Progress On My Art Doll

I've gotten several people asking how progress on the art doll is coming along. The good news is that she's coming along nicely! The bad news is that it's still going to be a while, since papier maché is by nature a slow process. Still... let's see how she's progressing!

Also, for the record? I doodled in a quick face to get an idea of what she was going to look like once her face was painted on. However, this is NOT what her face is going to look like once she's done. I promise, I'm not that strange!!

But look! She has a head!! Granted, it's not attached yet, but I can see how her proportions look once she's all together! I was really happy to see that her head did actually balance out the crazy cartoon figure she has. Once her head is on, she looks a lot more reasonable. Let's see what I've done...

I started her head with a small water balloon I filled with air. As you can see, it gave me a very strange egg-shaped base for the head. After I had several layers on and fully dried, I sketched out where the features would go and then started shaping.

I did the basic shape work by cutting out the back and sides of the head to give it more of a traditional skull shape. Then I built up some areas and shaved down others. I've been through four or five rounds of shaving and resurfacing, including the one that's drying right now. I can't wait to show it, her eyeballs are suspended in empty sockets without any lids or anything! It's CREEPY looking!!!

Anyway, once I got a basic shape down for the head, I added in a basic nose form and lips. So, at this point she's got basic cheekbones, a fairly nice nose, some slightly scary lips and an absolutely unremarkable forehead, aside from the various lumps and bumps that need smoothing. I decided I wanted to see where her features would be in better detail, so I started sketching with my gel pens. I think I may have gotten carried away, though...

Still, you can see the basic form her head is taking. She needs some ears, and those are going to be an utter nightmare to attach, I think. As I said, I've cut out her eye sockets and put beads in to form a nice eyeball shape to build lids over. Her lips aren't too bad, either. I'm looking forward to finishing her head, although the idea of her hair is kind of scaring me... but more on that in a bit.

Also, her head has been the most dangerous for me so far. I've stabbed myself in the finger once with my Xacto knife and sliced myself once. So remember, boys and girls... do what I say, and not what I do! You don't want to get stitches! (No, I didn't need stitches, but I came close...)

Next, I looked at her body to see where to go with it. I was actually very excited to see her body with the head on, because it gave me more of an idea of what her proportions would be like! As you can see, everything looks less bizarre with her head in place. You can also see a couple of patches here and there where I fixed lumpy spots. Color isn't important at this point, because I'm going to gesso her before I paint her, and none of this color will show through.

I realized at this point that I couldn't avoid it any longer... she needed feet. When I started the doll, I wasn't even sure if I was going to finish her, or what she was going to look like. Now I have more of an idea, and getting what's in my head out into the form of this doll is becoming quite the process!!

Take her legs, for example. See how they're all white at the bottom? I figured out how to do her feet thanks to several tutorials I read and sort of... melded in my mind. What I did doesn't bear any resemblance to what the tutorials did, but that's ok. I know what I'm doing now!

So... the feet. To support her feet, I wanted to embed some wire, since they were delicate and not formed at the same time as the rest of her. I was worried they would crack or break off. The wire will strengthen them and give them more stability, at least I hope so!

So, to do this, I needed to get into those lower legs. Those lower legs that were filled with tightly-twisted junk mail and masking tape... those legs that didn't have any room for wire. This was going to be interesting...

S'ok, though. I took a deep breath, drew on some registration lines and cut half her legs off. I wasn't sure if it would be clear which piece went with which leg, so I drew registration marks in two colors with different shapes. One leg got an X, the other got... a circle, I think? I don't even know, it just gave me something to match them up with. Then I cut through each side of the leg (like the red line) and cut through the top piece connecting them, letting me remove the outer 1/2 shell of each leg.

Then I got to pull out all the wadded up junk mail. That was interesting... I had no idea how easy it would be! Once I had it nicely cleared out, I smoothed on a layer of glue to help stabilize it from the inside, then looked to my wires. I folded a piece of napkin several times then saturated it with my glue mix. Once it was nicely saturated, I slipped it between the two ends of the wire and wrapped the wire in it, giving it a nice glued packing material. I wedged that inside the leg cavity, gave it another layer of glue on the napkin wadding and the cut edges of the leg, then stuck the piece I'd removed back into place. I gave it another coating of glue mix, a layer or three of paper to stabilize things, and voila... the wires were in place! (I kind of forgot to take photos of those steps.)

You can also see the ends which were left open once I reassembled the legs. Those open spots to me seemed perfect for wires to wobble and be unstable, so I put more glue mix inside the little holes, then stuffed bits of cotton in until the whole set was solid as could be. Once the glue-soaked cotton dries, it becomes carvable, sandable... it's crazy!

And with that, I reach the end of this set of photos. I've come a lot farther, but that will be for another day. What's in the future?

I've actually started thinking about how I want to style her, once she's finished. Hair is a big deal, and I'm really thinking of the hairstyle Madonna wore in her video for Human Nature. There's something over-the-top about it that I think would go well with this doll.

As for clothes, I have a pretty clear idea for now, although that idea could very well change. But I'm thinking of a black strapless corset, black knee boots, striped socks, and a giant tulle skirt. The ribbon at the top won't be there, though, I don't think. It's just not the style I'm looking for. :D

So, yea... she's come a long way in the last few weeks. I'm actually very eager to see how she ends up!! I promise, my next post won't be craft-related! :D

Til then, let me leave you with a glamour shot of my doll...

Til next time!

My husband laughed so hard when I couldn't find my doll's head...

See my disclosure statement for more information.

Wreck This Journal: OMG, I can't actually DO that... can I?

I'm going to break away from the cosmetic goodies today to talk about something amazingly fun I've been playing with lately. A while back, a dear friend of mine sent me a wonderful package with awesome goodies inside. She'd seen a book that seemed like the kind of thing I'd absolutely love, so she picked it up for me.

When I opened it, I think the neighbors could hear my squeals of joy. Turns out, Din had gotten me a copy of Wreck This Journal, a book I'd been dying to get for several years! Isn't it fun when a friend knows you so well? As soon as I opened it, I couldn't wait to jump in.

This isn't your typical sketchbook or art project book. Instead, Wreck This Journal encourages the reader to stop thinking of it as something to be kept pristine and get messy with it. Crease the covers, rip the pages, fold corners down, spill things in it, tape sections together.

The concept is that in every act of creation, there is also destruction. If you're so worried about keeping something precious and untouched, you can never turn it into something else, something better... into art, for example, although I wouldn't call what I'm doing art. :D

I've photographed a few of my favorite pages I've worked on so far. For example, I absolutely love my little cheerleader! At the top of the page, you can see the instructions: Doodle over top of this page and in the margins. That's HARD to do! I got started with a tiny face with no boundaries- just eyes, nose, and mouth. Then came eyebrows, and hair, and soon I had a complete cheerleader! It was a bit surprising, even to me and I drew it!

The strange part is that I've always been slightly intimidated by a blank page, especially if it's in a nice sketchbook. There's something about sketchbooks that seem important to me, and I've always felt like anything I did in them needed to be worthy of being put into a nice sketchbook.

This, however, was just a page of gibberish. You can click the image to see it large enough to read if you like, and I read the whole thing before I got started drawing. Because it was unimportant, I felt able to let go and be free with my motions. Soon, I jumped into the other sections of the book.

One of the first instructions you're given is to scribble on the outside of the book, where the pages all line up. I decided to give myself a message with mine, and to the right you can see the three edges of the book in order, with the message readable.

Gel pens are fun for this, as are Sharpies. Also, I used nail polish over the blue heart at the bottom, mainly as an experiment to see if it would damage the book. It didn't, which is fun to know!

Speaking of nail polish... (oh come on, you knew I'd get nail polish into this post somehow!) There's a page that asks you to drip something onto the pages and then squish them together to form an inkblot of... well, whatever you dripped. Guess what I used!! :D

To the right, you can see the polishes I used. I dripped polishes in several batches, so that they wouldn't dry and would move well. I also closed the book, then massaged the pages a bit to encourage the polish to move and mix in interesting ways. I'm pretty pleased with it so far, and will be fiddling with it some more before I'm finished.

Once I took this photo, I realized I wanted to play with it in photoshop. There are several sections in it that really draw my eye and make me want to play. So... I did. This is one result.

I really like the color in this. There's just something visceral and organic about it, and I'd love to see it in a large print on my wall! Then again, the last thing I painted and put on my wall was a digitally-altered painting I made with cheap acrylics and typing paper. It came out awesome too. :D

So yea... If you like art at all, or doodling and sketching and drawing, definitely look at this book. It's actually changed the way I think about the things I make!

Til next time!

"Wreck This Journal" was given to me by a very dear friend. Hi Din!!

See my disclosure statement for more information.

Misted Paths: An Experiment in Monochrome

OMFGPonies, I feel SO accomplished! I know, I know, it's just a video, but I've figured out how to combine my photos, animated tutorials, and video footage into cute videos for YouTube! That makes me super happy, and also means I'll be doing lots more video soon! But let me get to the good stuff...

What you're looking at is Wet and Wild's Grey's Anatomy. Have I mentioned I love this polish? It's got such an understated glow to it that only shows up in certain circumstances. I could write for ages about this polish, but that's a post for another day!

However, for this design I put on three or four coats of Grey's Anatomy so that it would be opaque. Then I used topcoat to adhere black rhinestones onto the nail in swirly patterns. For some reason, this made me think of cobblestone paths that twisted away in a morning's mist.

Also, these rhinestones came from Viva la Nails. I love them, and find myself reaching for them often. They're perfect for making eyes- add a big dot of white polish and then drop one of these tiny stones into place, and you've suddenly got an eye with a LOT of character!

Yea, I read WAY too much fantasy. Don't judge, 'k?

My favorite part of this, though, would have to be the video that my husband helped me put together. Granted, I could sit here and fiddle with it for another week or two but I wanted to just get it posted so I can move on to other videos. So, let me share with you my new intro and outtro, as well as my first YouTube tutorial!

 

Let me know what you think about this design. Would you wear it? Is it just a bit too much? Is it not nearly enough? Talk to me!

Til next time!

Rhinestones were provided by Viva la Nails for consideration.

See my disclosure statement for more information.

Haven't You Always Wanted a Llama?

Just a quickie update, since today's my birthday! I'm going to be lazy and comfy and not do much, but I wanted to share a conversation my husband and I had last night. I think it sums us up nicely...

It all started when I asked him to bring me a glass of water...

My husband:  Sheesh, woman! Kill the monster, bring you water...
Me:  Yes, and clone the llama! You can't forget the llama!
Husband:  I can't clone a llama for you. I only have a mango!!
Me:  But... but...
Husband:  And everyone knows you need a kiwi to clone a llama!
Me:  ...but... if you REALLY loved me, you'd clone me a llama!!
Husband:  *frowns*
Me:  *pouts*

I think we've both lost our minds! :D

Til next time!

French the llama!

See my disclosure statement for more information.

Seeing Spots- some nail doodling to tide us over...

Hi y'all! I'm still coughing my fool head off and feeling gross, so I dipped into my photo archives to share something I did not too long ago while I was doodling. Sometimes I enjoy just putting various polishes together to see what I can come up with.

I'd love to tell you what polishes I used for this design, but I can't. Most of those colors I mixed myself from various polishes in my collection, and I honestly don't remember how I achieved them. However, this is a very simple look to achieve.

First, I imagined a V going down the center of my nail. I painted the three base colors, one in each triangle. After that dried, I began adding dots with whatever color I thought would mesh well with the backgrounds. I started with the large silver center dots on the turquoise bit, then added smaller pink dots on top of the silver ones. Finally I filled in the blank spaces with the sparkly blue dots. The side triangles are more simple. Finally I added black stripes to better separate the three sections. A quick coat of topcoat finished things off!

Hopefully I'll be feeling enough better to get a post up soon. If not, I'll dig into the archives again! Til next time!

The robots are coming to take me away!! :D

See my disclosure statement for more information.

Hospitals Suck.

I apologize for interrupting the fun, colorful nail art and other cosmetic goodness posts, but I'm afraid this has to be said. Hospitals suck, and not in the happy fun way. Let's see if I can sum this up briefly...

Some of you may know I've been sick for three and a half weeks now. Coughing, feeling horribly achy and weak, body aches, etc... it's not been a pleasant month here. For a week, I felt too bad to go to the doctor, which is sort of scary, but there ya go.

Last night, I ended up having a hard enough time breathing that I said enough was enough and finally went to the emergency room. I'm pretty fond of breathing, and when I feel like I can't I get rather grumpy. I'd have gone to the doctor sooner, but I have pretty severe medical anxiety, so it takes a LOT to get me into a doctor's office.

While sitting in the waiting room, I had lots of time to think about just why I dislike going to the emergency room. Forget being surrounded by sick people...it's just not very fun.  Even though I was there for my chest they made me strip naked and sit waiting in a tiny hospital gown that was totally open down the back. Then they wanted me to walk to radiology!

Yes, I put my pants back on before the trip to radiology. Some things I just won't do. :D

One bit amused me, though. The doctor seemed convinced that I smoke for some reason. He asked me at least three different times during the exam if I smoked, as if he'd somehow sneak up on me and get me to change my story. I'm actually pretty boring- I don't drink, I don't smoke, I don't do drugs, I don't do much of anything except craft!

Ahh well, it's ok. Even though the doctor seemed convinced I had pneumonia, I don't. I have pretty bad bronchitis, and that's what's been making me feel dizzy and pass out too. That breathing thing really IS important!

Also, don't be like me. If you end up with something you can't kick after 3-4 days, go to your doctor. As the doctor told me, you don't want to end up like Jim Henson- he died of an easily treatable pneumonia, and had he seen the doctor even one day earlier, he'd have survived. I got lucky this time, but you might not.

Til next time, hopefully with better breathing!

My lungs hate me.

See my disclosure statement for more information.

Franken Fun- My Magic Bus

I had the strangest night. I finally seem to be getting over the cold I've had for the past three weeks, so my family and I went out to the bookstore to get out of the house for a bit. We got home around 9pm and I immediately hopped onto my computer to update the blog.

But as I was opening images to crop, I saw the art doll I've been working on lately. I realized she needed more trimming and shaping, so I pulled out my supplies and got going on that. Once she was a little more to my liking, I took photos of her so I could keep track of things. But then I realized I had more things to photo for the blog, and figured I might as well shoot them at the same time since I had the camera out.

Fast forward to 7am, when I realize I've revamped the art doll twice, started not only a head for her but a new doll as well, started two paper mache candlesticks, redone a necklace to better suit my tastes, cleaned out my purse, photo'd lots of nail art, shot two or three videos for the blog, reorganized my nail art brush box and my paper mache supplies box, torn new paper strips for the new paper mache goodies, transferred my new bottle of acetone into the bottle I prefer, cut down that bottle into more storage for tall thin things...

... and I looked at the clock and shouted, "Holy CRAP, when did it become 7am??"

My husband, ever the smartass, replied, "About 2 minutes ago." He's so helpful. :D

And so here it is, almost 11am and I'm just now getting to the blog update I started 14 hours ago. I haven't slept, I've barely eaten, but oh how satisfied I feel right now!

However, since I didn't do anything new I'll show you a franken I made several weeks back. I've been admiring OPI's My Private Jet for quite some time, but I am much too frugal to consider buying it. Even if I had the spare cash to spend on it, I'd much prefer to throw that toward something else. So, enter a splash of black, a lot of clear, and some Gosh Holographic.

I love the photo of the bottle. The color is a touch off, for some odd reason, but the sparkles are GORGEOUS! Then again, I do have quite a thing for rainbows. Just in case you don't want to zoom in on it, let me show you a bit of that gorgeous holo sparkle...

Is that delicious or what? The best part? These photos were taken after midnight in my poor bedroom... I can't wait to put this on and take it for a ride outside. This baby is going to sing in the sunlight, I think!

If you're interested in mixing up your own version of this stunner, it's fairly simple as long as you have the right base. You'll need a very holographic polish- something like China Glaze OMG or Gosh Holographic works beautifully. I wish I could tell you a ratio, but it really depends what polishes you're using. My suggestion would be to put about half a bottle of clear, a healthy dollop of holo polish, and then add your black one drop at a time. It really doesn't take much black to completely mask the holographic glitter/shimmer, so it's easier to add it bit by bit than to end up wasting your holo polish in plain old black!

So, if you're anything like me, you're wondering what this looks like on. In a word? YUMMY! It's hard to see the pretty rainbow in this unless you click the picture to enlarge it. Good thing I'm nice enough to do a zoomed-in shot of it! Just look...

Keep in mind, that pic on the right there? Yep... shot after midnight with ambient room lighting. Can you imagine what this would do in the sun? I'm almost hyperventilating thinking about it!! Don't worry, eventually I'll get a shot or three of this in bright daylight, full sunlight so we can all appreciate just how gorgeous a charcoal holo can be. :D

But for now? I'm looking at the clock and it's almost 11:30 and I am finally starting to get a bit sleepy. YAY SLEEPS!!

... who am I kidding, I'll be up before 2. Still, even naps are better than nothing! Keep your chins up, kids, and I'll catch ya on the flip side!

Til next time!

It may not be a private jet, but I'm not complaining...

See my disclosure statement for more information.