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Cookie’s Progress – Torso Shaping

I made some more progress on Cookie today. I’ve been sanding and carving into the base layer of clay, and I came up with a pretty good starting shape to add more clay to, to begin shaping out her bosom, behind and etc….. I had a sorta accident and ended up sanding into her foam core, but, because I plan on pretty much adding her bust anew with fresh clay, I am not too worried about it. After I carve out her foam core I can also add some extra clay on the inside to sure up any thin areas.

I haven’t begun working on her face yet….the head always seems so darned hard, and I’d like to get a better feel for the La-Doll clay before I work on something that has so many small details. I am going to have to put my Japanese classes to good use and actually try to read the sections on sculpting the face in the Yoshida book. I’m pretty sure I just need to get the right tools in order.

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New Mohair Wigs

It’s not the best picture because it’s overcast and rainy today, and well I didn’t put much effort into the picture, but my mohair wigs from Kemper Dolls finally showed up today. I bought this little 6-7 carrot mohair wig in a cute bob style to try on my AE Yara, and I bought another one in black in a 7-8 for my Dollmore Sona when she arrives. I think the shorter hair style makes makes my Yara look older, which was the goal. When I first put it on I wasn’t really so sure about the wig, but it’s growing on me and I think with some more styling it could be pretty cute. I didn’t bother taking the black one out of the bag yet because I figure I’ll wait until my Sona arrives.

Anyway overall I think the quality of Kemper Dolls mohair wigs are very good, and I can definitely recommend their wigs for that, especially since I got the carrot wig on sale for only $7.00! However their customer service left a little to be desired frankly. I ordered the wigs a little over a week ago and they have a order tracking section on their website which strangely they never updated, so I was left thinking that my order was still in “processing” all week. Finding this odd for items that were supposed to be in stock, I decided to email them, but they didn’t get back to me very quickly, and after sending them another email today, finally something got kicked out and I was finally given my UPS tracking number. Apparently the order had been shipped on the 7th, but they just neglected to tell me or give my tracking number. As it is I got my tracking number literally a few hours before the package showed up.

In the end I received good quality wigs, and within a reasonable amount of time, but it irritated me that their communication was poor, since most other sellers I have dealt with have been prompt and good communicators. Perhaps I shouldn’t be so fussy, but well, that was my experience so you can take it for what it’s worth.

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Cookie’s Progress – Trial and Error

So I finally decided to go ahead and get started on Cookie. I am using La-Doll and Premier clay, so I decided I would go ahead and follow Ryo Yoshida’s doll making methods from the Yoshida Style Ball Jointed Doll Making Guide. In the guide you cut your cores/armatures out of styrofoam based off of your drawings. I’ll get more to the method later, but in the picture above was my first attempt at carving the body core using the blue polystyrene insulation foam board. As you can see the core turned out terrible with way too many pock marks. Naturally I was displeased and I tried to figure out whether or not it was my tools that were the problem or whether you just shouldn’t carve out with the blue insulation foam. I’ve seen other people use the blue foam before to good effect, but it just wasn’t working for me with what tools I had so I decided to go out and get myself a sheet of the white styrofoam.

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Cookie – Sketch Revision

I posted the sketches of Cookie on The Joint, and I had one person make a comment and based on her comments I revised Cookie a little. Basically I redrew her hip piece so it would be easier for joint construction and wouldn’t be quite so thin, and in the process I think she comes out looking more attractive. It was also suggested that I would need to widen her head a little bit or not have her eyes so widely spaced since it would be difficult to get eyes to fit in her head. This sketch also reflects her slightly widened head around the eye area. I still think the original sketch of her head looks cuter, but maybe if I tweak the edged of the jawline a bit it might help out.

I’ve still been waffling on whether or not to start the project in clay. It’s exciting to come up with a doll idea and sketch her out and part of me would love to just jump in and get sculpting, but another part of me reminds me that sculpting is tough and things may not always turn out as you like them. :p I guess though, in the end it really doesn’t matter what I do because even if I start this project and decide part-way through that I don’t like where things are headed, I can leave it unfinished. There are no unfinished project police out there ready to arrest me and send me to rehab for flighty procrastinators who just do as they like. This being said though I think there is probably a small sense of guilt in knowing I already have one unfinished doll project. :p

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Possible Doll Project – Cookie

Because I already have some Premier clay stowed away, and I had a gift card and a 50% off coupon to go get some LaDoll clay this week at Michaels, I am pondering the possibility of starting another doll making project. Yeah….I realize I never finished my first one, but I just ended up so unhappy with it, some of which I felt was due in part to the nature of super sculpey.

To be honest I’m still not completely satisfied with my sculpting abilities, but neither am I ever satisfied with my drawing or painting skills despite having gone to art school for X number of years. XP Anyhow I thought I might give it a try again. As they say, nothing ventured nothing gained, or in this case nothing sculpted no skills gained, lol.

So, this all being said, I originally thought I might try to make a slender tiny that was around 6 inches tall, but I wasn’t too pleased with the sketches I had done, so I just started another random doll head sketch that eventually turned into a roughly 12 inch/30cm doll with a mature body that looks like a “Cookie” to me. 🙂 I’m not terribly satisfied with the profile view of the doll, so I think I may post the sketches on the forums at The Joint to get some feedback on her before I start committing anything to clay.

I know her torso is a little short and I think perhaps I like it that way, but I think she would probably look nice with an elongated torso as well, but I think her proportions right now make her a little more child-like which I think adds to her cuteness. If I did elongate her torso I’d probably have to try to turn her into something closer to a 40cm doll though. The beef I have with the profile is that her head is looking too large now, and I think in my effort to remove her belly ponch and fat butt, I’ve ended up making her too think now….*sigh* I dunno. I don’t want her to have a big butt, however being a less shapely no-butt is also out of the question.

Gotta keep working…..