I am experimenting with mold making. At the moment, I am using Antonette Cely's technique from her book, "Cloth Doll Making." Her instructions are very easy to follow for mold making. The only problem I encountered was overcoming my fear of pouring plaster over a sculpt in order to make the mold. The sculpt is a significant investment of time and I certainly don't want to waste supplies. But I took the time to make sure there were no undercuts on my sculpt. After the plaster was dry, the original sculpt came right out of the mold with no distortions.
After overcoming my fears and trepidations, I made a second sculpt and subsequent mold. The doll pictured to the right is cast from that mold. I just had to make a big nose fae.
One of the benefits of mold making, is I am able to focus on other aspects of dollmaking. In particular, I want to work on my costuming skills. I like sculpting, but I don't like having to sculpt a new head every time I make a doll. Even though it is a mold, I can still manipulate the clay after it comes out of the mold and create a unique doll head. Besides, it seems most of the books I have read about dollmaking suggest mold making. It is one more useful skill to have under your belt.
I welcome any constructive criticism and comments. I will post pictures of this doll's progress.
8 comments:
That's a great solution to having a wimple yet still being able to see the doll's gorgeous large ears. Nicely done!
I've always wanted to learn more about mold-making. I'm taking a class at Doll U this August that will show that as the head technique. I'm looking forward to it!
I have those instructions too, but I've never had the courage to give it a try. Your beautiful mold might just be the poke I need to get going.
JudiA
Tami,
Yes, I wanted that wimple look. I love doing hair, but I love wimples more. :P I've always wanted to go to DollU. Lucky!
Judi,
Antonette Cely's instructions are very good and quite clear. Just be sure your sculpt has no undercuts and you shouldn't have any troubles. Good luck.
Love that headdress.
The headdress is quite simple. All I did was trace circles onto my fabric, put a little stuffing inside each one and then sewed them one on top of the other.
So, is this face made from the mold you made of the original? And did you make more detail around the nostril flanges after taking the face out of a less detailed mold then? Do I have it correct?
Great face....
Vee,
The fairy you see is what came out of the mold. Thanks,
Melisa
Wow, Melisa - Next time will you do a tutorial? She's great.
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