I had not made dolls for quite some time, but this year at Halloween I made some anthropomorphic figures: dolls that had cloth bodies and paper mache' heads that represented tomatoes and pumpkins. Those projects inspired me to take on another doll project. I will be blogging and showing pictures of how I create the doll.(Apologies for the blog skipping spaces below. The photos are not cooperating today.)
With only forty-seven days until Christmas, I have decided to take on making an old fashioned Father Christmas doll. This type of doll goes by many names and similar shapes, Old World Santa, Victorian Santa, Pere Noel, Saint Nicholas, Father Snow, and Belznichol to name a few. Basically, they are figures wearing long robes and decorated with many embellishments such as fir trim, Christmas ornaments, and toys. The robes vary in color, with crimson robes being favored for Victorian Santas, white for favored for Father Snow and anything goes when it comes to Rustic Santas. 
When it comes to making dolls, one of the first question you ask after you have decided to make a doll is, "How much time do you have?" Doll making is not a quick process. You can make a quick doll in an afternoon, or spend a hundred hours or more on a 
very detailed doll. Decisions include how to construct the body, the face, the hair and fabric choices for clothing, and accessories. Furthermore, the doll can be constructed so that it sits only, is self-standing, stands in a doll stand, is jointed, and whether the joints are decorative or actually helpful in making the doll hold a pose. Most of these decisions need to be made before you get started on a doll. Trust me, it will save on trips to the craft store. That said, doll making is also an intuitive process. There will be times that plans change as the doll develops. 
If I were working full time on the doll, forty-seven days would be plenty of time. However, since I only spend a few hours a week on crafting, I will have to make a doll that has a less complex structure if I want to have it completed before the holidays begin. There are many techniques for creating the doll body. Some dolls can be made quickly with great results. With a full schedule, I plan to use one of the more basic body designs and spend more time on the accessories. I have books with patterns for creating old-fashioned Santas. My craft books predate the internet. Today this information is available on the internet. You-Tube has many tutorials that are worthwhile watching. I just find it easier to have the information all in one place. I plan to use one of the patterns to save time. With doll making, it is not necessary to completely re-invent the wheel every time. A pattern for the body and clothing helps move things along. Every doll will be different due to the choices of cloth and accessories. 
Well, I have to start somewhere, so I am beginning with the face. I have always found that the face and head are one of the more difficult parts of doll making. I want it to be right. I begin working on a face with a certain amount of anxiety because it is one of those areas where people see very quickly that something is off. I have to remind myself that the only way to get through it is to work on it until you are satisfied. That may mean making more than one face to achieve that goal. 
For this project, I plan to use a mask type face. A mask face is a face that is created from clay and sewn or glued onto the body. The back of the head is formed as part of the body structure. A mask face works well for a Santa figure because the edges of the face are covered with the fluffy hair and beard. You 
don't see the edges of the mask. I am making (and will be blogging about) my own mask. People may not be comfortable with trying to make their own faces, but if you can roll balls and snakes out of clay, you can make a face. There are also push molds available that you can order from the internet. The drawback to using a commercial mold is that every doll would have the same face. If I were going to make multiple dolls, I would consider purchasing one, but since at the moment I only plan to make one doll, I will make the mask myself. I know that my doll mask will not look as good as a mold made from a scanned face, but the hand made face will have a rustic charm to it. I actually prefer the rustic, handmade look.
So, on with the show. I drew a pattern to make the face. At this point the face is very basic. It shows the placement of features for the mask. The pattern can come from anywhere. If you are uncomfortable drawing a face, trace a face shape from a picture or photo. You can even look in a mirror to see where to place features, but be forewarned, the finished face will look somewhat like you. You can use a copier to size the pattern up or down to fit the size doll you are planning to make. Generally, the head is about one seventh of the size of the doll. So if you are planning on making a twenty-one inch doll the head would be three inches. A fifteen inch doll would have a head about two and and one-eighth inch. Once you have a face pattern, you are ready to begin. Place the mask pattern on your clay and use a stylus to poke holes to transfer the markings to the clay.
I used flesh color Sculpy bake in the oven clay. The clay is moldable until it is baked. Once baked, it sets up hard. Sculpy comes in many colors. Naturally, I am choosing the tone that is closest to flesh, but I am never satisfied with the color. I have to paint my faces to get them to look more lifelike. I have never taken a sculpting class, and there is a learning curve on making a face. I made three faces out of one package of Sculpy. The clay works best if you take several minutes to knead the clay before trying to crate a face. Kneading the clay makes it soft and pliable and removes trapped air bubbles. Once the clay is prepared, I roll some clay in a ball and roll the ball into a circle with a rolling pen. Note: I used a non-stick craft mat because the clay will not stick to it. It is also possible to use parchment paper or wax paper for a mat.
Building the mask is a process of gradually building up the features. I have not worked with clay for a long time, and had to re-learn a few things. Each mask is a little better than the one before it. I generally start with the nose and forehead. I roll out a small snake of clay and place it onto the nose area. It can be larger or smaller than the nose on the pattern. Next I add the forehead and blend the clay with some clay working tools. I have both plastic and metal carving tools. I think the metal ones work better, but they are more expensive.
I made three masks, each a little more complex than the one before. The technique is the same other than the treatment of the eyes. I will describe the differences of the eyes, but the rest of the information will be given only once. The first mask has flat eyes that are painted onto the eye holes after the mask is baked. That was where I discovered that I should have made the eyes smaller and used part of the eye area for a painted eye-lid. The second mask has small balls of clay place in for eyes, then the balls were covered with snakes of clay for an upper and lower lid. The trouble with that is that the shape of the eye distorted while the lids were formed over them. The third mask has balls of clay (shown in the second picture) that were baked for two minutes to harden them before being placed on the face. Another option would have been to use glass beads as eyes.
The cheeks are made from balls of clay that are then molded into cheek shapes and pressed into the nose and eye lid areas. You just have to take time and work on it until you get it so that it looks right. I found that it was easier to get the balls to be the same size if I rolled the clay into a snake, cut off a piece, then used that piece to measure and cut another piece the same size. Once I had two pieces the same size I rolled each one into a ball. The same treatment was used to add volume to the chin and the jaw area. I was not overly concerned about the shape of the face for this project because the hair and beard will be glued around the edges.
Once the face is shaped until I am satisfied with it, I used the sharp point of a compass to poke in the holes that will be used to sew the head onto the body. I found that I had to poke a fairly large hole because the back of the hole did not come out smoothly and the holes in the rear were not as wide as they were in front. I placed the face on a bit of balled up aluminum foil and heated it in a small toaster oven. The directions on the clay said to bake at 275 degrees (Fahrenheit) for fifteen minutes for each quarter of an inch of the clay. I would say, take the instructions with a grain of salt. My first mask burned to a crisp on one side. I think the results may vary depending on the oven being used. Before putting your mask in the oven I suggest you experiment to see how the clay is going to act with your oven. Another word of wisdom: when I used to watch craft shows on television, the demonstrators would say that they used a dedicated oven for their clay projects. The instructions on the package of clay do not say that this is necessary. Sometimes it is better to be safe than sorry.
Once the figure is baked, it is time to paint. These masks are only a tad over two inches long. It is not easy to do a lot of detail painting on something so small. At times I used the tip of a skewer or the lead of a mechanical pencil to dab in some of the details. Once the faces were painted, I sealed with a satin finish sealer. I only painted the front of the mask. From start to finish the masks took about two to two and a half hours each.
This was a long post. I will be posting about making the body on my next blog post.
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