View attachment 778 I've started work on making a body for a DZ Samantha head. I am making the body short and chubby (5-6 heads) with a corset-trained style waist. I am currently making her from stoneware clay, but I will probably cast her In ceramic in order to achieve a nice thinness. I started with this base sculpt, but I really didn't like it, so I have since started again
So I started again, making another newspaper armature for just the torso, and began bulking it out. The shape isn't quite right yet, I want a stylised and extreme hourglass, but it isn't quite there yet View attachment 779
Do you like large hips? Normally, it should still be smaller than that, but if that's what you like then it doesn't matter.
It's not so much that I like big hips, per se. I would say it's more that I am trying to achieve a fusion between realism and cartoon. This is not an anatomically correct sculpt - I am morphing different areas, and yes the hips are one of them. I'm trying to sculpt a character, rather than a Greek statue, if that makes sense! The body has also been refined a tad further. I cut off the arm/leg holes and thinned them down a tad. View attachment 788
Thank you! made some progress on the body, well, ish! I cut up the body for the torso joint, and hollowed it out But I have been feeling that the torso is too long for what I wanted, and the shape isn't quite correct. I really like the shape, just not for this character. So I made a scale drawing to comparison against. The drawing is a more accurate depiction of my aim at this time.
Oh no! What are you going to do with this torso? It's coming out so nicely! By the way, what's it like to sculpt in stoneware clay? Is it self-hardening? How do you like the texture? I've never worked in that clay before so I'm curious. Thanks!
oh don't worry, I am defo keeping this torso too! I'm still finishing/smoothing it, and I aim to make the limbs the same size so they will fit both torsos. I really do like the sculpt, its just not the aim for this head! This will probs become a future doll, perhaps with a head made by me (which could be terrifying! I'm good at bodies... not so good at heads >_<) with regards to stoneware clay... hmmm... you see, that is a massive kettle of fish XD (I am a ceramic masters student). Water-based clay (so the stuff you put in the kiln) do have various states of hardness and softness (wet, leather soft, leather hard, bone dry). different levels of mark making can be achieved at different states - so I am hollowing and refining at the leather hard stage, so I don't lose the sculpted detail. With regards to the texture, I like it, I like the handliness of it, but I am smoothing it down more, you can get it very smooth and satin-like. I probs wont be taking it that far, but it is possible! From a use point of view, I wouldn't recommend stringing whilst it is dry - it is very brittle and I think it would break. But after a kiln firing, I think it should hold. If you are used to DAS paperclay, its not a huge jump to stoneware clay. You can also make the stoneware clay into a paperclay - which I find a lot nicer to work in than DAS. I haven't tried La doll, just cause its hard to source in the UK. If you have any other questions, let me know! As for making, I started a new body sketch Due to the proportions, I think a higher chest joint will flow better than a waist joint at this point. My drawing is what I am following at this point
Casual box of body parts... Body, cut up with the higher joint. I'm not sure on the upper torso shape, so might change it. Began jointing the leg. Slow going!
The new torso is also looking great! And thanks for answering my question about stoneware clay! So since you say it's brittle in this stage, do you plan to fire it before stringing it? Anyway, can't wait to see more progress
Glyndon - thank you so much! I'm glad that she is liked Tengucrow - thank you too! I hope you agree with my torso change and if you have any more questions about water-based clay, let me know! Yes I plan to fire her before stringing. I am testing her joints as I go - it most likely will not be perfect, but I can remake parts of nessecary. I do plan to cast her, (well, if she turns out pretty) but I haven't decided if I'm going to cast her in plaster (for a clay or porcelain doll) or silicone (for resin). I guess it mainly depends on how she looks once fully made
GlossReality, thanks again for answering my questions ^_^ It's really awesome to see you use your knowledge as a ceramics student to sculpt your doll in this material! I will be very interested to see how you make the molds (if you do decide to cast her, especially if you decide to make the plaster molds for clay or porcelin- I feel like I don't see too many people make plaster molds compared to the silicone!) Do you think or know if you need to prime the sculpt before molding considering the material you are using? I think so far she's turning out great. I think artists can be kind of critical of their own work but I'd say you're on a great path to making something casting-worthy!
Here is a pic of some progress! My one currently finished leg does fit both torsos, which is good! This picture also demonstrates what I mean about different states of dryness - these pieces are all made of the same clay, but the colour changes as it dries. Jointing second leg begins. This is the part in hating XD primarily the knee and elbow joints. I 'get' the idea of double joints, but it might take me several iterations to get them working as I would like. Torso comparison pics, showing the intended flex range. It's hard to tell if this will work in practice under tension, but I think it will With regards to moulds, there are a lot of porcelain doll makers, but I think they aren't as widely known because there isn't as large a community around them, like DOA, and also porcelain dolls are generally priced higher. (Angel egg and enchanted doll come to mind.) I think it's defo interesting to have both options however, as there is a completely different 'feel' to the two medium. And there is something I would like to do, which hasn't done before, and it will only be possible in clay. When making plaster moulds, priming isn't nessecary. However, like silocan moulds the cast will retain the texture of the original, so if you need a smooth cast, it's best to smooth the master with whatever method. So for me, I could burnish for clay, or sand, terrasig, or all of the above. I personally like the slightly tactile ness of something that isn't sanded smooth, but that could easily change in the future! I'm keeping my options open at the moment. I currently plan to terrasig and buff my girls. And thank you! Yeah as an artist, it's hard to see anything but all the flaws in any given object that we make! But I hope that as long as we enjoy what we are making, things will work out good
I did a base for the arms, and I'm letting them firm up before I add details. The first torso has been given a layer of terra sig and buffed. When dry, it will be white. Sponged and smoothed down the second body. I'm pretty happy with it, so I'm gonna let it dry fully now. I'll work on the knee and elbow joints when it's dry. Scrapping the one I had. It wasn't going so well.
Tray of body parts! The arms, feet and hands may not be suitable I didn't have time to finish them totally, nor give them the shiny coating. I might consider these blanks, and will be replaced. I also haven't made joints, as I didn't have time XD so most likely will make them and fire them later
Welp. It's been a while since I posted last. And that's mainly cause there was no progress. I was procrastinating on the joints XD even in polymer clay, I just kinda didn't want to tackle it. But now I have! So here she is, strung up but without her hands and a foot. Why? Cause when I put the second foot on, it kinda broke... And I didn't want that to happen with the others XD to be fair, I also don't feel like I need them yet, especially as I very much plan to resculpt them anyway So. Let's start with the bad news. She can't stand, because her knees don't lock. She can't kneel, because her knees aren't flush. She can't sit, because the rim of her hip is a few mm too high. She can't hole her arm close to her body, because it's too chunky at the ball joint. Is this the end of the line? No. It's all fixable with sanding, it's just annoying and it looks bad XD But if you will excuse that, here are some photos! She is 32 cm tall Shoulders 20cm Bust 16cm Waist 12cm Hips 16.5cm
I don't like sanding either so I use xacto knife to cut off chunks and then sand the lines. Makes sanding much faster and easier )
Hahah yeah that would be a lot easier! But she is ceramic so sanding is really the only choice at this stage! I don't mind though, despite what I originally thought, she sands quite quick (I'm guessing it's diamond grit or something). So far I've refined the left upper arm and started on one of the thighs
This project is moving along quite fast. I think you have chosen a very nice body design that compliments the head very well.
Thank you Lilith! Sadly she isn't going as fast as I would like, but mainly cause responsibilitys. Yay lol. But, I did make some progress recently! I gave her an all over sand, amd improved some of her issues. But it became clear that sanding couldn't solve much. Sadly, ceramic is not easy to significantly alter after firing, but too weak before firing for some of these issues to become apparent! So, searching for an alternative, i tried kmelvin (I think that's his username)'s carving wax. I haven't done much more yet, but we will see how it goes! These legs are a re-sculpt, so they are also slightly longer than the original pair.
veeeerrry nice! the legs are looking good! Will you be trying other body parts in carving wax? Was it hard to acquire?
Thank you tengu! I'm preferring this silhouette too! Without a doubt, I will be re-attempting the arms in wax, once I get back from the pottery show I'm showing at. Nah it was pretty easy to acquire! In my country, I found that scarva was cheapest for the paraffin (£3 for 500g) and microcrystalline (£6 for 500g), talc was from the pound store 350g for £1 and then dye from Amazon faf to mix, it didn't quite look right but we will see!!
