New doll...goodbye Fimo, and where have all the doll artists gone?

So I've been busily making a new doll. My third attempt at Dorothy for a music box.  It was while making this doll with a brand new block of the newly titled Fimo Professional that I decided my love affair with Fimo is over.

I've tried everything this past year and I've realised that with the exception of the first ever block of Fimo Soft I bought back in 2013, I've had nothing but problems with this clay.  Crumbly and cracking even mix quick could not rescue it.  Meanwhile, a doll I made with some super sculpey I bought just came about without much effort on my part.  I'm sick of fighting with clay that doesn't want to work, so I'm testing out super sculpey, though it's a bit dark for my dolls so I'm mixing it with the last of my white Fimo.

So I've noticed this year that not only have a lot of doll artists removed their websites/blogs, but those who still have them have removed their free tutorials.  While I understand they have to make money, the free tutorials are very basic and those just starting out are more likely to buy a book or dvd from the artist if they have given a little free assistance to start.  I was lucky to start when I did, because the tutorials referenced on websites had already begun to disappear so I made a point of saving what I could for future reference, but it's disheartening for future beginners that the help I got in the beginning has been whipped away.

Anyway enough ranting here is my latest doll

On cloud nine

Introducing my latest work - On Cloud Nine.

This is a return to poseable dolls. I realised that I'm not cut out for making full sculpts.  They always go wrong no matter how hard I try.  I'm pretty good at the poseable dolls, and artists like Wendy Froud and Dee Schiller make poseable dolls that everyone loves just as much as full sculpts, so I really don't see anything wrong with sticking to what I'm good at.

Since learning how to do needle felting I've found a new way to create bodies for my poseable dolls.  It works really well.

Anyway back to this doll.

I was trying to do a full sculpt for the Art dolls only challenge, which this time around is called Clouds.  The face went well but the full body would not cooperate.  So in a fit of pique I removed the head, finished sculpting it and baked it. Then I created a soft poseable body, making the arms and legs from clay.

I use techniques gleaned from Wendy and Dee and do them my way (I have trouble following instructions properly).

Other things I've worked on lately.

Here are some other Wip photos of things I've done lately.

This was supposed to be toto for Dorothy but Dorothy is no more

Wip Borg queen

I've been a bit lax of Late with my sculpting. I'm working on a new fairy taking it slow because all year dolls have been breaking on me, and this fairy has had a couple if creaks I've had to fix before baking properly.

Yesterday I decided to make a Borg queen from Star Trek for my other half.  She came out pretty well and no disasters as I was making her, unless you count the mad fluff fest that somehow got into the clay despite me washing my hands and wearing white. What is the black thing that keeps getting itself on my hands even though I just scrubbed them?

Any way here's my progress shots. She still has to be attached to the base but I'm still working on that.

Dorothy going round the twist

I seem to have been working on Dorothy forever. Mostly as I'm doing a course which has taken up most of my spare time, and now I'm out of work, and feeling a little depressed so haven't really been in the mood for doll stuff.

Anyway here is my progress along with a lot of botches along the way.

Ok so I started here but wasn't happy and started again.

Then there was this version and hey ho I wasn't happy here either.

So I made this version - not good.

And after realising that version was too big for my project, I started from scratch.

I got here with my new doll.

Only for the skirt to crumble when I put her back in the oven.

I made a basket.

And a dog.

She has hair. But still no dress. I will have to get some cloth I think.

And she has ruby slippers.

I have to paint toto and somehow attach everything to the yellow brick road I made and finish her dress.