fantasy art doll tutorial

๐Œ๐ซ. ๐‘๐ž๐ง๐๐ž๐ซ | ๐’๐œ๐ฎ๐ฅ๐ฉ๐ญ๐ข๐ง๐  ๐š ๐“๐ซ๐จ๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐‡๐ž๐š๐ ๐ฐ๐ข๐ญ๐ก ๐๐จ๐ฅ๐ฒ๐ฆ๐ž๐ซ ๐‚๐ฅ๐š๐ฒ

During a recent period of artist block, I was inspired to get up to a bit of sculpting a troll head with polymer clay. Meet Mr. Render, an underworld enforcer troll-like character that I created. Iโ€™ve often had a fondness for period gangster film and television like Guy Ritchieโ€™s โ€œLock, Stock, & Two Smoking Barrelsโ€ and โ€œSnatchโ€ as well as โ€œPeaky Blindersโ€. While I also enjoy American period crime drama, I really enjoy stories of the cockney accented London east enders. The idea for Mr. Render โ€œThe Enderโ€ was sparked by such media as well as tough-man turned actor Lenny โ€œThe Guvโ€™norโ€ McLean who was cast as Barry โ€œThe Baptistโ€ in Ritchieโ€™s โ€œLock, Stockโ€. McLean was not only cast in such roles, but also was something of that in real life in addition to being a champion in illegal bare knuckle boxing. Thereโ€™s a documentary on him on Amazon Prime called โ€œThe Guvโ€™norโ€ that Iโ€™d recently watched.


Watch Mr. Render | Sculpting a Troll Head with Polymer Clay

 
Sketching-out some design ideas for the troll.

Sketching-out some design ideas for the troll.

The armature of this troll bust is just some crumpled up tin-foil that I built-up a Sculpey polymer clay form up around. Once the basic shapeโ€™s formed itโ€™s then a matter of adding bits of clay here and there and refining the details with clay tools- steel tools, color shapers, and ball styluses as well as my fingers. I wanted to give this creature a very characterful face that recalls the look of the elongated snouts of storybook trolls. I also have a tendency to enjoy depicting characters with large noses and beady eyes (in this case, made from actual beads), which I didnโ€™t fail to deliver on with this sculpt.


One of my favorite costuming references, โ€œHistoric Costume in Picturesโ€

One of my favorite costuming references, โ€œHistoric Costume in Picturesโ€

The sculptureโ€™s only a bust, but I decided I wanted to add some fabric costuming. For that I turned to one of my favorite resources to page through, โ€œHistoric Costume in Picturesโ€ for inspiration. Using some white fabric with some added ruffles and a grey fabric, I implied a fashionable gentlemanly suit. I generally find I can accomplish what I want with the simple whip and running stitches, which is great because Iโ€™m by no means an amazing tailor. The ruffles were made with some Fabri-Tac seams, accordion folding the pieces (I went over them with an iron to help reinforce the folds), and then using a gathering stitch to attach each progressively shorter layer to the one underneath.

Mr. Render isnโ€™t exactly a troll. In this fantasy world Iโ€™ve been building, I kind of see most humanoid creatures as individuals with their own unique characteristics and sometimes abilities. Iโ€™m mostly breaking with the fantasy trope of races of creatures that all have X characteristics like elves or goblins or whatever. I think of all of that stuff as a pretty modern conception thatโ€™s sort of been ingrained in us through pop culture, genre writing, role-playing games, video games, that sort of stuff, but terms like fairy, elf, spirit, and goblin were used pretty interchangeably throughout mythology and folklore to just refer to some thing not of this world.

 
TrollHead.FinishedBust.jpg

Iโ€™m considering the idea of doing a silicone mold and resin casting him and hand sewing on clothes Mr. Rend. For this reason I filled in some gaps in his sharp teeth with some Apoxie Sculpt so they wouldnโ€™t get caught in the silicone while molding. Doing a silicone mold would let me paint different colorations of this creature and I could use different fabrics to create variations. For example, he could be in a simple cloak- maybe with a hood.

Hereโ€™s an idea of what the troll bust would look like with a simple cloak.

Hereโ€™s an idea of what the troll bust would look like with a simple cloak.

 
TrollHead.BustIdea.jpg

Thanks for joining me so far and hereโ€™s to the adventures we have in future! To be the first to know when I launch new polymer clay art videos, be sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel and hit the bell icon. Catch all of my videos here: https://www.youtube.com/thedreamsyndicatearts. You can also find many of the supplies I use in crafting here: https://www.thedreamsyndarts.com/supplies-gear/. And sign-up for my newsletter (in the sidebar) to get the latest studio goings-on! Thanks so much for joining me on this journey and until next time: Make. Believe!

Want to be the first to know about new happenings in the Dream Syndicate? Sign-up for my newsletter below!

๐‘๐„๐ƒ๐‚๐€๐ | ๐ƒ๐€๐‘๐Š ๐…๐€๐„ ๐๐จ๐ฌ๐ž๐š๐›๐ฅ๐ž ๐„๐ฏ๐ข๐ฅ ๐…๐€๐๐“๐€๐’๐˜ ๐€๐ซ๐ญ ๐ƒ๐จ๐ฅ๐ฅ | ๐“๐ข๐ฆ๐ž๐ฅ๐š๐ฉ๐ฌ๐ž ๐Œ๐ข๐ฑ๐ž๐-๐Œ๐ž๐๐ข๐š ๐€๐ซ๐ญ ๐ƒ๐จ๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐“๐ฎ๐ญ๐จ๐ซ๐ข๐š๐ฅ

I recently spent some time documenting some terrible, malevolent, dark fae, the redcap. These nasty, blood-thirsty creatures make their homes in castle ruins or sites of gruesome battles and prey upon any who enter their domain. Redcaps are described as red-eyed old men with long, greasy beards, carrying pike staffs or scythes, and renown for wearing heavy iron shod boots and despite their ungainly footwear, move with preternatural speed. What really gives them their name are the red hats on their heads. The red is no mere ornamentation, it is actually soaked in blood and must remain so, for if a redcapโ€™s hat ever runs dry of the crimson ichor, the creature will perish.



Watch me make the Redcap Art Doll here:



While the lore tends to describe the evil fae creatures as having a stout build, I tend to like spindly creatures. This poseable art doll was made in my typical mixed-mixed media style, beginning with sketches and ending with a finished dimensional-illustration. I made his fleshtone a sort of minty green hue because I thought it would coordinate well with the red cap on his head. One direction I decided to take on the design of this art doll was to make his hat resemble a mushroom- surprisingly, not many artists had made this character design decision. It made perfect sense to me, there are all manner of benevolent fae seen wearing mushroom hats and given that their are a good number of mushrooms that can seriously harm or kill a person and the redcap fae creature is menacing itโ€™s self, it almost seemed like an obvious choice.

The art doll has a Sculpey polymer clay sculpted head, poseable wire armature body, fabric clothing, and his accessories are made from a variety of mediums. I particularly love some of the dingy little details of this malevolent creature like his spiked armguards and shoulder pad made from upcycled materials. His whole outfit was meant to have a rough-hewn, thrown together quality to it as if this creature doesnโ€™t spend much thought to how he looks at any given time.

 
Sketching the design of the redcap art doll

Sketching the design of the redcap art doll

 




The art doll has a Sculpey polymer clay sculpted head, poseable wire armature body, fabric clothing, and his accessories are made from a variety of mediums. I particularly love some of the dingy little details of this malevolent creature like his spiked armguards and shoulder pad made from upcycled materials. His whole outfit was meant to have a rough-hewn, thrown together quality to it as if this creature doesnโ€™t spend much thought to how he looks at any given time.

Prints of the dimensional-illustrations made with the redcap art doll are available here:

Open Edition Prints

โ€œRedcapโ€™s Rageโ€ https://www.inprnt.com/gallery/thedreamsyndicate/redcaps-rage-evil-fae-fantasy-art/

โ€Redcapโ€™s Restโ€ https://www.inprnt.com/gallery/thedreamsyndicate/redcaps-rest-evil-fae-fantasy-illustration/

โ€œRedcapโ€™s Reapingโ€ https://www.inprnt.com/gallery/thedreamsyndicate/redcaps-reaping-wicked-fae-fantasy-art/

 
Color studies for the various dimensional-illustrations made with the fae art doll.

Color studies for the various dimensional-illustrations made with the fae art doll.




Thanks for joining me so far and hereโ€™s to the adventures we have in future! To be the first to know when I launch new polymer clay art videos, be sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel and hit the bell icon. Catch all of my videos here: https://www.youtube.com/thedreamsyndicatearts. You can also find many of the supplies I use in crafting here: https://www.thedreamsyndarts.com/supplies-gear/. And sign-up for my newsletter (in the sidebar) to get the latest studio goings-on! Thanks so much for joining me on this journey and until next time: Make. Believe!


๐ƒ๐ˆ๐˜ ๐๐จ๐ฌ๐ž๐š๐›๐ฅ๐ž ๐…๐š๐ฎ๐ฑ ๐Œ๐„๐“๐€๐‹ ๐“๐ฎ๐ญ๐จ๐ซ๐ข๐š๐ฅ | ๐€๐ซ๐ญ ๐ƒ๐จ๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐€๐œ๐œ๐ž๐ฌ๐ฌ๐จ๐ซ๐ข๐ž๐ฌ

For my latest dimensional illustration, Lord Bledwall, I wanted his robe to have a poseable metal trim- it wasnโ€™t utilized so much in this image I made with him, but if I decide to use him in future images, Iโ€™ve some variety of what I can do with the moveable faux metal piece. This technique can be used not just for metal clothing adornment for a variety of art doll accessories like fantastical weapons or maybe metallic tentacles. Making these DIY poseable faux metal elements only requires some basic supplies and tools as well as some handicraft skills. If you can measure and cut things, you can absolutely make these! You can find the necessary supplies, instructions, or even watch how they were made below.

Watch how they were made: DIY Poseable Faux Metal Tutorial | Art Doll Accessories




Click on any of the items below & youโ€™ll be taken to a corresponding Amazon page, which helps support my art with no additional cost to you.

Click on any of the items below & youโ€™ll be taken to a corresponding Amazon page, which helps support my art with no additional cost to you.

Texturing tools.

Texturing tools.

 
TwistingWire.jpg

Weโ€™ll start-off with a length of 18 gauge aluminum wire. Iโ€™m basing the length of the wire on about how long I think the art dollโ€™s robe should be. Weโ€™ll twist it up with our pliers and depending on what youโ€™re doing or if itโ€™s visible, you might want to snip the uneven edge of the wire with your wire-cutters.



Once thatโ€™s done, weโ€™ll roll out a length of medical paper tape. And cut it to size. I like to cut it so it's about as wide as 3-4 times the thickness and about as long as the wire. Weโ€™re going to wrap the paper tape around lengthwiseโ€ฆ this partโ€™s tricky because the paper tape wants to snag on itself (a little bit of this is OK though!). You want to make sure itโ€™s wrapped around snug to the wire. Weโ€™ll wrap the wire two, maybe three times if desired.



Then weโ€™ll soak both ends of it in some water for a little while- anywhere from 10 minutes to an hour on either side to get the paper tape thoroughly saturated. Next weโ€™ll spread some heavily Mod Podge diluted with water across it. Iโ€™ll do a couple more layers, letting the piece dry in-between, where I add in more and more silver acrylic paint and progressively less water with each subsequent layer. What thatโ€™s doing is seeping the pigment into the paper fibers of the tape. This is a similar method to how I go about creating my poseable art doll hands.








Weโ€™ll measure a thin strip of the a foam sheet, which is going to give us the segments of this sort of spinal shape that Iโ€™m making for this poseable faux metal trim.  I like using foam because itโ€™s flexible and you can easily texture and paint it. Weโ€™ll make a thin strip. And another little strip that will serve as a template for the other pieces weโ€™ll cut. And weโ€™ll just trace it all down the length of the foam strip. Then weโ€™ll cut them out with our X-acto.


Hereโ€™s a quick note on failure: Iโ€™d tried using 2 part resin epoxy (another adhesive that I commonly use. Use with caution) and for whatever reason, it didnโ€™t seem to hold. Iโ€™m not sure if I messed up the timing on the set time or whatโ€ฆ it just wasnโ€™t seeming to work at all. It might be that it wasnโ€™t the right adhesive for the job.

FabriTacOnWire.jpg

Weโ€™ll use some of an old bottle of Fabri-Tac- this was made clear by the way I need to fish it out with a bit of scrap wire. I tried clothes pins to hold the foam pieces on as I went, but didnโ€™t think they held it on snugly enough. I found a better solution by wrapping them with tiny scraps of wire that I had lying around. Being a bit of a pack-rat for the win!




Now weโ€™re just going to take a sharpened pencil and use it to indent into the surface, score into it a bit with a pointy clay tool, and I also got some interesting textures from using needle files like one would use in jewelry making.


poseablefauxmetalpainting

Then weโ€™ll just go in with our silver acrylic paint onto the spinal form. One layer of metallic paint leaves a lot of the black of the foam showing through, which depending on what youโ€™re doing, might be how you want it to look. I ended painting on three layers. You might consider using spray paint, but the propellant, what makes the paint shoot out of the can, tends to have a melting effect on a lot of foam-like surfaces. So that melting would either have to be a part of your design choice or youโ€™d have to seal your foam in some way that also didnโ€™t involve spraying the sealant on.


Weโ€™ll do an ink wash with this transparent raw umber. Unless I want a detail heavily accented, I tend to add a little water to the ink and even sometimes a tiny dab of dish soap. You can see how that ink wash is bringing up all the dents and scratches on the surface. After the inkโ€™s been on the surface for a minute or two, weโ€™ll wipe away the excess to make the details a little more subtle. Weโ€™ll repeat this process with each additional coating of ink. Since I liked the patina the ink was giving this, weโ€™ll go ahead and do another wash. Each layerโ€™s going to tint it just a bit darker. Another thing we can do is go back and put some ink inside some of the little holes and scratches to really bring them out. Here Iโ€™m using much more saturated ink and picking-out individual details.



Lord Bledwall sketch/color study

Lord Bledwall sketch/color study

 

My sketch of Lord Bledwall had these blade bits sticking out the sides of the metal trim like a spinal column, Iโ€™d already gotten pretty far on this build (and shouldโ€™ve put them in sooner).... so I was in a mental fight over risking messing up what Iโ€™d already done (and really liked) and also my laziness didnโ€™t want to do anymore workโ€ฆ or I could make this a bit cooler by spending the time to add them on. It was a hard fought battle, but โ€œmaking it coolerโ€ won, so I cut bits of blade out of some Bristol board, sliced tiny grooves that I could put the narrower ends of the blades into, and used resin epoxy both inside the grooves, and thinly applied it to the narrow end of the blade form. Once the two part resin epoxy set, I then carefully painted and ink washed the blades.








As a warning: pretty much everything in creativityโ€™s a conflict of โ€œgood enoughโ€ and saving some amount of hours of work versus โ€œputting in a bit more effort and making the thing coolerโ€.


Sewing faux metal trim with coordinating thread.

Sewing faux metal trim with coordinating thread.

Having made the thing sufficiently cooler, weโ€™ll attach the metal trim by sewing it on with a gray thread that will sort of blend-in with the paint job weโ€™ve done. Weโ€™ll sew in from the back, make a loop, tie off our thread a few times, cut it, and repeat that process up the length of the trim. Here you can see what it looks like once itโ€™s all attached.

FakeMetalTextureTrimFullyAttached.jpg


Lord Bledwallโ€™s also has a faux metal texture bladed mantle that Iโ€™ll do a โ€œmaking ofโ€ process blog and video similar to this one if you want to see how that was made. When itโ€™s ready, youโ€™ll be able to click here. If you use techniques you learned from any of my posts, Iโ€™d be happy to take a look. You can tag me on whatever social media platform youโ€™re posting to. You can find my links below!


If you would like a print of Lord Bledwall, you can purchase it here.

If you would like a print of Lord Bledwall, you can purchase it here.

PRINTS AVAILABLE

A print of the final dimensional illustrationโ€™s available through my print shop as an open edition.

Thanks for joining me so far and hereโ€™s to the adventures we have in future! To be the first to know when I launch new polymer clay art videos, be sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel and hit the bell icon. Catch all of my videos here: https://www.youtube.com/thedreamsyndicatearts.

You can also find many of the supplies I use in crafting here: https://www.thedreamsyndarts.com/supplies-gear/. And sign-up for my newsletter (in the sidebar) to get the latest studio goings-on! Thanks so much for joining me on this journey and until next time: Make. Believe!

๐‹๐จ๐ซ๐ ๐๐ฅ๐ž๐๐ฐ๐š๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐š ๐๐จ๐ฌ๐ž๐š๐›๐ฅ๐ž ๐„๐ฏ๐ข๐ฅ ๐–๐ข๐ณ๐š๐ซ๐ ๐€๐ซ๐ญ ๐ƒ๐จ๐ฅ๐ฅ | ๐“๐ข๐ฆ๐ž๐ฅ๐š๐ฉ๐ฌ๐ž ๐Œ๐ข๐ฑ๐ž๐-๐Œ๐ž๐๐ข๐š ๐€๐ซ๐ญ ๐ƒ๐จ๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐“๐ฎ๐ญ๐จ๐ซ๐ข๐š๐ฅ

Much like dharklings, Iโ€™ve made another more nefarious aspect of my world, Lord Bledwall (you can learn more about how he arrived at his powers further below). Heโ€™s one of my worldโ€™s Manifest, wizard caste beings who have power far above and beyond what most inhabitants of The Dream Syndicate possess. Heโ€™s an evil wizard figure who has the ability to manipulate these bladed, vine-like growths that accompany him, known as The Bleedwall. The mixed-media poseable art dollโ€™s meant to be imposing, menacing, with his sharp, angular features and withered appearance.


Watch the Making of Lord Bledwall, a Poseable Evil Wizard Art Doll | Timelapse Mixed-Media Art Doll Tutorial


LordBledwallEvilWizardArtDoll

As an adolescent, Iโ€™ve always been fond of the design of villains and I can see much of that fondness echoed in this character. When drawing the mouth of the poseable art dollโ€™s design, I was thinking of the toothy maw of a crocodile. Some more obvious features to jump-out at you would be the look of โ€œThe Lord of the Ringsโ€ ring wraiths (even before the Peter Jacksonโ€™s films, many artistโ€™s renderings of these creatures had much in common) and the look of Shredder from various iterations of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. In much the same way that these villains are encased and adorned in metal, so is the warlord figure of Lord Bledwall. The substance of the Bleedwall that he commands is an ever-expanding, invasive species that will either corrupt, harm, or kill whatever it comes into contact with.

Open edition prints of "Lord Bledwallโ€ are available here.

Open edition prints of "Lord Bledwallโ€ are available here.

Prints of โ€œLord Bledwallโ€ are available here:

Open edition print: https://www.inprnt.com/gallery/thedreamsyndicate/lord-bledwall-wizard-fine-art-print/

The more the wall hungered
The more that the enemy bled
The more that the enemy bled
The more the wall hungered



Lord Bledwall rules a land that was at war with a neighboring kingdom and he loses his son to the conflict. In his anger and grief, he happens upon a large, strange seed that calls to him. He nurtures it with his hatred and desire for revenge and day by day, month by month, it grows into this bladed and barbed barrier along his lands that comes to be called The Bleedwall.

The wall hungers and attacks friend and foe alike, maiming or killing anyone that comes within itโ€™s lethal, sinuous reach. The Bleedwall ever expands and Lord Bledwall ever becomes concerned with assuaging itโ€™s bottomless hunger. This caused the majority of his kingdomโ€™s subjects to flee and how Lord Bledwall got his name, to be forever associated with that accursed wall.



Thanks for joining me so far and hereโ€™s to the adventures we have in future! To be the first to know when I launch new polymer clay art videos, be sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel and hit the bell icon. Catch all of my videos here: https://www.youtube.com/thedreamsyndicatearts. You can also find many of the supplies I use in crafting here: https://www.thedreamsyndarts.com/supplies-gear/. And sign-up for my newsletter (in the sidebar) to get the latest studio goings-on! Thanks so much for joining me on this journey and until next time: Make. Believe!



Find me elsewhere online:

INSTAGRAM: instagram.com/dream_synd_arts/

FACEBOOK: facebook.com/TheDreamSynd/

TWITTER: twitter.com/Dream_Synd

PINTEREST: pinterest.com/TheDreamSyndicate/

WEBSITE: www.thedreamsyndarts.com/

 

๐Œ๐š๐ง๐ข๐Ÿ๐ž๐ฌ๐ญ ๐‹๐š๐ฅ๐จ๐ซ๐š ๐š ๐๐จ๐ฌ๐ž๐š๐›๐ฅ๐ž ๐–๐ข๐ณ๐š๐ซ๐ ๐…๐š๐ง๐ญ๐š๐ฌ๐ฒ ๐€๐ซ๐ญ ๐ƒ๐จ๐ฅ๐ฅ | ๐“๐ข๐ฆ๐ž๐ฅ๐š๐ฉ๐ฌ๐ž ๐Œ๐ข๐ฑ๐ž๐-๐Œ๐ž๐๐ข๐š ๐€๐ซ๐ญ ๐ƒ๐จ๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐“๐ฎ๐ญ๐จ๐ซ๐ข๐š๐ฅ

๐Œ๐š๐ง๐ข๐Ÿ๐ž๐ฌ๐ญ ๐‹๐š๐ฅ๐จ๐ซ๐š ๐š ๐๐จ๐ฌ๐ž๐š๐›๐ฅ๐ž ๐–๐ข๐ณ๐š๐ซ๐ ๐…๐š๐ง๐ญ๐š๐ฌ๐ฒ ๐€๐ซ๐ญ ๐ƒ๐จ๐ฅ๐ฅ | ๐“๐ข๐ฆ๐ž๐ฅ๐š๐ฉ๐ฌ๐ž ๐Œ๐ข๐ฑ๐ž๐-๐Œ๐ž๐๐ข๐š ๐€๐ซ๐ญ ๐ƒ๐จ๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐“๐ฎ๐ญ๐จ๐ซ๐ข๐š๐ฅ

I recently wrapped-up making a piece called โ€œManifest Gardenโ€ that featured a poseable wizard art doll as the main character. The fantasy art doll, who I named Manifest Lalora, is crafted in my usual mixed-media process and thereโ€™s a fairly extensive timelapse tutorial if you would like to see how she was made. The Manifest wield the power to shape and manipulate reality in the fantasy world that Iโ€™ve been tinkering away on.

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