sanding work on this sculpt and polishing up the details. More pics and updates to come!

edit: UPDATE 1/10

I am now adding paint and blushing, using images from Dragon Age Inquisition to see how the actual animated figure was "skinned" with a digitally painted texture. I can copy the shading and colors. I was able to put his little brow scar in as an actual indentation- pretty proud of that. I will be adding more color and details later today, like his lip color, freckles, eyebrows and eyelashes, and so on.

 Here he is all shirtless and scrawny but looking more himself. I wish I had better eyes for him to use but these were the only ones that fit. They are the perfect color, just not the best fit.

 He's judging me over having trouble trying to work out those stupid foot wraps of his. He couldn't just wear boots like an ordinary fantasy character, oooooh no.

Making Solas- Dragon Age doll.

I am making a doll of a Dragon Age character called Solas, who is a bald elf male.
I am going to make the lovely but happily inexpensive Resinsoul/Bobobie (? could be either honestly I could swear I've seen him on both websites' roster- they are sister companies) Tang into this character.

The Plan:

First, facial mods. I need Tang to resemble Solas more closely. I'll be adding or refining his elf ears, and reshaping parts of his face.

Second, Aesthetics. I want to paint and blush him to look just like the art style of the games.

Third, Outfit. I'm going to make him his basic clothing from the game art, with a few accessories.

***

I ended up going out of order because I am rather ill and not recovering in anything like decent time. *grump* So lying in bed I've had a lot of time for stitching things.

So first, parts of the Outfit!

I'm gonna make a basic outfit based on images from the Dragon Age games. (I should put a pic here of the outfit. Should. Don't have a decent one that isn't someone's cosplay.)

Solas' uber-nerd turtleneck ensemble has this green dickey-collar underlayer, which no one seems to know the true identity of. I am positing it could easily be some kind of vest thing.

So I made a kind of vest thing, out of greeny brown faux leather stuff I had.

I've left the back open and pretty untailored so that when the doll arrived I could fit it to him better.

Then I worked on the cream sweater thing itself.

Here you see my messy lap-table drawing board, which I use when I craft while sitting in bed. (You'd be amazed how often I have to do that. Er, I can explain! I've been sick a lot the last few years, and have worked out this method as a survival strategy for not going stark raving bored.)

It has this collar edging which is unbelievably finicky to do at this scale.

I made the whole collar part as a separate piece that I then attached.

Again the thing is open up the back so I can adjust it to fit around the body when I have it in hand.


Ta-da!

Then guess who decided to turn up today? I had to scramble to get decently dressed enough to get to the door before the mailman could walk away thinking I wasn't home. (Oh, like you sit sick all day in bed wearing a fully presentable outfit. Don't judge me.)

The outfit needs a little work to fit him better, but not bad given that I sewed it without him present. Definitely gonna take up those sleeves for one thing.

Oh that face. Uff. Not a strong resemblance at all. The eyes will need to be smaller, the jaw longer and wider, the ears modded.

I really, really wish RS/BBB would take a hint from other doll companies and show more than one highly-obscured-by-huge-wig shot of the doll's face. I had no idea his nose would be so slim and pointy, and he has an overbite like a looming tax audit.(it hangs overhead?) Welp, that's what the Dremel is for, after all.

The plan at the moment is to modify the heck out of his head, then spray paint it white and blush it back to matching. That took me two or three days last time I did it to a doll, because first the Apoxie modding has to cure before you sand and paint, and then the paint has to cure before you seal and and blush.

 I started on his nose first.

 Then I did some work giving him a jawline and filling up those giant eyes. It always looks awful when it's this rough.

Then I started refining  the work. Filling in the eyes will be tricky. I had to stop working because I am sick and my hands shake. I'm going to try doing a little more smoothing out today.
 

White Faun- Fayeth has a face

I’m pretty proud of myself for dragging my fancy camera out and making myself remember how to use it. 

We got a snap of warm weather here in the mountains today so I was finally able to get a faceup on this little darling. Now all she needs is white eyelashes.

Some hobbyists claim that people have looked down on them for owning ResinSoul dolls. (i’ve never seen it meself.) Ju has actually been on my list of Grail-ness for years, in spite of her low price. I just had to figure out what I wanted her to be. 

Fayeth here is a ResinSoul Ju in white on a hooved Soom Adamelli/Shale body. She’s been made to match it by some creative blushing, as the resins do not normally match at all. I made her wig of Tibetan sheepskin, but her eyes are from evilBay.

"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.

The White Faun- experiments with Angelina Fibers

This is my Soom Adamelli, an MSD sized doll with clear resin hooves. She doesn't have a head yet but I'm awaiting a Resinsoul Ju head with long elfy ears. She's going to be a pale forest fae, ethereal and feminine.

 I'm experimenting with making her clothes, after failing to find anything for sale that would work for her. This garment was made with Angelina hot fuse fibers. I will try again once I get more fiber, but this is a cool looking start, I thought.

So far she has no name.