Lifting the Veil on how my dolls are
made.
This is a step
by step demonstration of my process in making dolls.
How I make my all Polymer art dolls Follow
the matching frames down the page.
| This is one of my OOAK sculpts. Her name is Paige |
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I always start by sculpting the head. It decides
what size the doll will be. A good rule for doll scale is to make the overall length of the doll 8 times the length of the
head. That lenght being from the top of the head to the heel of the foot, so the head plus 7X. This head is 1 3/4 inches
so she would have an overall height of 15" tall if she were standing.
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I make a wire armature. Sometimes if it is small
doll The armature will be a simple wire skeleton and look like a stick figure with a hook at the top. But because this
is going to be such a large doll I chose to use a much heavier wire and wrap it in Aluminun foil to bulk it up.
This helps keep the clay from being to thick in the torso area which could cause the clay to cure improperly and crack.
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I usually seal the armature small with amount
of clay like a thin skin to cover the foil and bake it. I do this with larger dolls for two reasons:
- The foil can discolor the clay for sealing it with either masking tape
or a thin base layer of clay keeps the outclay form getting dirty..
- The next layer of clay goes on smother and it gives me a smoother finish with no chance of
the foil popping out.
I also bake the head
and torso before I move onto the arms and legs. This process is called series baking, pioneer by Doll Artist and
my teacher Patricia Rose. I seal the foil with a thin layer of clay bake it, and then add more clay and bake again. I do this
many times during the process of making the dolls.
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As I add clay, I try to keep the proportions as accurate
as I can by adding small amounts of clay to make specific areas thicker while leaving others thin. I try not to
let any specks of dirt remain on the clay. I have found that even if I covered them up with more clay as I am building
the body they can stain their way through the clay when i bake and ruin the look of my finished doll. Keeping the clay
clean is quite a job as the clay tends to be sticky and picks up lint right out of the air. I keep it covered with
a silk scarf when I have to stand or move around the room to keep lint that may be on my clothes from getting on
the clay.
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At this point I usually have to make sure the pose is finalized
as the next bake will set it in stone....so to speak. When I did Paige, I only baked on an underarmature over her torso. Today
I do the entire body down to the forearm and calf.
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Is she starting to look familiar? At his point I have been working on her for around 20
hours.
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I found this to be an interesting bit when I heard it the
first time. The height of a womans breasts on a body is one of the indicaters of her age. A younger woman
has higher breasts and an older woman has lower breasts and more cleavage. Paige is a 300 yr old Vampire so hers landed
somewhere in between. LOL
Because her hand is resting on the surface and primarily
holding her up, I decided to make the post in her arm go all the way to the table so her hand will be just barely
touching the table surface. The post is what is actually supporting her. There are a couple of additional steps beyond
this point, I add more clay where needed, final smoothing of the clay over the body, baking, dry sanding and wet sanding,
etc. but I always get so excited about the final steps that I forget to take pictures as I go along. As my hands
are usually wet for the hour or so while I sand, I wouldn't think of touching my camera then. Finishing the sculpt is
at my favorite part. And painting the face and dressing them is where I have the most fun.
Last shot before the final bake and sanding, and then a big jump
forward. I have been working on her for 30 hours now. So you have missed about 10 hours worth of smoothing, fine detailing,
baking and sanding, sanding and more sanding. I actually sanded more after I took the picture, mostly her gloves and
boots.
Another jump forward as I have finished the main parts
f her Outfit and finished painting her face. Next comes the wigging. I used Tibetan fur cut right off
the pelt one lock of hair at a time. I like to glue each lock on one at a time because then I can direct the hair to
go in the correct direction for the way I want it to lay on the head. It is a complicated and time consuming process
but the hair lays beautifully. With type of hair if you are not very careful when working with this fine black hair, the glue
will show and ruin the look so it is the best way I have found to apply the hair.
I added this picture to show what the hair looks like
right after I first finish glueing it to the head. When the hair is mussy or frizzy from to much handling, I take
a small amount of Hair Gel with the least amount of hold possible, since you do not want stiff doll hairand smooth it
into the hair. I Stray the hair with a mist of plain water to reactivate the curl and smooth down the frizz working it
into nice soft curls.
Another note about the hair. If your pelt has mats or gnarly
hair. Take a vented brush, wet the fur part of the hair with a misting bottle (try not to wet the pelt itself) and brush
out the knots while the hair is still attached to the pelt. Let it drip dry and you will find that even the
roughest pelt can be restored to usable hair.
Well
that is the short version of how I make my dolls. This one took me start to finish about 45 hours give or take. I wanted
her to be extra special so I invested alot of time into her as she was to be entered into a contest. She ended up winning
that contest and I couldn't be more proud. Thanks for taking the time to look at my dolls. Hugs, Linda
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| Thanks for looking |
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There have been many people who asked me how the sculptures I make are done. This page will
hopefully answer a few of those questions.
![webassets/DSC04298.JPG](http://webhosting.web.com/imagelib/sitebuilder/misc/show_image.html?linkedwidth=actual&linkpath=http://www.charmcityoriginals.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/webassets/DSC04258.JPG&target=tlx_picxicu&title=Almost finished she is 28" tall )
