Please welcome Hannah (Part 8) Finally finished!

Part 1: http://www.solannsworld.blogspot.dk/2013/10/starting-new-art-doll-please-welcome.html

Part 2: http://www.solannsworld.blogspot.dk/2013/11/please-welcome-hannah-part-2.html

Part 3: http://www.solannsworld.blogspot.dk/2013/11/hannah-has-got-new-ears-and-hands.html

Part 4: http://solannsworld.blogspot.dk/2013/11/hannah-is-coming-along-nicely-now-with.html

Part 5: http://solannsworld.blogspot.dk/2013/11/please-welcome-hannah-part-5.html

Part 6: http://solannsworld.blogspot.dk/2013/12/please-welcome-hannah-part-6.html
Part 7: http://solannsworld.blogspot.dk/2013/12/hannah-has-got-some-more-clothes.html

Hi, I´m back to share the promised photos of Hannah! The weather is terrible here in Denmark, so it´s really hard to take really good photos without daylight, but I have tried, and here are my results:

My husband said she was a bit pale, so I gave her a little more rosie cheeks and nose.  I also made her eyebrows darker, and added clear varnish on her eyeballs and lips ;-) 

I love her pose! She is standing firmly on both her feet, relaxed and in balance. 

Today, I would like to talk about armature. In a artdoll, the armature is really important. It makes the doll sturdy and strong, and will prevent parts from breaking off and so on. It will also help the doll hold it´s own weight. Hannah has hot a strong armature, made with 4mm aluminum wire, steel wire, wooden sticks to control the joints and rock hard Magic sculpt to make hips and legs very strong.

Even though I thought the armature was strong enough, it wasn´t. Another thing that was annoying me was, that her legs kept bending in the wrong direction. And then suddenly her left leg broke of at the hip! I had to remove alle the quilt padding, the wooden sticks and open the entire armature, to discover that it was the aluminum wire that had broken apart! It had become weak after too much motion. 

I therefor resculpted her entire legs with Magic Sculpt, then covered them with paperclay. Sanding, sanding and more sanding ;-) Not a fun proces, but necessary. The Magic Sculpt was probably getting a bit old, because it was really hard to sculpt, and that´s why I covered it up after with paperclay. 

So, aluminum wire is not strong enough! I liked it because it was light and very easy to bend and work with, but the armature can´t brake like that! Depressinly, later on it braked again... This time at the shoulder.... It broke after she was almost done, so there is no way I´m opening her up again. Her arm is protected by layers of masking tape, quilt padding and glued clothing, but it was a tremendous dissapointment to me after all that work, to discover that the alumium wire broke again! I confess, that I have been posing her a lot, back and forth, up and down, to find her right posing statue, but a doll shouldn´t be sold as slightly poseable, if she has a aluminum armature, and that is what I thought I was maling. Over time, she will eventually brake, so this is my advise to all you doll artists out there: don´t use it aluminium wire.  Use strong and hard steel wire instead. 

Even though she isn´t perfect, I still love her. She will stand in my studio radiating good vibrations. Thank god I didn´t sell her or a similar doll. What a shame to discover that it would brake one day. 

 Another funny thing is her facial expression. I think she´s looking very friendly, but my husband thinks that she looks worried. An old friend on Book of Faces found her a bit condescending! I thought to myself: "What??" How can it be, that we all are seeing her expression so differently? How do you see her expression?

Well, I guess it is back to the sculpting table for me. This time I´m bringing my new book with me, as recommended by Dee Schiller from Oddfae: 

I´m off again, thank you for showing interest in my ramblings ;-) 

"Heaven, I´m in heaven....." Update on Hannah and a bit of this and that.

Hi, today I want to show you what makes me so happy! Today I recieved a large box of scraps of long haired  pieces of fur! I buy them from this lady. the price is very cheap too! 150 danisk kroners for 1 kg! (approx $18)  

Iordered them in mainly brown, black and grey colors, and I cant wait to make beautiful hair with it!

This fur will fit a young boy or perhaps a troll? 

Beautiful long curly hair for an old witch?

Long black 6" hair for a younger witch?

Oh - there is a cat in there.... Julie is going crazy with all the fur... Biting and licking and rolling herself in it... 

Curly light grey for an old hag?

I really love the fur. It is so nice and soft, and smells like goat ;-) Perhaps that is the reason my cat is going insane - hi hi!

Another thing to share tonight is news about Hannah. For those of you who have been following my progress with this doll, I am sorry I haven´t posted final pics of her. The reason is that there is something terrible wrong with her outfit. At the beginning I really loved it, but soon I started to really hate it....Her slim elegance was tucked away in a clumsy dress. I will make her a new very soon. Her legs are terrible too. The keep on bending a little biy out of shape. I think I will remove her stockings and quilt padding and sculpt them completely with Magic Sculpt. In this way I can´t pose her legs, but she will again look slim and femenin like she did in the first stages of her development. 

See for yourself:

She is lying on the table for easier fotographing only. She can srtanly stand on her own proudly without support.

Here is her lovely face. She still need some eyelashes, but I really like her kind facial expression. She is a good witch ;-)

Finally I would like to recommend a good book about creativity. It is a very old classic about keeping a journal, to expand ones creativity and spiritual development. It was published back in 78, but I think it is still fresh and relevant. I was wondering if perhaps blogging was the new way of keeping an journal? What do you think? 

"The diary is the only form of writing that encourages total freedom of expression. Because of it's very private nature, it has remained immune to any formal rules of content, structure or style. As a result, the diary can come closest to reporducing how consciousness evolves." ~Tristine Rainer

I needed a new book ;-)

T am addicted to books! Amazon and Thriftbooks.com are my favorite bookpushers! I allways buy them used ;-) I´m trying to save the trees, right?

Have a fantastic weekend! 

Oh I just had to own this lovely book!

I am a sucker for crafts books. Especially books about artdolls! I have quite a few accually, but when I surfe around on Amazon, I can´t always stop myself from purchasing a new book... There are soooo many totally cool books on artdolls!
I recently ordered "Anatomy of a doll" by Susanna Oroyan, and I just had to have this one too: "Designing the doll: from consept to construction". I love the author, the layout and the pictures.

 

What is your favorite artdoll book? Any good recommandations for me?

New cloth doll book

I just got back from a nice visit in Norway, and the mailman had delivered a parcel while I was out of town! I ordered " Anatomy of a doll" by Susanna Oroyan after a fellow dollartist kindly recomended me to read it, after reading about my  struggles with the cloth doll design.

I read a lot on the internet, but somehow, it is really nice to own the book, right? I usually order the cheapest one, and very often I buy used books too. Recently I recieved an old artdollbook with original sketches made by the former owner! I just love that!  

Very well, just wanted to share this very good book! It will help me figure out all the well kept secrets that other cloth doll artist know and use. 

My next book purchase must be this;

The Faemaker by Dawn Schiller. It comes out in August 2012. I must find a way to get that one signed :-)