A Troll in Progress.

This doll is my homage to Ute Vasina. I love her work. It is so beautiful and her trolls have an aura of dignity. The name of this doll is Queen Vasina.

This doll has a muslin body with jointed limbs. At the time I took these pictures her hands are in the process of drying.
The head is made from a cotton knit. I needlesculpted the face. Her ears are also made from the same fabric and attached with a ladder stitch. Pipe cleaners inserted in the ears allowed me to pose them just the way I wanted them to look.

Next, I applied several coats of black gesso. Then I painted a rose color as a starting point. Now I know some dollmakers use fabric stiffener before applying paint or paperclay, but I have tried that, and it just doesn't work for me. If I want a smooth surface, I will use Golden modeling paste. Most of the time I prefer a rough surface. My background is in painting so I tend to approach my dolls as I would a blank canvas. At any rate, I decided to go with flesh-tones for my troll. At the risk of sounding arrogant, I rather like how the face has turned out.

I still cannot decide what color hair to give her. I am considering blonde at the moment. I have tons of brightly colored wool left over from my surface design class I took in college. She may just end up with lime green hair.

The fun part for me is designing the costume. I really want to branch out and try some different fabrics. Normally I use cotton, but I feel like experimenting with this doll.

She will be riding atop some sort of creature I have yet to design. I was thinking of something between a rabbit and an ostrich. So keep checking back, I will be posting more pictures of Queen Vasina.