The Parker Project

With my last project finished and cast in resin, it's about time to start something new … or rather old:
I want to do a "reprise" of my first BJD sculpt Parker (he is one of my story characters). He was made in 2006-07 and started before I had a BJD in person, so most of his looks is guesswork and trying to make sense of a translation of a japanese tutorial I found.
I used a mix of materials and my doll is slowly falling apart. I tried to make adjustments to his face, but it didn't work out. So I've decided to start from scratch.

Sculpting history by Evie ex Machina, on Flickr

I made a rough 3D sketch using Quidam (which is aimed at game designers rather than sculptors) to give me an idea of how this character would look from different angles. Actually I tried a few different faces, but this is the one I liked most. It's close to my original sculpt, but more realistic and mature. I am not doing the actual model with the software. I love to sculpt with my hands and see how a doll comes to life.I don't mind if it changes from my initial idea or looks less perfect.

1. 3D scribble by Evie ex Machina, on Flickr

This doll will be about 50cm, I want a size between MSD and SD, but not too mature like the Souldoll Vitos or smaller Soom Idealians. My original character is about 12 years old, so he'll have a rather childlike body, but not too chubby. It was really hard to get the proportions right! The smaller body I sculpted in Quidam looked totally wrong, so I scribbled the body until it looked right to me.

2. process by Evie ex Machina, on Flickr

Now something funny happened: I am currently trying wax as a new sculpting material (lots of thanks to @Switchum for inspiring me) and had been fooling around sculpting a random head to see how it worked out. I had put it away for a week or so, then started with the Parker project. And when I took out the head again, it looked quite a bit like the face a had sketched. Even had the right size.

5. coincidence by Evie ex Machina, on Flickr

I am sculpting the body as a whole, working with wax on a styrofoam base. Working well so far …

4. wax model by Evie ex Machina, on Flickr

 

Thanks, doorknob!

I've been working quite a bit on him, but haven't had time to take photos. Still experimenting with the wax too. I wonder if to do a finished sculpt, complete with joints or rather make a junk cast of each part and add the joints later …

 

Updates!

Working with wax still needs a little getting used to and my progress is a bit slower than expected, but I'm quite happy so far. Next step will be cutting the body and adding detail to the parts.
I'm not sure yet how much muscle I want. I don't want the body to look too mature, but I also don't want it to look boring …

Parker Update by Evie ex Machina, on Flickr

I had just added another wax layer before taking the photos, so the head doesn't look very smooth here. I still have to open the eyes and fix the lip a bit. Ears will be added as the last step.
Parker Update by Evie ex Machina, on Flickr

Parker Update by Evie ex Machina, on Flickr

Comparison with my Souldoll MSD boy. Hands and feet are also in the works, but don't look very photogenic atm.
Parker Update by Evie ex Machina, on Flickr

 

Thanks, dissipation! It's strange that there are hardly any in-between sizes, like smaller "siblings" to SDs or bigger "siblings" to MSDs, only mature looking 50 cm dolls. As a faceup artist I wouldn't go for sculpted lip lines, although my sculptor self likes them. *g*
Wax: It depends on what you are after. If you're using wax, you won't have a finished doll you can play with right away. You'll have to make molds to get a durable prototype. I enjoy sculpting with wax, it's easy to use, inexpensive and reusable. It doesn't dry out my hands like modelling clay does and it feels really good. It doesn't produce dust when sanded. So yes, go for a try. I really wish I had discovered wax years ago. It would have saved me a lot of time and money.

 

Thanks, Glyndon! I am still brooding over how much detail I want (and it is too hot for sculpting today). I am also quite occupied with functional joints. I like dolls that are good posers, but don't like the look of double joints. Trying a solution with knee and elbow "caps" .