The Art Exhibition and Maybe a Video Tutorial

The Newport Beach Art Exhibition was a lot of fun. I didn't win any prizes but I'm not too disapointed because all of the art there was excellent! 

Here I am at the exhibition with my two pieces in the background.

If you want to see more of the exhibition, here is their website. I think they will be posting this year's winners on there at some point.

As I work on writing patterns for my two little dolls that appeared in my exhibition pieces, I am trying to find a good way to show the process of making their wire armatures. A detailed photo tutorial might be good, but a video sounds even better!

For the past few years, almost every time I've wanted to learn how to do something I've been able to find the perfect YouTube tutorial: from hairstyles to changing a vaccuum cleaner belt. The one thing I haven't learned yet is how to make a good YouTube video! A lot of good video tutorials for crafting have the camera focused on the person's hands, creating a similar view to what you see when you are looking at your own hands while doing a project. I tried setting up a regular-sized camera tripod next to my desk while making the armatures, but the trouble was in order to get a good view I had to put the camera right where I normally sit and then stand awkwardly over it, which made it nearly impossible to make anything! If only I had cameras in my eyes they would be just perfect for the look that I want to create!

My next idea was to order this cute little table-top tripod. It shouldn't be in the way as much as a full-sized one, and the legs are very flexible so I can easily control the camera angle.  I have yet to test it out, but if it works and the tutorial turns out well, I might want to make more videos in the future. We'll see! 

I'll see you next week, with dreams of contact lense cameras and video tutorials until then!

Exciting News!

I have some exciting news to share: my two little sculptures have been accepted into the Newport Beach Art Exhibition! They will be on display there from 1pm-6pm on Saturday, June 13th, so if any of my readers are in the area and would like to see them in person, please stop by!

For everyone else, here's one more look at the sculptures:

I'm working on another boy doll and another girl doll to test the crochet patterns, which I may then post to Etsy and Raverly.

Also, check out my fancy new business cards, which I had printed last weekend so they are ready to go sit next to my sculptures at the exhibition!

The judges will choose their favorites in the morning, then there will be a fun afternoon of snacking and talking to other artists and art admirers while watching the awards. I can't wait!

Wish me luck, I'll see you next week!

My Second Sculpture is Done!

 Finally! And with just over a week to spare. My boy has clothes now, and I finished off his house with a door and some windows made out of foam, and some free-form crochet flowers in the window boxes. The boy took one look at it and decided to take  nap on the roof!

This is meant to be another dream sequence, like the first sculpture, so that's why the boy and the house don't look to scale with each other. In a dream you can walk out of your house and suddenly be tall enough to reach the roof!

Here he is from a few different angles.

In the next day or so I will be filling out my application for the art exhibition and deciding how to price my two sculptures. Wish me luck! I'll let you know how it goes. Now that these are done it's time to start dreaming of a new fun project! See you next week!

I know, it's not a sculpture...

My second sculpture for the Newport Beach Art Exhibition is almost done! In fact it's so close that it seems like a waste to show you 98% of a sculpture today and make you wait a week to see it fully completed and looking only slightly different.

Instead, I decided to take a break from that to show you a sneak peak of what will hopefully be my next project.

This picture is the property of Gardiner Yarn Works.
This is what my project will hopefully look like when it's done if I do it right.

I remember instantly loving this beautiful, light and airy lace wrap when I saw it in a yarn store several years ago. I bought the pattern and yarn, and soon started to hate it, due to the sheer number of stitches, the complexity of the pattern, and how easy it was to accidentally break the delicate lace thread I was using. After having my butt kicked by this pattern (and putting it aside for a few years) I decided to give it another try. I probably shouldn't even be showing it to anyone before it's done. I may have to erase some memories if this wrap doesn't make it to completion. However, I think it's a good sign that I've already made it father than my first attempt. Here are the first fourteen rows:

I don't have any concrete plans for what to do with the wrap once it's done. I will probably keep it if I'm not sick of looking at it by then. Until next week, dream lots of light and floaty dreams and I will have a finished sculpture for you soon!

Sculpture 2: Part 4- Arms, Face, and Hair

My boy doll is coming right along! This week he finally has arms, hair, and a face! I even added toes and thumbs. 

 I made his face in pretty much the same way as the girl doll but his eyebrows and nose are just a tiny bit bigger. I decided to draw his mouth on because I was having trouble making fabric lips that weren't either too bright or completely invisible. I think I might make him some ears, too, but haven't decided how to do those yet.

Now all that's left is to give him some clothes and finish the sculpture base. The deadline for the Newport Beach Art Exhibition is at the end of the month, so I better hurry up! 

Keep following your dreams!

Sculpture 2: Part 3- He has legs!

Sorry this post is a little late today. I was almost done with my doll's legs yesterday when I realized the left one had two more stitches than it was supposed to and I had to undo half of it to find the mistake! Anyway, here he is now, with legs!

This project is going a little slower than I would like. It's more difficult to get a lot of crafting done now that I have an internship, but I am really happy to be working again so it's all okay.

Here is a close-up. His thighs might be a little too thin but other than that I think his legs turned out well!

And here is a sneak preview of the thread I bought to make his pants. Keep following your dreams and hopefully next week my doll will have arms!

Sculpture 2: Part 2

My little guy is slowly coming along! I still have a long way to go before he's finished, but at least now his torso is complete and he has one cute little knobby knee! 

His house was what I really spent my time on this week. First, I started painting it "Empire Gold." After the first coat I decided the walls needed more texture, since I was trying to give them a stucco-like appearance. I crinkled up a piece of tissue paper and wrapped it around the house like so:

When I painted over the tissue paper, the texture looked much better.

The roof was the part that took the most time. I wanted to make a clay tile roof and decided to use bubble tea straws for the tiles. I had a packet of straws, so I took some and cut them in half lengthwise, then I cut along the length to make short tiles. I glued them to the roof so that they overlap like real roof tiles.

After the glue had dried, I mixed a few drops of black paint in with red to make the color resemble terra-cotta. (It looks much brighter in this picture than in person.)

 Don't worry, I haven't forgotten windows and doors on the house, this is just as far as I've gotten this week!

Keep following your dreams and I'll see you next week!

Sculpture 2: Part 1

My next sculpture for the Newport Beach Art Exhibition has begun! For this one I have decided to make a boy doll, and he is going to be sitting on top of a house. Everything is still pretty much in "sneak-preview" mode right now.

Here is my doll so far. I still have a lot of crocheting to do, his arms and legs don't even have any skin yet!

This is what he looked like last week, just a head and skeleton.

I made the house out of a couple styrofoam pieces...

...then added a layer of paper maché.

This is what happened when I ran out of paper and switched to the newspaper adds. Don't worry, everything will look better with paint!

I'm excited to see how this new sculpture turns out. If you are too, keep checking back next Wednesday. And don't forget to keep following your own creative dreams!

My 1st Sculpture for the Newport Beach Art Exhibition is Done!

Thank you all for staying with me during all the weeks of watching this project slowly take form. Well, I hope you think it has paid off, because my crochet and papier-mâché sculpture is finally finished!

And a back view...

I have decided to try and do a second sculpture before the deadline in May, so I'll be showing you updates on that very soon! I'll let you know how both sculptures do at the exhibition, too. Keep following your dreams until next week!

Newport Beach Art Exhibition Entry: Part 3

My sculpture for the Newport Beach Art Exhibition is almost done! My little doll has changed a lot since you last saw her...

She now has a face, a dress, and I even gave her toes and thumbs! I attached her to the moon with a wire that I threaded through her leg and arm. Then I poked the ends of the wire into the moon with a tiny bit of glue to help everything stay put. This worked out really well because the wire doesn't show and I didn't have to put any glue on my doll!

Here is a close-up of her face. She has an embroidered nose, fabric lips, drawn-on eyebrows, artificial eyelashes trimmed down to size, and real blush on her cheeks!

I original made her with fabric eyes, but decided I like the sleeping look better. What do you think? (This picture was taken pre-eyebrows, too.)

Now I am working on a base that will keep the sculpture standing up. By next week it should be done and I will have a new project in the beginning stages to show you. Until then, keep dreaming!

Newport Beach Art Exhibition Entry: Part 2

My sculpture for the Newport Beach Art Exhibition has come a long way since I first showed it to you! I added a splotchy later of blue paint to give the color a little added depth. Next I evened it out with a very light coat of white.

Blue splotches

This is what the moon looks like now! Much better than when I first started it: 

Styrofoam Moon

What's even more exciting? My doll now has legs, arms, and hair! I hope that by next week she will have a dress and a face. Then I will need to figure out how to attach her to the moon and how I want to display the whole thing! I'm also batting around ideas for a second, similarly-themed sculpture for the exhibit, since every artist is allowed to contribute two pieces.

Don't worry, I will hide all the loose pieces that are showing right now!

I am excited to see how this project turns out and I hope you are too! Keep following your dreams and I'll see you next week!

My Entry for the Newport Beach Art Exhibition: Part 1

I recently recieved a call to artists for the annual Newport Beach Art Exhibition and decided to try a mixed-media sculpture to enter! My idea is to show dreamlike image of a young woman in pajamas (possibly with wings) sitting or standing on a crescent moon.

The project is a still in its beginning stages, but here is a sneak peak at what it looks like right now!

Here is the moon, carved from styrofoam, textured in paper maché, and with a coat of white paint. I may add some more color to it, but I haven't decided exactly what I want to do yet.

 

I put on one very rough layer of paper maché to give the moon texture, then a second much smoother layer to regularize the texture and make sure it didn't look like an accident!

And here is my character in her beginning stages. She is made of crochet thread around a wire armature to make her fully posable. I don't usually make dolls this small and this is the first time I have started one with a wire skeleton, so I am excited to see how she turns out!

                                  

So far I love the structure that the armature gives the doll. I think makes her feel a little more real. I also like how the armature acts as a 3-dimensional "sketch" of the doll's shape that I can trace as I crochet her outer skin. Creating a detailed face at this small scale may be a challenge. I have some ideas, though, which you will see soon! Keep following your dreams, I'll see you Wednesday!