Mod Talent Show - Progress Journals

Well, the hardest part is figuring out what to do.

Idea Frontrunners:
A photostory idea involving one of my girls and her PukiPuki and a lot of fun little props I brought back from Tokyo. It's so rare that I come up with a story that can be encapsulated in a few frames.
A crazy big piece of jewelry that has been lurking in the back of my mind waiting for a huge infusion of time and money. Not sure I actually have the resources right now. Will have to finalize the design and get an estimate.
Sculpting and casting a head. Pros: I know how. I know what I'd sculpt. Cons: don't have any resin on hand. High failure rate. Allergies.
Liquid latex dress. Finally have access to the stuff I want to use through work, but I have plans to change the body on the doll it would be for in the near future, and I'm not sure I want to do it twice.
UV reactive full body tattoos. The transparent UV paint finally exists and I talked my salesman into sending me a sample. Need to do a few tests to see how Zoukemura Spray affects it. Already full stocked on paintbrushes. Have been stalling for years on this, so perhaps a deadline would be a good thing.

 

I like that St. James listed "cons" in her thoughts. I'm gonna snag her format if that's ok!!

Idea Frontrunners:
I thought I could perhaps knit something very complicated for the BJDs and show my progress throughout. Cons: I already did that with Monet's Haruni shawl and while that is probably the most beautiful thing I have ever knit, it took me FOR-EVAH (48 days!) and I'm not really anxious to do it again. (link to pics if anyone is curious to see) http://www.denofangels.com/forums/showthread.php?380474-48-Days-(The-Knitting-of-the-Shawl)-(School-C-Shawl-for-Dolpa) So... maybe not.

Another idea is to do something with Juniper Snowpea. The last story I did was the Twister story, and it's high time I do another. I thought I'd show the process of looking through her stuff, seeing if anything strikes my fancy, and spawns ideas for a good story. Also my photostories are usually not very well photographed - I never could figure out how people get SUCH glorious pics for photostories when I just don't have ROOM to do a good room setup with proper lighting and all that. So this time I'd like to see if I can make more of an effort to get some REALLY GOOD pictures as well. Cons: Well... Juniper Snowpea. She doesn't always want to stand, and most of the time, she doesn't think it's quite as adorable as I do to dress her up like a turkey or a spider. She bites. And more than once I swear she's widdled in my Cheerios as retaliation for the turkey outfit.

 

(following the leader, the leader, the leader...)

Idea Frontrunners:
☆Puki Spidertar - puki upper body, spider lower body (tarantula- likely red kneed or cobalt blue), and a modified spider face plate; accompanied by a little miss muffet photo shoot. Cons.... O_o? Stirring up arachnophobia in viewers?

☆Working Carousel for 26-28cm ish dolls - because during a stint of insomnia I figured out how to do it and I mean- come on- working. doll. carousel. Con- insomnia can be known to induce ideas not practical in real life... but I think this one is sound.

 

I have a few ideas for projects... but I need to be realistic about time and money. >_< I have no time lately... and even less money!

I've been thinking that I would like to build a more permanent version of my Triathlon set from last year. I love it as-is and have used it for photography a few times now, but the humidity in the basement is making the cardboard walls go a bit wumbly. I would love to redo it using wood and drywall, and I have an idea for how it could be done in pieces that could be rearranged and reassembled as needed. However, I'm thinking that it would probably be in the neighborhood of $100 for materials, and I don't really have that right now.

Idea #2 is to sculpt Elderling, a tiny Cthulhu BJD that Roommate and I dreamt up about six months ago at 2 am. I have doodles of it and it would be freaking awesome. The pro would be that I have all the materials already and I already know how to do it. The con is that I really shouldn't start a new doll until I finish Starling. Starling's almost done and people have been waiting incredibly patiently for me; I'm 5 months behind the goal I had set for myself! It's just that I love the rough sculpting, and the piddly finishing is so dull. I feel so unmotivated!

The last and most likely idea is to make a video. I could really push myself to finish Starling in the next week or two, then make a video of the molding and casting process. I'm not sure if I can finish her well enough that quickly... but I think I can. I just finished an incredibly exciting project (shipping it out tomorrow, yay!) that only took 2 weeks... so how long could sculpting some ankles and doing the final sanding take? Really? I think this is probably what I'll do. Besides, I like editing video.

Blah. I need more TIME. >_<

 

I know I will have to produce a photograph for this. *mulls* Could I actually create a series....a non-textual photostory? A collection.

Hmmmm....

Sinks the Idea of Shadow into the Dark Waters and waits for it to resurface with something in its teeth.

 

Okay, thinking practically about time and money and the future enjoyment of whatever I produce, I've decided to go for the tattoo project. I'm a little disappointed that it's not going to be the jewelry project, but that's a newer idea and I feel like it needs to stew a little longer and develop into a series. Plus, it only just occurred to me that the tattoo idea plays into the theme of Shadow very well. Not that we have to do something in keeping with the anniversary theme, but I like that it works.

First step: testing the paints. I want to use layers of flat, metallic and transparent paints with some pastel body blushing as well. No idea what order of layering I will like best or if that same order will work best. If it all seems possible then I can move on to the second step.

Second step: seam removal and sueding. Too bad I didn't get that done ages ago! I may do pliver suede instead of hot glue since that seems to be gentler on painted joints.

Hopefully I can get both of these steps done before the window of fine weather we are supposed to have in about a week. It is freezing, windy and crazy foggy in my fab microclimate right now. .__.

 

Drippy cold fog finally cleared today, so I coated my test piece and did a little painting after the Women's World Cup was over. (OMG! SO exciting!)
This is a perhaps unrealistically ambitious project, but it IS something I've been meaning to do anyway. >__< I can tell it's going to be really physically taxing though.

Here's a shot of the painting materials I'm using:


First test, Mystic Green acrylic strait out of the bottle, single coat, freehand.

Shows a lot of brush lines, doesn't go on even.

Second coat, same deal.

Color is better, but I guess I'll be sanding the hell out of the seams if they are going to show that badly.

Two more trials, one is a single layer of black airbrush paint, the other is Mystic Green thinned about 10% with 20:1 water and FlowAid.

The airbrush paint clots like ink and takes a long time to dry. I worry that I'd smudge it while handling a bunch of round pieces.
The thinned acrylic looks great. Will have to either mix really small batches very carefully or keep some in a sealed jar. Skinning is already an issue, but so is separation into strata by particle weight with the thinned stuff.

Testing metallic colored pencils. I'm too shakey all the time to be able to accurately freehand this whole thing, so I'm thinking that pencil outlines will help me stay in control of the design. I have to lay it out on the whole body at once, so it's going to have to be pencil to stay as clean as possible.

The green matches the paint well, so while I like the addition of the blue - and its blueprint quality - it might be too different.

Pencil outline tests, a second coat of the thinned paint, and a coat of metallic green over the black.

Pencil erased eventually, so I can definitely use the metallic for outlining. Second coat of thin green still looking good. Metallic green over black pulled black into it unevenly. Meh. Also tried pencil around the green paint, which doesn't work.

Mixed black airbrush paint into thinned green.

I like the color a lot more, but I think less black would be better for the final mix. Don't care for it layered over the green.

All together now!

I think I'll be doing green pencil outlines, black/green paint. I tried both green iridescent pastel and Volks blue flash pearl shine over the paint and didn't care for either. Too sparkly.
I need to test the Wildfire paint still, but first I need to find another black light bulb as mine has gone missing. Not sure if that has to go on over or under the final coat of sealant.

 

Ideas only come to me when I'm least expecting them. An external structure and deadline pretty much guarantee brain freeze. The whole situation is exacerbated by the fact I can't knit, I can't sew (well, I can, but it requires time and a sewing machine), I can't draw or paint (though I'm hella on baseboard and window trim), and I have zero talent in the three-dimensional arts. These are drawbacks.

I run over the skillz I've actually developed in the 6 years I've been involved with ball-jointed dolls. I have a few. I'm exceptionally good at dealing with post office counter staff, and I probably have the US Postal Service regulations and options better memorised than they. I'm quite good at persuading the pre-sorting area in NYC (the area that sends packages into customs) to track down stalled packages. And I'm on a first-name basis with the local sorting facility an hour-and-a-half away, though I'm not supposed to even have their phone number. Oh, and I've become exceptionally skilled at spending money!

I fear these have little contest value.

But I do know how to focus a camera, I kinda understand the concept of "Levels" in Photoshop, and I tend to have lots of stories in my head. They're actually not profound stories, so I try to think of unusual or emotional ways to tell them. When I first learned we'd have a staff Talent Show, a photostory seemed my best (only) option.

Theme? Well, love, consuming obsession, unquestioned passion of some sort. I like this theme. Ask me what is the essential pivot point of life, and I'll answer, "Relationships." Okay. Theme down.

Subject? I was just finishing a 7-act photostory at the time, so I didn't want to recreate that. And I want to use an unusual doll. I do have an unusual doll: Ochiyo, my moth youkai. Perfect. Subject down.



Format? I could just do a silent story, no words. Or maybe put together a little AMV. The advantage of this is that I could record myself performing Early Music on recorder and use that as an audio track. It's not a doll-related skill, but it is one of the few in my arsenal. I haven't decided. I think time will be the deciding factor on this one.

When I first posted a Gallery thread of this doll, a number of people commented she needed wings. Well, that seemed like a nice idea, and this was a great excuse to pursue that idea, but I wasn't sure how to create them. Should they be symbolic ... made from draped fabric? Realistic? Made from foam or feathers or fabric stretched over a wire frame? Remember the 'three-dimensional arts' part? I'd never do them justice no matter what material. So I commissioned member candy kitten (forgot to mention commissioning is another one of my doll-acquired skillz!). She was excited about the project and in record time sent me six (6!!) design ideas. Each one carried the theme of Ochiyo's colours, and I felt one would complement her elabourate faceup without overwhelming her. In the interests of keeping a few surprises, I shan't say which I chose.












Used with the kind permission of Linny Shephard

The story arc is roughly in my head, but I always allow for the unanticipated things that sometimes can develop when you enter that Zen place of picture-taking. So maybe the actual details will change a bit. I'm waiting on my wings. I'm pondering how to light this.

 

After an insanely stressful week I took a little time for myself to work on the puki spidertar.
Here is my rough (emphasis on the rough) sketch for the spidertar.

I'm basing the little guy on a tarantula because that's the teddy bear of the spider world if there was ever one. I'm thinking the cobalt blue but we'll see how bleaching the fur goes. The Puki body will string into the spider's prosoma/cephalathorax and I'm going with the proper eight legs with the puki arms acting as the pedipalps (I've been doing my research for this one ^_~). I would love to go with 8 eyes but I don't think I can actually fit that on the puki's face. Problem with work so small is space vs readability and also the thickness of materials themselves. I'll be modifying a spare sleeping head I had around to this end. I know he's sitting a little high for how tarantulas normally sit, but I'm thinking he needs to be to balance the visual height of the human parts.

Here's the start of the body- base is carved wood to have a solid surface for the legs to tie into and the connection is sculpty that I'll finish up with epoxy. The back end of the body will fill out with stuffing most likely but I think I'll need to put in a weight to balance out the resin parts. This is the 'ugly' part of the mod but the part that has to be right or the two bodies will never sit and actually look combined. So far so good though! Ugly.. but good.

 

I have made absolutely zero forward progress on any of my ideas.

 

Why did I not sand all of the seams off of the body before now! I've had it for two and a half years already. Today is perfect coating weather, but I can do nothing because I am full of procrastinating FAIL.

 

I had an idea brewing for a while and it all came together this week. Not sure if we are to post in process pics as we go or all at the end?
There! Since I wrote it down its on.

 

So far the only progress I made was shopping for supplies last Friday. Hoping to start something this week.

Will attempt a sewing project.

 

I demand that Kiya and BoH send some of that freakin' AMAZING work ethic and inspiration my way. NOW!

I, uh, have thought about ways and means in which to cast a long shadow. I have thought about restringing my cage dolls so they have their legs back. I have considered where I could shoot this tricky shot.

*butterfly!*

 

Managed to get some seam cleanup done, but my brain is up to its usual tactic of latching onto eight other projects that suddenly seem much more compelling than this one so I still haven't finalized the design of the tattoos! I guess all of these years of waiting has ballooned it into such an important thing to get just right that now I'm paralyzed. No matter how many times I tell myself it doesn't have to be perfect on the first attempt I never believe it.

 

Learning Techniques

Linny PMed me today and said the wings were finished and should go out in the post (from England) this week. She's just fiddling a bit with the antennae. She's not done antennae before. I suggested attaching them with a sort of headband arrangement, but she said she wanted to try magnets. I'm ridiculously excited to see them. Accomplished commissioning skillz come in so handy.

I've been reading about how to photograph in candlelight. I've never been successful doing this (photographing, that is ... I can manage reading). My pictures always came out looking muddy, when everyone else's pictures come out looking beautifully evocative, sharp with no blown-out flames (uh, not breath-blown-out, but so overexposed they're intensely white and don't look like flame anymore).

I've found several good sources that make me think I could manage this. Occasionally, I find conflicting advice, but the lovely thing about a digital camera is that you can bracket exposures, change settings and clickclickclick to your heart's content and it doesn't waste film. Much as I adore darkrooms and the whole soothing process of developing and printing film images, I do not adore the expense.

These references have been helpful:

Digital Photograph School - 15 Tips for Great Candlelight Photography

Enchanting Kerela - CandleLight Photography - How to Photograph in Candle Light. Actually, this site's School of Digital Photography has some other great articles on shooting and shopping techniques.​

The Set

All lighting will come from candles. I need to figure out how many, where to position them and how to set up reflective surfaces so the candle light offers a more diffuse glow rather than a strong single point source (and I doubt a single candle is going to give me enough light to illuminate everything suitably). Reflective surface options: white cloth in advantageous places (I have a great shower curtain I could use for this), maybe shiny gold wrapping paper to see if it brings a different brightness to the pictures. Not sure if I want to have a candle or candles appear in the picture until the denouement.

I wonder if using a patterned sheer curtain--like lace or something with leaves--between the light source and the characters would give me noticeable shadows across the set. The effect might be interesting, but these aren't the critical shadows, so if it doesn't work, I'm not going to be fussed.

For the stage, I'm planning to use my ancient, scuffed, black, tryptic, science project foam board for a backdrop and my low, Japanese-style kitchen table. This gets me a) more space for placing dolls than my usual top-of-bookcase studio, and b) is lower, so I can take advantage of different angles. Just going to have to experiment.

What to Wear, Who Else to Cast?

Ochiyo needs to look a little more moth-like all over. That includes what she wears. If I don't want Photobucket pulling my pictures, I need to clothe her in something. Normally, she hangs out in regular clothes and even sports a classy top hat. Not the least bit mothy. So I've been musing on other options. Moth bodies are furry, but wig fur is just going to make her look like a weird dumpling. Mummifying her in a fur-like trim is going to make it difficult to pose her. I thought about making a sort of caftan and edging it with a furry trim. None of these ideas moved me.

I decided to draw on my eBay buying skillz. Beachgirlnikita makes body suits! With the wings and Ochiyo's face, I can't risk getting something with a pattern. It's sure to clash. So I debated between a white velvet bodysuit and a black knit with a gold shimmer in the fabric ... maybe the candle light would do cool things with that glittery effect. I waffled long enough that I decided to get them both. Time's starting to feel shorter than it did, and if one doesn't work out, there won't be enough days to pursue Plan B. The little notice on eBay says they should arrive around August 5th-10th. I hope closer to the 5th ... the 10th's little tight.

The last actor to cast must be a handsome guy. It could be a girl, but I'm leaning toward something hetero for a change. Ochiyo is on the short side of the SD range ... 58cm. I want the guy to be tall. I want her to seem small and considerably less significant alongside him. So he's got to be a 70cm doll. That leaves me with Angelheim guys, Dollshe guys and a Souldoll Chiron. Hmmm. Pity a Euclase with his fantasy feet won't really work. She definitely looks insignificant next to him.

 

I am having some scheduling fail lately...

I started sculpting the tiny Cthulu BJD and I am rather delighted with the head, but I need to try to be more responsible and actually work on things that need to get done. Starling has ankles now (YAY!) and I am just working on symmetry, so I think she'll be ready to mold soon.

Baby Cthulu head...

He's making a weird face, like O_o.

But I don't think that Starling will be done soon enough that I'll be able to get her molded AND make a video about it. So I think that instead I will junk mold Derrida's head. I've been meaning to do it for awhile.



The casting company told me that I'd have to cut his ears down by around 50%... so I suppose I should just give it a quick chop before molding to save myself some silicone. It breaks my heart a little, but I can't double the cost of the head/faceplates just because I want the ears to be gignormous. >_<

So maybe tomorrow night I can cut the ears down and start claying in... maybe start taking some photos of my studio, do some doodles to use as illustrations for venting and claying and cores and stuff. I am thinking of actually doing it voiceover rather than subtitles... but I'm not sure yet. I don't think I'll be able to handle listening to the recordings of my own voice during editing. And if people dislike how fast the subtitles go on my faceup videos, they will pretty much hate my natural speaking speed. We Yankees talk fast.

 

I went to a lovely sewing meet on the 23rd and instead of sewing, worked on my spidertar's legs but I'm afraid I've got a lick done since then. I'm worried about the sewing and my thumb- I'll have to try to sew left handed. u_u We'll see how that goes. I do like how the leg armature turned out though- my entomologist friend said he has the stance of a health spider so I count that as a success. In retrospect- working pictures on my cell phone wasn't the best method but it worked this time!


I'm also thinking I'll do a fake flied guide journal of a spidertar expert instead of the little miss muffet shoot but we'll see what's most viable when the time comes.
I feel the deadline sneak up on me and breathing it's hot icky breath down the back of my neck already O_o

Work ethic? What is this work ethic you speak of? Now inspiration I'll make sure to put in a pretty little package and send it your way lol. I could use less distractions.

 

Heard from Linny today ... she's been better than her word all along, and seeing what she put into the post for me today has me almost in tears. I had no idea these would so surpass my imaginings. Maybe this is one of those times my planning might actually succeed, though very little of it can I take credit for.

In the PM to let me know she'd posted my commission were these:



Hand for scale:


And antennae!!!! They attach with magnets, as do the wings:


I am going to be so psyched if the gems and sparkle on these noticeably catch the candle light.

On the picture-taking side of experimentation, white cloth surfaces are giving me some light diffusion, but not the contrasty kick I'd like to see in the images. Going to try gold foil paper. Dread the thought of scrounging in the basement to find it. (This may say something about what I ought to be doing in the basement.)

 

Argh, I can't find Derrida's head. >_< I wonder where I put it? I'll look more thoroughly tomorrow. If I don't find it tomorrow, I think I will have to either go back to tiny Cthulu or give up! I'm sure Derrida is about though.

Tonight I took some pictures of my work desk and my casting area. I'm not sure how interesting that will be, but I know I like that sort of stuff when other artists do it. Still haven't decided on subtitles or voiceover... if this video is even happening! I mean, here it is, less than two weeks before the due date and I'm only just getting ready to pull the head out and brush off the dust.

 

I've just nailed down the idea for my entry, which was going to be a straight photoshoot but now will be specifically a photostory. An idea came to me as I was falling asleep a couple days ago so I feel I must go with that one . Right now I've worked out casting, the shots I'll need, and I've bought some paper to use in making a simple set. I haven't exactly worked out the two sets I'll need yet or costuming. I have only a simple photo editor program so I'm a little worried about the final steps but will venture forth anyway.

 

The RELENTLESS summer fog has me reconsidering my choice of project. Can I justify spending all of this time on something that I can pretty much guarantee will have chipping issues due to the humidity messing with the sealant? Maybe I'm making excuses, but I'm thinking it might be a good idea to switch gears and do the jewelry piece. At least I know from experience that I can do that sucessfully at 1am!

 

Hmm. Well. Derrida still has not shown his little primered face, despite searching. My last recollection of him was in a small cardboard box, so I'm sure that wherever he is, he is safe.

Back to sanding Starling... and I guess it's tiny Cthulu time!!

ETA: No sooner than saying that, I found him! He was in a logical place, actually... sort of. He was in with a bunch of heads I needed to repaint. I usually keep my sculpting stuff separate, but when I cleaned out my desk, I wasn't quite as organized. Off to work!

 

Struck with an idea at noon on August 6. It will involve me doing all manner of things I've never done for myself. Bring on the apoxy sculpt. *gulp* This may not be impressive when it's done, but it will hopefully get some 'first timer' points. XD

 

It really does seem a little silly for me to keep posting these, given how much intense effort *puffpuff(not)* goes into making a photostory. I don't normally get so elabourate, but when you've got people who can sculpt and paint and all else with the touch of genius, well, you sort of feel you need to justify yourself.

With that apologia out of the way, on to costuming issues. The bodysuits arrived day before yesterday (yesss), and they are both fantastic in completely different ways. I tried them both on (the doll). The black was very black, and even in indirect, natural, cloudy light indoors, she looks dark ... the shimmer doesn't really help define her body against the darker background. In candle light, it's going to be worse. She'll really just be a head and wings.



I liked the white because the crushed quality gives it even more texture. But it was very white. Wow white. That wasn't going to work either. (I didn't think to get a picture of Ochiyo trying this one.)


Used with permission of beachgirlnikita

I've never dyed anything, but I've certainly seen how tea-staining gives a nice antique feel. So I started to investigate on the interwebs ... tea, coffee, other ways to get natural browns. There are lots of "recipes." Two tablespoons of this, three gallons of that. Pffft. But which? Coffee or tea? How about both!? I had a little leftover coffee in the press pot from the night before, about half a pot full of tea from earlier in the afternoon ... pour 'em both in a bowl. We're not talking pounds of fabric here.



How long to leave it? Hmm. One hour, ten minutes, until you get the colour you want? Never mind the colour-you-want option. It might work better on natural fibres, but on polyester crushed velvet, you'll lose 90 percent of the colour on the first rinse. I left it in for a long time ... I went off and did other things, forgot I was dyeing and came back hours later.

But then I worried what I'd fix it with. Ah, this was my introduction to "mordants." I had to call in an expert, so I rang up Cynthia in Flinthills. I indeed got an education as we waltzed through the interwebs together from different states. I don't have alum around, I wouldn't know where to come by chrome (and really, I have no death wish). It was down to salt or vinegar. We decided vinegar. I'm sure it should have been the white cider stuff, but I only have the balsamic stuff. But I thought, "Well, balsamic vinegar is brown, too ... that might help." In went some indeterminate amount of balsamic stuff, and that sat for another who-knows-how-long. (I'd like everyone to know in my former life, I was a perfectionist!)

I left the thing so long I'm positive it couldn't have got darker, and I was half worried the vinegar was going to do the equivalent of eating moth holes. I shed a tear as 90 percent of the colour ran down the drain, hung the thing on a cupboard hinge with a twist-tie and let it dry overnight.

It matches the rosy tan of her neck ... not so much her face, but candle light is going to render everything warm anyway.



Ginko (Volks Aya) simply can't restrain herself from offering fashion advice. Ochiyo, however, isn't the least bit fond of pink.



We put the matter to a vote here (three people in residence). The son said, "Definitely the black." The daughter said, "Maybe the black." Hmmm. I'm outvoted. This is where I call upon veto power.

Formerly white it is.

 

Hurrah, I got Derrida clayed in and I poured the first half of his mold. I also did the laziest possible mold for Starling's faceplate... but I need to junk mold her so that I have the multiple faceplates to sculpt her different expressions. It's a good way to illustrate a glove mold. Derrida's faceplate is a two-part mold. I was sort of lazy... but it doesn't really matter since it is just a junk mold.

It'll take 24 hours for the silicone to cure, so tomorrow night I can get working again. In the meantime, being stooped over my desk has hurt my back a bit. I think it's time to play the 3DS and do absolutely nothing on my gigantic couch.

 

Day 1: Concept. I finally have one. I wasn&#8217;t going to participate, because I&#8217;m not really talented&#8230;I don&#8217;t sew clothing, I don&#8217;t do faceups, don&#8217;t make jewelry or props. But I was just doing some thinking about some concepts that I love about autumn (I&#8217;m quite ready for summer to be over!), and I came back to the Celtic cycle of life and seasons, the horned god animus, all of that. John Barleycorn&#8217;s the one! He really already represents cycle to me, so I feel that he works best. I&#8217;m not sure how I&#8217;d like to photograph him yet, but the image of the hunter just about to become the hunted is coming together. I want to give him the trappings of a Celtic warrior. It&#8217;s my heritage and it&#8217;s taken me a long time after having to give up Irish dancing to come back to it. He needs the blue markings, a copper spade-shaped spear, lime-crusted Cuchulain hair. Man&#8230;I&#8217;d love to do him up as the dying Hound of Ulster&#8230;That may happen before he gets repainted.



Today I filled in the holes on the Chalco skull where the cow horns go. I want to attach the Leeke large goral horns with magnets, so I&#8217;m filling in the holes, then I&#8217;ll attach magnets. Also researched and sketched out facial linework.

Day 2: Today I did all sorts of things I&#8217;d never done before! First I used the dremel to drill out holes in the apoxy for the magnets. The first hole was quite a laborious, long process. I was terrified of drilling right through! I used the slow speed, though, and I felt more confident for the second hole. It went much quicker. I attempted to hot glue the magnets into the holes (after running out to get some super strong magnets), but they just kept pulling out when I detached the horns. Finally resorted to super glue, and I&#8217;m letting them dry now.



This morning, I drew the lines on JB&#8217;s face in pencil, and after a paint mixing tutorial from Armeleia, caaaaaaaaarefully, terrifyedly (yeah, that&#8217;s a word), painted the lines on. I have done one faceup in my life, at the Volks painting class in NYC. Haha, Aone was very kind about it, but I was ecstatic when I got home, wiped him, and let a real faceup artist handle the dirty work. Really, this was the make-or-break for me; if the lines looked stupid, right there on his face, I would give up the project. I&#8217;m pleased with how they look, though if this was going to be his final faceup, I would be not as pleased. His faceup is up for re-doing in general, so there&#8217;s no panic about it.

I also picked up dowel, copper sheet, and leather cord to start on his spear. Time for the next &#8220;never before&#8221; task&#8212;cutting and forming metal. Another tutorial from Armeleia, and I cut out the spear. Very slow going&#8230;and boy, did I wish that spears were all made of nice straight lines! I was very pleased with myself that I didn&#8217;t break a single blade for the jeweler&#8217;s saw; they&#8217;re so thin, and you have to hold the saw completely upright&#8230;and turning corners? My left arm actually aches, not from the saw (I&#8217;m right handed), but from how much pressure I kept holding the metal sheet down as I worked. Then I sanded the edges to take away some of the nicks, and formed it using the vice and a hammer. I think I still might want to hammer a bit to get more texture, but I&#8217;ll look at it tomorrow and see what I think.

I am also very punchy today.

 

Tonight I demolded Starling's faceplate and Derrida's headback. I am over the moon that it looks like Starling's faceplate worked. I don't know if I've mentioned this before, but this is actually the 4th time that I have attempted to junk mold her... going back to March. I'm not sure what the problem was before... it may have been the cold or something... but I was getting cure inhibition in the silicone. On her face!! It was really horrible and made the junk casts look really painful and gross. This one seems to be clean and smooth, though, so tomorrow I will slosh some resin into the molds and see what happens! It's so exciting. I need to cast 4-6 of her faceplate so I can modify the casts for her different facial expressions. I haven't decided for sure what faces she'll come with. I know there will be a sleeping face and her default face... but I think I will do a grinning face, an open-mouth yelling face. Her two actual "expression" plates will be fairly extreme emotions. I'm not sure about the 5th plate, though. Maybe I should do a singing plate, since she is the music muse (Inkling was the writing muse).

Both Derrida and Starling will have expressive ears. For example, both will have an angry/yelling plate and the ears will be down and back like they are angry. Derrida will get an option plate with a quizzical expression and one ear pricked up and the other flattened back. I want to make a lot of plates for him! I still haven't decided if I will do a mini body or if he will be a head-only offering. I would like to make a body, but I also sort of want to skip right on to a 60cm girl with major curves and an open, expressive face.

And ugh, I didn't realize until I was claying in how OPEN Derrida's mouth is! I will have to fix that on the junk cast.

Off to go pour the second half of the mold!

 

I've painted my Fairyland Roke helmet and glossed it with some Shine Pearl thrown in. I'd already glossed my LUTS LE Abadon sword, but the streaky effect on the helmet was cooler so I've now tried the Shine Pearl gloss on it as well. I'll put a plain layer of gloss on the helmet tonight and then see what I've got. I should also start picking out costumes for everybody. I'm hoping to try some practice shots tomorrow.

 

Day 3: The easy thing I did today was using woodstain on a dowel. Wooooooooooooo.



The difficult thing I did today was learning to use an airbrush. I wanted the skull and horns to have a sort of aged patina on them, again showing that the hunter&#8217;s gear is old and he is tired. I wanted to airbrush a light brown over the whole skull (and a bit darker on the horns), and then take away some of the color on the higher portions to show the definitions of the bone. Getting an airbrush to shoot out paint is&#8230;not so easy. Tinkering with valves and such until there was finally a stream of paint made me consider sticking to pastels instead. However, I&#8217;m really happy this worked out! The smooth color that an airbrush applies was exactly the look I wanted, and it&#8217;s really a neat feeling to just watch the paint seem to spread itself on the resin. Made me wish I was spraying with something vivid like peacock blue rather than just a light brown! Also learned that keeping one&#8217;s distance is a good thing with an airbrush; I was rather dismayed by the fat splotches on one of the horns resulting from my nearness and intensity. Also, too much swishing isn&#8217;t a good idea with a gravity feed airbrush. I was moving the airbrush back and forth energetically, hoping to evenly cover an area, and suddenly there was brown paint sloshing out of the little cup on top. I felt like some sort of drunken, airbrushing leprechaun. In good news, none of the sloshings dripped onto the resin. However, I did manage to coat the airbrush.



I used Magic Eraser to take the color of the high parts. At first, all I could see were these bare spots of resin beside dark valleys. Ugh! Holding the skull back a bit gave me the needed perspective. I have to say that I&#8217;m really proud of the way the skull turned out! It&#8217;s sitting in the basement now, drying under one last coat of MSC. I got more than I even thought I would today, which is good. I was fueled by dinner, because how could I not be fueled by multi-hued tomatoes, fresh mozzarella cheese, and balsamic vinegar. I love cooking by color!

 

I poured some quick-setting resin into the molds to clean them out. It looks like the molds will work, though I do have some concerns about how I oriented Starling's plate in the mold; I did it rather more vertical and it seems like it might be trapping airbubbles in the nose and lips because of it. Usually I orient the face at an angle so that the bubbles won't get caught as easily. Of course, I was also just pouring the resin into the mold, rather than injecting it like I usually do... so there wasn't actually enough resin in the mold. I am hoping that with more careful pouring and pressurizing, Starling's mold will work well enough.



The humidity is also really intense. There are tons of bubbles on Derrida's face and if you look really closely it almost looks like he's made of a dense foam! Humidity makes resin foam, which is why a lot of companies have trouble casting in their rainy season. I am hoping that the pressurizing will settle the moisture issues somewhat as well.



If I were doing this to compete, this picture would ensure my victory. Because I am SO HAWT that everyone would vote for me.



SAFETY.

 

Wow people have made lots of progress. I think Truffle with skull and Aimee with gas mask are awesome non doll photos. Bubbly Derrida reminds me of a mer head.

So far the only progress I made is a not so perfect pauldron for my Glati. Off on Wednesday hoping to get more done then.

 

Soo seems that it's the time for updates so I better post one too, eh? So with my gimp thumb I've been working at just about the rate of one leg per day (and spiders, I have decided, have too many legs). So that puts me at finally having the legs done! They need some spot trimming still, but I think he's starting to look like a cute scraggly tarantula. I have the resin parts in a series of baths to clean him up- the original fairyland white had quite a yellow problem. Next is covering his wooden center and sewing the abdomen.


Yes Dezarii! Gokiburi-chan should fear my spidertar! For his is vicious and will invite her to tea and not lift his pinkie! Or.. something.. man my spidertar needs a name.
Btw- when you do make the antennae- a little bit of floral wire inside just helps add even more structure. I used it inside my snailtar antennae!!

*drools* Can I come and eat with you guys sometime Junkets? That looks delicious...

 

I made a simple set and did some considerably more aggravating hanging of two 65+ boys to keep them standing on it, as it's on a bunkbed, by using some fishing line. This worked much better for the SSDF than the highly floppy M-line . . . And then I couldn't get an angle that looked the slightest bit good on my camera.

I think I'll save the bunkbed set for smaller lads and a different occasion, and try to do all aspects of the photoshoot outside in the yard. Unfortunately I'll be away housesitting until Saturday, although I may sneak home to work on this so I'm not in a complete panic just before the deadline.

 

Day 4: So today was a crazy cooking day when I got home (dinner, then custard for ice cream, then dough for the cookies that will be crumbled into the ice cream), and I was afraid I wouldn&#8217;t get much done. However, I finished the things I&#8217;d set out to do, so that&#8217;s good, right?

The main thing I wanted to accomplish tonight was putting together the weapon. Leather, meet copper. Copper, meet wood. Everything, meet glue gun. I stupidly didn&#8217;t actually use a doll when putting the grip onto the spear, but luckily, I seem to have eyeballed it correctly, even though it&#8217;s a Tuesday. I was also dismayed that I didn&#8217;t have quite the right little beads to use for the studs holding the cording at the crossing points, but the little brass glass beads look alright. Ideally I&#8217;d have wanted them just a tad bigger. I initially shied away from feathers, not wanting to mix my metaphors with animal pieces (the skull&#8217;s already the main piece), but the Celts really did call on the powers of all the animals they revered to give them strength, speed, wisdom, etc. So for the spear to fly correctly, feathers are a necessity. Even though I think he&#8217;ll be using the spear more for support than as a weapon, my poor tired god of the forest.



(Yeah, Helm's trying to impress Versai...who hopes Helm doesn't manage to put his eye out.)

I&#8217;ve been waffling all over the place about the wig. I wanted blonde to suit the dried look of everything (bare bone, gold eyes, all that), but my options were a cheap wig with full bangs and some long side curls and the LE Abadon wig. Ugh. The cheap wig has one big thing going for it, besides its inherent blonde-ness&#8212;it&#8217;s cheapness. To get the look of a warrior with his hair peaked up with lime paste, I used texture medium and I knew that that&#8217;s not a &#8216;well, that&#8217;ll wash out!’ sort of thing. I was terrified to do that to an LE wig (that&#8217;s a definite hang up of mine), but really, the combination of fur and hair is perfect. I needed the hair to be swept back from the face in white-washed thick locked, crowned at the top with hardened, twisted spikes. It&#8217;s drying now, and I&#8217;m still trying to get over my guilt. I&#8217;m not sure how the top will fare once the skull headpiece is in place, though&#8230;It&#8217;s such a harsh, strange look. I didn&#8217;t want it to be clean and look like styling mousse&#8230;and I succeeded! I&#8217;m looking forward to trying it on JB tomorrow. I&#8217;m not sure if I&#8217;ll put anything else into the wig like beads, ties, or dried leaves. I&#8217;ll see tomorrow. All of my pictures today are just wildly, hysterically out of context.



Behold, a very modified Nanuri digs his Pict hair and contemplates another lifetime as the Gentleman with the Thistledown hair. XD

I think I&#8217;ve gotten all the construction of pieces done though! Now it&#8217;s time to figure out wardrobe, then really nail down exactly how I want to present him.

 

The impression I'm getting from reading my fellow mods posts is that we are all leading ridiculously full lives. >_<

I tossed all the pics and video clips into the editor and it's clocking in at around 12 minutes. I'm posting it on Youtube, so I need to get it down under 10. I think I may fast-motion some sections... I'm leaning toward doing a voiceover because I don't think I can get enough information in using subtitles.


The left cast is the junk cast, the right is the pressurized cast using the Task 3. The pressurized cast turned out pretty clean... so I am excited to start cleaning it up. After the video is done, though, I will go back to really hardcore working on Starling.

I've been crazy distracted though. I've been repainting vinyl dolls... which I haven't done in a few years. I really am enjoying the Monster High dolls. If I was still into the 1/6ths and vinyl, I'm pretty sure I'd be collecting these. They're very fun to repaint.



It's sort of fun using BJD faceup techniques on them... and it makes me want to do some BJD faceups. I have a few dolls who I'd like to redo, so maybe I can do that in the near future. I sort of want to enter the Shadow Faceup contest for fun, but I just have no time. Last night was sucked up by processing the triathlon entries. I so wish I had time to play along! I want to make a light source... and need an excuse to make myself do it. These contests are good for making me do things I want or need to do, but don't feel motivated to work on... I really work better with deadlines!

 

Due to work and some setbacks decided to revise my plans. Took some update photos today. I'm not good at making things from scratch so most of my talents are repurposing or adding.

My eldest was using the sewing machine a few days ago and Paul decided to help clean the area. I couldn't find the lopsided metallic leather pauldron so decided yesterday to make this new top for Aristheus.


I was going to have it close in the back with some chain but as luck would have it his back magnets keep them in place. So this is the piece

In their previous life one was silver toned costume jewelry for humans and the gold link was some chain parts for making jewelry


Not sure how doable it is to finish the dragonmaille bottom. I may just make it a loincloth due to time constraints. What a link hungry weave


I'm not good with doing full faceups but I can do faceup enhancements. Jaeninha painted the brows and lashes and I did the blushing and the rest of the faceup.

So this is my Mii-chan before gloss

After gloss. So glad I pulled off the gloss liner on the lower lid was worried I'd mess that up.


Only got the faceup done today and not the sewing I was hoping to do. My daughter's dentist took most of the day away.

I was thinking of a two doll entry.
Princess Peacock (Mii-chan) and her demon servant boy (Glati) or something. I was originally thinking of a fairy tale inspired Cinderella and her carriage but instead of mice horses she had a Satryr pulling her carriage. Was also hoping to do 3D render to go with it but not enough time to do it I think.

------------
Sorry for uber long post I owed a few updates and catching up.


Aimee- I love those monster high repaints.

 

Kiya, I'd love to paint the Nkiru. Our Big Lots had the MH dolls for $13, which is actually $.80 more than the same line at Target (the summer line was cheaper). >_<

Aree, you did a lovely job on that faceup!

 

I have uncaged one of the DSAM35s bodies and have restrung it - this is an easy restring mentally but a bear physically. The Dollshe bodies are so long and so heavy and it takes coordination (see my lack of I will show it you) and strength. Asking the husband to help is the easiest way to opening a door in which all manner of jokes and mocking is allowed through - I would much rather do it myself. But it's done and Mr. Dollshe is a brainiac for coming up with such an elegant and efficient stringing method. (One sidenote, while I was looking around to see where I put the lower halves of two DSAM35s bodies, I found the 32s body I've been searching for....My closet....not good.)

Working with the idea of shadow and this long long body has had me realizing I'm going to have to use a lens I don't like. Yes, I have lenses I prefer and lenses I avoid. This is going to require more thought and definitely more inside room....maybe a hallway even....

But now a fully articulated angel is sitting beside my computer again and all is well.

 

Such wonderful things you guys are cooking up! I'm barely managing to come up for breath between work and RL obligations. I will try to take a Shadow photo though, just because papa Jung is my all time fave, and it's such a clever prompt. Best of luck to everyone with their projects!

 

Day 5: After tinkering with my new ice cream maker (why aren&#8217;t I as good with dollie fabrication as I am with inventing sweet recipes, hmm??), I wasn&#8217;t sure how much time I&#8217;d have to work on this today. I wanted to put him all together, though, see what I think. I&#8217;m worried he might be a little too&#8230;bland, for lack of a better word. It seems odd, because I list off all the things I did on my fingers, and it seems like I should have a veritable Volks Cruise LE to my credit!

I ultimately chose the smaller, more golden eyes; he&#8217;s side-glancing, watching over his shoulder for his hunter, and they really match his color scheme the best. And really, 16 mm vs 18 mm isn&#8217;t always that huge of a battle&#8230;is it? Both sets of eyes are Zouks, so they fit into the eyewells really snugly, and that allows both to look fine. I&#8217;m not even sure what color this paler one is. His regular eyes are GE-6, the golden brown Bs. I think these are GE-3, golden brown A. Guess he&#8217;d like to stick with golden brown in general.

Suiting him up was a challenge. One thing I did not attempt with all my other skill-attaining was sewing. Sewing is a giant fail for me. When I first got into the doll hobby in 2002, I remember making awful plaid trousers for my MSD Akira&#8230;little tubes sewed together. I tried several combinations of clothing I already had&#8230;nixed the Anotherspace coat as looking a little too post-apocalyptic, the scarf as being a black that would interfere with the tawny coloration he has. The final combination is pretty darn simple&#8212;cloak and trousers. I couldn&#8217;t even bring myself to put boots or sandals on him. I think this will work, though I&#8217;m still longing for a length of faded, washed out tartan. I know I have the McGillevry plaid here somewhere, but my admittedly cursory search yielded no results. Maybe a stop at the fabric store before the final photoshoot. Also&#8230;choosing a spot for the photoshoot would probably be good&#8230;

 

Okay, I give up.

Dezarii wins.

 

Dezarii must have made it to Fiji after all!

 

Drat! She found a way after all! We're all doomed too lose!

 

>_< I hate when Dezarii pulls in her "connections."

 

Now there's the real staff challenge- can you hide an elephant somewhere in your work.

 

Did some fiddling about with some brass shim stock and some rosewood this evening, but I'm too sleep deprived to focus on anything right now. The ideas are there, but the deadline is looming and I have too much going on to feel like I can divert any energy to something that is strictly for fun. I may console myself by at least trying the Silhouette Contest.

 

I managed to get the abdomen done in miraculously one try! Since then I decided on an eye layout (I can now fit 8), started modding the face, finished cleaning the puki body, and spent way too much time with faux fur and foul smelling adhesives. Wanting to hark back to the Cobalt Blue Tarantula I'm loosely basing him on (yes, his abdomen is too plush for a cobalt but plush is cute), I started adding in stripes to the blue fur with some brown... which is an odd process of creating taped 'wefts' and super gluing them in. Apparently you can only see one set of stripes from the top, but I made three. I'll have to see if brushing helps or if I need to extend the stripes. I also cut the fur up in tiny bits to create a sort of flocking and covered the filled out wood prosoma in. The coloring there with the white spot again mimics the Cobalt Blue and I think adds a little bit of nice interest. The legs are still not glued in- trying to think of the best adhesive to use as it's a hard balance of long dry time verse lasting hold between metal and wood. The safety pins and paper in the legs are to mark which is which leg.


I also have been working on my layout for my photo presentation of my work and is going alright I think. I really wish my tablet was not broken though T_T doing this work by track pad is no fun.
My kitten Bugsy does not appreciate the amount of stuff on my coffee table or lap.

 

Sitting around last night - waiting to netflix S2 of Prison Break...be still my beating heart o' Michael Scofield!...I was brainstorming with my marionette operator (son) and had a complete breakthrough on the image I want to take!!! This is GOOD. It will need to be photoshopped and will require several images...but I think...it just might make D and BoH look like amachures. I think.

*runs away*

 

Oh, and not trying to single those two out....pretty much I'm sure this will trump all aces. Or somethin' like that in poker terms. Ya know.

 

If, OF COURSE, I have time to set this elab thing up...what with all the Scofield fangrrling....

Jes' sayin' is all.

 

D, I would never try to diminish your poetic skills with a camera. I definitely agree that your skills, your results have a certain "je ne sais quoi" -

n.
A quality or attribute that is difficult to describe or express

I have difficulty describing....expressing fully....what it is you're doing, what you're capturing.