My Toybox of Amusement | Page 1 | Art Fags | Guild Forums

TheMiniBrain

Offline

Posted: Sun Mar 04, 2007 9:31 am

These thumbnails I made for my online portfolio. Click the images to see the full image. (under heavy construction)

3D Section
Art Dolls:
Baldwin the Faun - My first art doll. I made him back in 2004. He's the mascot for my sewing business. This image was published in the December/January issue of Soft Dolls & Animals in their "Inspirations" Gallery. He was also received a Daily Deviation from DA on April 28, 2006.

Rhine the Mermaid - My third art doll (number two has been on hiatus for years). I created Rhine's pattern after deciding to do Moby d**k. This image was published in the June/July 2006 issue of Soft Dolls & Animals in their "Inspirations" gallery

Moby d**k - Based on the 1960's movie... what if Moby was a siren? Moby appeared at the Fremont Art Association Juried Artshow. She didn't win anything but she got to stay on display for the duration of the show.

Sphinx - Based on stylized images of Akhenaten (husband of Nefertiti).

UFOCatchers:
Xena: Warrior Princess - My second UFOCatcher... this one beginning my use of iron on fabric for the eyes. She was made for a challenge and eventually given ice skates (Xena Warrior Princess on Ice). I made her a Gabby plushie as her companion.

Rosie Cotton from LOTR - I made this for my husband for Valentine's Day 2006 since I have many Hobbit qualities and he likens me to Rosie.

Frodo Baggins from LOTR - I made Frodo as part of my portfolio. His head turned out the best.

Lord Voldy from Harry Potter - Another portfolio filler. It's somewhat amusing whipping him out of a bag and demanding submission from all who meet him. "Face the wrath of the Dark Lord!" They are too busy laughing to submit. No respect for Lord Voldemort... Perhaps it's the robe. I'll probably make him a new one after Order of the Phoenix comes out.

More animals:
Platypus - I created this pattern in response to a call for "interesting animals." The pattern was later published (and my first paid publishing!) in the February/March 2006 issue of Soft Dolls & Animals.

Gandalf the Greybear Cosplaybear - I made this for my husband for Christmas 2005 using my Ursula Bear pattern (every plushie maker needs at least one teddy bear pattern of their own design ^^v ). His body is hand stitched. My sewing machine died that winter so he had to wait for clothes until it was repaired.

Hakuryu from Saiyuki - This started out as a commission from a single cosplayer... and it's my most requested commissioned item. I've made SEVEN so far. A couple were in trade but the rest were all commissioned.

Recent additions
The following are more recent and haven't been added to my online portfolio.

Blue Dragon - First prize for my "Monster Halloween Challenge 2006." The winner to my challenge received this traditional dragon. I knew I wanted a more western dragon after drafting up Hakuryu so this is a bulkier Westernized vision of a dragon.
User Image

Dr. Robert Chase from House MD - Ok... I don't watch the show and he'll only really be seen in my DA gallery and here. He was commissioned.
User Image

Random! (I've been doing this for waaaaaaay too long)
User Image

Posted: Sun Mar 04, 2007 9:51 am

TheMiniBrain

Offline

TheMiniBrain

Offline

Posted: Sun Mar 04, 2007 2:50 pm

New stuff!

User Image

Muraki Commission:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v157/leloi/Plushies/Muraki1.jpg

Unicorn:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v157/leloi/Plushies/unicornport.jpg

Watermeat:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v157/leloi/Plushies/watermeat.jpg

Posted: Sun Mar 04, 2007 2:52 pm

Commendable detail on all of these. You are really doing this on a different level from the plush doll creators I'm used to seeing.

Very interesting stuff!

Dr. Valentine
Vice Captain

Offline

TheMiniBrain

Offline

Posted: Sun Mar 04, 2007 7:15 pm

Dr. Valentine

Commendable detail on all of these. You are really doing this on a different level from the plush doll creators I'm used to seeing.

Very interesting stuff!

Thank you.

I think I have to do some weeding or some format tweeking. There's just too much to show. Maybe I can make use of an image map.

Posted: Mon Mar 05, 2007 10:41 am

OMG IT'S A DR. PRITTY HAIRS DOLL.
WOW. OKAY.

*breathes*

I think Zena is my favorite. all i can think of is the Vulva episode of the Oblongs.

Page Boy

Offline

SilverTiger

Offline

Posted: Mon Mar 05, 2007 2:01 pm

I like the mermaid doll and the sphinx best, though they're all really good. I also like that you're doing things that aren't just dogs or cats or bears or whatever. I see a lot of those, haha.

Posted: Tue Mar 06, 2007 1:22 am

I think that learning how to draw better on paper (the basics and all that jazz) would help your plushies a lot. I might be in a minority but the proportions and look of most of your plushies has always bothered me, like it's a beginner drawing in sewn form. Faces especially. sweatdrop

Alexandrea Zenne

Offline

TheMiniBrain

Offline

Posted: Tue Mar 06, 2007 9:01 am

Alexandrea Zenne

I think that learning how to draw better on paper (the basics and all that jazz) would help your plushies a lot. I might be in a minority but the proportions and look of most of your plushies has always bothered me, like it's a beginner drawing in sewn form. Faces especially. sweatdrop

I don't think UFOCatchers count for proportions... at least I've never seen one with arms and legs in proportion with their body.

As for faces... I once did a tutorial on how to make recognizable real life characters. Most of it comes from eyes and shading on the face:

User Image

I would like to redraft and make the arms just a tiny bit bigger. And I've given up on needle sculpting noses for now because they look too big. Keep in mind that the average UFOcatcher is 8 inches tall... that 3.5 inches of head and shaped like a sphere and 4.5 inches of body which is shaped like an inflated gingerbread man. I'm not sure how real human proportions can be applied to that. I don't think it's just me... it's anyone who works in that style which is based on what the officials are doing.

As for the art dolls they have a tendancy to be "stretched and thin." But their elbows come to their waists and their hands fall halfway down their thigh.

Unfortunately I haven't made human art dolls... except this one:
User Image

She's 6.5 heads tall and it makes her look weird as a doll. Her ratio should make her look "petite" but instead she looks like her head is too small for her body.
User Image

Probably the most awkward foreshortened thing I've ever tried to photograph. Looking up with arms out and up. That's why she's a totally scrapped project. That and I hate her tiny head.

I know where things should be... I just don't think making anything in "realistic human style" works for me. I know of people who do it... like Lisa Lichtenfels. But if you put me on a scale between Lisa Lichtenfels and elinor peace bailey, I'll be closer to elinor who specializes in whimsy.

Posted: Tue Mar 06, 2007 11:16 am

Ok... I'm not really sure what you mean by facial proportions. Aside from the mouths which have a tendency to be small to compensate for the shape of the O shaped face (because half of the lower face being mouth is a little creepy looking)... I mean literally an O because that's the shape of my pattern piece for the face.

Everything else seems to line up where it should be.
User Image

Can you show me where I'm off? Aside from mouth which is smaller due to preference.

TheMiniBrain

Offline

THIS NAME IS QUITE SMART

6,550 Points

200
100
100

Offline

Posted: Tue Mar 06, 2007 1:21 pm

Page Boy

OMG IT'S A DR. PRITTY HAIRS DOLL.
WOW. OKAY.

*breathes*

I think Zena is my favorite. all i can think of is the Vulva episode of the Oblongs.

OBLONGS LOLZ

Posted: Tue Mar 06, 2007 3:33 pm

One thing you could work on is the spacing of the eyes. The general rule of thumb is that the space between the eyes is equal to the length of one eye...i can see in your guidelines they are correctly spaced, but you might play with the spacing more, perhaps putting them closer together because the curve of the head apparently makes them appear further apart, and the same with the eyebrows. Sometimes you have to play with proportions and make them less correct so that they look right...it's like in sculpture when the hands and fet are made to the correct proportions, they appear too small....artists like Rodin exaggerated the size slightly and they ended up looking about the right size.

I dont really know a lot about sewing, but if it were possible to make the sockets or space around the eye more concave it would help the illusion. I also wonder if the heads for the portrait dolls, when they are aiming to be more realistic shouldn't be circular. it work on a chibi anime doll, but the faces you draw on the star trek/hp dolls aren't anime styled and would probably make more sense on an oval shaped head.

those are just my suggestions...some of these things are really just a matter of preference.

Page Boy

Offline

Alexandrea Zenne

Offline

Posted: Tue Mar 06, 2007 3:48 pm

I'm not saying that it should be realistic; an analogy might be someone who stylizes things without the underlying knowledge. Neither was I referring to a specific series.

Before I begin talking in detail:

1. Proportion does not always refer to 'perfect' or the ideal anatomy. /Everything/ has proportion. Even chibis. Abstract sculptures. Coca-cola cans. Speakers. Necklaces. So on and so on. ^^ Doesn't it look odd at first when you see those mini-cans of Coca-cola with the full sized tops? Proportion at work.

2. Quotes from a thread relevant to what I'll try to say (you might remember it. The original topic was different, but the quotes apply in this context).

a

Nancy Sinatra

If someone tries to apply 8 head proportions to someone who is 7 heads, and does not do it cleverly - there's a reason I used that word, because drawings may not always be to the point correct, but they can be done cleverly and successfully trick us into thinking they're correct - then they are being arbitrary, and yes, trying to instill their own proportions on a person and need to learn a little more about stretching proportions before proceeding.

It comes down to whether or not a drawing is successful - if someone does something arbitrarily so that it looks odd to other people (be it colour, proportion, composition, anything), it can be argued "but that's correct!" but nothing will change the fact that a bunch of people see that x thing in the picture looks weird.

b

leloi

If you make an ultra realistic hand, it would look silly with a flat pancake face. Ultra realistic hands would do well with ultra realistic faces...

But if you're clever enough to use the doll's outfit in such a way to trick the brain into believing an ultra realistic hand would go well with a flat pancake face, more power to you.

-----

I think some of it boils down to the fact that I'm not being tricked into thinking that the things and distortions happening on the dolls are on purpose.

I figured out what UFO Catchers were and a lot of the plushies (not all, though o.o) on the site seem to have resolved the general proportion issues that occur after distorting the human figure.

Do you try to apply the same proportions to each and every plushie? I'm looking at the red circle and line outlines you've provided; the heads and the placement of the faces is all over the place, and the circle doesn't always correspond to the face or shape of the head.

So.

a) The circle shape of the head isn't consistant, which means that it could be okay to change the O of the head. Don't you think the spock plushie would have benefited more from a more oval-type circle? He has very strong, elongated and angular features - yet his head seems the roundest in that post.
The bald guy - his face might have been benefited by raising the features up slightly higher on the head; they look more like they melted down a bit, much like beginner anime drawings do sometimes.
The one after the bald guy - this one is the most distorted in that line of pictures, and opposite of the bald guy; the facial features are too high to be in proportion to the face at the exact size they are at the moment.

b) Someone can look at formulas on how to draw things but still come up with accidential distortions. For instance (to illustrate this point), one of your drawings:

http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/41621644/

Obviously, this is a stylized figure. Why are her hands two different sizes? Why are her arms two different lengths? Why isn't the right side of her body in the picture defined? Why does her breast on the right side of the picture disappear? So on and so forth. The picture itself isn't telling me any of things; did you do them on purpose? If so, why? Does having not noticed mean that those were mistakes? If on purpose, is it a (however minor) failure that the viewer doesn't understand these things?

Anyway, with this line of questioning in mind; plus the fact that the faces you chose to display (liney, anime-type) are of the formulaic variety that looks very strange or unintentional when slightly off. Apart from general shape and into the marks on the doll face - distorted nostrils and eye shapes, odd positioning of eyes (looking in different directions) compared to each other (the bald guy is the prime example here).

Bad Proportion vs. Disliking the Style

Because it's very easily confused, I want to clarify the difference between disliking something because of bad proportion and disliking for style.

For instance, this one is in proportion (the elements are in the proper place), but I don't like the /style/ of the eyes. o.o

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v157/leloi/Plushies/Vstands.jpg

But from what I can see from the picture, the cute little button nose looks right at this angle, the eyes are the right size for their placement, the mouth is the right size for the placement, and they don't seem particularly drawn on in an awkward way.

Since I'm running out of fuel, I'll try to sum my last points up. It relates to the 'b' quote up there, the one from you : ). I think that some of the plushies try to be realistic through shading in some places but it might not make sense with the chibi body.

Anyway, if I said something that just seems out there and weird just ask 'cause I might not have finished the thought XD I'll come back later to say random things I forgot. :3

Posted: Tue Mar 06, 2007 5:35 pm

Part of what happens with the face is that it depends on which way I situate the O pattern piece. Does it stretch side to side as in Spock or up and down like the others. And that also depends on the type of fabric I use as to how much stretch is in it. Spock may have been accidentally sideways because he's older than Voldemort and Snape. Spock is also a different type of velour... so he stretched sideways, but not as much as he could have had he been made of the other fabric.

I do wonder if like Page Boy suggests there's a better way to concave in the eyes. The face is stuffed so it does have a slightly D appearance. Pulling them closer together or pulling in the tear ducts so the front of the face is flatter may help. Or maybe even pulling the eyeballs in so they are lightly cross eyed to give the illusion of looking straight forward.

I think part of Venus' shortcomings are in photographing it to be viewed online. There's a little more subtle mixture of yellow and orange in the original. Some of it had to do with texture which unfortunately can't be seen as she emerges out of the background of sea foam. her left side is a bit heavy handed with the paint. The orange actually shines through the green on the right side. No amount of tweeking with filters would give a proper representation of what it looks like under direct sunlight. The whole thing is actually a lot lighter and some of those shadows aren't so deep.

I have yet to figure out how to properly light anything. The "true light" bulbs I bought turns everything pink. Sunlight is blue. Everything is too dark. If anyone has any tips on light bulbs to use for mini light boxes, I'm all ears.

I wasn't a big fan of the vampire either... but it was a commission. Here's the pic they gave me so you can see where the design came from:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v157/leloi/Plushies/Bild.jpg
Plushie made:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v157/leloi/Plushies/Vstands.jpg

P.S. I have another UFOcatcher I have to finish up (it's a trade with someone) so I'll try tweaking the eyes. It's not like I can really change them once they are done, but we'll see if I'm on the right path.

TheMiniBrain

Offline

ficklefiend

Offline

Posted: Thu Mar 08, 2007 10:01 am

I love them, I'd totally have one. The human- like faces look so cool, I love all the chars but the face-shape of the dude from House is the best for me!

What a brilliant thing to do though, not many people can say they make plushies!!

Welcome to Gaia! ::

Gaia Guilds

Art Fags

Quick Reply

More Information