From the sketchbook

From the sketchbook

from the sketchbook

i don't consider her unfinished. i actually really like the tint of color for the skin and lips and then the eyes and hair just the pencil drawing. she makes me smile for some reason.

Wordless Wednesday

from the sketchbook

Added just a touch of color to this one, with watercolor crayons. This one became a study for a painting I'm working on. What can I say? I love creepy little kids.

from the sketchbook

from the sketchbook

I've decided to post some sketches from my sketchbook. Just an occassional peek inside.

Here's the cover. I wrote Live Deliberately on the front. Just a little reminder to myself.


I draw lots of faces. Even more now that I've just completed Willowings Fabulous Faces course. Here's a girl I drew in the course. I like her. She has a manga look about here, what with her big eyes and exagerated features.

stuffed doll, step by step

I was chatting with some other artist earlier and we got on the subject of OOAK art dolls. I explained my steps and said I thought I had some pictures of a doll in stages. So I looked and found a few. It's not complete. I'll try and fill in the blanks.

First I build a wire armature. I usually just use a wire coat hanger. It's a heavy gage and I've got plenty of them to spare. I just bend it into a stick-man including a circle for the head. Then I make a ball of tinfoil and attach it to the circle. This is so the doll doesn't get top-heavy and also so the clay dries all the way thru. Sorry, no pictures of this step.

Next I sculpt the head, hands and legs. I use paper-clay so I don't have to fire it. It's also very user friendly. I can always add more clay, even after it dries, if I need to make some corrections. It also paints very nicely. You could also use polymer clay and fire it. I also have plans to do a doll out of PMC. But I can't fire that one on the wire armature because the metal will corrupt the PMC. Below I have a photo of a head. For this particular doll I wasn't in the mood to sculpt hands. So I put her in a straight jacket.

Next I wrap the wire armature in foam. And then I wrap it in duct-tape. This will all be covered by fabric so don't worry about using the duct-tape. It gives the piece a nice smooth finish. And I tend to use whatever's handy.

Next I cover the body in cotton fabric. I sew this directly on the body. Over this I start to build the clothing. My dolls are not the kind you dress and undress. The clothing is part of the dolls character. I sew the clothing directly on the doll starting with the bottom layer and working up. If I have rough edges I'll cover them with lace or other embellishments.

And here she is: Crazy Mollee