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February 6
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Tutorial Re-Released

Journal Entry: Wed Feb 6, 2013, 4:00 AM
Hello everyone
Exciting news!
(Sounded a bit like Prof Farnsworth there...)

I've released my old tutorial, Armature to Art Doll. :) It's been up on the website Doll Makers Dream for the past couple of years to encourage people to do their own research (easy to find if you googled 'art doll tutorial') but I see no harm in taking it out of storage.

I'd like to point out (as I have in the first part) that it is dated. I don't personally make dolls like this anymore. In fact, amongst other things, I completely scrapped wire armatures recently in favour of plastic ball-and-socket armatures. However it serves a perfect purpose of getting you started in the basics of doll making :aww:

One thing I would add is that I haven't made armatures for the feet in a long, long time. When I used wire I twisted a little loop in the end with pliers to stop the fimo from spinning or the wire from coming out. Also copper can discolour fimo over time.

Another thing I would like to mention is that if you make a doll with the tutorial I would LOVE to see it! You can submit it to the open folder at :iconposableartdolls: named "First Dolls"!

So one and all.. Enjoy!



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:iconminyassa:
~Minyassa Feb 6, 2013  Hobbyist Digital Artist
Thank you so much! Trying to track down that tut was what brought me to your DA page in the first place...I decided to watch rather than slinking off in a huff when it wasn't here because seeing your work was just too much fun. ;)
Reply
:iconmagweno:
*Magweno Feb 7, 2013  Professional Artisan Crafter
Heh that's great! I thought it might make a few people happy to bring it back into the light of day again
Reply
:icondarling-poe:
~Darling-Poe Feb 6, 2013  Hobbyist Artisan Crafter
I used your tutorial to make my first art doll, so thanks a bunch! :D
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:iconmagweno:
*Magweno Feb 7, 2013  Professional Artisan Crafter
:D Awesome
Reply
:iconsilvolf:
=Silvolf Feb 6, 2013  Professional Traditional Artist
It's a neat tutorial, thanks for sharing! Also thanks for the link to where you get your fabrics from. I was going to one supplier on eBay but they only have a limited selection of materials.
Reply
:iconmagweno:
*Magweno Feb 7, 2013  Professional Artisan Crafter
MBMS is the best, they're really nice and I've been using them for years. They've increased their stock SO much since I started ordering from them! And their prices aren't bad :)
Reply
:iconcaerban:
~Caerban Feb 6, 2013  Hobbyist General Artist
That's pretty silimar to how I work, I just glue and bind bamboo skewers to prevent the armature bending in unfortunate places. Also I tend to use sculpted polyfoam instead of wadding.
Reply
:iconmagweno:
*Magweno Feb 7, 2013  Professional Artisan Crafter
I used to use toothpicks but I kept snapping them when I was posing the dolls! Then I found the wire wore out faster at the joint, so I scrapped using 'bones'. If I were to go back I'd use aluminium tubing to slide over the wire.

Sculpted polyfoam is a lot easier to control the anatomy, but I think wadding allows more movement? You can heat and melt it a bit with a heatgun too then cut and shape so it's not too restrictive. :)
Reply
:iconcaerban:
~Caerban Feb 7, 2013  Hobbyist General Artist
I think my degrees in biological sciences have made me a bit fanatical about underlying anatomy when I don't need to be. I often end up sculpting in foam muscle groups no one will ever know are there :D
What wire did you used to use? Just plain aluminium armature wire? It's what I use (or at least used to, I'm all about puppet making at the moment) and I've never had any joint problems.
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:iconmagweno:
*Magweno Feb 7, 2013  Professional Artisan Crafter
I used to use galv steel from a gardening center because the alu wire I used broke too fast. Never had a steel armature break on me but it was a bit stiff to pose with, if the fimo was delicate or too thin it would pretty much explode from the force of the wire, so wasn't any good for small dolls. The aluminium just broke way too fast if worked with a lot in one go.
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