of ink and schedules

Just in case anyone was wondering, this blog is, in fact, on a monthly update schedule during the winter months. I'm officially about to start my summer semester; the school year here is divided into three full semesters and four shorter optional sessions. No fun, but at least it lets me focus on studio classes in the winter without distractions from general requirements and research work. All of that is to say that the summer semester may mean a different update schedule since I'll be spending my time outside with a camera when I'm not stuck inside writing.

I'm slowly getting back into the habit of sketching all the time, everywhere. I did finish my illustration for the spring poetry broadside, and I'm pretty pleased with it. considering the fact that I haven't drawn anything in two years and that this was completely freehand and in ink... The results could have been disastrous. ^^;

fountain pen on canson cold pressed drawing paper

I have so far to go in terms of line width and control, but I'm seriously proud just to have completed this. It's a large project, and I exhausted myself after all the time i spent not drawing these past years. It feels good to pour that much of myself into something, and I learned a lot from the freehand process. :3

Sometime in June, you should see a special update on doll aesthetics. (^_~) Look forward to it!

On a side note, I've sort of reshuffled my social web-usage to better work with my busy schedule. The links are all updated in the sidebar. (^_^)

Playing catch-up

Hello everyone! Sorry that it's been a while since my last post. I've been working my way through the bureaucracy of school finances, and I'm thrilled to say the effort payed off. As of now, I'm officially an art student, and I have a semester full of studio work ahead of me this fall!
It's sort of important for me to go ahead and make this announcement now as I will be going to school pretty much year-round to finish this degree by 2014 and still fit study abroad in. This summer will be taken up with finishing general req. courses so please expect updates to be infrequent.
Additionally, finally getting to move forward with my life means that there isn't a lot of room for the extraneous luxuries and distractions. You can take a peek over at my collection page to see what I'm talking about, but what it all boils down to is that I'm less interested and involved with doll community activity than ever before.... And that's actually saying something. (^_^;) You'll be seeing the last of my face ups in the next week hopefully, and that will be that.
As for what I've been working on... I recently accepted a project in conjunction with my brother's lit. club that involves illustrating for poetry broadsides. I can't share those results as we're pre-publication, but working on the project has introduced an interesting new planning tool to my arsenal.

Paper is a very new app for iOS, and it's become an indispensable management and organization tool in just a week of use. Full review coming as soon as I try it with a stylus!

Blythe: translucent edition!

I was recently lucky enough to win a rare, translucent blythe plate + headback. She's going to be a total frankendollie of course. The plan is a pure neemo body, but I'm undecided on scalp... and I'll need an eye mech of course.

I'm  quite blown away by the translucent plastic. It's exquisitely soft, and I can just imagine how gorgeous she'll be sanded and modded. 

This is going to be a long and intermittent project, but I'm delighted to have something like this to tinker with in spare minutes. First, I need to confirm which release this came from. (^_~)

heads up

DickBlick is having a fantastic winter sale! Things like W&N watercolors and Strathmore pads are going for 30-40% off. Wish I wasn't strapped right now or I'd definitely be expanding my watercolor palette.

I have a lot of (non-art) work to do this week with finalizing taxes and a volunteer gig. Hopefully I'll get in some more watercolor studies to share here, but there might not be a real post this week.

Hope you're all safe and happy this coming week! Have a good holiday tomorrow if you get to take it off from work. ;)

Doll customization update!

Finished (ish) with the Collection and Aesthetics pages if you care to take a peek! -->

I've been under the weather this week, but I did manage to finish a large number of one-offs that will go up on DoA a few at a time. Portfolio images are over at my flickr.

I really enjoyed working on the Aria heads! They have a similar sense of organic asymmetry to Volks, and the general proportions and resin quality were lovely to work on. It's always nice to actually enjoy my work and even nicer to discover an enjoyment of something new.

Elfdoll heads are incredibly easy to work on of course, but I'm not a huge fan of the resin. this is where Volks has spoiled me for good haha. Still, the results were nice in the end so I can't really complain.

Reminisce Vivien is currently available on DoA

In all, I've done nine faceups in the past week-ish, and attempted my first MH repaint to boot. I'm quite pleased with myself. (￣▽￣)


 ...Even if the MH was an unmitigated disaster. I didn't expect much from a first attempt and new paints/brush to boot. (^_^ ;)

These girls are a load of fun to work on though! The vinyl takes blushing beautifully, and the features are so well-defined. <3 Dreaming eyes are a unique challenge, and I'm already looking forward to my next attempt!

save me from my schemes!

No sooner is my fafsa filed than I feel the sudden compulsion to break out the sewing machine. I actually need pillows, but is that what I'm planning? Pfft.

I want to make 1:6 scale sack dresses. Not the horrid pillow-case messes you  might be thinking of, but lovely, sassy, short dresses with details like gathered sleeves and scoop necks and ruffled hems and perfect draping.

I have too many ideas and not enough time, but this is going in the project notebook for a rainy afternoon. ;)

sneak peek

Here's a quick look at my next doll project: the ever-popular monster high repaints! I have a Frankie Stein, Draculara, and a Cleo de Nile ready for me to start working.

 

These sculpts are really astonishingly lovely, and it's always nice to work on something different. I plan to make them sweet girls in my own style, maybe even dreamers? Dreaming eyes are pretty rare, as are narrow shapes, so I'm more inclined to go that direction.

Anyway, I have to work on taxes and uni paperwork this weekend, so I may be off the radar a bit. Then I have to work on photo shoots for sales... so yeah. It might be a week before I get to these girls, but I wanted to post this before I get swamped by work.