Large Doll - Part 4

The last two blog posts I had been blogging about a relatively short term project.  Now I am back to blogging about my long term project: a large, almost life size doll.  I guess this doll would be about the size of an eight year old child.  When I blogged about this last time, I had just completed casting the head in paper mache', removing the head from the foam head and removing the head from the mold.  I had also put the pieces of the molded paper mache' back together.  Since then I have worked a bit more on the project.  New readers can go to my blog,  folkartbycaroljones.blogspot.com, and scroll back a few posts to see the information on how the head was created from previous posts.

The paper mache' head had a slight bump that indicated where the nose was on the face, but other than that it was relatively featureless.  My next task was to create the features.  I used more paper mache' strips to build up the nose and mouth.  This was done in a series of layers and some balled up paper for the external nostril shapes.  The areas were built up until I felt that they were raised up enough for the features to be seen.  In the photos the built up strips are darker than the head because the flour paste and strips are still wet.

At this point the mouth looks a bit large.  It is important to remember that the muscles that surround the mouth are seen, but are not part of the red of the lips.  You have to add in some of that musculature in order to make the lips look right. 

The next step was to create the eyes.  That took a little bit of time to get right.  I had to have the eyes sized correctly in relation to the size of the head and also to the size of the mouth.  As a general rule of thumb, a face is five eyes wide.  I also had to figure the size of the iris of the eye.  A dime was too large to just trace around it.  I had to use a compass and make a small circle the that I could trace for the iris.

I also had to build up the upper and lower eye lids with paper mache'.  From previous dolls I have found that it just does not look quite right if I just paint on the eyes and the upper and lower lids.  (My painting skills are not all that advanced that I can make it look right with just paint.)  I added a couple of layers of paper mache' around the area of the eyes to build up the upper and lower lids.  That little bit of depth that was created makes the eyes look more realistic.

The eyes did cause one problem.  I sketched the shapes I needed and cut the pieces out of the newsprint scraps with scissors.  This was okay for the lid at the eye, but it created a hard edge at the outer areas of the lids.  I ended up sanding down the edge, but it still left a little bit of a line.  If I were to do this doll over again, I would tear the outer edges so that it would have a deckled edge that would blend in better with the face.  Oh well, live and learn.

This doll head has a slight tilt to it, as if the doll were looking slightly to the left and downward.  I like this because it imparts the idea of motion; as if something has caught the dolls attention.  Many dolls are made so that they stare straight ahead.  That make the doll look to still and artificial rather than lifelike.  The tilt created a challenge in that the doll's eyes are on a slight tilt rather than being able to draw them in on a straight line.  I hope that they will look natural rather than cock eyed. 

After all the features were completed, I took advantage of a warm day to go outside and sand the doll head.  I hand sanded it with 220 grit and 400 grit.  I was concerned that if I had used a palm sander that it might cause too much vibration and tear the head apart.  There were some areas that I wish had been sanded better.  Maybe I will try the palm sander on a future project.  However, this is a handmade doll, and I am willing for it to show some flaws rather than trying to be too perfect.  (Not that I have to worry about this coming anywhere near perfection.)

The rest of the time I had for crafting was spent on musing and researching.  The head is moving towards completion and it is time to start thinking about the armature that will support the body.  As you might guess, the armature will be made from PVC pipe.  The questions that I had were how to make the armature to hold the pose I wanted and how did I plan to anchor the doll so that it could stand up.  There was much to learn.  I looked at everything from simple 90 degree pipe joints to building fully articulated manikins.  There are many ways to accomplish the objective.  Then it becomes a question of how much work I want to put into it and how much expense do I want to incur in the creation of the armature.

The musings covered everything from how to pose the doll to how much muscle definition I wanted to create in the doll.  My original idea was that this doll would be a dancer.  To make that come out anywhere near right, it is going to take a lot of work.  Dancers tend to wear outfits that  reveal stature and muscles. What type of costume for the doll? 

I also considered things such as what materials will I use to form the body and hair?  How much is this thing going to weigh?  Is this project biting off more than I could chew?  Will I be able to pull it off?  Should I give up and just work on making a witch for Halloween?  What am I going to do with this piece after it is finished?  All this and more has been passing through my brain for some time.  I will be blogging more about the choices I have made as the project moves along.  As choices are made, some doors open and other doors close.  Each choice narrows down how the doll will look. 

I will be blogging more on this project in the next blog post as well as the progress on the doll.  Check back on Sunday afternoon for the latest updates on the doll.