Do you ever wonder where your path through the world of dolls will take you? If you're reading about dolls online, following blogs, writing blogs, constructing your own clothing, your fun little hobby has taken a serious turn.
A quick spin around the Internet, several random quick scans of a few blogs and you can see that many doll aficionados have developed, or are working to develop, a wide range of artistic skills relevant to their hobby.
They are learning how to do face ups, sometimes with amazing results...sometimes with amazingly bad results. We've seen the dolls with 1/2 inch long lashes painted like they were slapped on with a child's craft brush. We've seen the beautiful work of the artists whose repaints are so outstanding that their work increases the value of a doll by hundreds of dollars. We've seen repaints so good we have to question if it is really a doll we are looking at. We all want to be able to do that!
Then there are the bloggers, the knowledgable top-of-the-line bloggers who have years of experience in the doll world to draw upon and share with the rest of us.
Next are those whose greatest passion revolves around the clothing. They collect clothing, construct clothing, create patterns, and design original outfits. Their passion may be in the design end, or their passion may lie in the pleasure of crafting the outfits. Usually it blends a little of both pleasurable pursuits.
Where do you fall in this continuum? Where do you see yourself heading with your creative pursuits in the doll world? Will you be a fashionista? A repaint artist? A expert level collector? A designer? A crafter/designer of miniature accessories? Will you create elaborate dioramas? Will you develop finely honed doll photography skills? Will you become a damn good blogger with thousands of followers?
Chances are that right now, you know your passions and you know your talents. Chances are you know the direction you're headed in even if you haven't given it much thought.
What aspect(s) of this do you think you will excel in? What order would you put them in if you were to chart where you think you will be in a few years from now? Start with your most promising area of development and work backwards...
Here is my list:
1) Repaint artist: I've always had painting talent and I've found that my ability to do repaints is improving at lightening speed. It will not be long before my ability to do face ups will significantly exceed all my other doll related skills.
2) Clothing construction: I have a good foundation here because I've sewn since early childhood. I do this for pleasure and relaxation, so the hours I put in, and the things I learn from my mistakes, will inevitably result in the development of top notch skills.
3) Blogging: I really, really enjoy this! It is inevitable that I will continue to develop in this area. Whether my blog becomes popular is another thing altogether. I am just aspiring to do it well! Everything else will be a bonus.
4) Clothing design & pattern making: I have done a little here, but I don't think I have the required passion to take it up a notch. My greatest success has been in creating patterns that replicate clothing worn by family and friends on special occasions. I have designed a few things that are highly original and attractive, but this is not a common occurrence.
5) Doll photography: I so want to be an outstanding doll photographer. I do have a talent for snapshot, landscape, and nature photography. So far, this has not translated to doll photography. As evidenced from my blog, I can take sharp focused, utilitarian, attractive doll photographs. I just haven't managed to cross the line into true artistry. I don't think I have the patience for it, to be honest. However, just getting better will be good enough for me!
It should be obvious that I am writing this blog not just to make you think about your personal direction, but to work the same thing out for myself! Kind of a dual teaching/learning exercise. My hope is that some of you will engage in a dialog with me and that we can inspire and encourage each other.
One of the things that I know from engaging in self-actualization and working as a vocational counselor - you need to be honest and you need to believe in yourself. If you feel that writing a list like the one above would be an embarrassing act of arrogance...then you so need to write the list! If you cannot praise yourself with the same ease that you criticize yourself, you need to start.
This blog will be here for a long time. I don't care how long it has been since it was posted, if you see it and want to respond, please do so. I will still get back to you.
One last pic of the lovely Molly...
They are learning how to do face ups, sometimes with amazing results...sometimes with amazingly bad results. We've seen the dolls with 1/2 inch long lashes painted like they were slapped on with a child's craft brush. We've seen the beautiful work of the artists whose repaints are so outstanding that their work increases the value of a doll by hundreds of dollars. We've seen repaints so good we have to question if it is really a doll we are looking at. We all want to be able to do that!
Next are those whose greatest passion revolves around the clothing. They collect clothing, construct clothing, create patterns, and design original outfits. Their passion may be in the design end, or their passion may lie in the pleasure of crafting the outfits. Usually it blends a little of both pleasurable pursuits.
Where do you fall in this continuum? Where do you see yourself heading with your creative pursuits in the doll world? Will you be a fashionista? A repaint artist? A expert level collector? A designer? A crafter/designer of miniature accessories? Will you create elaborate dioramas? Will you develop finely honed doll photography skills? Will you become a damn good blogger with thousands of followers?
Chances are that right now, you know your passions and you know your talents. Chances are you know the direction you're headed in even if you haven't given it much thought.
What aspect(s) of this do you think you will excel in? What order would you put them in if you were to chart where you think you will be in a few years from now? Start with your most promising area of development and work backwards...
Here is my list:
1) Repaint artist: I've always had painting talent and I've found that my ability to do repaints is improving at lightening speed. It will not be long before my ability to do face ups will significantly exceed all my other doll related skills.
2) Clothing construction: I have a good foundation here because I've sewn since early childhood. I do this for pleasure and relaxation, so the hours I put in, and the things I learn from my mistakes, will inevitably result in the development of top notch skills.
3) Blogging: I really, really enjoy this! It is inevitable that I will continue to develop in this area. Whether my blog becomes popular is another thing altogether. I am just aspiring to do it well! Everything else will be a bonus.
4) Clothing design & pattern making: I have done a little here, but I don't think I have the required passion to take it up a notch. My greatest success has been in creating patterns that replicate clothing worn by family and friends on special occasions. I have designed a few things that are highly original and attractive, but this is not a common occurrence.
5) Doll photography: I so want to be an outstanding doll photographer. I do have a talent for snapshot, landscape, and nature photography. So far, this has not translated to doll photography. As evidenced from my blog, I can take sharp focused, utilitarian, attractive doll photographs. I just haven't managed to cross the line into true artistry. I don't think I have the patience for it, to be honest. However, just getting better will be good enough for me!
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| Molly and Parker, our most recent rescue. Molly belongs in this blog since she tries to interact with the dolls on a daily basis and provides much needed assistance with the construction of every article of doll clothing. |
It should be obvious that I am writing this blog not just to make you think about your personal direction, but to work the same thing out for myself! Kind of a dual teaching/learning exercise. My hope is that some of you will engage in a dialog with me and that we can inspire and encourage each other.
One of the things that I know from engaging in self-actualization and working as a vocational counselor - you need to be honest and you need to believe in yourself. If you feel that writing a list like the one above would be an embarrassing act of arrogance...then you so need to write the list! If you cannot praise yourself with the same ease that you criticize yourself, you need to start.
This blog will be here for a long time. I don't care how long it has been since it was posted, if you see it and want to respond, please do so. I will still get back to you.
One last pic of the lovely Molly...
I'm intrigued by some people's repainting and clothes-making skills. I have an art degree, but my thing is 2-d art and animation. I'm not confident enough in my painting skills to risk ruining a doll's face. I just recently found out that some people do face-ups with art pencils which gives me hope that I could actually do a good looking face-up. It's just a matter of finding the right methods and getting the right materials. I'd love to attend a workshop or something for doll repainting if such a thing even exists. As for clothing I only have the basic sewing skills I learned as a child. I've made one outfit which turned out all right, not great but decent. There's one particular dress I'd love to make, I have the fabrics and everything, but I don't have a sewing machine and the thought of doing that much hand-stitching puts me off. I've been tempted to swipe my mother's sewing machine since she's not using it anyways. I would also like to try rerooting. I guess I want to do it all for the sake of turning dolls I really like into dolls I love.
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