Please post your final pictures in the comments to this post before May 20th 2018 to be eligible for a prize in our sculpt-a-long. I have a number of dollmaking books and magazines to give away. The best finished piece on May 20th will receive a prize.
If you aren’t done yet, don’t worry. We’ll have a second chance date on June 10th.
Whoops, no one has posted for the head yet, not even me! Not to fear, we are going to have plenty of time to catch up in the end. We’ve decided not to adjust the schedule for now, but to add some catch up dates at the end for the latecomers to finish up.
April 2nd is the date to show hands. Please post a picture of the hands of your doll in the comments to this post. And as always, feel free to go back to the earlier posts even if the date has passed. The prizes will go to those who finish on time, but the fun is available to everyone.
March 18, 2018: the head. The head is arguably the most important part of the doll. The expression on the face can make or break what you are working on. Got some tips or want advice on some challenges? Let us know. Please post a picture of your work in a comment to this post by the deadline.
Hey Doll Makers!
Our first checkpoint is coming up on Sunday, Feb. 18, 2018, but this is a small one. For the first piece, we just need to decide what we are doing and make our plans. This might be a paragraph, or it might be a sketch, or maybe both. Decide on the character you are making and start thinking about it. Post something as a comment to this post. Let us know what story you are using as inspiration. Please tell us if you are looking for feedback or not.
Starting a piece with a sketch is a great idea. It’s easier to change a sketch than to spend hours sculpting only to realize you don’t like something. If you draw your sketch to scale, you can use it as a tool for laying out your doll.
On the email dollmaking list, we decided we wanted to kick off the new website with a sculpt-a-long! The theme is Storybook; the doll can include books in some way, or can be a character from one of your favorite stories. You can use any medium you wish — cloth, new clay, porcelain, resins, wood, or anything else you can think of. The goal is simply to play along, jumpstart our creativity, and motivate us to finish a project. We are giving ourselves plenty of time to finish this project, with a lot of checkpoints along the way. Don’t worry, we will also have challenges along the way with shorter timelines for those of us with shorter attention spans!
We are going to break this project down into sections with deadlines, with time scheduled for each section of work. On the deadline, I will make a post, and the participants can upload pictures of their work in progress. At the end, I will pick some winners from the ones who managed to stay with us throughout the whole process, and they will win a dollmaking book.
Here is the deadline schedule:
Feb. 18 2018: idea and sketches. Post your sketches and get feedback on what you are thinking. Play with the pose or with the costume on paper before you put a lot of time into writing. Maybe post some links to pictures that inspire you. Recommend your favorite book you are taking the character from.
March 4 2018: beginning. For the sculptors, the first step will probably be the armature. For the cloth doll makers, it might be drafting, adapting, or finding the appropriate pattern. Post a picture or drop a line by the deadline to show how it is going.
March 18, 2018: the head. The head is arguably the most important part of the doll. The expression on the face can make or break what you are working on. Got some tips or want advice on some challenges? Let us know.
April 2, 2018: Hands. Expressive hands are one of the biggest challenges in creating an art doll.
April 15, 2018: Body. Now that you’ve got the pieces sculpted, it’s time to start putting them together.
May 6, 2018: Costume. Clothes, shoes, and wigs. We’ve got an extra week on this one because there’s a lot here.
May 20, 2018: Finishing. Props? Base? Any other final touches your piece needs, or something you want to revisit from the previous sections. This is your opportunity to catch up if you have fallen behind along the way. Post your finished piece by May 20th.