AEDM Days 8 & 9- Mei and Ruthie

I didn't get Mei and her bear friend posted yesterday, so I'm posting them with Ruthie today. Here goes!

Mei is a tiny clown doll given to me by one of my best friends. She is dressed in a satin jumpsuit with a large collar. She has a porcelin head and cloth body and limbs. She didn't want to be sketched alone, so I coaxed the pale blue long-haired bear, given to me by hubby, to pose with her. They held perfectly still while I tried to capture the different textures, but they were glad when I stopped. They were tired and I was too! :)

Ruthie is a vinyl doll from the 60's, rescued from a flea market. I loved her red hair, which was a total mess. It took a long time to get it into some sort of shape. She was also in her birthday suit. Mama made her a light navy blue dress out of velvet-like material and crocheted trim around the neck, sleeves, and tail out of white cotton thread. I added the white ribbon, the white underwear and knee socks, and the black-patin, laced shoes.

I used a carbon pencil instead of a regular one for a change. It was a little harder to control, but I stuck with it til I got ready to stop. Also, the lightest shaded foot was supposed to be making a step forward, but I couldn't get it to go there. Maybe next time!

Anyway, these are my last two attempts for AEDM. I also took a piece of 300# wc paper, wet it, and dropped black and red Sumi ink all over it and let it run and dry, which made a variety of grays. Then I dropped more pure black ink in randomness on top and left it to dry a couple of days ago. It's still sticky. I haven't decided how to proceed on it yet. I just wanted a break from all the pencil shading. When it's a little further along I'll show you. (I "borrowed" the idea from Leah over at AEDM). Thanks, Leah! I hope you don't mind. :)