The last few days I have started to play with my dolls more than I have in the last few months. Before I moved in with my boyfriend and had to completely change my daily routines I was constantly writing, drawing, and working on my doll's personalities and stories. I let the stress of being an "adult" distract me from a very important creative outlet and hobby in my life.

I have several dolls that belong to a specific story that I have created. These dolls are the most important to me and are the ones I usually focus on the most, although I do have dolls that have their own stories and worlds.

One of the very first dolls I purchased for myself is named Clover, whom I bought in 2014. I never intended on creating a story and intricate personality for her, however the more I thought about her the more I fell in love with her. She will always be important to me and she has helped create and mold the artist I am today.

The current manifestation of Clover; my favorite so far.

The next doll I purchased was Clover's sister Bumble. At the time she was my most expensive doll purchase so far. In my mind I had the perfect doll picked out to represent this character but she unfortunately sold out the day I was ready to purchase her. I had to settle for a similar face just a slightly different expression. However I am very happy and excited to announce that I have finally ordered the doll that was originally meant to be Bumble. The change is not even that different or remarkable but it means a lot to me. She has already shipped out through EMS so I am expecting her very soon.

The current face of Bumble, still as sweet as ever.

The many adorable faces of Bumble. The one on the right is on her way to me.

The next doll to arrive at my house was a Pinkie Cooper doll that would become my character Beatrix, a super cute little bunny girl. She became one of my largest and most difficult craft projects involving my dolls. I completely changed the entire look of the doll. I bought her a new body, sculpted her some ears, and even repainted her. Even though she is now just a display doll she will always be important to me.

The most recent appearance of Beatrix on my YouTube channel.

Next I purchased the character that would be the driving force behind my doll's main story. I fixed her hair and painted a cute, tiny star on her forehead. Although she isn't nearly as developed as Clover or Bumble I still really enjoying playing around with her. I need to work more on fleshing out more of her backstory and overall personality. I know little details but I have yet to figure out a larger picture of who she is.

My beautiful Betelgeuse.

I received a few other dolls after the arrival of Betelgeuse, but they don't relate to their story so I will talk about them at another time. 

My next purchase was just meant to be for fun but this doll wormed her way into my heart and this story. She is Clover's innocent and shy little girlfriend. I am actually pondering the idea of having her replace Beatrix;s role in the story. I would like to have her character play a more important role than just being a love interest for my main character.

The beautiful, mysterious Margot.

It feels good to be playing with my dolls again and I am hoping that they can spark some new creativity in me. I have already got a few sketch ideas in mind and I need to get to work on those before I lose them.

Thank you for reading.

First Printmaking Project

A couple weeks ago I started working on the design for the first assignment in my printmaking class. I had a couple ideas floating around in my head already and there is one character in particular that I haven't stopped drawing for a few weeks now.

So I decided to draw a more realistic version of this girl that I have fallen in love with. I used some pictures of my own face to design the picture and I am so happy with how it came out. I couldn't stop looking at it for a few days. Even working on it in class I was already receiving compliments and good feedback. I even got a compliment from the head of the art department at my college.

I decided to trace the image normally onto the linoleum block so that whenever I printed it the image would be flipped. Carving the image out was more difficult than I expected but thankfully I only made a few mistakes and none that were too horrible.

The printing process was an absolute nightmare though and I had a breakdown in the middle of the night because I was so angry about it. I wasted so much newsprint trying to make a decent proof that I eventually gave up and emailed my professor a super long paragraph explaining my situation and thankfully she gave me an extension. I was so annoyed the night that I was trying to make my final prints that I deeply considered dropping the class.

Apart from my anger at trying to print I have also been contemplating different things I can do with this design. I am planning on scanning in the original copy to edit on the computer and eventually slap onto a t-shirt. I think it would look really cool on a t-shirt or hoodie. I even made a silly edit to see how it might look.

Hopefully I will get time to work on this soon. I've got more designs in my mind that I would like to put on to t-shirts eventually. It is exciting actually having new ideas on what I can do with my art.

Thank you for reading.