I recently wrapped-up making a piece called โManifest Gardenโ that featured a poseable wizard art doll as the main character. The fantasy art doll, who I named Manifest Lalora, is crafted in my usual mixed-media process and thereโs a fairly extensive timelapse tutorial if you would like to see how she was made. The Manifest wield the power to shape and manipulate reality in the fantasy world that Iโve been tinkering away on.
Read Moreposeable artdoll
๐๐๐ค๐ข๐ง๐ ๐๐จ๐ฌ๐๐๐๐ฅ๐ ๐๐ซ๐ญ ๐๐จ๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐๐๐ง๐๐ฌ ๐ฐ๐ข๐ญ๐ก ๐๐๐๐๐?! ๐
Today Iโm going to share my process for making poseable art doll hands withโฆ get this, paper! Well, more accurately, I use medical paper tape to make the hands for my mixed-media art dolls in a technique thatโs sort of half-assed paper mache. This techniqueโs suitable not only for art dolls, but also for stop-motion animation puppets.
You can watch how I make this poseable wire armature hands on YouTube and Iโll also try to give as brief summary of how I craft these hands as possible. Iโll also put links to where you can get the supplies you need for this project. This method will allow you to craft a variety of hand shapes and forms and when you become well-practiced at it, you might be able to make a new set of art doll hands in about two and a half hours.
Watch Making Poseable Art Doll Hands with Paper?! ๐ Timelapse Art Doll Tutorial ๐
Poseable Art Doll Hands Supplies
Cutting Mat https://amzn.to/371kAXD
Medical Paper Tape https://amzn.to/2ZGPzEe
Aluminum Wire (16 gauge) https://amzn.to/2MNiy7D
Aluminum Wire (18 gauge) https://amzn.to/2zARPCt
Pliers & Wire Cutters https://amzn.to/34ekFGY
Pipe Cutter https://amzn.to/34g43ym
Small Scissors (any small, decently sharp grooming scissors will do) https://amzn.to/2ZHbQC2
X-acto Knife & Blades https://amzn.to/2Zbqh2y
Measuring Tape https://amzn.to/2tGeUEc
Transparent Ruler https://amzn.to/2rkPpre
Aluminum Tubing https://amzn.to/2UgQpXq
Metal Ruler https://amzn.to/2ZdmvWl
Sharpie Markers https://amzn.to/2EJ7O48
Mod Podge https://amzn.to/2ZGXFwT
Helping Hands https://amzn.to/34RCKts
For purposes of this poseable art doll tutorial, I used 16 and 18 gauge wire and a particular diameter of aluminum tubing, but you can adjust the size of the materials youโre using to accommodate whatever proportions you would like. The first thing youโll do is use your pipe-cutter to cut lengths of the aluminum tubing that will form you characterโs forearms. Afterward, cut two pieces of your thicker gauge wire at about 5-6โ long (though whatever scale youโre crafting at will effect this measurement), create a loop- this will determine the size of the art doll or stop-motion puppetโs palm and back of hand, and then braid the two ends of wire.
You can then cut the braided ends of these loops so that thereโs a piece left almost as big as your pinky across. Youโll then wrap the medical paper tape around this piece and you want to place this inside of the aluminum tubing pieces. You want this to fit in the tubing snugly, such that if you lightly pull, the hand wire wonโt come out.
Next cut a longer length of wire, about 14-16โ (I typically use the tip of my middle finger to the crook of my arm as a rough measurement), this piece is going to form the characterโs fingers. Youโll leave a length of wire for the pinky finger, wrap the wire around the thicker gauge hand wire, have the wire create a gentle โUโ shape, and then wrap this wire around the hand wire with itโs placement roughly where the thumb would go. I typically find the outermost fingersโs placement, the pinky and the thumb, as I craft the art dollโs hands. In all cases when youโre wrapping the finger wire around the hand wire, you want this wire to wrap around tightly- you may want to use your pliers to help in this process.
Now weโll find where we want the index finger, wrap the finger wire around the hand wire. This will create a broad partial oval shape and the index finger and thumb will be connected. Next loop the finger wire around the โUโ shape and back up to the hand, then wrap it around to create the placement for the middle finger. Then youโll create another oval shape, winding a bit of the remaining finger wire around the hand wire and snipping off any excess with your wire-cutters.
You can adjust the spacing between the fingers, possibly even clamping them down with your pliers. Once thatโs done cut thin strips of paper tape, and place them such that about the middle of it goes across the hand wire and each strip is going between our fingers. This will help keep your finger wires in place and you can take the wire-cutters and cut in between the connected finger wire pieces. You can take a sharpie marker and mark-off how long youโd like each finger to measure then cut them down to size.
Next you will wrap strips of paper tape, that are a little longer than twice as long as the finger, over each fingerโs wire, smoothing it over one side and then having the paper tape overlap itself, wrapping around. Youโll typically do two layers on each finger in this manner.
Using thicker strips of medical paper tape, youโll cover-over parts of the palm, usually folding over the wire at itโs mid-point. Itโs going to begin to cover over the hand and also cover the tape from in-between the fingers and also the paper that coats the fingers. You want the paper tape to go where it wants to go, it may not form a mirror image of itself as it folds around the contours of the hand.
After youโve a base layer of paper tape covering the hand armature wire, you can wrap pieces of tape around each finger. These paper tape pieces should be just a little shorter than the length of the fingers and about one and half times to twice as wide as the width of each finger.
You can bulk-out the muscles that comes from the thumb and pinky on the palm by placing strips that go across the length and width of these areas. At this point, you can also wrap a piece of paper tape thatโs almost as long as the aluminum tubing and overlaps pieces covering the hand wire.
Next youโll use as broad of pieces of tape on the hand as will comfortably fit- the wider the pieces, the less seams will be apparent on the hand. As you start to get a hand shape that you like, you can place a long strip that you might taper on the hand that will then wrap around the aluminum tubing and then you can wind another piece of tape around the tubing.
โโฆPaint your art dollโs hands at the same time youโre painting other areas of itโs flesh so that you wonโt have to try and color match itโs skin tones later.โ
Other than patching areas that might need more tape, the poseable art doll hands are constructed. You can now apply heavily water diluted Mod Podge and let the hands dry. At this point you can trim the finger tips as they will have a blunt and malformed appearance. You want to trim a little bit of the paper tape material at a time. Once this is done, you can also patch any areas of the hand that look like they need it. Youโll apply a coat of less diluted Mod Podge, let that dry, and then you might mix-up a base coat tone with some Mod Podge and water that will serve as an under painting for whatever flesh tone you want for your art doll. The under painting color should be one that if the flesh tone paint was thinly applied over it and it showed through, it would add rather than detract from the piece. One tip I can give you is to paint your art dollโs hands at the same time youโre painting other areas of itโs flesh so that you wonโt have to try and color match itโs skin tones later.
Thanks so much for stopping by. If youโve read this post and watched the YouTube video, but still have questions, be sure to comment them below and Iโll do my best to field it. If you use this technique, tag me on social media so that I can see what youโve made. You can find me on these platforms:
Prints of my art are available through my online store.
You can find my process videos by subscribing to The Dream Syndicate Arts here for more fantasy art doll polymer clay sculpture videos: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFMoEW3xC740tWfQNSixs_Q
Until next time: Make. Believe.
๐๐๐ค๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐ฆ๐๐ ๐ข๐ง๐๐ซ๐ฒ ๐ ๐๐๐๐ฅ๐ข๐ญ๐ฒ | ๐๐ฎ๐ฉ๐๐ซ ๐๐๐ญ๐ซ๐จ๐ง ๐๐ซ๐๐ง๐ญ ๐๐ฉ๐ฉ๐ฅ๐ข๐๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง
You can find the Dream Syndicate Art Dolls submission to Jack Conte's first annual Super Patron Endowment Grant. Maker of Poseable Fantasy Art Dolls, Ryan Friant, makes submission to Super Patron Grant.
Read More"๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐" | ๐๐จ๐ฅ๐ฒ๐ฆ๐๐ซ ๐๐ฅ๐๐ฒ ๐ ๐๐ง๐ญ๐๐ฌ๐ฒ ๐๐ซ๐ญ ๐๐จ๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ญ๐ซ๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง
Iโm not sure what my latest polymer clay fantasy art doll Drust isโฆ I think of him as some sort of goblin I suppose. If you asked Drust, I donโt know what he would tell you he is either. I imagine him to be adventurous and likely mischievous at times. One day in his boredom, a wayfly happened by and Drust couldnโt help but chase it!
In the scene captured in โReachingโ, I imagine that Drust has scaled a column of face vaults, statues with secrets of the ages locked away within, and finds his wayfly quarry just out of his grasp! Will he catch it or will it slip through his spindly little fingers?
Watch the process of how the poseable goblin art doll Drust was crafted
Prints of โReachingโ are available through my store here:
Limited Edition of 25 Print: https://www.thedreamsyndarts.com/thedreamsyndstore/reaching18x24print
Open Edition: https://www.thedreamsyndarts.com/thedreamsyndstore/reaching11x14print
Watch Details Being Added to the Face Vaults Polymer Clay Sculptures
Check-out a Winged Key Fantasy Stop-Motion Animation
Thanks for joining me so far and hereโs to the adventures we have in future! To be the first to know when I launch new polymer clay art videos, be sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel and hit the bell icon. Catch all of my videos here: https://www.youtube.com/thedreamsyndicatearts. You can also find many of the supplies I use in crafting here: https://www.thedreamsyndarts.com/supplies-gear/. And sign-up for my newsletter (in the sidebar) to get the latest studio goings-on! Thanks so much for joining me on this journey and until next time: Make. Believe!
Making Slimy Slug Art Dolls with Resin Slime ๐
Today we'll be embellishing wooden display bases as we make slimy slug art dolls with resin slime! I'd previously sculpted these polymer clay slug art dolls with super sculpey over aluminum foil armatures, made these handsome display bases, and only recently had the idea of "slug trail" trailing behind them as if the slugs (slowly) made their way up on to the base.
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WATCH MAKING SLIMY SLUG ART DOLLS WITH RESIN SLIME ๐
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I'd already given the slugs a thin coating of two part epoxy resin to give the sculpey art dolls a wet sheen look and I used the material again to make the slimy path for the little critters. Since I've had these particular opened bottles of epoxy resin for a few years, this was a great way to use the older materials rather than wasting them.
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To be the first to know when I launch new polymer clay art videos, be sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel and hit the bell icon. Catch all of my videos here: https://www.youtube.com/thedreamsyndicatearts. You can also find many of the supplies I use in crafting here: https://www.thedreamsyndarts.com/supplies-gear/. And sign-up for my newsletter to get the latest studio goings-on! Thanks so much for joining me on this journey and until next time: Make. Believe!
BRAMBLING ๐ฒ| Making a Fantasy Art Doll
And finally, a brambling is full born... or is it sprouted from a little acorn? The biology of the little fae creatures aside, this fantasy art doll is completed! All told, he probably took around 16 hours to craft (including accidentally sculpting two right hands for him! Unfortunately, not the first time something like that's happened, I assure you!). In prior videos I shared the process of sculpting and painting him in-depth and in this most recent one, I sew his clothes and show-off a bit of the staged set that went into making the finished dimensional illustration.
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Watch Brambling | Making a Fantasy Art Doll
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I enjoy characters with fanciful clothing and while the brambling's clothes are meant to have a utilitarian, rustic look to them, I was able to add some visual interest with the fae creature's asymmetrical, tattered cloak. The clothing was distressed by wrinkling, staining with acrylic paint, sanding, and then hand-sewing the fabric directly on to the art doll's body. I usually make a point of distressing an art doll's fabric as i like the viewer to imagine the secret life that the art doll has when they're not around. A life with a bit of mystery and magic's a better one! Lastly I set-up the scene by arranging fabric, vines, butterflies, and even used some small tree stumps! I photographed this mixture of found objects and then spent a little time post-producing the image in Photoshop.
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Here's the finished dimensional-illustration:
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I hope you enjoyed exploring this magical fey creature as much as I have! To be the first to know when I launch new polymer clay art videos, be sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel and hit the bell icon (but because YouTube's wonky, you can also join the newsletter). Catch all of my videos here: https://www.youtube.com/thedreamsyndicatearts. You can also find many of the supplies I use in crafting here: https://www.thedreamsyndarts.com/supplies-gear/. Until next time, make believe!
Making a Brambling ๐ฒ | How to Sculpt a Fantasy Creature Head
Bramblings are fey creatures that wander the forest floor looking for mischief to get up to or something good to eat. They can helpful to a lost wanderer or a nightmare to those that break some esoteric woodling taboo. The brambling has been living in my sketchbook for some time and I'm glad to see it finally come to life. I see them as a species rather than any one individual creature and being somewhat wild and unpredictable.
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Watch a brambling get crafted here:
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This fantasy polymer clay sculpture was crafted with Sculpey Medium Blend, which is a mixture of Sculpey's regular and firm variety, and was my first test with that particular clay (Super Sculpey beige being my "go-to: polyclay). While I found it pleasant to work with, I thought it had a pretty similar consistency to my regular clay. At some point I'd like to experiment with Sculpey Firm and see how that handles. I really could have stood to use a firmer clay since the oh so thin branches are a very delicate aspect of this art doll sculpture. I could see trying Firm or trying my hand at Monster Clay, which doesn't require baking in the oven since it's a two-part epoxy.
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I spent a lot of time during the sculpting process creating the bark-like texture of the creature, smoothing-out and trying to create the delicate lines of the branches. I also sculpted tiny clay-like hands. I typically craft art dolls with poseable paper mache hands, but in this case I didn't think I'd be able to get the jagged texture of the bark with such delicate material.
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If you would like a print of the Brambling final image, you can purchase it HERE.
I hope you enjoyed exploring this magical fey creature as much as I have! To be the first to know when I launch new polymer clay art videos, be sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel and hit the bell icon (but because YouTube's wonky, you can also join the newsletter). Catch all of my videos here: https://www.youtube.com/thedreamsyndicatearts. You can also find many of the supplies I use in crafting here: https://www.thedreamsyndarts.com/supplies-gear/. Until next time, make believe!
MAKING A ST. GEORGE ART DOLL โ๐
In this part of the process of making a St. George art doll, the poseable doll's made from a variety of mixed media. Most of the materials your as likely to find in a hardware store as you are an art supply or hobby shop. The armature consists of twisted aluminum wire, aluminum tubing in the neck and used at the forearms, a length of steel wire to give the figure stability and allow it to anchor into a set or display base, and plumber's epoxy. The body's massed-out with upholstery foam and then clothing's sewn around the art doll.
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Watch Part 5 in the St. George & the Dragon Piece | MAKING A ST. GEORGE ART DOLL โ๐:
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An art doll's neck doesn't need to be reinforced with the aluminum tubing, you can typically just drill right into the clay if you'd like, but the way I design my characters, I like them to have thin necks because that's the way I tend to draw figures- I like lanky, gawky, attenuated characters. If I were to make a character's neck as thin as I do without putting in the tubing and drill into it, the backed polymer clay would likely crack and crumble around the drill bit.
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Once the aluminum and steel wire are all twisted into place, they're secured with plumber's epoxy that's molded into a form to create a cylinder shaped chest and smaller oblong cylinder for the pelvis, which all takes about an hour to set (if you were handling the plumber's epoxy more vigorously, you might want to give it a day). From there, I use the figure's contours to sketch-out a front and back form out of the upholstery foam and cut it out with pair of scissors. These front and back pieces get attached to the plumber's epoxy with a resin based epoxy. Lastly I sketch-out the amount of fabric I'll need to sew the clothing, leaving a bit of a seam allowance. Ordinarily, it's a good idea to use lighter weight fabric, but for the look of the chain-mail armor, I used a heavier upholstery weight fabric that was kind of a pain to work with. The process of making St. George art doll probably took a couple of full work days, not including the time I spent sketching-out details or gathering materials.
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If you want to make the imaginary a reality, be sure to subscriber on YouTube!
If you want to be the first to know when I launch new polymer clay art videos, be sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel and hit the bell icon (but because YouTube's wonky, you can also join the newsletter). At present, I am launching new videos Saturdays at 2pm EST and I will keep this information up-to-date on my YouTube channel's banner and "about" section here: https://www.youtube.com/thedreamsyndicatearts.
Sculpting St. George ๐
When sculpting St. George, I wanted a younger interpretation of our hero. Just about every time I'm sculpting an art doll, I begin with sketches and for this piece I did a few quick studies from teenage aged boys- some of the reference pictures came from Google image searches and some from this great book of Norman Rockwell's depictions of childhood. I also spent spent some time looking at prior depictions of St. George in medieval and renaissance art.
Watch Part 4 in the St. George & the Dragon Piece | Sculpting St. George ๐:
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I wanted to capture a sort of frightened, panicked expression and I was somewhat thinking of Kevin McCallister from "Home Alone", you know, the shaving cream, "Aaahhhhhhhhhh!" scene. My idea for the finished piece of art is to create an image that references the legend of St. George and the Dragon, but to also convey the concept that the dragon isn't nearly as threatening as George thought and it was his imagination making the dragon more terrible than he thought.
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If you want to make the imaginary a reality, be sure to subscriber on YouTube!
If you want to be the first to know when I launch new polymer clay art videos, be sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel and hit the bell icon (but because YouTube's wonky, you can also join the newsletter). At present, I am launching new videos Saturdays at 2pm EST and I will keep this information up-to-date on my YouTube channel's banner and "about" section here: https://www.youtube.com/thedreamsyndicatearts.
A Dragon is Born: Making A Poseable Mixed Media Dragon Art Doll ๐
It feels so good to finally post a finished fantasy art doll project. In this last installment (for making the dragon anyway) in this St. George & the Dragon piece, I show the final steps for making a poseable mixed media dragon art doll. Once the polymer clay head was sculpted, painted with acrylic paints, the larger part of making this fantasy art doll involved sewing, lots and lots of sewing. I can find sewing unto itself a challenge with making visually pleasing seams and heck, I often find threading a needle and efficiently tying-off a seam to be a difficult at times, but you get to do crafting on hard-mode when you try to do these things with protruding spikes or wire for your thread to snag on!
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Watch Part 3 in the St. George & the Dragon Piece | Making A Poseable Mixed Media Dragon Art Doll ๐:
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In next week's video, I'll be working on crafting a young St. George art doll where I'll be sculpting the figurine's polymer clay head. If you have any suggestions for future fantasy artdolls for me to work on, I'll happily take you suggestions in the comments below or on YouTube.
If you want to make the imaginary a reality, be sure to subscriber on YouTube!
If you want to be the first to know when I launch new polymer clay art videos, be sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel and hit the bell icon (but because YouTube's wonky, you can also join the newsletter). At present, I am launching new videos Saturdays at 2pm EST and I will keep this information up-to-date on my YouTube channel's banner and "about" section here: https://www.youtube.com/thedreamsyndicatearts.
Taking Flight with my First (Solo) YouTube Video with a Dragon Head Sculpt!
I've spent the last few months getting things together to bring this first polymer clay art doll tutorial (as well as many others). In this first video, I'm making a dragon head sculpt with Sculpey and in future videos I'll show you more of my process for making poseable art dolls. The head is sculpted with a few stainless steel clay sculpting tools and, more often then you would think, is shaped by my fingers. When I'm all done, this dragon artdoll will be for a St. George & the Dragon illustration.
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Watch Part 1 in the St. George & the Dragon Piece | Dragon Head Sculpt with Clay:
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The majority of my future videos will focus on fantasy characters from mythology and folk-lore, I've got some fey characters lurking in my sketchbook waiting to be brought to life. I've thought about doing fan art of characters I love, but I'm still not 100% sure I will- I'd love to make a Daredevil (and a bunch of the other Defenders characters) or The Rhino from Spider-Man (The Rhino's costume is just ridiculous!) or maybe if I do make them, I'll re-imagine them as fitting into more of a fantasy setting. What do you think? I'd also love to make the time to play around with stop-motion animation with my poseable art dolls.
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If you want to make the imaginary a reality, be sure to subscriber on YouTube!
If you want to be the first to know when I launch new polymer clay art videos, be sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel and hit the bell icon (but because YouTube's wonky, you can also join the newsletter).
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