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Playful, detailed, cute felt food

Playful, detailed, cute felt food published on No Comments on Playful, detailed, cute felt food

The felt food toys at the FeltFoodTruck on Etsy immediately charm me with their use of bright, bold felt from recycled plastics. Add to this the masterful inclusion of realistic details, such as ridges on crinkle-cut fries and texture on chicken nuggets, and the products from this felt smorgasbord just amaze me. I think I know where I can finally get Yamarrah’s creemee — I’ll commission a black raspberry one in a sugar cone with five or so swirls of ice cream. Yamarrah will be happy!

Fritillaria concept

Fritillaria concept published on No Comments on Fritillaria concept

Mocked up my idea for Fritillaria just now. I left out eyes because I’m not sure what to do for them, but I purposely left off eyebrows, which I’m not seeing a need for. Black lines down from the corners of the mouth indicate where her jaw joint would be, assuming I decide to have it cut, rather than painted. That black thing on her head is a skull cap, as I am not a noted fan of wigs on my BJDs.Continue reading Fritillaria concept

Fritillaria the marionette soubrette

Fritillaria the marionette soubrette published on No Comments on Fritillaria the marionette soubrette

While I was on DOA last night, I found an announcement for the recent Withdoll release Adriana. The Repuria Island of Fog edition, called Circus Girl, is a knife-throwing character. Knives and domino, as well as black, flowy costume, are optional. She comes with two headsculpts, one regular and one with craquelare-like crazing sculpted into her face.

 

I, of course, like the “cracked head,” as Withdoll calls it. I would like to get this doll and make her into Fritillaria the marionette soubrette. I’d dress her in black and white, with a ruff and diamonds, similar to but not copying the Fashion Royalty Nippon Amelie and Misaki dolls designed by Poupee Mecanique. She’d be a marionette who jumped her strings, so I’d screw eyehooks in her head, hands, and feet, then tie broken strings to them. I would also like to give her a movable jaw like a ventriloquist’s dummy, but I’m not sure how that would work. Maybe I could hire someone to do the cuts…

 

I like the wide cheeks, the little pointy chin, and the skijump nose.

Thalia, latest exemplar of my signature style

Thalia, latest exemplar of my signature style published on No Comments on Thalia, latest exemplar of my signature style

My signature style takes inspiration from gesture drawings and caricature. Gesture drawings reveal a quick, loose line that nevertheless finds a strong, organic flow. I like to capture this rough, sketchy, open-ended, expressive quality in my paint jobs. In other words, they’re messy. :p

 

I also, as I have repeatedly noted, take design cues from caricature, in which salient features are exaggerated to the point of ostentatiousness. Limited palettes with bright colors appeal to me. The darks need to be darker, the lights lighter, the sheens shinier. MORE IS BETTER.

 

Finally, my signature style has a sarcastic, silly sense of humor. While I seriously like the “more is better” concept, I also find it hilarious. The sheer weight and boldness of Sardonix’ indelible eyebrows amuse me. Yamarrah’s ice cream earrings, ice cream sweatshirt, and creemee props become even more entertaining when I juxtapose them with her flaming eyebrows, head-on-fire wig, and speed-flame shoes. The clothes I commissioned for Jareth, with their indiscriminate proliferation of layers, ruffles, textures, and gradations of the same color, take coordination [or lack thereof] to a laughable extreme. Thalia’s morbid Gothic skullface makeup and phalanges tattoos on her hands become a source of comedy when paired with her flowery skull shirt and skull-and-crossbones loafers. Bold, messy overkill is a gas.

 

And here are some pictures of Thalia’s faceup in progress, illustrating exactly what I mean. I wonder if she should have eyes that match her tongue in color…Continue reading Thalia, latest exemplar of my signature style

Mellifer do-over

Mellifer do-over published on No Comments on Mellifer do-over

I’ve always liked Soom’s 2008 May MD, Sard Night Odyssey, supposedly their attempt at a Taurus doll, who had hooves, horns, and wings before all the other dolls did. Though I never got this doll, I did get Soom Faery Legend Metato, a 1:6 scale version of Sard [“Diet Sard, now in fun size!”] without fantasy parts, in the form of Mellifer, who satisfies my desire for the headsculpt in a more portable, discreet rendition.

 

Anyway, since my active interest in BJDs has resurfaced in the past few days, I have been thinking back to my wishes earlier this year to restyle various dolls. I wanted to redo Mellifer then, but didn’t know how. Well, now I know — I will give him some hooves and horns, as well as a tail, so he can be a satyr like Sard Night Odyssey!

 

While many companies make hooved legs for dolls of all sizes, I’m not sure where I could procure some for Mellifer…

Spend it!!!: money in savings tempts BJD purchase

Spend it!!!: money in savings tempts BJD purchase published on No Comments on Spend it!!!: money in savings tempts BJD purchase

I have about $926.00 in savings at the moment, which means that, after a long period of bemoaning financial pinchedness, I am now, as the vulgar expression puts it, Rolling In Dough. Naturally, with the Dough comes the temptation to Blow It.

I am admiring from afar a fullset Ringdoll Frankenstein 2013 on the DOA marketplace. He comes with all the bells, whistles, wheezers, and grommets shown on the official sales page, as well as jointed hands and the 2011 original issue Frankenstein head, which I like better than the pissier 2013 one. The design and sculpt of the doll hit all my cyborg and robot buttons. I’m especially enamored with the openable porthole for his heart and the translucent headcap, through which his brain can be seen. This is the sort of doll that, if I had, I would keep as is because I find the concept and execution beautiful.

I can see the conversation now:

“So…are you supposed to be all mopey and murderous?”

“I think you’re confusing me with Frankenstein’s monster.”

“So you’re *not* Frankenstein’s monster?”

“Do I *look* like Frankenstein’s monster?”

“Yes.”

“Scratch that. I’m *not* Frankenstein’s monster.”

“Oh right. You’re ‘Frankenstein.'”

“Hey! Don’t blame *me* for Ringdoll’s confusion between the creator and the monster.”

“Do you have a name? Or should we just call you ‘Frankenstein?'”

“It’s going to be a real pain to do air quotes every time you want to refer to me. Call me Jim.”

“‘Jim?!’ Whose idea was that?”

“The same person whose idea it was to call you after a city in Maryland, ‘Timonium.'”

“Quit it with the air quotes!”

12-year-old would-be murderers in the name of Slenderman

12-year-old would-be murderers in the name of Slenderman published on No Comments on 12-year-old would-be murderers in the name of Slenderman

When they were 12 years old in 2014, Anissa Weier and and Morgan Geyser stabbed fellow member of their social circle Paxton, called Bella, ostensibly in tribute to Slenderman, whose acolytes they wished to become. The seductive, illicit thrill of the relationship between Weier and Geyser, as well as the motives entangled in a shared fictional universe, reminds me of the 1954 Parker Hulme murder case. The same key elements — two girls causing harm to someone, with motives entangled in a shared fictional universe — call the comparison to mind, though Parker and Hulme were older [15 and 16], and they successfully killed Parker’s mom. It’s interesting that paracosms figured into both crimes, although I have no conclusive thoughts on the subject.

Cat baffled by cat door

Cat baffled by cat door published on No Comments on Cat baffled by cat door

This picture of a cat failing to use the cat door entertains me. It also reminds me that Babycat has, on several occasions, considered herself trapped behind the [freely movable] shower curtain between living room and kitchen [used to keep heat in the most-used end of the apartment] and thus tragically, alarmingly separated from her mom. Distress calls have resulted, along with pathetic pawing against the curtain.

Update on creative endeavors #2: Isabel’s shitty shirt

Update on creative endeavors #2: Isabel’s shitty shirt published on No Comments on Update on creative endeavors #2: Isabel’s shitty shirt

In the past few days, I finished off another shirt for Isabel based on Andrea’s pattern. I have concluded that all the shirts I am making from this pattern will of necessity look disappointing, not as a function of the pattern, but because the pattern is not made exactly for Isabel’s measurement. For example, the pattern features shoulders that are too high and armscyes that are too big.

I tried to fit this shirt better to Isabel by lowering the tops of the shoulders. This tactic successfully reduced the amount of loose fabric around the upper chest. However, because I did not lower the back of the neck as well, the collar remains high up, looking silly. Next time I’ll just modify the pattern, rather than hacking at a partly sewn shirt. Oh well, at least the fit around the lower torso is okay…Continue reading Update on creative endeavors #2: Isabel’s shitty shirt

Update on creative endeavors #1: Thalia the neverending project

Update on creative endeavors #1: Thalia the neverending project published on No Comments on Update on creative endeavors #1: Thalia the neverending project

The next meetup of VTDL heralds the return of the popular Halloween theme. I finally have an incentive to complete Thalia, as her skeletal aesthetic will make for a perfect Samhain debut. Of course, I haven’t made much progress since the last time we saw her early in July with faceup plans penciled all over her face. But here she is again.

First I painted the inside of her mouth black. Then I used Pebeo and an Xacto knife to remove black paint from her teeth and wherever else it wasn’t supposed to go. At the same time, I painted one of her tongues [the licking one, as opposed to the sticking-out one]. Then I did her face in white and gave her some temporary red eyes, as I haven’t made her specific ones yet. Pictures follow.
Continue reading Update on creative endeavors #1: Thalia the neverending project

Amandla Stenberg talks cultural appropriation…

Amandla Stenberg talks cultural appropriation… published on No Comments on Amandla Stenberg talks cultural appropriation…

…in the context of dreads, grills, and other items coopted by white haute couture. She explains the process of cultural appropriation: Black people active in the hip-hop scene start wearing dreads, and the white mainstream culture contemns them. Then white people start wearing dreads, for which they receive universal accolades as super cool trendsetters. So basically cultural appropriation occurs when a cultural group that’s looked down upon at large does something, which is then deracinated from its origin, decontextualized, and celebrated in the dominant culture without serious reference to its source.

 

With this in mind, I’m thinking that cultural appropriation necessitates hegemonic contempt and steamrolling for the marginalized group that is being imitated. Thus people of color straightening their hair in the U.S. does not constitute cultural appropriation, even though some ill-informed commenters on Stenberg’s video think it is. That’s because the hair straightening is not motivated by disgust and a desire for decontextualized absorption. Hair straightening, rather, is a way in which marginalized POC are negotiating the beauty standards of dominant white culture, in which straight, controlled, smooth hair is valued. Hair straightening by POC is born of an acute knowledge of the hegemonic beauty standards and the value placed thereon, while dreads on famous white people represent a fantasy of ahistorical, ameoboid cultural engulfment.

Have you ever seen something so beautiful you want to weep?

Have you ever seen something so beautiful you want to weep? published on No Comments on Have you ever seen something so beautiful you want to weep?

I have, and it’s this model by 3D-GHDesign, Fara Hair, an exuberant fountain of dreadlocks for G2F. It’s very hard to set aside the distracting bullshit exoticism of the promo pictures [because of course a WOC needs an outfit adorned with leopard print and claw accessories :p ], which makes me want to weep out of frustration, but I am also very impressed by the sheer loft achieved by these amazing digital dreads. The inclusion of a head wrap, usable by itself, improves Fara a thousandfold. I feel a sudden urge to remove the hair model from the stinky promo pictures and use it on some digital people who could demonstrate its awesomeness without resorting to stereotypes.

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