WIP 2 – 3D printed Aramture on OOAK Doll

This is the second post in the 3D printed armature OOAK Doll. For the first post please click here

Originally I was planning to use this armature for my Cheshire doll for the Auckland Doll and Teddy fair. However time got away from me and that fair has now come and gone. So I will be now creating this doll as a Fire Lava Queen for the International Art Doll Registry competition – Elements. And all going well maybe an Frost Queen as well? We shall see, but I do find its important to use the competitions and local themed shows to keep the pressure on creating, otherwise time goes by and nothing new gets made 🙁

So here we go…… the next stage of my experimental OOAK clay doll over a 3D printed armature

With my doll still firmly attached to the armature stand I start by conditioning some clay and pressing till its quite thin, and then laying it over the doll. The excess was pinched off at the back and the seam roughly joined. No point in spending time smoothing yet – it’s all about the form for now.

Continue working up the doll keeping the clay roughly the same thickness and pinching the excess off. Do not worry about fat and muscle yet, just get the first layer down.

Above is a shot of the face, again its just a single layer

Above I have added the eye indentations and a dent for the mouth. Just to keep track of where the lines and proportions are on the face. In some parts of the body I have also left the bones sticking out a little bit, just to keep a few key points for reference when I start to add the fleshy parts.

One handy tool with having already created my doll in Daz means I have a 3D rotating reference to use. I can view her in her emancipated state so I can tell where the bones are even after they are covered in clay, or I can dial her back up to her normal form so I can see when the fat and muscle need to go.

After the “skin” layer is all done I can start on the fat and muscle. Using the Daz reference (in the background) I start laying bits of clay down in line with the correct forms

When sculpting it is very important to keep turning your work, obliviously the front is the most important view, but if you don’t sculpt from all angles you won’t get the proportions right. And with the Daz figure I can also use it by turning it around as I turn the sculpture to keep making sure the form is being added correctly. I once heard someone describing sculpting as drawing a thousand drawings, and that’s exactly what you need to do…”draw” your sculpture so the form you see from the front view is correct…turn and then redraw so the new view is correct…keep turning and keep redrawing it. Do that and your form will come right

And one last tip that you can gain from using a Daz 3D firgure…zoom in on her so she is the correct size on your screen and using compass calipers you can measure all the different points to ensure your sculpture is correct

Keep working on your doll adding clay as needed and roughing it in. Don’t bother with trying to smooth and detail it yet. Firstly you shouldn’t smooth until the form is done because you can just end up having to redo detail when you realize the form is not quite right, and you also need to have some allowance for pressure when putting fresh clay on. And second I have a technique that will help you smooth it out later on. Also, while you might want to create a nice smooth fairy, I prefer my dolls to be hybrid creature creations, so my doll will have a lot of sculpted detail added to her form before any smoothing is done.

So that’s it so far. What do you think??

Even if you don’t have access to a 3D printed I do recommend you give Daz a go. You can download the Daz Sudio and the Genesis 2 Female for free over at Daz3d

And stay tuned for part 3 🙂