Pleabein Photoshoot

A friend asked how I went about setting up the pictures to be taken for my sculpture. It is magical and complicated procedure requiring the aid of many squirrels and the blessing of a mermaid pajama elf.

Okay, maybe not that complicated.

Here is how I did a quick, easy, plebeian setup to take pictures of Tulah.
I worked with two ideas:

1. A white background
2. Natural light. Regular house lights tend to cast a yellowed or blue light.

Now, this is where I cheat: I own a pretty sweet Nikon camera.

And this is where I ask you to not laugh to hard at my setup :

Paper near a window! 

I know I will look back one day and laugh as well. But until then (using my serious face) I am exploring the wonders of simplicity and the usefulness of mundane objects transformed into new and insightful tools.

-Cheers & Smiles-

Elf Sculpture - Part 3

Now that I have gotten sufficient sleep and my roommates are no longer able to distract me, it's time to continue!

Still learning a lot about placing hair on a sculpture. I've looked through many tutorials and I've seen a few different ways artist go about it. The process I've enjoyed so far has been by Natasha Red October. Another artist who shares her process is Patricia Rose.

Material for "MISSION: HAIR!"

Mohair - Has a nice soft texture and my experience with it so far has been positive. (found good deals on ebay!). 

FabricTac - An adhesive found in any local craft store.

Here is the sculpture with the hair placed on. I've made a few choice parts in how it will lay on her forehead and in this picture, I am playing with how I would like her hair to be styled. Eee! This is my favorite part!

All that I have visualized so far is having it as an up hairdo. In the second picture it is shown in a bun, but when I started on actually forming the style my first step was to place her hair in a secure ponytail (in a position slightly above center of where I'd like the bun to be)

From the ponytail I made several braids that would wrap around a small bun created. The two front bang pieces were braided and then wrapped in gold wire.

-This is where I do a
victory dance-

Alas! More to do. After dancing in victory I realized that she needed a head piece of some sort.

Picture to the left is a table set up to get more stuff done!

I find it helpful to have an assortment of items laid out that could have the possibility of being used. Helps in pairing items together or seeing if things work well together.

Wish I had taken better pictures of her hair at the time, but later progress pictures will show more of her hair piece. Also, I added curls to her style afterward to help give it a more full feeling.

Curls were created by wrapping mohair around brass tubing (just like a curling iron!). It is then placed under water to dampen the hair before being placed into an oven of about 150-200 degrees for about 10-15 minutes.

This is where I must end for now. Next blog will contain the progress pics of her over jacket.

Doll Project - Faces oh my!

Progress photos are fun, not just from artist that I admire, but taking them too! So here is my adventure so far:

Started with Magic Sculpt (it's the darker of the two sections) this weekend, MS is pretty neat! The draw back is that you have to have to wait about 12 hours for it cure completely. Worked out a skeletal form in the beginning (had to go back twice! Oi...the wait was cruel). Once I started with Prosculpt (using the Beige - Caucasian), time fleeeeew. Bulking out the form in the 2nd pic. Hope this sculpture turns out well when I bake...

To my left is the face of fail, ha. After the 4th attempt of starting a face I decided to let my frustration out by making myself laugh with an alien face.

I remember someone asking me how I went about creating a ceramic bust. The guy sounded really frustrated so my advice was this: Don't be angry!! Keep calm and make sure that you are enjoying what you are doing. Walk away, drink something delicious, treat yourself to a cookie. Check out a few artist and find out techniques that they use. Youtube is fun! So many artist like to share their love (artsy-lets-create-more-fun stuff love).


So, finally getting the groove on. Working with clay, I went about making faces using different ways (depending on my mood). Here is one way:

 

  

Need to ask someone how the whole premade eye thing goes about. Seen them inserted just not sure about how to pick one.  Well, here is where I am at currently. Just ordered some more prosculpt, now to wait anxiously to continue another day.

Oh, and her boobs looked smooshed. I plan on placing a corset on her so I am trying to achieve the boob/cleavage/corset shape. woooo!!!