LOLLY- Articulated Paper Clay Doll

 

Lolly has been in progress for a while and is my second attempt at a paper clay doll, the first attempt at articulation. She started out as an empty plastic lime juice squeeze bottle and a couple of sketches.

 

Oops! Caught by some stray spray ink!

 

 

Her head was shaped from a wad of tin foil and taped to her body with masking tape, which was then used to cover the whole thing.

 

The whole thing was covered with paper clay and features added to the face. Funny, I never did imagine her with hair after the first sketch.

Legs and arms were formed from rolls of paper clay, holes were punched in the top of each, and they were left on wax paper to dry. Here I've used straight pins to hold them in place. The feet and hands went kind of wonky on me, but it adds character, I think.

The limbs were taken back off and everything painted and let dry, then re-attached with the floral wire, which is really not strong enough, but it's what was handy. I tried some hair, but it just didn't work for her. She insisted on her favorite hat!

I tried to talk her out of this outfit, but she insisted. The skirt is a lace collar off a flea market clown doll with a can-can of net under it. The hat is meant to be kind of ragged and has a satin flower on it. It has great sentimental value to her.

The scarf was the last thing added. She wanted this color blue, and since I couldn't find anything else, I took a strip of bandage gauze and painted it with watered down fluid acrylic and let it dry before wrapping it around her neck. She was very pleased with her ensemble and did a little twirl, of sorts.

Lolly is kind of rough looking, but she's been through a lot of stuff. Despite that, she is a pretty happy person, though a solitary tear rolls down her cheek. I've learned a lot from her through our journey together and look forward to making her another friend soon. :)

What I've Worked on This Week-Mixed Media

Another busy week has flown by! I'm not having as much time to post as I would like, or to create either, but I try to do a little bit of art/writing every day despite what else is going on. I still can't seem to actually finish anything, so this week I've practiced some of the wonderful techniques for mixed media and art journaling that I've learned from Connie Hozvicka, Misty Mawn, Leah Piladas, Katie Kendrick, the many teachers in the 21 Secrets workshops, and many others.

I thought I would share each day's endeavor for the week in one post instead of several smaller posts. These are all very much works in progress. Here goes! :)

Sunday, we had company, but I managed to fashion Lolly (paper clay doll person) a hat before they arrived. I left it to dry and enjoyed the company, then watched a movie (don't remember what) and took a creative nap. :)

Monday we had to take hubby's dad to the Dr. He's been very sick. I managed to take a doodle sketch that I had previously done on a book page and transfer it to a gesso prepped 9x12" page before we left. I don't know why it transferred so pale a gray (it was drawn in black marker), but it will have paint layered over it anyway, so it's ok. I also collaged pieces of rubbings that I had previously done onto the background and left it to dry. PawPaw had a long Dr visit and hubby went in with him, leaving me in a quiet waiting room. I read 4 more chapters of "The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo" on my Kindle while I waited in one of the most uncomfortable chairs I ever sat in. By the way, I've seen this movie 3 times, so far. :)

Tuesday I slept really late, then had to take mama to a neighboring town to pick out her new glasses. The most creative thing I did all day was help her pick them out and decide what I wanted to eat. Sorry, no pictures!

Wednesday I painted Lolly's hat and evened out the skin tones a bit,

collaged a previously sketched on book page onto a gesso prepped 9x12 journal page, spritzed it with Dylusions ink sprays, and left it to dry,

wrote on gesso prepped page with black marker, added water-soluable crayons, and brushed gesso into and over it, then dripped water on the page and let it run,

decided I didn't like it, so I added fluid acrylics and ink, letting some run, then wrote on it with a red marker, liked it better,

added a plastic doily stncil on the sponge stamped page with Dylusions spray ink, and made pictures of the pages.

Thursday I tore pictures and text out of a Vanity Fair magazine that spoke to me and collaged them with gel medium onto a 9x12 gessoed page and left to dry, prepped 4 more pages with gesso,

added blue tinted gesso with an old credit cart for texture to 2 of the prepped pages,

brushed quinacridone burnt orange tinted gesso onto the other two prepped pages, left to dry, then dribbled titan buff paint on one page, closed the facing page on top of it and rubbed them together, then pulled them apart and let dry. I see all sorts of images!

I also tried dripping and drizzling 3 different color fluid acrylics on a gesso prepped page and rubbed the facing page over. There are all sorts of images in these that I can enhance and bring out.

Plus I took an Anne Rice book page, wrote down words that jumped out at me, cut them apart, and arranged them into a poem, which I then collaged to the bluish journal page above, and I made pictures. It was a fun morning!

Saturday I took 2 previously sketched on book pages and transferred them to 9x12 gesso prepped pages, wrote text with pencil, and added water soluable crayons, then brushed water over, and added more on top.

So there you have my fun for the week. I may have left something out, like movie watching, but this is the jist of it. Hope you enjoyed my journey of practice! :)

Background Pages to Wake My Sleeping Muse

When I can't seem to focus creatively, as has been the case for several days now, I make background pages for my art journal. They don't take long, they're fun, and they help get me back in the creative flow when I'm stuck, and I'm stuck on several projects right now. I have them half done and can't decide where to take them next, so I'm having fun just making a couple of pages every morning until my muse quits napping. :)

Below are some I've made in the last few days, using a 9 x 12 inch Strathmore mixed-media visual art journal. I used a variety of media, actually whatever was within arm's reach around the table. They included spray inks/dyes, acrylic paints, gold leaf pen, black marker, water soluable crayons and pencil, torn fast food bag, plastic and paper doily stencils, and emotion.

I also used a variety of techniques learned from various teachers online, both free instructions and not, to which I'm eternally grateful. They include stenciling, bubble wrap, stamping, lettering,  spattering, runs, lifting, mixing media, water dripping on wet paint, drawing, painting fearlessly, not trying to be perfect, saying what if, spraying, brushing, a bit of collage, doodling, left over paint, abstract, etc., and emotion.

The lighting was not so good, and I'm sorry about that. :(
 

I call them background pages, but truth is, sometimes I love the page just the way it is and will only add some writing when the right words come to me. Others will have more elements or paint/collage added to them before the words are added. Either way, I love doing these, and I learn a lot from just playing without fear, and each one of them comes from whatever I'm feeling or going through at the time, so they are all a diary of me, the good, the bad, and the downright ugly.

Hope you saw something on here that made you smile. :)

More Background Pages, A Poem Draft, & A Sketch

I've been playing with the Dylusions spray inks and found stamps and stencils some more. I need a few more colors, but I'm having fun with what I have. I haven't been creating a lot lately, or doing anything else much for that matter, and making background pages is a quick way to get some art in on the days I don't have time to really get zoned out into my creative place. Plus, I have a stack of pages already started to add to when I do have time to "zone out."

I love letting images emerge out of the ink/paint as it dries. Sometimes it takes a while for them to reveal themselves to me and sometimes they jump right out at me. I've drawn a light pencil sketch around some of the images that have emerged. That doesn't mean that I will keep them when I start actually working on the page, but it's a reminder of what could be.

This one was done with a paisley, or large comma shape, that I cut out of a sponge. I sprayed the inks directly on the sponge and stamped onto the paper.

I love these colors and used a variety of stamps and stencils, handmade.

This page started off with with an old cd, which I sprayed over (some ink ran under it and merged), removed, and then spritzed some other colors onto.

The paisley sponge stamp with 2-3 colors sprayed onto the sponge and stamped randomly around the page.

I wrote a couple of poem drafts onto this page, then stamped the backs of some stencils that had been sprayed over onto the page to clean them off. I like it. :) If you want to read the poems, as finished as they're probably going to be, you can go to my other blog http://scribblesfromrabbithop.blogspot.com/ , where most of my writing is.

Just a quick little sketch I thought I'd throw in. I was attempting something new in her head tilt. I didn't quite accomplish what I meant to, but I like it. Besides, today is another day, and I can try again! :)

Contour Lines Coloring Book

Disclaimer: The above page and the ones following are contour sketches for a coloring book for a drawing practice assignment in the Misty workshop, and they were done quickly, so don't expect too much. :)

They are supposed to be contour sketches, but mine turned out to be mostly contour/line sketches, done with pencil on a 9x12" mixed media paper. Each sketch is the base for whatever form of media I choose to use to develop a finished mixed media page, or, if I choose, I can just texture and paint them, etc.

I know, on the one above I didn't leave room for the flowers and they are quirky and squatting. I will fix that when I actually start working on it, probably. Or maybe not...I like quirky...

I stopped at twelve, though I could have easily kept going. For the time being they are clipped together in the order I drew them and to a page in my journal. Most of them are objects I could see around my work table. The faces emerged from my imagination. I can't wait to see how the pages develop when I start playing with them, she said, clapping her hands in glee.

Sorry, this face is not from my imagination. It's my little Pekingese angel, Kibbles Marie, my constant companion for almost sixteen years, who left us in 1997, and whom I still miss every single day.

I will try to remember to repost the sketch with the finished page as I do them. Hope at least one of them made you smile. :)