Feeling lazy tonight...

... So here's some "box opening" photos of my Impldoll Xiaowei, who arrived in July.

Impldoll Xiaowei

My sad little fox girl.

Volpe

"So instead of calling me 'Dragon' in your tongue, you'll call me 'Dragon' in some other tongue?"

Yes, I know.

Calling a fox based doll by a word that means fox in another language is very lazy naming. 

But I don't care, I like the way it sounds.

Volpe is in my Etsy store right now.

Monster High Dolls

The Sprog is seriously into these - and boy, do I want one.

In fact, my mother found a broken Frankie (and bought it for $5) for me. But the kid wasted no time in nicking the doll off me once I'd replaced the elastic.

Little Horror.

My vinyl girls

Part of the reason that I make dolls is that I love, but can't afford to buy lots of, them.
I do however have a motley crew of Barbies, other fashion dolls, and assorted bits/bobs.

I love the interchangeable head system on the
new Fashionista Barbies

Going bald...

When the My Scene Barbies first were released, I got one of each. I love the cartooniness of their features, and the fact that their heads are a bit bigger. When the Sprog was about 3 these dolls got assimilated into her dolls, and they are now looking decidedly worse for wear.
Oh well. :)

wig

Lexi - a Moxie Teenz doll - I'd been pressing my nose against a window with these dolls for almost a year before I got one for my birthday. I love her. I think she looks better without the wig.

sans wig

Holly Hobbie!

She has a hilarious smile.

And my Jan Mclean Dolls - a cheapie Lollipop Girl and the gorgeous Amelia, who was. not. cheap.
Amelia was the spark that sent me away from cloth dolls, and back to polymerclay and resin.

The "Zuko" Bishie BJD

I'm not really too far along with him - the Kitsune doll had arrested my attention.

One of his knees is a bit burnt!

His knees need more work, and I think I'm going to re-work his hip joints.

I've noticed that I have a tendency to leave the arms/legs for last (or just not do them at all). Most of my unfinished dolls are waiting for limbs.

Might be that the next doll I start will have to get its arms and legs done first.

Kitsune Doll Progress

So, I've had a think about how best to approach this blogging every day business, and in order to make it as easy as possible, I have made myself a "menu" of things to post about.
I'm using a plug-in called Todoist on my Chrome browser, and have made a list of subjects.

I'm digging the to do list. I never used to see the point in them, because "Of course I'll remember!" (aaaand then I forget what I'm supposed to be remembering, but I'd remember that there was something I was supposed to be doing...). My Husband teases me about my bad memory constantly.
I'll show him!

ahem, sorry.

So, topic number three is a quick update on the Fox spirit themed doll I posted about, before I got distracted by tattoos.

I was intending to give her large pointed ears, but she refused to wear them. I tried for a vulpine look to her features, so she has a long nose and a pointed chin.

I'm really happy with her body, the torso joint is probably the most successful one I've made!

I have her proto-arms and hands on my TV tray, and am going to chip away at them tonight.

Much ADO about stuff.

Recently ADO - Art Dolls Only advertised for new members. (Go on - poke around their blog - it's awesome!)
Their membership is closed to new members for most of the year, and I managed to finagle a place during the latest (very short) open period.
I'm extremely excited to be part of this group of amazing artists. And I expect it to be very good for me.

You see - despite doing arty things for my hobbies and sanity projects, (and my Day-Job), for pretty much my entire life - I don't always feel like I have a right to call myself an artist. Sometimes I feel like a big fraud.

Now, I know that this is my Depression/Anxiety talking. I know that.

I'm a skilled draughtsperson, and I have a good eye for colour, composition and whatnot. I sculpt well, and I can sew, and knit, and I can paint and I've taught life-drawing classes and ALL KINDS OF STUFF. I'm good enough at some of these things that I am paid to show other people how to do them.

But still, there's a voice in my head that whispers "Fraud". Sometimes it yells.

I've been thinking about this a lot recently. The Day-Job involves teaching aspiring artists, and the single biggest problem that the students I work with have to overcome isn't how to draw well. Drawing is easy.
It's believing that the work you are producing is worth showing people. That your worth as a person isn't tied up with how people receive the things you make. It's why students who have done almost all the required work miss deadlines. Or don't show their Tutor. Or don't submit stuff for group critiques.

It's why I have a drawer full of incomplete dolls, and why it takes me ages to work up the courage to list finished ones for sale. (My Etsy store sat empty for almost two years after I opened it.) It's why I go weeks without updating this blog (and avoiding it because I feel guilty about not updating only makes things worse).
Why, if I get a nice comment about my dolls I crash emotionally - I often end up in tears later in the day.

I know not to do this - that is restrictive and not good for me. I advise students about how to deal with and stop this behaviour all the time.
But still...

Now, the above isn't a whiny "lavish attention on and love meeeee", I'm just getting so sick of letting my stupid malfunctioning brain chemicals get the upper-hand on my behaviour. Joining ADO is something that I think will help force me to face these issues far more definitively.
It's all been a bit heavy - sorry.

So, um yeah.
~OH NO! what's that over there?!?~
^ That's what we in the business call a smoooooth deflection.

Here's a colourful dragon sketch I did on Monday:

I used every colour of watercolour-pencil I have!

And some paperdolls that I made in February. (See what I mean? My gods, FEBRUARY. Why have I not shown them?)

Steampunky!              Sassy!                Stroppy!

Gosh, I do go on.

I'll have to try to be a bit more concise and up-lifting tomorrow. :D

Foxes

I've been struck by a foxy bug recently - and it seems I'm seeing them everywhere I go online at the moment.

O HAI DERE!

I decided that the fact I see a fox online almost everyday without searching for them meant that I should make a fox-themed doll, so I've done some concepts for, and have started sculpting, a doll who is going to be a Kitsune - a fox spirit.

Multiple tails on the coat? What was I thinking?!?

Playing around with Kitsune and Masquerade mask forms.

"If I stand like this, no-one will notice how crappily  my feet are drawn."

Initial Sketch of doll with joints and junk.

 

But then, while researching for my doll, I came across this image of a tattoo by artist Zach Spurlock:

So freaking cool

Now, I've been contemplating getting a half-sleeve tattoo for a while now, but had been stuck on the content. I knew I wanted a traditional Irezumi style design (my father is a tattooist - and this is the style of his half-sleeves) and thought I'd get a horse (I was born in the year of the horse) or a dragon (because, Dragon).

And the idea of getting a nine-tailed fox has stuck. Every time I sit down with the intention to do some concept sketches for my tattoo, I end up drawing foxes.

urgh - those back legs!

Screw it - I'll just draw clouds or something ;D

The red pencil sketch is my favourite so far.

I'm going to nerd it up a bit - I'm an Animation Tutor as the Day Job, so the fox's tails will be enacting an animation technique called the Wave Principle. I might put an antique key in it's mouth or around it's neck (because Key poses, geddit?). 

One reason why a fox tattoo is appropriate for an animator...

And The Fox and The Hound is one of the first movies I remember seeing as a kid, so yeah. I toyed around with the idea of just getting a tattoo of Todd, but no, I'd rather get the traditional style rather than a cartoony one. 

Dragon photos

Well, he's not terribly photogenic, but he is adorable...

                                                 

And he needs a name - Leave suggestions in the comments!

And here's a grainy photo of the progress on the Bishie:

(Ignore those feet - they're really rough) The legs and hands are still 'raw' clay. I'm thinking that maybe his thighs are too muscular - but will wait until I've done his arms before deciding on them.
He'll be roughly 28cm tall - ever so slightly shorter than Barbie.

My Poor Neglected Blog, Elves, Dragons, and a Bishie*

Well, I've been a bit slack with the blogging recently.
Partly due to my computer being a stupid-head and dying, and partly due to dealing with a depressive period. Which sucks - and isn't a very good excuse - but there you go.

I have been busy whilst hiding from the world though:

Two of the Elves are finished - and will be posted on Etsy along with the Floofy pink lady, as soon as I've taken decent photos.

 And the third Elf is waiting to be dressed.

I've sculpted a scarred "pirate" elf who will have a hook-hand, and also needs a costume. And a body too, while I'm at it...

The paperclay "dollhouse" BJDs have been giving me a real hard time with their fiddly little arms/hands - so I'm cheating and making them out of polyclay. (no photos - boo!)

DRAGON!
Who will be getting painted this weekend, and then I have to find a small plaque to hang him off.

I've been working on a commissioned BJD too (secret - no pics)

And dug out a very old half done full figure sculpt and am attempting to salvage it.

I've started altering a "My Scene" Barbie that I brought early last decade, that then got chewed on by a cat, and stolen by the Sprog (who told me could have the broken doll back if I wanted - generous kid). I've wiped off her face paint and chopped off the chewed-up hand - I'm debating trying a re-root, or just giving her a wig, as her hair is really ratty. Also no photos. :)

I have also started another BJD - this time a "mature tiny" - or a 1/6 scale doll.
For a change, it's a he. *A bishōnen or "pretty boy".

At the Sprog's request - I've made a "Zuko" head for him, but this won't be his "official" head if I get him to the point of saleabilty. Fanart is fun - but it's a bit iffy to make it for sale due to copyright issues.

So, that's what I've been up to in the - gosh - 66 days since my last blog post...