Decisions, decisions...

I have been busy with many painting activities (I think I bit more than I can actually chew!) But also, something kept me from starting on these beautiful ladies....
I didn't know exactly what to do with the Fox! She looks so ready! I let them have a chat among themselves and this is what happened:

 Fox: OK girls, we have to select the fabric for your outfits.
Sun: I love this yellow gold!
Moon: The blue with silver is mine!

Fox: Hmmm I like this green one, but I already have a dress... Plus my tail needs room to wiggle.
Sun: Maybe you can have something added on! Like a tutu.
Moon: Plus you can always accessorize with a hat...

Fox: Oh! I always wanted a hat! But my ears don't give much room for it
Sun: How about a pointy hat?
Moon: yes, like a fairy! It will look darling with your tail, and I bet there is not any other fox fairy in the world!

And so, with our plans settled.... I will show you more pictures when the ladies are all dressed up.
Thanks for visiting!
Linking to MOM

The girls are here!

Wow... I was waiting for one doll to visit and guess what? Three showed up! Such a thrill!
I have Leandra's Fox and Tracey-anne twins, from my "Dolled up" team.
Willma's colorful doll helped me to open the box and welcome the girls:

 

Wilma's dolly has a new pointy hat and matching shoes... will post more about her soon!

Wilma's doll and news

I painted her little face, and I will do a couple of more things for this little dolly:

To see how she started click HERE

And HERE are some news on how my Tiny Team's other dolls are doing.
I am still waiting for my other team, but I hope to get a doll before this one has to go, so I can take pictures together!

Visiting Art Doll : Painting a doll face

And finally, to leave you with a nicer image, here is the painted face of Wilma's doll. I am still working on her but I wanted to show her little face; she arrived with a blank face and I added paint :o)

 

Wilma's doll is here!

From my Tiny Team comes Wilma's doll, visiting me via Lulu's Apple, who gave her a festive hairdo and beautiful little flowers.

This little doll has been visiting my garden, trying to figure out what make up she will be getting and if a little extra something is needed for her outfit.

I told her that I know just the thing she needs.... but it is a little surprise ;oD
So stay tuned and you will see....

Tiny Team Traveling Doll update!

Oh I am so happy to report, my little doll arrived to Australia well and has been getting prettier. She has a name now: Dimi ♥

 

Wilma gave her an Australian look, I absolutely love the designs and colors! Look at Dimi sitting pretty on a clay pot by a garden: Her skirt is fantastic!

And guess who she met Down Under?? Lulu's doll was arriving to beautiful Australia right when my dolly was getting ready to go!
Hello dear friend!

Do you want to see more pictures? Visit Wilma'd blog HERE

Doll eyes

I personally like to buy my eyes, but I have done some myself in the past. Hard to guess the right size for me! It is still fun to experiment but in my case I end up making the doll's face according to the eyes I already made, not the other way around :oB

Anyway, here is a fun tutorial on how to make art doll eyes, by Granet. You need to click again in the image so it blows up to a large readable size.

Here is another different way, using clay and paint. very cute, click HERE

And a more simpler style by "the drunk gnome", also with clay, HERE

And last but not least, Misty Moon Creations shows how to make dolls eyes HERE

Hope you have fun experimenting with clay!

He is a lucky man

My Gypsy Guy is in London having the time of his life... he is quite the ladies man, just look at him. Here he is with Xanthi's doll, don't they look cute?

And here, he is with Tracey's big boudoir doll, and his other traveling little friend. They look so tiny in comparison! :o)

In a few more days I will publish their transformation, and their fun trip to Spain!

Thank you Tracey-anne for letting me use your images!

Video Tutorial

This is a very nice tutorial video AlouaisA aka LoveLingZ


Includes the beginning of armature, eyes and hands sculpting.

Adorable letter and paper doll!

OMG, I want to share with you the most adorable letter! This is a thank-you note from the granddaughter of my friend Rhonda. She is a doll, and so smart! I love her handwriting! Xo) ♥

And since we are talking super cute things, this next link is a little paper doll, the most adorable ever! Made and generously given by the awesome painter and illustrator Manon: click HERE
Isn't it sweet?

Extra photos

While I wait for the next dolls to visit me, I will post these other photos of Lulu and Xanthi's dolls:
Something distracted my model and the photo-bomber hehehe:

 

And the little shoes I painted on Xanthi's doll:

Lulu's doll went to Australia

I worked on Lulu's doll and had so much fun!
We tried different hair color of mohair, unfortunately I didn't think of taking pictures. But we settled in a mix of blond and honey.

 

I love the way this next picture turned out! Reminds me of Les Miserables:

 

This is what I made for Lulu's doll: hair!

 ......Lots of it!

It is like 7 or 8 inches long :o)

I had this particular long honey color for along time but never really seemed to find the right doll for it... till now.

So we were taking more pictures and getting ready for her trip to Australia, when we noticed a feline visitor...

photo-bomb! lol  ٩(◠◡◠)۶ ....My crazy cat.

Thanks for visiting and come back again to see what doll visits me next!

Xanthi's doll new face

After a nice brake, Xanthi's doll finally had some work done, first with pencil....

and then paint added to her, and this is her new look, what do you think?

She was all happy, smelling the roses :o)

 

and a last close up:

Lulu's doll visiting me

Traveling in that box was extenuating! Lulu's dolly needed to relax a bit before starting any make overs! :o)

Oh, more comfortable on a chair, by the flowers...

The day was so warm, she was quite content to be by the shade in the garden:

And how nice it is to visit with friends (Xhanti's doll) while enjoying the afternoon!

Maybe now we will be ready to start thinking of colors, outfits and fun stuff... visit again to see the progress!

Two guests!

Wow, my 2 teams' dolls arrived at the same time! yaaay!
From Xhanti in Greece comes this sweet doll ready to have a face.

The dolly told me she wants to have green eyes :o)

Relaxing in the garden after such long trip:

She is thinking what clothes should she wear:

Visiting with Lulu's doll:

Check back again this blog for more pictures!

Talking about photos

When I paint, I scan my art most of the time, or tape a direct and even picture of the canvas with nothing else in the image.
But when it comes to dolls, it is much better to find fun angles, props, good light, and almost like a painting, you have to find the right position in "thirds", meaning, divide in thirds with imaginary horizontal and vertical lines:

 ...And place your doll (or main object in the photo!) on the two thirds to left or right. For a composition, it is more pleasing to the eye and gives you more space to play with if you .
Just practice a lot, if you are like me that wants everything pictured right in the center :oD

And a different photo with props, and placing the doll on the third side, but I think there's too many things to distract the eye:

Cropping the image a little, makes the eye go to the doll easier:

Have fun practicing!

More photos!

For my traveling doll's mini team, I was thinking on how to add the hair, and how much to add to her....

I thought of giving her some tails but then I decided to just let it fall, and added tons of mohair! The above image is before I cured the clay torso.
I glued the mohair on the doll hair the same way I made the tutorial HERE

Linda is on her way to Australia now... we are starting Spring here, and She will be going to an end of summer weather, she will have fun!

Well, some news!

I had already sent my doll from my team, I was settling down for my other artsy activities when I learned some people had to cancel their traveling team and left 2 doll makers pretty much team-less, and I had been thinking already I would love to be part of 2 teams, like last time.... so I offered to be part of their mini team, and here I am! yaay!
My mini team's members are Lulu's apple in California and Wilma in Australia!

Since things were already rolling I went to my box of unfinished projects and I found the perfect beginning for a cute little doll. You probably have seen her in the eye tutorial.
She has been sitting pretty with only half a head of hair and no body. So, to begin with, she needed a way to attach the head to a body and polymer (or paper clay!) is the solution for crazy problems like this one.

I made this funky looking body part aka torso, out of polymer clay this morning. Making sure the size was right and there was a way for the head to sit safely on it and that it had a way to attach to a cloth body, so it has 2 little holes front and back.

I named her Linda. Keep checking for updates to see her progress!

Here he goes! Traveling Art Doll 2013

This is my Gipsy Fairy Guy... he has no name yet! I will leave that to my next team member in the Traveling doll :oD
So far he is only a barely covered armature, a face with pointy ears and a 5 o'clock shadow.
He is starting his great adventure going to England, then moves to Spain for a while, then to Greece and when he comes back to California, he will be so transformed and different, with so many stories to tell me!
Hhhmmm I wish I could hide in the box with him as well and go places! lol

 

 

Thanks for visiting, and I hope you enjoy the ride along with my team of wonderful doll makers!