Workspace Wednesday: Sculpting the Monster High Custom Clicker Zombie from The Last of Us

It's no secret that I'm a huge fan of videogames.  I'm actually taking a brief pause from hoarding gold in Diablo III to post this >_>.  The Last of Us from Naughty Dog absolutely captured my heart.  Then it stomped on it, set it on fire, and then tossed it in a pile of excrement.  I don't think I've ever seen a game that was quite so completely, unbearably awful to its characters.  Tragedies aside, it's one of the greatest (and most terrifying) stories ever told.

I've been talking about creating a custom Clicker and Ellie custom Monster High set for months and I finally got the kick in the pants to proceed thanks to watching Feral Works' breathtaking progress on her Clicker mask.

Sculpting to the sounds of the Yogscast.

I started off by lopping the face off (and a few fingers) of a Dragon Girl Create a Monster.  Instead of just sculpting the cordyceps on top of the head, I really wanted it to look like it was exploding from inside the cranial cavity.  I laid down a base layer of air drying foam clay for added texture.  Once dry, it's actually a bit squishy and flexible to the touch.  A few days of drying later, I began to add more details using Super Sculpey.  The foam clay is nice, but it's nearly impossible to create little details.

Adding texture and stability to the Clicker using Super Sculpey.

I also wanted to be able to paint these smaller details more efficiently, since the foam clay tends to soak up paint.  It has the added benefit of creating more stability for the foam clay as well.

As with most of my Sculpey use, the layers are kept thin enough to be hand cured with a heat gun.  Tufts of hair will be added between the cordyceps fungus.  I'm playing around with a few different ideas for adding 'decay' to the body, but I haven't decided on which looks best yet.

There's still a lot more progress to go, including creating an outfit, but I'm really liking how the custom looks right now :).  Thanks for reading!

Monster High Commissions: Honey Swamp and Jane Boolittle for Machelle

These two girls were created for Machelle :).  I can't even express how much I love painting Honey.  I really need to get my hands on another of my own so I can really get at that amazing body detailing.

She's one of the most amazing dolls I've ever seen from a playline release.  Pink and green is one of my favorite color combinations, so getting a chance to use these colors on her was so fun.

Jane is quickly becoming another favorite of mine.  I really love her dark lavender skin tone.  She has very nicely sculpted lips and eyewells.

 I'm very glad I have my own still left to work on!

Jane Boolittle and Honey Swamp Custom Monster High Repaints

Thanks so much for reading :).  I hope you enjoyed them as much as I did!

Custom Fashion Doll Repaint Commission: Lucy Liu for Seanan

I don't get to do realistic dolls very often, but I do enjoy them.  I'm so happy with how this doll turned out.  I'm always terrified of flubbing repaints like this.  Lucy Liu is one of my favorite actresses, and I'd hate for a repaint based on her likeness to turn out as more of an insult, lol.  She's an Lucy Liu (Alex) doll from Charlie's Angels that Seanan commissioned.  I believe the inspiration for this repaint was Lucy's character, Dr. Joan Watson, from Elementary.  Seanan transferred the original head to a  much more articulated Fashion Royalty body.

 A photo of the original doll, from CelebrityDollMuseum.com and my completed Lucy Liu repaint.

I tried my best to capture her features, she really is such a beautiful woman.  She has such cute little freckles <3.

 

 I had a lot of fun working on her, it's always nice to be able to paint unique dolls :).  Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed!

Workspace Wednesday: Ambitious Works and Blank References for Monster High Honey Swamp, Jane Boolittle, and Gigi Grant

I... might have gotten a little ambitious about my plans today.  These are all girls that have been waiting in the wings (you know, minus the poor Draculaura and Insect Girl that have had base colors for like... a month...) to be repainted.  I can lay down base coloration much more easily when I have everyone laid out at once.  Some girls use the same color blends (or colors I only need to change a bit), too, so it's easier on my airbrush.  That Lucy Liu is first on the chopping block, though.  She's a commission for dear Seanan :).  I'm definitely excited about painting her!  I love getting to paint dolls I've never worked on before.  I believe she's a Charlie's Angels Lucy Liu from the movie release back in 2000 (judging from the stamp on her head).

Pretty girls all in a row, waiting for new faces.

THE WRAPPENING

I've also started coming up with color palettes for the girls I'm working on, as opposed to just... flying by the seat of my pants.  I have a pretty good understanding of color theory, but I think I'll like having a preplanned color chart.  Mainly so I don't have to dig through bottles of paint, to work more efficiently.

I am never without coffee.

While I was snapping WW photos, I decided to do a few blank shots of the newer dolls.  I'm pretty sure you can find a blank face photo of Ghoulia everywhere, so I didn't photograph her.

Blank Monster High Gigi Grant Reference

Blank Monster High Jane Boolittle Reference

Blank Monster High Honey Swamp Reference

Feel free to use these to plan your own faceups or share them (just please don't remove the watermark).  Thanks for reading!

Workspace Wednesday! Three new Monster High Repaints, Modifying Clawdia Wolf's Toothy Grin

I usually post an update every Wednesday over on Tumblr, but I've been so busy the past couple of days, I wanted to take a moment to go a bit more in depth with the new doll projects I'm working on.

NO PICTURES D:!  We haven't got our faces on, yet!

You might notice that Clawdia here is looking a bit different.  That's because I wanted to try removing her teeth with the cut and superglue method which has always been popular with Barbies.  I loved Clawdia's character and her doll is absolutely fabulous, but dolls with perpetual open mouth smiles are unsettling to me O_O.  Speaking of Elissabat and Draculaura, I posted a comparison video between the two over here on my Youtube channel, confirming that they are two different sculpts.

THE STUFF OF NIGHTMARES

NO, NOT EXACTLY, BUT EQUALLY TERRIFYING O_O.  This was a moment in the removal process that I found particularly hilarious.  I was laughing so hard, I messed up the first time trying to bond the lips back together with glue.  Sorry, Clawdia.

This is the video I posted for the method I used, though there are plenty of other tutorials available on the web:

Basically, you're just cutting out the teeth with an exacto blade, evening out the opening, adding a few drops of super glue, and then pinching it shut until the glue cures.  Then, you'll end up with how she looks in the first photo above.  One thing I need to recommend is that you use a craft blade instead of the straight blade I had to make do with.  I've lost my darned Xacto and have NO idea where it disappeared to.  It was too late to go out and find a new one, so I grabbed the blade from my scraper.  Kids, please don't ever use sharp objects on your own, always get a parent to help you!

I'm very happy with the way she turned out and can't wait to finish her makeup.  As I mentioned in the video, I ended up with a bit of discoloration from the glue (turning white as it cured) because of her dark skin.  This didn't matter to me, as it was painted over, but if you're planning on keeping her lip color, you might want to think about touching it up afterward :).  Thanks a bunch for reading!  Clawdia and Elissabat's customs will be available in my Etsy shop a little later this afternoon!

Monster High Repaint Highlights of 2013, Taking a look back.

Two posts in one day!?  I know, it's craziness.  I was in the middle of migrating my files to our cloud storage and came across all of these photos of repaints from the last year.  It didn't seem like so many until I found myself staring at the hundreds of photos in my folder.

I really worked hard on coming up with a definite style this year and though I tend to deviate from the norm from time to time, I'm pretty happy with how far I've come.  In those folders, I also found pictures of some of my very first Monster High repaints...

 My second Monster High repaint and my most recent.  Three years apart.

I remember being pretty happy with this Gloom Beach Clawdeen when I finished.  She was the second Monster High repaint I'd ever done (from 2011), and the first doll I'd painted in years since taking a break from the hobby ages ago.  I was seriously out of practice, but the job market was absolutely horrible and I was grasping at straws trying to find some way that I could contribute monetarily.  So, I began customizing dolls and toys.  I enjoyed it and people were buying my customs. 

I was so elated that people out there liked my artwork enough to buy it that it fueled me to keep going.  It wasn't a fast or easy process, Monster High was quite new back then and the dolls were so hard to find in stores.  I've met so many amazing people and the community has just been fantastic overall.  Of course there are trolls sometimes, but the good infinitely outweighs the bad. 

I'm still far from finished and nowhere even remotely close to perfect, but I'm content?  I think that's the best way to put it.  My techniques have changed, my materials changed, even the way I approach a repaint has changed.  Three years can really make a difference.  Thank you guys for sticking with me through the awkwardness :).  I hope this year's repaints will be even better than the last!

Custom Monster High CAM Vampire Repaint, Tess

Tess is a custom repainted Monster High CAM Vampire girl.  She features a custom made dress by DollsAhoy! and Tibetan lamb's wool hair.  She's available for purchase over here in my Etsy shop.

I wanted to try a few different stylistic techniques with this girl.  I usually draw a much bigger, darker, and solid pupil, but I've recently become a fan of more softly blended eyes.  I think it gives them an almost glowy, dreamy look :3.

I also tried a softer look for her lips.  I gently blended the lines up and out and added soft, subtle touches of darker pigmentation.

The Vampire mold is usually harder to work with for me.  Once you remove the default paint, the sculpted eyes underneath are farther apart than the paint indicates.  In the past, my Vampire girl repaints ended up looking angular and harsh, but I wanted a much softer, sweeter look for this repaint. What do you think?  Did I manage to make her look sweeter than my other vampire girl repaints?

I'm working through a backlog of base-color painted dolls at the moment so I can get on with the newer goodies I've recently found (Clawdia, Elissabat, Gigi!).  A lot of times, to optimize my airbrush usage (since it can be a pain to clean), I line up about five or so blank girls and give them their shading, eyeshadow, and lip colors so that I can come back and add the details when I'm inspired :).  I hope you've enjoyed this girl, I really love the way she turned out.  Thanks so much for reading!

Custom Repaint: Stella, the Monster High CAM Ice Girl

The Ice and Blob Girl has been my favorite release in the Create a Monster series to date.  I really loved their translucent bodies and vinyl.  They are both among my favorite Monster High girls to repaint.

The wigs were even better, imo, with these girls than the previous releases.  I was a huge fan of the vinyl wigs, too, and I loved the fiber for this one in particular.  When boil straightened, they become so soft and feathery, perfect for texturing the look with a razor cut.

This girl arrived without her default hands, however.  She was part of one of the multipacks from Costco, so it's just a packaging fluke.  Luckily, I keep a stash of all kinds of different parts and gave her these awesome purple gloved hands as a replacement, since they match the outfit I wanted to use :).  The pegs for these hands are smaller than the wrist of the CAM girls,  since they were intended for a regular release Clawdeen.  I don't know why Mattel wouldn't just make them all the same, but who knows?  I adhered them with a bit of flexible E6000 and they still have their up and down motion as well as a bit of rotation when twisted gently.

Stella is available over in my Etsy shop.  Thanks for reading!

The Mushroom Girl: Kinoko Juice Kiki

A very, very long time ago when I was almost brand new to the idea of doll collecting I stumbled across one of the cutest, most stylistically sculpted dolls I'd seen so far.  Unfortunately, at the time, there was very little information about the doll, it took me a great deal of searching to even figure out what the name was, much less the maker.

Imagine my disappointment when I discovered that not only were these dolls sold exclusively in Japan, they were also hand made and sold in limited quantities at very high prices.  At the time, I gave up on ever finding one for sale in the US, much less being able to afford it on the secondhand market.

That little doll was Kinoko Juice Kiki and I'd wanted one for as long as I can even remember.  A few months back, I stumbled across a Japanese auction for a dirty, damaged, and long neglected Kiki.  I didn't care and I bid immediately, hoping like hell not to be outbid.  To my absolute disbelief I won!  Three weeks later, she arrived and I couldn't wait to get to work.

I did not take progress pictures, as there are certain proprietary aspects of the doll that I wouldn't want exposed to anyone looking to copy.  Specifically the unique, handmade eyes that a copy would not arrive with. 

She arrived with a laundry list of issues that needed to be fixed.  Her eyes, which cannot be replaced, let alone even found on a secondhand market, were my biggest issue.  The material was cracked in one eye, right through the iris.  I have no idea what the artist uses to make them, but I filled it in with UV cured resin to blend the distortion created by the crack.  I ended up with a barely visible line and a few air bubbles, but I am very happy with the result!

Her default faceup wasn't salvageable, so I repainted her as close to the original style as I could, with a few subtle changes.  Her headcap was also stained pretty badly.  When I sanded the stains away, I discovered that she had yellowed pretty badly.  So, I took a magic eraser to the rest of her body and she cleaned up surprisingly well.  One of the connections on her hand had been worn almost completely away (or it was broken and sanded, I couldn't really tell), so I had to resculpt the piece back up to fit into her wrist with epoxy.

Unfortunately, she didn't arrive with all of her extras.  Only one of the optional hands was included, but I don't mind a bit.  It's been almost impossible to find clothes and shoes that fit her, but YOSD fits pretty well, though a bit large.  The dress she's wearing in these photos was made by DollsAhoy and was intended to fit Blythe, that's how teeny she is.  Blythe pants, though, won't fit because she has much bigger hips and legs.  I had several pairs of the shoes she's wearing in different sizes (from trying to find something to fit Hujoo).  They're a bit long in the toe, since her feet are very round, but overall, it's as close as I think I'm gonna get.

I still haven't finished with her, but the process of working on her has been so fun.  Most of my BJD girls have arrived as 'damaged' or 'junk' items.  I really love restoring them back to their original glory <3.  I still have heads in storage that I've been working with on and off for a while that haven't been photographed, haha.

I'm so, so incredibly glad to have found one of these amazing little dolls.  She's definitely a grail of mine, if not THE grail.  Thanks for reading!

Tiffany Blue, Monster High Custom Rochelle Goyle Repaint

I've gone through a lot of 'favorite' colors over the years, but I have to say that 'Tiffany' blue has probably been the longest running obsession.  I've managed to incorporate it into almost all of my site graphics and logos, haha.  It's such a nice, bright color without being too overwhelming.  Rochelle is one of my favorite girls to repaint because of her hair color combination.   It's so cute, it's hard not to be inspired by this doll.  This particular girl is still available in my Etsy shop.

'Tiffany,' Custom Monster High Dance Class Rochelle Goyle Repaint

The Dance Class version of Rochelle is undoubtedly my favorite.  I love her bun hairstyle and the dance outfit she wears is just adorable (especially those shoes!).  This particular version was really fun to photograph, I tried out a lot of different ballet inspired poses with her.

I wound the strands framing her face around a few pipe cleaners with a bit of gel to give them a delicate curl, as though they'd fallen loose while practicing.  Her bangs were also trimmed and restyled. 

If I had one complaint about stock dolls, it's that bangs can turn out atrociously bad sometimes =_=;.  That and TINSEL.  Tinsel is the bane of my existence.  I still have quite a few girls waiting to be worked on, so keep your eyes peeled for new photos!

Dimensional Magic: Monster High Gil Webber Repaint

I finally had a chance to work on some long planned custom Monster High repaints this week.  A while back, I finally found the Target exclusive Dance Class five pack with Gil.  Gil is my favorite boy to repaint, I really love his sculpting and skintone.  It's just a shame that he's so hard to get my hands on!  This time around, I wanted to try out a couple of new techniques.

Custom Dance Class Gillington Webber, ~Sold

 If you take a closer look at this photo, you can see that the scales above his eyes are three dimensional!  This was achieved by using a special type of gloss varnish that dries with a raised finish.  It's called Dimensional Magic, by Mod Podge.  The formula applies a bit milky at first, but it dries crystal clear with a slight magnification property which really makes details pop.  You do have to be careful about air bubbles forming, however, but they're easily picked out with a dry paintbrush or popped with a toothpick.

 
I also treated all of his fins with the Dimensional Magic.  Untouched, the fins are cloudy and matte, but once the varnish was applied, it really brought out a wonderfully translucent, almost wet quality which I thought was perfect for Gil.  I really hope that some day he'll have a more widely available release, but for now I guess I'll just have to stick to getting lucky!

Custom Ever After High Raven Queen Repaint (And eBay Woes)

Hello there!  Hope everyone's having a good week :).

This time, I'm taking a little more in depth look at my latest repaint, Raven Queen from Ever After High.

           Before                                                                         After           

I am still enjoying working on these dolls very much.  Now that I've completed the current releases in their default hair and clothing, I'd like to branch out with complete custom versions :).  I wanted Raven to have a heavy lidded look with sultry, smoky eyes and dark coloration.  I still believe Mattel missed the mark when it came to designing the default makeup for these girls.  Their eyes are much too small for such round, large faces.

She looked like this for a while, due to some unforeseen sick/pain days ;_;.

Clawdeen, Raven, Maddie, Cleo with base colors.

If it's appeared that my last couple eBay auctions have been wonky, it's because they have =_=.  I'm working on transitioning all of my custom doll listings to Etsy because frankly, I'm being eaten alive by eBay fees.    I post custom availability pretty much everywhere, though, so you should always be in the know of where they're listed :).

Custom Repainted Monster High Cleo de Nile and Ever After High Madeline Hatter

I finally got around to finishing my Madeline Hatter repaint!  It took a bit longer than usual because I had a specific look in mind for her :3.  I wanted it to be just right!  This repaint is currently available for bid or purchase on eBay here: Maddie's Auction

Maddie <3

Everything about this girl is just perfect for me :).  I'm in love with pastel colors lately (who isn't, right?).  I wanted her to have large, sweet, and curious eyes.  I kept the rest of her makeup color palette very soft, with pastel hues.

Maddie's doll is unique in one aspect that I failed to mention in my earlier review:  She's very tiny!  She's a full head shorter than the other girls in her line and I find that absolutely adorable.  Even in the Monster High line, the majority of the girls are the same height (save for Nefera, Howleen, and Twyla, but they are older and younger than the main cast).  I would have loved for Draculaura to have a height more representative of her character on the show.

Up next is a custom I created of Skull Shores Cleo de Nile, which I nicknamed Aria.  She's already been snapped up on the 'bay, but I wanted to go into a bit more detail because this is my favorite version of her that I've worked on so far.

Custom Repainted Skull Shores Cleo de Nile

First of all:  THERE'S NO !@#$%$ING TINSEL.  I absolutely loathe the type of tinsel Mattel uses for her hair (and Nefera's), it always becomes separated from the thread and ends up looking stringy and gross.  It's also a complete pain to sit there and remove each strand.  Why they couldn't just use the type of tinsel they root in Abbey's hair is beyond me.

All of the other girls in this line have some kind of skimpy bathing suit with a skirt type or pullover coverup.  I love Cleo the most because of her fabulous palazzo pants.  You don't need a skirt and a tiny bathing suit to look fierce :).

Ever After High Madeline Hatter and Raven Queen Review

It should come as absolutely no surprise that I'm a gigantic fan of all things frilly, floofy, and sparkly.  I fell hard for the Ever After High concept and watched their news like a hawk; anticipation doesn't even begin to describe how I felt.  I needed these dolls!  Briar Rose and Apple White, which have already been repainted and rehomed, were my first taste of this line and I was dying for more.

Maddie and Raven

I may be a little late to the game as far as reviewing goes, these girls have been out for a few weeks now.  However, I wanted to expand on the idea from the point of view of a repaint artist, and point out specifically the advantages and disadvantages of customization later on in this post.

The bottom line is that these playline girls rival the quality and costuming of limited collector dolls that fetch many times their price point.  Other than Monster High, I can't think of a single line that even comes close to approaching the detail and design of these girls.

Madeline Hatter has been the girl I was frothing at the mouth over.  Her pastel hair and brightly colored dress were absolutely irresistable!

She's also very tiny compared to the other girls in this series, which is just ridiculously adorable.  I'm a short gal myself, so consider me biased.  The tiny gold flourishes and little painted gloves with cuffs absolutely make me squee.

Raven Queen, on the other hand, is not having any of your shenanigans.  The feathery details of her collar are even antiqued and shaded.   The iridescent sheen to her bodice is very pretty in the light, I love how it changes colors against the black undertones.

Each doll comes with incredibly detailed accessories.  Their rings, however, are loose and very easy to lose (say, if you snip the elastic off when it's not completely unwrapped and it sends the miniscule bauble rocketing across your studio; not that I have personal experience of crawling around for twenty minutes on my hands and knees or anything...).  Their shoes, clothing, and jewelry are just flawless.  They're incredibly well made for playline dolls.  In regards to their predecessor, Monster High, the bodies are much thicker.  Esthetically, I prefer this look, it's more realistic to me, while still maintaining a 'super deformed' cuteness.

As for customization, I absolutely love their face molds.  While these dolls do use the same mold for each girl, their faces are wide, with large set eye areas and pretty, defined lips underneath that pre-shaped eye and lip color.

 Apple White and Briar Rose, makeup removed.

As you can see from the above photos, their eye and lip areas are much larger than the painted shapes suggest.  Also, their eye shapes are not defined as harshly as most Monster High girls, leaving much more room for artistic liberties.  This means that underneath those decals, there's a wonderful canvas for customization!

 Apple and Briar, repainted!

I enjoyed customizing these girls very, very much.  They are extremely versatile, regardless of having the same mold.  With that being said, I'm off to start work on Maddie and Raven and I can't wait to show you the results ❤!