Day 21 (finally!)

Well now. Hasn't it been quiet! My posts trickled away to nothing in the last few months. Don't worry, this isn't due to dwindling activity, actually quite the opposite. When I began Nevermore Dolls I had a vision of dolls of a certain quality, since then (2010) I have continued to return to the drawing board until I achieve this dream. In the last few months I have made very large strides in Nevermore, Curious Doors (another business I own and run) and a secret doll project which is so huge it is not even ready to announce. 

Rest assured the wait is over, 2014 will bring you my vision, my full vision.

Day 20 - New Faces

So, I have been working incredibly hard behind scenes for Nevermore. As those close to me know I've had a very clear vision for the dolls since day one and have been working non-stop until the dolls I make resemble that which I see. Up until now I have never been happy with the faces, I always knew I could do better. I sculpted a new master head which I am finally delighted with. There will be variants, but until then, say hello to the new Nevermore face.

 These are some very very candid photos from the worktop, I just really wanted to show you the new faces. These dolls aren't finished, there will be lots more depth and tone on their bodies and faces and they will have eyebrows.

So yes, sorry for the quiet, but don't worry, I've a lot on the way :)

Wild Meadow Elf

A new elf doll. A delicate, shy, meadow elf.

<3

Day 15.

A new hair colour arrived in the post today, I'm really excited to make dolls with more varied hair colours.

So far I've used larrycraft for all my doll's hair and I'm incredibly happy with this shop. The wool is wonderful quality, the postage is very fast and there's always a hand written note with the product. 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/larrycrafts/m.html?_nkw&_armrs=1&_from&_ipg=25&_trksid=p3686

It's another busy weekend this weekend so there probably won't be anymore doll updates until the middle of next week. But shortly I will be bringing you two custom creations, a bride and a steampunk fairy.

The Albino Elf

I will be making many elf races based on various seasons, flora and fauna. But the first one is an albino :)

Day 12.

I've had a lovely day photoing Cora, the first Nevermore doll. I'm really pleased with the finalized style, character and dimensions of the Nevermore dolls and am really excited about creating more characters.

The First Nevermore Doll : Cora

The first Nevermore Doll is here!! She is called Cora, she's wearing a night dress and she is a very delicate soul. More photos and information soon.

<3

The Final Hurdle : Hair

Well now, perfecting the doll making method has been a pretty long journey so far (8 months). With many different trial and errors to find the best method and style for me. And the final and most bitter battle has been hair.

I have researched and tried a LOT of different hair techniques, each time returning to the same method - gluing hair on strand by strand. While this creates a sturdy head of hair it always results in visible glue. I'm a perfectionist, I want hair that can be brushed and played with, and if the customer looks underneath the hair they won't find ugly glue patches. For this reason I've found many hair making methods not to my liking. 

I've come to the conclusion there's only one solution, which is this:

http://www.antiquelilac.com/tibetan-lambskin-wigs---tutorial.html

Now that my dolls are uniform in size I could make numerous wig caps safe in the knowledge they will be suitable for all my dolls. I'm a little concerned the dolls are a tad too small for this method but it feels like it's the only way I'll be safisfied quality wise. With these wig caps the hair will be able to be brushed and styled and played with. Also for me as a maker it'll make doll construction a lot less stressful.


Phew.

Day 11.

I am just about to start painting and wigging and clothing these two, however the sun's going down so I had to take a photo at this stage. As you can see there are two faces so far. I will be sculpting many different interchangable faces for a vast array of characters.

The World Of Nevermore

Despite having created the Nevermore facebook page, shop and this blog some time ago and showing doll development I never felt that I was ready to launch my shop. I have been on an incredibly steep and fast learning curve since christmas - learning new techniques and discovering the best doll making method for me through trial and error. 

I now feel that I have reached the point where I can open the doors to my secret garden, to my world. You see I don't want to just make dolls, I want to create a world for you to explore and play in and discover. A world full of people, towns, forests, creatures and culture.

The World Of Nevermore. 

<3

Day 10.

Very busy day yesterday, I had a big sculpting session, I've got thighs and lower arms with hands done as well. I'm working as fast as I can to have complete dolls and more exciting things to show very soon!

<3

Day 9.

The first Nevermore doll body in the finalized style. 

<3

Day 8.

Gooooood morning! Today I am having a huge sculpt and mould fest, soon I'll be uploading much more interesting pictures than just blank doll parts.

Day 7.

After having my realisation about the doll's designs I brought all my sculpting tools to the livingroom and sat up base camp on the sofa. I've been happily sculpting all day and here is the bulk of my work. This is the first female torso in the new style. Yes it is very slender and very exaggerated, if you look back at the previous post you will see the relation to my doll concept drawings. I will very soon be making a more veluptuous and curvey torso.

It's not quite there yet, there still needs to be collar bone definition and she has no navel yet but we're very nearly there. I am certain this will give the dolls the fluidity and animation I've been craving. I will get on to sculpting new faces as soon as I'm finished and mould straight away as I am very keen to sprint towards the launch of a new shop full of dolls very very soon. 

<3

Continued Doll Development...

It really is coming to be now in waves how much development doll style takes. To put it quite simply my dolls have always had a rather slender, spindly quality to them. For the swap to ball jointed dolls this needed to be padded out to house the joints. 

Yesterday was a very frustrated and very unproductive day for me, consisting of sanding doll necks, painting and re-painting the same set of eyes and a lot of work avoidance tactics and it put me in one hell of a mood. I knew that something was wrong, that dolls are my passion, it should be easy and fun, so why did it feel like a brick wall.

Today the realisation has come, now I am returning to passive jointed dolls I can return to my old doll style, more slender, more exaggerated. 

Also my faces need to hold a hell of a lot more personality. 

This shouldn't be too hard as I've had a huge delivery of fast cure rubber which means I can get these new designs done surprisingly fast. 

It all makes sense when you look at my doll idea sketches....

I understand that this must be pretty annoying for anyone watching my doll making with the intent to buy, I have been developing them for far too long now, and at times I have given the impression I am all but ready to launch. And I myself have felt the same peaks of excitement, only for the bubble to burst with a realisation something is wrong. 

I have had in my mind, for a very long time, a world, hazy in paces and crystaline in others. I can see thousands of characters, again some in vivid detail and others only a feeling in the corner of my mind. I only want to fully open those doors and invite people in when I feel my dolls are actually a representation of this world, only when I feel these characters are laying in resin on my work top will I feel happy. 

Believe me, I can do a lot in a day.

Waiting at the door.

......

Day 5 & 6.

Day 5 was pretty quiet, lots of pouring and sanding doll parts. I got too tired and fell asleep before I uploaded this photo, hence today's double post :)

Aaaaaand day 6! I made the decision recently to return to passive posable wire link joints as opposed to ball joints. There are many personal reasons behind this decision, in short form it means I can ensure better quality dolls, cheaper dolls and a less stressful doll making process for me. Also I've always loved how a wire loop jointed doll conforms to your hand when you hold it, they will actually lay on you, curl into the crook of your palm, etc, which I feel is interaction you can't get with a ball jointed doll. 

I plan on having a weekend completely devoted to the wigging and dressing of the first few dolls. Hopefully early next week I will be updating the shop to get the vision of Nevermore that I've been holding in my chest for years into reality.

Day 4.

There's been a slight gap between day 3 and day 4 because there's been a heat wave in England! It's been 30 degrees since last Saturday, the hottest its been in roughly ten years. As much as I've tried I just couldn't get any doll work done, it was far too hot for me. 

But today's been a little cooler and I've been assembling dolls. It's my aim to have the first three dolls for the shop assembled and wigged by the end of tomorrow. So apologies for the boring picture today, hopefully tomorrow I'll have all sorts of lovely doll protraits to show. 

<3

Day 3.

While I have a lot of ideas I don't neccessarily plan. This is especially true when it comes to faces, I never paint a picture of a doll's appearance before I start, I simply set out a few basic colours on a piece of paper, start mixing and build up layers. Because of this I'm never quite sure where a face will go and what character will come out. 

Additionally while my ideas have been rather Victorian and industrial my hands seem to have painted quite flowery, sweet colours. I think it's because it's the height of summer. 

Either way I think I'll have to edit my designs a little, the blue eyed girl will now suit a marching band hat rather than a miner's helmet. And the green eyed girl looks a little more worldly wise than intended. 

<3

Nevermore Dolls So Far.

Until a couple of years ago making dolls had been a part of a large imagination I never thought would become a reality. It wasn't until I discovered Etsy, an online marketplace for artists and crafters, that I realised doll making was infact a serious business, art form and popular collectable product.

Dolls had resonated with me deeply for a long time, and until this time I'd never realised the deeply personal, unusual and innovative styles people achieved in doll creation. Art dolls was certainly the way to go for me. After more research I picked up a block of Original Sculpey from a craft shop and got going. 

What followed this was a very intense period of trial and error - with a lot of errors. I made roughly ten dolls before I made one called Sleeping Demonette. 

She was original sculpey with wire loop joints. After that I upgraded to Living Doll, and after some more trial and error I made The Faun and another Sleeping Demon.

After that it all went a little quiet. As much as I loved doll making one of a kind hand scultped polymer clay art dolls was not the right area for me. Personally, I found the sculpting process took too long. I've a brain which works very fast, has many ideas and wants to achieve an awful lot in a very short space of time. I wanted desparately to fill a shop with intricate dolls with character and collectability. Infact, more than that, I wanted to create my own little world with dolls.

Again I went back to the research stage. I was very aware of Ball Jointed Dolls (BJDs) at this point but the hollowed out, s-hook, elastic making method put me off. For a long time I had pondered the idea of a ball jointed doll where the joints did not rely on elastic for their tension. Surely, out there, somewhere was a ball joint that held it's own tension, I searched B&Q, Homebase, the internet. I couldn't find what I was looking for, but I knew I couldn't go back to my original doll making method. 

Luckily around this time I made a wonderful friend, Matt Inkel of Arcane Armoury, an incredibly talented prop maker with 16 years experience, a problem solving mind and a gentlemanly character who was happy to help me. His first gift to me was teaching me the method of mould making and resin pouring. This would enable me to produce dolls at a higher rate, additionally they would be much stronger than polymer clay. After this we developed a unique ball joint together which held its own tension. These were the two factors I needed to achieve what I had been thinking about for so very long. I was finally able to make my world of dolls, strong, solid, posable, resin dolls. For this I'll be forever greatful, and will always highly reccommend his products and services.

 

And so, I've cut the story as short as I can. And here we are. I have developed the first master Doll for Nevermore, and production is beginning very soon. Having been thinking about this venture for a very long time I have filled sketch books with ideas, characters, concepts, fantasy races, accessories, costumes and scenes. I cannot wait to open the door and introduce the World Of Nevermore, it's been a long journey, but I've finally arrived. 

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