Johnston Original Art Dolls

Well we are into a New Year now.And the start of a new 'In Memory' Series. I have just finished the twins and added to my site.Also My little Sophie is has also been added.I have a preference for the Prosculpt and Jack's suggestion for the mix percentage of the Prosculpt Flesh / Ethnic Brown (In this Forum) to make my Maori twins has worked a treat.I am now starting to work on the Props problem.Back to knitting their little Coats which makes them look so cute.Well go to go and let the Woofers out now.Cheers

Aw, Dee, your babies are adorable! You are so much better than I was when I started out. I especially love Adam , Lucille , and Abigail. Your poses and expressiions are very good and in my opinion, you have much potential to be a great "baby maker"! I do know how it is without the internet, I used to have dial-up here and it was the pits. A lot of the time , it didn't even work. I'm afraid I have let myself get too attached to this computer! I saved your website, so I can check in on your babies from time to time. Keep up the good work and keep having fun! chris

Hi Chris, I am back on line after a week as NO INTERNET.GRRRRRRRRR..The city council was doing maintainance work on water pipes. Wellllllll, what do you know.The idiots snapped the telephone lines while digging with the Digger.Now for my News. I am making another Baby.If you want to, you can look in http://www.freewebs.com/deezdreams/Please get ready to hold your sides.LOL They say that God loves a Trier and I am sometimes very trying.I have a DVD on sculpting 6" babies and only use it as a reference.I have picked up some really good points from it.The only thing I don't want is for my babies to all have the same resemblance.I want them all to have their own expressions too. I will get there sooner or later.Gottogo now and make some more legs. Bye for now. Cheers Dee

Aw, Dee, thank you for the kind words on my sculpting. But, when I started out, my babies looked like trolls:). In fact, I sold one as a baby troll on Ebay for $12 way back then. The lady who bought it still has it and became a great customer of mine. I think most of us start out the same same as you do. The good thing is that sculpting is sort of addictive and ,so, it is easy to keep practicing and improving. It is good to have a real baby around to observe and study. I use photos and children that I happen to see as inspiration. Also the doll magazines are good inspiration for me. I have never been able to sculpt a newborn though. All of mine come out as older babies and kids. Dee, I just thought to tell you that the mag. Doll Crafter and Costuming usually runs a series of articles on "How to" sculpt a certain doll. Right now , Jen Printy is doing a series on making a baby. This is one of my favorite doll magazines and has lots of good information in it. Jacks Dvds are very good, as is his book on sculpting art dolls. Pat Moulton has a DvD on sculpting babies that is really good too. I think Jack also sells it on this website. Congrats on your new model, nieces baby, and have fun sculpting. chris

Well Chris, It's like this. After looking at your lovely sculpting, I am scared to let you look at mine.:)I am trying hard not to make them with all the same characteristics, namely heads.I do have a web site just started and if I am allowed to put it on here I will type it in so then I can hopefully get some critiques on them.If I can come even close to all you sculptors I will feel very honoured.Do you think one of Jack's DVDs would help?? I wish I was over your way, it would be so much easier to meet others and get help.I have relied on Tutorials until My Niece had a baby.She very kindly allowed me to take photos from the moment of birth and it has been a big help.Got to go now and visit my little model. lol.must fly.Dee

Hi Dee, it sounds like you have an extensive background in painting. That must be very helpful in detailing your sculpts. The Prosculpt is a favorite of mine in the polymer clays, and I do like the classic fimo. I like a clay that is firm , but not hard. The soft clays just melt in my hands and I have to let it cool down over and over to get something sculpted from it. I am looking forward to seeing your babies. talk to you soon, chris

Good morning Chris.As a tiny child I started off Painting the Sunsets at the beach.As I got older I did a few Portraits.Spent 6yrs in the Australian Outbacks and painted a lot of the Scenery there.Came home here and painted scenery & Seascapes.That's when I went in for Maritime Painting.Sold a few from the Wellington Maritime Museum.My favourite one now resides in Maine USA.Then I started to do Egg decorating and they seemed so empty. I thought that a tiny baby would just be the finishing touch. Now.... that's when I got hooked.I bought some Polymer Clay,made myself some tools and got started.After my little 'Changeling' was born.I needed to practice so I kept using the same piece of clay over & over again.Sculpt,squish.Sculpt,squish.Heads, hands,feet.Now I am satisfied that I am on the right track. But still need advice at times from the Experts.I have just bought some Prosculpt from USA and although it arrived a bit dry,I have managed to make it workable and have just finished another baby.I absolutely love the Prosculpt.I only use that & Puppen Fimo & Cernit.The Prosculpt has preference at the mo.Thank you Chris for the welcome and info

Hi Dee, what kind of painting did you do? I used to try and paint , never very good at it. But I always loved art of all kinds and wanted to make dolls. I know what you mean about your first baby; gosh , you should have seen mine. The good thing about sculpting is, as you said, the more you do it the better you get. Dee, you can also find many helpful artist at http://www.artdollguild.net/ and at http://ooakguild.com/. I am a member with both of these groups and you can find friendly artist and so much information about all aspects of sculpting with clay. The art guild has a very small yearly fee and the OOAK Guild is free to join. And , of course, you can get a bunch of good advice and info right here. Any questions , just post them. It might take a day or so, but someone will always try to answer. I'm working on a new little child right now , so , I'll get back to it and happy sculpting to you. chris

Hi Dee, what kind of painting did you do? I used to try and paint , never very good at it. But I always loved art of all kinds and wanted to make dolls. I know what you mean about your first baby; gosh , you should have seen mine. The good thing about sculpting is, as you said, the more you do it the better you get. Dee, you can also find many helpful artist at http://www.artdollguild.net/ and at http://ooakguild.com/. I am a member with both of these groups and you can find friendly artist and so much information about all aspects of sculpting with clay. The art guild has a very small yearly fee and the OOAK Guild is free to join. And , of course, you can get a bunch of good advice and info right here. Any questions , just post them. It might take a day or so, but someone will always try to answer. I'm working on a new little child right now , so , I'll get back to it and happy sculpting to you. chris

Hi Chris and thank you for your welcome. I gave up my Painting and needed to find something else to do in my retirement I started to decorate Eggs and the thought of a baby in an Emu Egg seemed appealing.That was the start of my sculpting.My first baby didn't want to resemble a baby. In fact it turned out to be a Gargoyle, so I renamed it.' the Changeling" He still rests in his little Emu egg bed as a reminder of how things used to be.I am improving all the time.So babies it is. I am aiming for sculpting portrait babies.I keep all my mistakes so that I will learn more from them.I have only been sculpting about a year and a bit.

Hi Dee , welcome to the forum. I have been sculpting about 6 years. What sort of subjects do you like to sculpt? I mostly do children and babies. chris

Good Morning. I am new at sculpting and would love to talk to other more experienced Sculptors.