Making the Head of an OOAK Doll

Here's the first sculpt a face tutorial. http://www.dollmakersdream.com/sculpt-a-face.html

This is the first one I'm following. Others say to sculpt the face separately from the head. I'm not sure of the difference. Part could be for incorporating separate eyes. Or maybe to use a harder clay for the head and a more translucent clay for the face. Or it could have to do with how the hair is attached. I have a lot to learn!!

I am using this picture for the model for my first doll-the mother. I will emphasize her dimples, slant her eyes more, and give her very big ears. After all, she is an elf.

This link for drawing a woman's face could come in handy for proportions too.
http://sharenoesis.com/article/draw-face/84

Another tutorial for making a head based on a Styrofoam ball. Warning. It's in Portuguese. http://oficinademodelosdid.blogspot.com.au/2008/09/como-montar-um-rosto-em-biscuit.html

This tutorial starts with a skull to create the head, and beads where the eyes are going to be. Then he creates a face on top of the skull. http://madsculptor.blogspot.com/2011/10/alice-work-starts.html

I haven't used any of these techniques yet, so i just don't know which is going to work for me.

Once I get this head started, I think this Fairy head tutorial will really help me. http://www.sculptuniversity.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=63:fairy-face-tips-free-tutorial&catid=38:freebies&Itemid=75



I haven't see anyone talking about putting the head on a stick yet. I wish I knew...


This is a video tutorial of making a man's head, but it does discuss baking a piece of clay on a wire Armature and using that as a start. hummm.  This link is to six consecutive videos on the subject.

Determining Size of OOAK Doll

The first thing to do is to decide what size your doll will be, then determine what size the head will be.
This tutorial will help you with these calculations.
http://www.dollmakersdream.com/female-anatomy.html

"Dolls seem to vary from 6 to 18 inches, so I need to figure out a scale for my dolls. I'm going to use 10." That seems fairly standard, I want the big enough to be able to add a lot of detail, but not huge. First, I plan to make three. A mother and her two daughters. So the mother will be 10." The older, tall daughter will be 11" and the younger, buxom daughter will be 9." I'm starting with the mother.

"You can't really say that a female doll will be 6 inches or 12 inches tall, because every doll can be a different size. So instead, we will measure in "head lengths".

Depending what you feel is the ideal body proportions the female body can be 7 heads tall, 7 1/2 heads tall or 8 heads tall."

For this first doll, I'm going to use 7.5. http://www.dollmakersdream.com/female-anatomy.html

That means my heads should be 1.3" tall, an easy number to remember.

Review: The Lady of the Rivers by Philippa Gregory

I am currently reading The Lady of the Rivers: A Novel (The Cousins' War) by 

Philippa Gregory. When I read historical fiction, I always have to start researching the people and time. 

When I was a little girl, that meant pulling the encyclopedia down off the shelf and sprawling on the floor of our tiny library to read the facts about the people in the fiction. Today, we have so much more. I saw this on Pinterest yesterday.  It's the marriage of the heroine's daughter to the king.
My husband is always amazed at how much I know about the British monarchy. Of course, I am descended from an illegitimate son of Edward VII.... 

 

Moments that take your breath away

Life is not measured by the number of breaths you take, but by every moment that takes your breath away.

My last post explained what glimmers are and how I found out about them. For the last week, I've been trying to force myself to gather a glimmer or two every day and I keep forgetting.  I really think that doing so will not only enrich my writing, but would also enrich my life.

 

Now, I'm sure if you have kids at home, glimmers will be much easier to come by, but I am going to keep trying, to stay aware, alert to what's going on around me.

Yesterday, as I prepared to leave work, on the first workday of Daylight Savings time, I glanced out of my sixth story downtown Tulsa office window and the slanted light that found its way through the tall buildings was highlighting just a few objects, cars on one road, the side of a building, and I'm  certain I gasped at the beauty of it. When I walked over, however, to take a better look, all I saw was pavement, cars, brick and mortor buildings. Not that beautiful after all, but that quick glance, the yellowness of the sunshine, the sharp angles it outlined did take my breath away.

I hope today provides some glimmers.  I'm watching for them.

Glimmers

I attended my first writer's conference yesterday, but it won't be my last! What a great day. I got to hear Poet Laureate Philip Levine read. What a powerful voice! I attended a session with an ex-literary agent and was able to ask quite a few questions. And I attended a session with Pam Houston author and professor, She spoke about glimmers.

Ms. Houston uses what she calls glimmers to compose her stories. Glimmers, she explains, are moments that resonate within you. Sometimes they happen several times a day, but you have to be paying attention.  She writes down the glimmers she experiences and later finds a way to string them together into a story. But she doesn't really connect, she explained to us. She just fits them closely enough together that the reader can easily make the jump between them. 

Another writer who spoke briefly said something very similar. She concentrates on the mechanics of the story and lets the real message come out in the gaps she's too busy to notice. And she also said, "Pay attention to the things they tell you not to notice."

Ms. Houston, as a good professor, gave us 15 minutes to write three glimmers of our own. One was to have happened in the last 24 hrs. One over ten years ago, and the last, any time.  Here are mine:

OVER TEN YEARS AGO
The young girl woke up and peeked out of the window into the ravine. It was the middle of the night and she had no idea what had woken her. A blue light glimmered in the trees, moving slowly, and she could see the outline of a person. The hovering craft was just large enough for one.

ANY TIME
She picked up her son from the airport. He'd spend the last two months in Tajikistan. As she filled him in on what had happened in Tulsa since he'd left, he remarked, "Mom, you're SO American!"
And she thought of all the battles she'd fought and sacrifices she's made to give him the opportunity and understanding to make that statement. And she smiled at him in the way a mother does.

IN THE LAST 24 HOURS
The couple watched the movie, sitting at the bar in the kitchen, sipping wine. The woman in the movie was hesitant to believe in love again. The man pursued her. 

"She can't accept him yet!" protested the woman watching. 

"Why not?" asked her husband.

"Because you can't let most men win to easily. You know why I love you? Most men will not let a woman love them. We have to learn to be hard. In you, I finally found a man who would let me love him."

Ms. Houston's blog:
http://pamhouston.wordpress.com/

Traditional or Indie?

Which way should I go?

On the one hand, I've read too many indie books that badly needed editing. And some publishers/editors turn down writers JUST BECAUSE they had bad performing indie books. And it would be fun to be a part of the publishing industry, 

but...

On the other hand, I would LOVE to do all the Indie stuff. I want to format my book. I want to create my cover (and I'm pretty good with a camera and with Photoshop).  I'm pretty good with Webpage design and social media. (I don't stay up to date on my blog though). And I'd like to run my writing like a small business, especially if I quit my job like my hubby wants me too.

Hummm..... What do you think?

This article claims you sell fewer book as an indie writer, but make more money, and that the only way she'd go traditional again was if he got a VERY GOOD DEAL. Of course, he has a day job.    http://traceywritesbooks.com/who-sells-more-books-indie-authors-or-traditional-publishers/ 


"$2.99 books, on average, nett authors more earnings (profit per unit, multiplied by units sold) than books priced at $6.99 and above.  When we look at the $2.99 price point compared to $9.99, $2.99 earns the author slightly more, yet gains the author about four times as many readers.  $2.99 ebooks earned the authors six times as many readers than books priced over $10.”

Yeah, this guy owns Smashbooks, but...hummm....

http://goodereader.com/blog/electronic-readers/why-a-traditional-publisher-can-hurt-your-career/

Poem of Dreams

So, poetry has been happening lately. And I haven't known what to do with it. But I've decided poetry is all about voice. Am I right? Anyway, here's my latest. It's about last night.

Struggling with shadows between dream and life

As I twisted and turned, tangled in sheets,

Pictures spun by like the images in the tornado

that spun Dorthy to the Emerald City

And each was wrapped in a memory

Of touching and smelling and hearing

And each cried out as it tumbled by

Write! Remember me and write!