DeGaray Dolls

A slight change of plan... Ok I'll admit it - when it comes to ideas, I'm a bit of a magpie! This means that sometimes (often) when I'm in the middle of making something I change my whole angle... What happened? Well, instead of Ghoulia becoming an interpretation of the goddess of war Adrestia, she's turned into something a bit different... From this... To this... So what happened?  If any of you have ever heard of Warhammer, you might know what I'm talking about when I say that Ghoulia turned into a Daemonette of Slaanesh. And if you don't know Warhammer, you might think 'A who of whatnow?' So, Chris and I have dabbled a bit in painting and occasionally playing with Warhammer miniature figure (I know, nerd-alert!). But they do some really cool fantasy creature designs and I suddenly thought, 'Wow, wouldn't one of these miniatures be cool as a bigger doll, in my own interpretation of their ...

Dolls In Armour - something we want to see more of? Well, my answer has to be YES! I would like to see more dolls in armour, simply because it’s just so cool. Like these dolls Mattel have released for the upcoming release of the Wonder Woman movie in June 2017. Don’t get me wrong, I like pretty dolls, kawaii dolls, fashion and couture dolls, but it’s nice to see something that’s usually confined to the realms of action figures. I love women being represented as warriors, quite simply because it feels empowering. I think the armour can be functional and realistic or fantastical and sexy (or a mix of both, even) because ultimately, I think dolls represent aspects of our imaginations that we wish we could explore in real life. They don't have to always be 100% realistic. (And if you're me then the stranger, the better!) Aaaand I think I’m getting a little too deep here... Anyway, this is sort of the background motivation for wanting to make Ghoulia into a wa...

Have you ever worked with someone else on a creative project? What about on a doll custom? For me it's been a long time since I collaborated with anyone (about 10 years ago at Art School, come to think of it). And collaborating on a doll custom? Never. But my hubby Chris and I have set ourselves a new creative challenge - working together on a doll project! So what's the project? Well, he's been doing a lot of drawing recently. In some of his drawings, he was exploring how to represent female power and strength. In particular, he was interested in warrior women, and he came across Adrestia, the daughter of Ares - the god of war. Adrestia (also known as Nemesis in the Roman pantheon) is 'she who cannot be escaped' - a goddess of just retribution and sublime balance between good and evil. And to restore balance she would go to war, accompanying her father Ares . I liked the sound of this righteous warrior goddess. So when Chris was telling me about her w...

My fox-girl is starting to come together!  She looks a lot better now that she has her wig on and I'm feeling a lot more pleased with her overall. I couldn't help feeling that she looked a bit weird, in an awkward, not sure if I like it sort of way, but now that she has some hair I feel a lot happier with her. It still amazes me every time how much difference a hair-do can make to a doll and give it personality. :D  So I guess the next part will be the final chapter (so far!) of her journey - she needs a proper outfit! She's currently borrowing Martha Jones from Doctor Who's biker jacket, but I want her to have a kind of futuristic uniform.  Liv doll custom Liv doll custom

Since I spray-painted her face and body, fox-girl needed a face-up - some blushing and painting to bring out her features.  I was aiming for an arctic fox look (like these adorable little fluffballs on the right), hence the creamy-beige base coat, and I just wanted to do some very light shading hinting at some fur using light feathery brushstrokes. I used a combination of artist's chalk pastels, Citadel and Golden Fluid Acrylic and artist's colour pencils. And this is the result! Next I'll be modifying a Liv wig so that she can wear it with her ears poking out...    

H ere are some work in progress shots of how my Fox-Girl Mod is progressing. I'm using a Liv Doll as a base to work on top of with Magic Sculp epoxy putty.  Having sanded her head thoroughly I've now sprayed her all over using Montana spray-paint in a creamy ivory colour as a base coat. I protected the eyes by carefully adhering some Blu-tac to them, making sure they were covered right into the corners, but allowing the paint as close a coverage to the edges of the eyes as possible. The spray is not adhering as well as I'd hoped to the plastic of the body, which I'm not overly surprised about, but it has fixed well on the Magic Sculp and on the softer plastic of the head, feet and hands. Since most of her body will be covered up by the outfit I'm going to make for her I'm not overly concerned about the wear of the paint on her body and joints.   It took a few coats of spray to build up thin layers, rather than one thick, goopy one. Once th...