3 posts tagged “miniature art”
Welcome Back, minidoll creators! Do all the wonderful gratis tutorials and archives in Blog #1, leave you a bit floundering and overwhelmed? Well fear not - brave artists! We're ready to help YOU, help YOURSELF get started... through a tiny bit of research.
Lets get started with a small self exam. Are you a *DOLL* inspired artist ... or a *MATERIAL* inspired artist?
1. Do you pick up a dolly and with one look at her sweet little face, just KNOW how she should be dressed?
2. OR ... do your fingers need to run over the weave of many materials until one just jumps out from the bunch ... and, after a quick glance, you know exactly WHAT the outfit should be?
Two different ways to get inspired .... but one common goal. A finished doll!
Dolly Inspired: Pick up your blank doll (or even one with a painted face) and listen to what she tells you to dress her like. Not kidding . Each little face has a bit of magic string connected to your artistic brain bell ... and when the right idea comes up ... ding ding ding! It could, of course, be influenced by a book you read, a photo you'd like to copy, a competition you'd like to enter, or simply a kit already purchased. The main thing ... is to get a grasp on what you'd like as an end result.
For our sample - lets say we'd like to do an old fashion girl, moving to New York for a job interview. Once I have this background info .... a *storyline* if you will, my job as an artist just became easier.
I know I need a pretty, fresh face... but with a unique feature that would help her stand out in a big city. Then a simple but elegant outfit which could have been purchased on a budget. And lastly, a contemporary hair style that would be easily done by herself.
Once I have the fiction ideas down - its time to pull out my *idea* scrap book and start paging through all the entries.
Soon I have pulled out a face photo (for makeup) with similar features to the doll..... a simple, but elegant hair updo picture, and lastly a tailored black pencil skirt, with a slim, but embroidered cuff white blouse. Wow! 2 of the 3 things we need to get started!
Alright ... once we have the fictional storyline, the visual aids in photographs ... its time to surf online to find the tutorials to make these ideas happen!
WHERE to start?
If you happen to belong to the minidollLIST.com its easy! We have over 150 tutorials online - 75 of which can be found in the tutorial section alone. I know there are at least 2 painting face tutorials there, a basic wigging, and with a little modification a slim black skirt. The key is to adjust your *inner eye* to see what you need in existing patterns. Simply take what you need and erase the rest. For example - the slim black pencil skirt could be the MAE WEST dress pattern, with material cut off from the knee down. Add a tiny slit in back and wala!
Wasn't this easy? We now have a storyline for our dolly. Visual aides and tutorials on how to actually MAKE her. Now I Bet you can't wait to get started! In the upcoming blogs we will of course go into more detail on all the different areas ... but for now ... start looking for the right material to match your vision and tune in for the *material inspired artist* hints.
...
HAPPY CREATING!
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Greetings! And welcome to our very first foray into the Blogging world. Our 10 year old online group, minidoll LIST has reached a staggering 1300+ members, and we'd like to add a *personal* flavor to the creating and inspirational side of dollmaking with this forum.
If you're like most miniaturists, learning anything new is a stressful experience that has you teetering between the thrill of purchasing a new doll kit and actually making it. AND you can always count on procrastination to stall the process, inventing hundreds of reasons why you can't ACTUALLY start. The kit then becomes one more TODO ... and the stress begins to build in the back of your mind, thinking of all those little naked bodies waiting to be dressed.
So guess what? Its time to get out those little bodies and learn the tricks of the dollmaking trade. In no time flat, you can have a little person fully dressed ... AND we're here to hold your hand along the way. The first step is reading this Blog, and clicking through the sources below to get your inspiration going.
BACKUP Assistance: If you have a naked dolly, and want to create a certain type of outfit at no cost, click around our archive section for hours of free tutorials. If you are a *people* oriented person, and want instant feedback, simply click to our list website for a FREE membership. If you SERIOUSLY want a fix right NOW ... we have a wonderful group of ladies that meet on Thurs & Sun 10am & 7pm (CST) in our minidollPOSSE group. This group is open to everyone and was established to provide newer members with help, advice and learning through free tutorials, games and surprise lectures. The Posse meetings are held in our classroom. This gives you a wonderful opportunity as well to use the room before purchasing a class online.
Talking about the chatroom, our Fall online classes are starting up, with MYRA (a beginner little girl) open for registration right now! She is part one of two classes devoted to showing you the basics of piece cutting materials, laces and trims to create a doll entirely of gluing. After completion of both classes, you will be emailed a very nice certificate from the minidollU.
Student photos of previous classes, can be seen in the student gallery.
If you are more of a lurker, no worries, we have loads of inspiration for you also that doesn't require you to take part until you are comfortable!
For example, one of our best selling CD's (Master CD), is filled with hours and hours of tutorials for only $15 plus shipping! The beauty of this CD, are all the tutorials you can take along on holiday, and no need for internet connection. Just your laptop.
We also provide a wonderful TUTORIAL MEMBERSHIP
each year, which features 6 fantastic tutorials and patterns for only $1.25 each. Each issue is filled with patterns, research, photos and artists.
Looking for a few more wonderful gratis tutorials before jumping in? How about our online ezine - FRILLS & FANCY or archive section from the last 10 years? Some of the links to artists and websites are outdated, however the tutorials contain all kinds of really cool dollmaking tips and secrets. We no longer send out paper patterns, but compiled all the patterns on one CD for these archive tutorials.
WHEW! That should get your thinking caps on for today. Join me again soon as we start in on the basics of getting that doll put together, and
HAPPY CREATING!
DANA
