two giants of atelier macabre

first off - please forgive the extreme shadows of the pictures - we just had a blizzard here in central illinois, and i managed to snag these pics during the brief bit of sun.

most of the dolls i sculpt are 45cm or smaller (which get a lot more attention on my blog), but awhile back i begged my mom(patl) to help me make a doll based on basil rathbone - my all time favorite actor. i've also got a second cast of the basil head that i'm modding into my second favorite actor to play sherlock holmes - ronald howard

the deal was she would sculpt the head and i would do the body - and she really came through with the head, though she got distracted part way through and i've been refining/fixing it. his eyes are too wide open due to an accident when beveling them out :pout

the head is already cast roughly in resin and i'm fine tuning it, but i've also started on the body for him and have the torso cut apart and the jointing started on it. i'm a little iffy, though, on the proportions... perhaps i'm too used to the more anime style with large head and small body....







i've also been working on my own large doll, who i will warn is a hermaphrodite android. currently the torso i strung with a headback i'm making for my unoa zero faceplate and is very rough. she has a neck joint and a three part torso which will have thin carved lines (i need to refine those, they're just carved in right now and will be cleaned up). both venus - the hermaphrodite - and basil stand between 65 and 70 cm tall - depends on how long the legs end up being, but that's roughly where i'm aiming. both bodies will actually use the same legs, which i have yet to cut apart/joint.



my sister's cat decided to help me "censor" the picture -

 

lol - these are beginnings that have been sitting around for quite sometime waiting for me to have time and money to finish them. i wanted to get more pictures yesterday, but by the time i got off work and back from errands, there was no sunlight so i'll try today to get better pics of the basil rathbone head, the ronald howard mod, and venus's head - as well as the legs i'm working on.

kwmelvin - it's so funny that you can see the influence of my mom, because we actually influence each other ^^ it's a lot of fun to just start bouncing ideas off of each other - and if it weren't for her, i wouldn't be sculpting at all. and if it weren't for my love of anime, she would never have gotten into bjds in the first place (she found them looking for stuff for me)

i seem to like doing delicate little arms and legs (or at least delicate where the ankle and wrist joints are) and am concerned about it being too thin there so then i flair it out, but it just don't look good to me.... any advice? how do other people do their ankle and wrist joints? it's a problem i'm facing on all of my dolls.....

 

well, i had some real life issues interrupt yesterday and then today i had to do some redecorating so i didn't get to do any sculpting....

but i did manage to snag a few more pics like i promised.

legs!




basil's torso with venus' torso


venus' head - i was using pictures of volks' sasha for inspiration.... don't think there's all that much of her in there, but i love her. though now i realize her nostrils are uneven....




tried to get a pic of basil's face full on - you can really see his eyes are too big and i'll be closing those up


and with the second cast that i've been modding to be ronald howard -

 

well, it's a bit harder now that we're in two different states (and pretty much on opposite sides of the country) - but i still love bouncing ideas off my mom.

ugh, haven't had time to work more and i feel bad about it - first tehre was some remodeling to do in the house, then we got a new dog.... who is a total sweetheart.

my goal for this week is to finish the second leg on my tiniest doll, pip, and get the arms roughed in for these big guys.

 

thanks ^^ i'm working on the arm for basil and am thinking it's going to be triple jointed.... i'm hoping to have pictures saturday.

i'm trying to decide if i want to do semi-jointed hands.... it would be only jointed at the knuckles like soom's cyber arm for sabik. i can figure out how to sculpt it and how to joint it - but not how to cast it in resin....

 

thanks - and i've got some pics i took earlier in the day but was too busy to post sooner.

the start of the arm for basil - i lied earlier, it's a four part arm most likely.... i don't know if i'll make a modifying piece for this to work for venus as well, give her her own arms, or no arms at all.


and a comparison picture of my largest and my smallest - basil with pip. i'm noticing a trend where i first finish the left side of the doll.....


and i don't know if i linked to my blog at all.... but i have more pics there - http://4oni.com/angelsdream/blog

 

i found i like the extra touch of mobility that doing the fourth joint up there gives - it allows the arm to rotate front to back like a human arm can to some extent (obviously the joint allows for a lot more movement, but you get the idea) - i had first tried it on cooper, and then perfected it on xolotl and i really like how it works out. i know some companies do it too, but i don't remember who off the top of my head....

you're doing an orangutan????? ugh - you always out do me! i have plans to do a frog girl in pip's size and am also trying to figure out how to joint the back leg because frogs hold their legs so strangely..... of course, i should finish pip first before i start working on another tiny....

but i've got pics of my anubis head - and i'm working on venus' shoulders. most of the pics are on my blog - http://4oni.com/angelsdream/blog

i'm working on the arm for basil but didn't take any pictures - this week ended up not going so well as i had a lot of physical problems going on....

i want a different name for him than "anubis" it seems too cliche.... i tried to take a pic of his head with xolotl's, but it didn't come out too good - and i've realized that i just LOVE sculpting animal heads and fantasy dolls... i also found out that smooth-cast has a black resin out that i'd love to cast him in when he's all done.


and venus - her arms are going to be strung individually i think - i just want to try the concept and i think it'll work for her being an android.

 

i know! it's horrible, isn't it? i have a fear of completion, i swear!

i think for me, it's a tie between venus and xolotl as to who is my favorite - and getting really REALLY inspired by japanese demonology and the night parade of one hundred demons for my little dolls and i can't wait to get pip molded so i can start using them to make my demons. i already have plans for a rokurokubi, ohaguro-bettari, kuchisake-onna, hone-onna, jorougumo, jubokko, noppera-bou, and te-no-me.

but i digress - today while being home sick and between doctor and vet appointments i strung up basil's body for a test to see how the proportions look. i think they're quite nice, actually.

 

well, part of why it's up high is that i haven't carved/sanded the top part down - i originally put it in the wrong spot.... so i just lengthened the bottom and am working on bringing it down on the abdomen (not to mention the picture has the lower part of the body positioned oddly because of how he's test strung), but i need to remember about pants and that dolls don't.... uh... squish? but thanks for reminding me that i still need to do that! ugh, wouldn't it have sucked to go all the way into casting and then remember i was supposed to lower the penis?

we've got more snow coming in so i'm moving onto my little girl pip for a bit as i need to dremel out the big dolls and that i need to do outside, but not in this coming weather...

aww, sweet ol' max - i thought he just knocked it off rather than running off with it... of course, i still love the one pic i took of that model with one of the shells of zamiel.... but i'm going off topic!

 

lol - tell me about it! i've learned from plenty of mistakes to always add extra because you can always carve and sand it away to refine it. but then again, in the paper clay it's pretty easy to add back on. i've also come to realize with a little bit of white glue, it's easy to add paper clay onto a resin cast for modifications, though it's not the best way to go about it.

 

i've been spending an hour here and there this week to work on my sculpts just pulling pieces out of my box at random to work on, so i've been working on all my dolls at once, and got quite a bit of sanding done on basil's torso and worked some more on the dog/anubis head. this weekend i'm planning on spraying pieces with primer that are ready for it so i can start the fine work on them, and i hope to update with pictures.

 

well, the weather heard me and it's been raining and snowing all day so.... i haven't been able to spray my dollies! gah!

but i did snap a few pics of the various dolls i've been working on - the bulk of them are on on my blog.

i'm working on basil's leg and arm - i want to fix the knee issues i'm having before i cut apart his other leg.






and i've started to add in the details on my dog head - still not sure what to call him.... tempted by "baskerville" because of the sherlockian in me, but wouldn't that be just as obvious as "anubis"?


and a pic of my three sizes - xololt, basil, and pip.

 

no pictures - but i have a question for any one -- where is a good place to get wooden beads to make the round part of the joint? i'm going to need some tiny ones once i start his jointed hands, as well as for my other doll projects....

also, has any one ever tried dragon skin to make molds? it's a super strong and stretchy platinum cured silicon - http://www.reynoldsam.com/Silicone-...mance-Silicone-Rubber/c2_1115_1129/index.html -- oh, and if any one watches mythbusters, this is the stuff they used to rebuild buster.

i know on the site it shows them using it to make molds, but i was wondering if any one had personal experience.... (i have to admit, i'm also tempted to sculpt my own dollfie-dream like body where there is an internally strung ball jointed frame and use dragon skin to cast the outer sleaves that would cover all the inner joints...)

((by the way, i SWEAR by reynolds if you're in the US for buying molding materials - they are very nice to deal with! ))

 

that's disappointing to hear... i was hoping since it has a higher tear strength it would hold together better...

 

thanks - though i was hoping i wouldn't have to go online because i'm not sure what sizes i need....

but i started to primer pieces (okay, most of them were for my smaller dolls) - and now i'm eagerly waiting for it to dry so i can start the finishing sanding... i wish i could find some of the mr. resin primer, but i can't find any place that has some in stock.... so i got some auto primer from home depot - which i know will be fine on the paper clay, but not sure if it'll seal it enough to mold.

 

just a small picture update as what i've spent a lot of my time doing right now has been sanding and that doesn't really show up on pictures....

but i got to primer some of my pieces yesterday, including my basil rathbone and ronald howard heads - of course i haven't sandd them yet and there is a dried drip on each of their foreheads.... but i love how they're looking all in black! (well, mostly black.... i realized afterwards that i hadn't gotten all of basil's forehead sprayed :[ )

 

you can thank my mom for the luscious lips on basil and the great base for the lips on ronald.

actually, i am using an acrylic auto primer ^^ i'd use krylon, but i can't find it! that's what i used back in california but haven't found it here in small town illinois (aka champaign)

 

thanks - i recently became a mom to three wonderful ferrets who have been keeping me pretty busy! not to mention the iffy weather.... but i plan on putting in a couple hours today on my various projects - i just have so many ideas in my head that i want to make! i'm actually selling a large number of my company dolls because i've become so addicted to sculpting my own!

 

jeeze, tell me about it! i have been working on my big dolls, but i haven't taken any pictures of them - thanks to hollow taking up what little time i've had, but i think she was worth it.

i need to buy myself some more clay (both premier and miliput) - i'm thinking of using the miliput to sculpt the fingers for basil's hands as the wire trick didn't work so well for me.... could be that i don't have the patience (or the fact that i forgot to put the wire in and had to drill holes for it)

 

well, part of my problem is i'm allergic to most clays (and actually silicone and resin too.... so i usually have to have some one else do the pouring of the uncured materials for me).... including a lot of the oil based clays. so i've got to use paper clay for health reasons - and my mom had this awesome idea for why she started using it (not that it much applies to what i'm doing since i have to seal them... ) - but she wanted her artworks to eventually degrade over time and return to the earth. i always thought that was a beautiful sentiment.

i have tried to use other clays - but when you have to wear gloves just to touch the clay, it makes it hard to sculpt fine details..... at least for me.

yeah - i need to get myself a copy of the yoshida book - when i was living with my mom i used hers a lot - wonderful resource! even just the pictures themselves are inspirational!

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popping in with a brief edit of a picture i took of several of my girls - pip, hollow, beatrix (a mod of pierrot, the first doll i sculpted), and venus. i had to completely scrap the arms i had started for venus and have new ones drying for her. i spent most of today just sanding and doing little fiddly bits with joints to make them work better.

 

i think i've managed to fix the knee problems i'm having - i'm going to do a separate knee joint/bean - it's going to make casting parts easier and give more mobility too. i haven't been able to work on my dolls a lot lately due to cleaning and preparing to move in a couple of months again ><;;;;

i also beveled out the hip sockets on both basil and venus so the legs will fit better (yay!) and have started on venus' arms and basil's other arm.

i have to say, i'm really jealous of those people who seem to be able to get things done start to finish so fast.... i seem to work in fits and spurts and can get a piece nearly done and then either get distracted or run out of time!

 

Ugh. Yeah, I'm moving again in July. But I should have my pressure pot by then and be able to cast pieces!

And I've had my blog since 2007..... I thought it would help me stay focused but I'm easily distracted....

 

oh, yeah! i have about 20 sketches for different dolls i want to do currently - i suppose that's my version of a note book....

online sucks up so much time, but i usually go "oh, i'll get on for two seconds to check email and look up xx anatomy part from xx animal for my doll (or something like that)" and two hours later realize i haven't started anything.....

i also got a new video game (sooooo addicted to ratchet and clank and sly cooper so when they combined the two, i was doomed....) which of course sucked up a few days in there. BUT the good news is i have knee joints and an elbow joint for basil! bad news is.... his other arm isn't working out and i'm still struggling with the fingers for his jointed hand... i'm bad at sculpting hands.....

 

ugh, so overdue for pictures - but i have finally figured out the knees and have them going - i'm doing a separate piece for the knee like i've seen so many people do with good results and it's working wonderfully so far.

however, i haven't had time (or energy) to take any pictures and probably won't until saturday!

i'm also going on vacation for a week and plan on bringing hollow with me to work on more - i'll try to finish at least one of these dolls ><;;;;;

 

i thought you might. i also have a sketch of another doll that i want to show you.... but they're a secret until then :p

and to bring it back on topic - i forgot to mention yesterday that i also have the elbow joint for the one arm and his ankles in process too. i'm doing a separate inverted ball piece for the ankle... in that the ball part will be on the leg rather than the foot.

 

pictures like i promised!!!!

but of course - stringing him up i found out my elastic wasn't long enough to do both legs... and that the hip i thought was good is no longer fitting properly in the socket.... ugh....



his knee ball/piece doesn't have slits cut in it yet so it can't really bend.


here you can see that the hip isn't working... this was the one i had finished first and thought it was all good but it's not ><'''' the other hip is sitting flush fine, so i think i'll just have to carve down and build up various parts of the hip.

 

yeah, i agree. i think i do need to carve away along the inside of his crotch and make the balls bigger. i think i might also need to recheck how smooth the inside of that hip socket is.... his other hip (the one without the full leg strung) does sit in the socket fine - but i don't know how much of that is because it doesn't have as much tension on it as the other leg or what not....

but as i'm away from home now basil's just going to have to wait! but i hope to have updates on hollow at the end of the week.... if i stop getting distracted.