Work in Progress

The most beautiful porcelain hand I ever made!

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I made this hand for my test doll. I'm convinced it's the most beautiful hand I ever made. You see, I don't just pull a hand out of the mold and fire it, I manually shape and sculpt it to make it more expressive. Unfortunately, expressive, tiny hands are virtually impossible to mold with the rigid plaster molding method. So, they have to be very simplified in order to be mold-able. Therefore, each hand undergoes significant re-sculpting and remodeling in the post-molding period.

I separate the fingers, define the knuckles and establish the bending angles on all the fingers. It's ridiculously tedious and I hate doing it, while simultaneously loving it. I estimate that it takes me 2-3 hours to make one hand from casting to painting, or 4-6 labor hours+ 12 kiln firing hours for a pair of hands for one doll.

This hand is the pinnacle of my achievement. Just wanted to share it.

Editing the Enchanted Doll book

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My editor is in the process of polishing up my writing for the book before it goes to print in two weeks. I took a day off molds in order go over the latest revisions she had sent me and spent most of it editing at my alternate (and rather comfortable) working station until my laptop got tired, said: "Adios Amigos!" and promptly crashed. Thank software engineers for auto-save. The deadline approaches...it's the nature of deadlines.

I love my job.

 

Molds-behind the scenes

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Some more peeks of my current projects. Making more molds.

These shots were taken just this morning. So tired... I wish I could just go to sleep, but my mind is restless...13 hours spent in clay, water and plaster up to my elbows don't think I can stand the feeling of clay on my hands any more...skin is so dry and tight, I just want to jump out of it, like a lizard, God I wish I were done with this already but there are so many more...oh my god I hate making molds so very much alas, that's what it takes to make what I want to make and I will make it so help me god...at least I've got a few more episodes of the Tudors left why is the iPad screed so shiny and reflective? is my nose too long? why did Henry the 8th come to hate Anny Bolyn so much? did he really believe she was a witch? my fingers are so pruney I wonder how much water they can absorb before the skin starts falling off the bones... can that happen? if only this part would just set already so that I can take it out and clean up I should also sweep before I drag these plaster crumbs all over the place I really need to clean this place up, if only I were finished with these stupid molds already...I need some hand cream......man, my orange tree is going to freeze outside if it keeps getting colder, I wonder if I ought to pull it back in? I should stop dropping my flipflop every time I tuck my knee under so that the chair wouldn't roll over it and get stuck every time I move, and why do I have to tuck my knee under every time I sit down anyway? I, like, don't even notice how it happens...god, my knee is so sore I wish I would just stop doing that, when is this mold going to set already...?Ouch! pay attention when you're using dental tools if you want to keep all your fingers...perhaps a knife would be better to trim this seam...this towel is covered with clay I need a new one...Chad? Chad?! damn, he is wearing headphones in there...I'll have to put this down and hope it holds for a few seconds...ohh for crying out loud, that stupid flipflop!!......

New Molds

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Happy New Year, everyone!

I've had a great holiday, a wonderful end of 2011 and a fantastic beginning of 2012! I'm so excited about this year! With all the new things I'm working on, I can just feel how awesome it's going to be! I'm bursting at the seams with creative energy and can hardly contain myself.

The Enchanted Doll book is undergoing final edits and will be going to print in three weeks, on February 1st.I, in the meantime, have been sketching out new project ideas, creating rough machetes and making new molds. You know how much I like to keep things secret until they're finished and until I know 100% that the are going to work, but I'm very compelled to give you a few sneak peeks of what I've been working on. Perhaps I should. Perhaps I will...Alright, meet me here next week for some peeks.

Back to work now. Art can not wait to get made!

The Enchanted Doll grand prize

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..For the 2011 Birthday Contest Winner!

The grand prize doll Lily has been completed and will be shipped to its new owner this week. Amal, please let me know you're in town and confirm you shipping address.

This still frame animation depicts some steps in the painting process of Lily, showing how it starts out and it's final look, but there are other steps between the layers that aren't shown, such as firings, of course. This head was painted in 3 china layers and 3 kiln firings. You can see how each layer fades after each firing, and has to be built back up to gradually intensify. It's a one step forward, two steps back kind of process.

Due to the unique transparency and non-drying characteristics of china paint, which require multiple firings to set, the painting process is driven and defined by the two conflicting targets: To paint the doll in as fewer layers as possible to minimize the number of firings, while simultaneously achieving the ultimate feature shapes, vibrancy and depth of colors.

After years of practicing china painting, I've finally come up with a suitable analogy to describe its multiple characteristics: China paint is like watercolors because it’s translucent; like oil paint, because it doesn’t dry; like digital graphics, because all layers must be kept separated and like ceramic glaze, because it bonds only through kiln firing.

A completed doll face. This one is for you, Amal. Claim your prize!

Work in Progress: Shoes for Cixi

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Concept sketches for the shoes.

Wax models of the shoes in the works. I hope to finish the second one by Wednesday and begin molding. It's probably the most challenging pair I've made so far. I'm worried about the mold design and the inject-ability of these molds and hope to find out if they work by the end of the week.

Tonight I've got lots of writing to do, but it's hard, because I can't stop thinking about these unfinished waxes sitting on my desk.

 

Enchanted Doll contest guess #1

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Like I mentioned before, there were three contestants who've actually guessed my current projects. It felt weird; as if these people were peering into my soul. Here is guess number one, made by Noxy. This is her entry.

And this one is my current project: Domestic Abuse.

Although our concepts are a little bit different, the theme of captivity and abuse are shared. In my project this captivity is emotional and figurative, while in Noxy's proposal it is physical and literal, with a bit of a kinky slant.

Noxy, you get a little gift for guessing this doll!

I wasn't going to show her until much later when she is finished and costumed, but when I saw your proposal, I thought it was a sign from the universe to unveil and expedite this project.

Actually, once I had taken this photo, I became really disturbed by it, as it reminded me of the infamous murder and crime scene of  Black Dahlia. It was unintentional on my part.

My doll is not supposed to be dead; just battered by her abusive, controlling and jealous husband. It's still in progress. I'm deciding what kind of costuming would me most appropriate for a message of awareness. It's scary for me to think that there are many, many men in this world who objectify women as if they are only dolls to be possessed by them and shared with no one.

Well, on that note: Guessed project number 2 is coming up.

Cixi dress near completion

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I almost can't believe it: After two years of work and with only a few more weeks of embroidery left to go, Empress Cixi's extravagant robe is almost complete! This is a bad snapshot, though. But I was too impatient to set up the proper light kit for an unfinished piece.

Over the last two years, it required a ridiculous number of hours to embroider this mammoth; so many, that i lost count somewhere after six hundred. This is my Titanic.

I haven't began making the shoes yet; a pair of pretty Manchu slippers on tall pedestals. However, I've been having second thoughts about them lately. This is supposed to be her 'wedding' night robe when she became Xian Feng Emperor's concubine, and I'm beginning to think that the shoes would be almost inappropriate in this composition. But I do love making shoes just for the sake of making shoes....so...it's a tough call for me. Perhaps it could be some sort of a variation of high pedestal bed chamber slippers, I donno.....What do you think: shoes or no shoes?