Body Shop

Been doin' some work on the body this week; Just the beginning steps, but I didn't want to just drop off the map too long, figured I'd best keep you in the loop!

 Nadia's very excited to get herself a body!

 Well, I'll be busy making the pieces fit! Toodaloo~

Face is Complete!

So it's finally finished! I didn't bother to bore you all with the different stages of it, but I snapped a couple pictures of her before I did her final contouring- look at that squishy, sloped face. No definition! She looks like one of those people that look like parrots (no offense parrot-people, I love you, it's just not what I was going for this time)  I also changed her eyes and made them a little bigger. And not just because I messed up on one side and had to even it out.

Cough

She's even Oculus Approved!

    

I didn't mind her at that stage; in fact I almost decided to settle for it--but I wasn't content in that she didn't match my original plan for her, and so I pressed on. I'm extremely pleased that I didn't too, because I'm very proud of her final state! It's just what I wanted her to be! 

Sorry guys, but it's picture overload time.

  As you can see, she actually matches the jaw outline that I originally dictated! Though I decided to make her forehead smaller. 

I'm going to try to make a test plaster-cast of it this week or next. The refined plaster castings are what I'll test-string and make silicone moulds for resin with, as they are much more durable than paperclay, and I don't have to gingerly string them and then subsequently madden myself trying not to break them.

Anyway, stay tuned for work on the body!

And maybe some plaster joints, who knows. 

Let There Be Sight!

The photo got a little tilted when I cropped it, but this is one darn symmetrical doll head so far. I dare say that she is almost as mathematically perfect as my small, mortal hands can muster.

Also, I really like how her eyes turned out.

Feel free to tell me what you think so far!

So Smooth

So I just got back to doing some sanding on the head! 

 Yes. Yes it's as soft as it looks. So deliciously smooth that it actually feels a little gross on your skin.

 

 And  on top of that it's a lot more symmetrical and spherical on the inside, so that's a plus. I probably won't even attempt to perfect it till it's at least test-cast in plaster.

Now It's time for the most fun and absolutely terrifying part--The face! It's not terrifying so much that I don't feel like I can sculpt a face, but in that it has to be absolutely perfectly symmetrical. I have to employ several mirrors all at different angles all to make sure that everything is just so.

Free Eye Template

I've been out of town on vacation to the beach for a couple days, so I don't have another update for you yet-- but what I do have if a free eye template for you!

A free what?

Well lots of people make their own doll eyes (I'd post a tutorial but there are already so many, I can link you to them in the comments if you can't find one) and to do so, they need a printed iris to attach within it. When I started looking into finding these printed iris design I often found that they were either terribly small or a pay-for-digital-file sort of situation. So, I have here for you a simple larger bunch of iris designs! Some of them are fantasy, and some of them are more realistic; when printed they should measure out to be a half inch in diameter each.
I made them for myself specifically to fit Nadia's larger eyes, but I figured y'all could probably make decent use of them too!

Click Here for Full Size

Eye Sockets And A Lobotomy

So I've been busy carving out some eye sockets this morning while I ate breakfast; the most important meal of the day, servin' it up Gary's way-bop!

I took a lesson from Batchix in that shallow eye sockets result in an alien-like facial structure. I'm usually timid in carving things out that I spent so much time building up, so  I was really trying to go past my comfort zone in digging out these bad boys. I'm still not sure if it's good enough, but I suppose we'll see!

I also spent some time with my dearest friend, the dremel, in shaping up her jawline just a little more, though it's still not quite there yet.
Pleasantly close though.
                                     

The final thing I have to show you is that I took the liberty of sawing off the back of her cranium to give her a pretty little lobotomy. One of my next steps will be to make it so it's flush and even and fits together perfectly.

I've got my hand in there for a size comparison and totally not just to hold the head together. Cough.
Hope you guys like the small, infrequent updates, I like to keep you up to date and along with me!

Quick Update

Wowza, nothing for four months and now two posts in a day- bet you didn't think you'd see this much if me! Anyway, I wanted to give you guys a real quick look at my progress so far; I've spent all day building up the shape of the face.

See? Didn't I tell you it'd be all smooth n' pretty? And she's not even sanded yet! Once I do that her jaw will be much more angular, just like my plan.
Muahahaha

Just About To Start Off

I've got my goal sketch for reference to aim for, and my gorgeous albeit lumpy base to sculpt onto (it'll end up smooth, you just watch). Meet -the idea of- the head of Nadia! I opted to post earlier rather than later in my progress today as it's going to be a little busier than I expected, and I wanted to make sure I had something up today as promised.

More pictures will be up soon of my work on her! Let me know what you think of her proposed design!

Back From The Dead!

I sincerely apologize to all those who were following my blog for my disappearance. My family and I moved to an empty lot in the country, in a small trailer without water, and my dolls I had been working on were either lost or broken during the move. Up until now I haven't had the space, resources, or time to keep on sculpting- but am pleased to announce that I've begun a new BJD undertaking; on a sculpt to be named Nadia. She shall be roughly 1 1/2 feet tall, and in the grand scheme of things I plan on casting her in resin and posting her up for sale on etsy, so be sure to follow along if you might be interested (or just like looking at dolls- I do!) I'll post a picture of the beginning of my work on her head tomorrow, as right now I have her base coat of clay drying on the head-core. I've already plaster cast her elbow and knee joints. 

I have to knock those off first because double joints are the approximate largest pain in my hindquarters.