modernwizard | Entries tagged with jareth project

Pretty much done with Jareth for now. I gave his bangs a trim and evened out some of the color application. One picture without glasses, one picture with. I find it amusing to see him with glasses. At the same time, they go well with the planes of his face.

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What you are about to see will shock and astound you.

I offer you a fainting couch if you feel a syncope of amazement coming on.

If your companion passes out, please use the complimentary smelling salts to bring them around.

We also have antacid tablets for those who truly can't stomach the sight.

...As well as blindfolds for those who don't even want to think about looking in its general direction.

Is everyone ready? Good. ( Here we go! )

...I ended up starting Jareth's faceup tonight with Prismacolor colored pencils directly on unsealed resin.

http://www.oddpla.net/blog/dolls/myjareth/face/omg.gif

Naturally, the earth crashed into the sun, ending life as we know it. Also, this happened:
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Jareth's head has thin resin in several places. I understand the thin resin in the temples and under the cheekbones: those are places where I made his sculpt particularly indented. As I've mentioned earlier, though, there's also extremely thin resin in his eyewells. as indicated by the triangle, it's the thinnest area in his head. I blame that on Angelsdoll's "inner part modeling" and their known history of thin resin in their sculpts.
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After having taken photos of Jareth rocking the "Richard O'Brien as Riff Raff in RHPS" look, I like him so much more than when he was overwhelmed by the 8-9 wig I originally had for him. He looks elegant, ridiculous and stylized all at the same time, which is exactly how I imagine him to look.
( I remember...doing the Time Warp... )

I decided that Mr. Pointyhead McDemandypants' size 8-9 wig overwhelmed his narrow face, so I bought him two Monique wigs in size 7-8. [His head is 8 inches in circumference.] One is a long straight light blond with a center part. The other is a light blond Jarethian style. Boy, it's really hard to find long straight wigs WITHOUT bangs.

The USPS attempted delivery this morning to my work address, but it couldn't be delivered because I wasn't at work. [Imagine that...on a Saturday!] I'll have to pick him up from the carrier station Monday morning.

Now he's in Essex Junction! He'll definitely be delivered on Monday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Now he's laying over at JFK!

Jareth has left South Korea!

Working tracking number for Jareth's head has been obtained from Angelsdoll! Now trying to find out estimated delivery date.

EDIT: ETA in "2-4 days." Friday, Monday or Tuesday, I guess, since he's going to work.

So some 1:6ers are getting updated eyeballs. Mellifer is getting DD-Anne 8mm yellow imperfect glass eyes. Jamisia is getting the same in light blue, not shown on the site. Both of these are coming in trade from Kattunge on DOA. All I had to do was send her a bunch of Rements I never use! [We both think we're getting the better end of the deal. ^_^]

Meanwhile, Ginevra is giving her current Dreaming Tree silver 8mms to Lucian. Since she needs replacement eyes, I got her DD-Anne 8mm imperfect glass ones in light purple and also in red glitter. I couldn't decide which ones would look better, so, since I cold afford it, I sprang for both.

I had just enough $$$ in my PayPal account to cover Ginevra's two pairs of eyes and an improved wig for Mellifer. He's getting a long, straight, center-part maroon wig in size 4. I wanted a brighter red, but the maroon is close enough.

Anyway, since they're coming from China, God knows when they'll arrive. For example, I ordered Jareth's Captured in Glass eyes recently from Hong Kong. They were mailed on September 27th, and they arrived on October 2nd, which is truly impressive, especially since they were sent registered airmail across the ocean, as opposed to first-class mail across the country. It's even more impressive when you consider that, if you're sending registered airmail from the US, the USPS won't even give you an estimated ETA. It "varies according to location," which means that it usually ends up taking 1-3 weeks. I have problems with the USPS... >_>

I just asked Angelsdoll if Jareth's head has shipped yet and, if not, when it should.

I also asked the Mannequin Store if the beautiful, lustworthy and attractively articulated Vanessa would even come back in stock.

And I'm exploring the possibility of commissioning the Ultimate Corset [and matching miniskirt] for Jareth: viz., the underbust number in alternating panels of black and hot pink 4-way stretch vinyl that the Frankenstein outfit needs I tell you NEEEEEEEEEEDS to finish it off.

Things are looking good!

I'm not going to detail the big fight I went through trying to fit Jareth's shoes onto his body. I did succeed eventually, though, and I have pictures as proof. Behold the black vinyl thigh-high platform stilettos! They are pretty damn lustworthy. Janvier Jett is modeling again.

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Jareth's head hasn't come yet, so Janvier Jett took over his body to display the glory that is the Ringdoll Frankenstein outfit. Interestingly enough, even though she is much pinker than Jareth's body, Janvier Jett looks rather elegant and well-proportioned. She's not particularly impressed, though, because the outfit she's modeling does not have enough color, pattern and texture for her variegated tastes. :p

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One of Jareth's outfits, the Ringdoll Frankenstein default, which I previously discussed, arrived today. These are its parts:

one pair of black vinyl hotpants with swallowtails and a long, layered train of some tattered diaphanous material and various chains and pendants

one pair of tattered black fishnets that attach with snapping front garters to the hotpants

one pair of stretchy black armwarmers with various holes

one hooded black robe with long, loose sleeves, open in the front

one small key pendant on a choker-length cord of medium thickness

one black bowtie with strings on it to fasten around the neck

It's even more hilarious in person than in photos. I love how the train doesn't represent the rags worn by a feral creation, but instead a meticulously constructed set of layers that were purposely made long enough to trip over. I love how they aren't just slipshod socks, but gartered fishnets. What really cracks me up is the bowtie, since it really doesn't go conceptually with the rest of the outfit. Most of all, I appreciate how this outfit clearly communicates Ringdoll's concept of its Frankenstein [sic] doll as broody, kinky sex object and fashion plate. He works hard to look this good, people!

Now that I have the outfit in my hot little hands, I want to modify it before I pass it along to Mr. McDemandypants. I need to abandon the bowtie. I also need to improve the cape by removing the sleeves and adding some sort of clasp [which, knowing my caliber of tailoring, will probably be a safety pin]. Finally, of course, I at least need to get a locking leather collar, if not a collar and a corset.

If the thigh-high platform heels and the buckle-studded calf-high platform heels ever come, either pair would look very nice with the whole ensemble. I have no idea what's going on with this package, however, since it's apparently still running around the state of New York, being "processed" through "sort facilities."

I've got to take some detailed photos of the pieces this weekend...if I can ever stop laughing at it.

...that dances by bouncing up and down while moving its fists to the left and to the right. I'll have to download it and stick it here because that's about how I feel right now. One of Jareth's outfits and two pairs of Jareth's shoes are arriving this week! Right now I'll settle for raising my arms in victory: \o/.

In general thematic order, rather than strict chronological order:

1. Like dolls in general.

2. Learn about BJDs.

3. Research BJDs obsessively.

4. Select BJD.

5. Save up for BJD.

6. Purchase BJD.

7. Wait with impatience for BJD.

8. Debox in ecstasy.

9. Repeat steps 4 through 8 ad infinitum.

10. Wire limbs.

11. Paint own faceups.

12. Perform minor subtractive mods with X-acto.

13. Make hybrid.

14. Design clothing and wigs; commission others to make.

15. Design and perform additive mods with Aves Apoxie Sculpt.

16. Digitally sculpt own BJD head; use established doll company for some internal modeling and casting services.

What does the future hold?

Digitally sculpt own BJD body; use established doll company for casting services.

Manually sculpt own BJD head; use established doll company etc.

Manually sculpt own BJD body; use established doll company etc.

An alarming percentage of BJD enthusiasts end up making either their own original BJD heads, bodies or whole dolls. With Jareth 2.0, I guess I can definitively say that I, too, now belong to the alarming percentage.

Yes [sigh], I have become a dollmaker.

I may have a buyer for Cyril's head!

I called Artists' Mediums in Williston and priced the Pan Pastels I had selected: 1 set of 5 tints and 7 miscellaneous. Total damage without tax would have been $78.92. Not ready to drop that kind of money on glorified chalk :p that I do not plan to use regularly, I reduced my choices to 7 assorted single pans, a more manageable $48.93 without tax. They are marked with red checks below.

I got raw umber and burnt sienna for shading and lines, red and purple tints for lips. I got grey tint, pure white and pure black for cutting and blending colors. I did not choose yellow, blue or green because I never use those colors in faceups. Hmmmm.

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I was hunting around on DOA for information about faceup pastels, and I discovered the glory that is Pan Pastels. According to the collective brains of DOA, Pan Pastels are smoother, brighter, thicker and more adhesive to resin than the average chalk pastels. Since I'm not particularly thrilled with my current set of chalk pastels, I've been investigating Pan Pastels for Jareth's faceup.

I considered ordering them from an online dealer, but the shipping costs would have cancelled out any discounts. Therefore, I thought to buy them in person from a local art supply store. I ran into difficulty when I realized that most of the stores around here that carry art supplies provide inexpensive, middle-grade supplies for the casual artist, as opposed to the more expensive supplies of higher quality preferred by the devoted and/or picky and/or professional. I could have easily hopped on the T and gone into "the city" to find Pan Pastels if I still lived around Boston, but I don't, and, surprisingly enough, "the city" [=Burlington] does not have a store for high-grade artist's supplies. I found one nearby in Williston, however, Artists' Mediums, which does special orders and which I will probably patronize, even if they are confused on the correct plural of "medium."

Since Pan Pastels cost an arm, a leg and three vertebrae, I've been deliberating over which to order. There are sets of 5 or 10, but I won't necessarily use all the colors in a set. But single colors are more expensive per pan than the same number of pans purchased as a set. So far I'm thinking of the following:

P.S. While I'm at it, I should get some Winsor & Newton brush cleaner.
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Current Music: As the World Falls Down by David Bowie

After way too much contemplation over such a seemingly sinple subject, I purchased Jareth 14mm, low-dome Captured in Glass eyes in ET59, as shown in this previous entry. As much as I wanted to get him super-accurate, specially made Enchanted Doll eyes, I didn't want the ED eyes to be so dark that they swallowed light. Therefore, I chose an approximate color and light reflectivity over verisimilitude.

I just heard that Enchanted Doll is doing Unique Eyes, which means not just custom colors or combinations or pupil sizes/colors, but eyes to your specs. Jareth may get his 14mm, low-dome, blue grey, regular pupil, urethane eyes after all. Well, that's assuming that ED can approximate my iris patterns. Really big pictures of my left eyeball below.
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Jareth's body [with non-Jareth head attached] and shoes arrived today from Mint on Card! By the time I collected Cyril [the name of the head] from the office, deboxed him and shoved him in some of Jareth's clothes, it was too dark to take pictures, so I'll provide some tomorrow.

In the interim, I have a few comments.

1) Doll Chateau's adult male bodies are freakin' scrawny. The limb circumferences, hands and feet are more in line with the proportions of a ~45cm "mature mini," or 1:4 scale BJD. The arms and legs look especially delicate, so I'm taking extra care when bending them. The DC adult male body looks stunning and also kind of ridiculous when naked, while the addition of clothing changes its bulk to that of an appealing gauntness.

2) Cyril [so named because he's currently a full doll] is strung a little tightly, but keeps all his limbs straight, without any snapping into hunched, praying mantis positions. The wrists and ankles flex and lock at a variety of angles, while the head has a nice range of movement up, down and to either side. I hope Jareth's head moves equally well on this body!

3) Bastard demands more shoes. The ones I got with Cyril, unlike most BJD boots, DO NOT zip up the back. Therefore I must rely on the stretch in the vinyl to accommodate his feet. When trying to tug the boots on over Jareth's socks + pants, I encountered a lot of resistance. I don't want to tug too hard and chip one of his delicate limbs, so I'm saving these boots for use over just, say, fishnets and springing for some with zippers from Alice's Collections after all.

4) Cyril's a beautiful sculpt. He's got a narrow face, a long and prominent nose, a wide mouth. Mint on Card threw in some nice silver eyes for him that really add to his air of Ultimate Bishounen. He kinda reminds me of Ivan Doroschuk.... <3 <3 Too bad he's going away.

Well, I don't exactly want that, but a commissioned approximation thereof, custom fit for Jareth and constructed of alternating panels of black and hot pink four-way stretch vinyl, coming to just under the nipples. HAWT DAMN. :p

Just heard back from Angelsdoll. I asked them about an estimated date by which Jareth's head[s] would ship. They said:

Hi^^.

Okay.

I will ship within this month^^.

Thank you very much^^~.

I'm beginning to think they just sit around all day, waiting for my messages. >_>

In response to my query about measurements, Angelsdoll provided the following pictures and legends:
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Jareth's body [extra head attached >_> ] and boots shipped TODAY! I wonder if I will have them by this weekend. [They're coming to work.] FedEx estimates that Ground delivery should take 2 business days. I wonder if that means it will arrive on the end of the second business day [=Friday] or the beginning of the third [=Monday].

\o\ /o/ \o\

That's me doing the Wave with excitement!

I just sent the following message to Angelsdoll:

Hi, I approve of the headsculpt as shown in the pictures you just attached. Can you please confirm the measurements?

Head circumference: 20.5cm

Width of head at the middle of the eyes: 5-6cm

Height of head from crown to where it joins the neck: 13cm

Neck circumference: 9cm

If those will indeed be the measurements of the actual heads, please go ahead and have the manufacturing process begin. Do you have an estimate for when the heads will be shipped to me? Thank you.

--

Here are the pictures of the final headsculpt.
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Not satisfied with the CheeryDoll regalia that I purchased him earlier, Mr. Demandy McDemandypants got all excited when he saw someone offering the Ringdoll Frankenstein outfit on the DOA marketplace. It is a floofy black layered outfit that is gloriously silly and therefore stupendously awesome.

It's very hard to see in the official pictures, but it includes a hooded robe, a shredded overskirt with a train and various chains hanging off it, hot pants, garters, fishnets and armwarmers. It's goth + emo by way of fetish. I'm kind of surprised that it doesn't come with a spiked collar and a corset. I'll just have to supply those myself. [Jareth: "Aw yeah."]

I really like Ringdoll. They do macabre very well. Besides their hilarious Frankenstein [sic] with black toenail polish, they've also done Jessica, a murderous young woman issued with a leather apron and a blood-spattered chainsaw, among other things. They've issued Norman Dark Side, an arsonist orphanage director with optional nightmare-styled marionette doll Quiz. Currently on sale is Zombie Sol, with a gloriously decaying headsculpt, as well as Welcome, a religious fanatic clown who starves people to death with evil hamburgers. [For real! 1:3 scale hamburger included!] I think that's about it, which is good because now I'm queasy.

I do kind of want a 1:3 chainsaw, though...purely for the novelty value. I don't want it $89.00 + EMS shipping much, however.

Because I am incredibly impatient and possessed of a credit card, I decided not to preorder a Doll Chateau adult male body in white resin, but instead get a whole doll, Cyril, in stock from Mint on Card. That was $100.00 more than I planned because the body comes with a head, but it also comes next week, as opposed to 2.333333 months from now.

While I was there, I checked for appropriate shoes and, lo and behold, they had the exact type of shoes I was looking for: calf-length black pleather platform high-heeled boots by Yuhao for $15.00! Great! Now I don't need to settle for approximately what I was looking for from Alice's Collections. I can get exactly what I'm looking for.

\o/ \o/ Cyril can be my clothing model while I wait for Jareth's head and eyes. Then I can sell him [Cyril's head]. Anyone want a Doll Chateau Cyril head, blank, in white resin?

EDIT: Looks like FedEx Ground [how the package is coming] takes 2-3 business days to get from there to here.

I'm a little worried about Angelsdoll. I sent them revisions at 10:30 AM EST, and they incorporated the changes and sent them back to me by 8:30 PM EST the same day.

Why are they so damn prompt? Are they just sitting around at their computers, waiting expectantly for my messages? Don't they have other things to do?

I greatly appreciate their rapid turnaround time; it certainly flatters me and makes me slightly less impatient. However, it's pretty much unprecedented, which leaves me a bit suspicious.... >_> :p
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Jareth went back for round 2 just now. I E-mailed Angelsdoll with all my diagrams in the previous entry detailing changes to make. Turns out that I didn't need a profile pic of a DC Cyril, as the proportions of Jareth's head on the z scale are actually fine. The globe of his skull just needs to be much taller.

Now I just have to figure out some way to WAIT until I get revised pics back from them. Argh. I hate waiting. I'm horribly impatient.

Bastard doesn't even have a head or eyes or a body, and he's already demanding more clothes. Apparently the best of the best [CheeryDoll] isn't good enough. >_>

I've spent all weekend detailing the changes that I would like made in Angelsdoll's first draft of my Jareth headsculpt. I don't want to give them information solely in text because there's too much room for misinterpretation. Instead, I have attempted to convey all the changes in annotated diagrams.

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Delivered just moments ago, these jpgs show my digital sculpted altered for 3-D printing as a hollow BJD head with eyewells. I think I'm going to mull over this for at least the weekend before getting back to them. Preliminarily, I think it looks good. Gotta check if the proportions are correct, though. I already see some stuff I need to change, but he's 90% there!!!
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The surface is "breaking" at a certain location. I have no idea why!

EDIT: Well, I guess they fixed the problem. Huzzah [for now]!

Just got this from Angelsdoll:

Hi^^. Okay^^.

I will make oder item and e-mail you for purchasing head-making service. then you can use your points.

And I will do inner part modeling.

Thank you very much^^~.

WOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOO!

I just got some measurements for the Doll Chateau adult male head so that I can ensure that Jareth's head will be in proportion to the DC adult male body. I sent the following to AD just now. We'll see what happens!

Hi Angelsdoll.

A few days ago, I sent you an .obj file for a custom head. I have some more measurements and final specifications for you:

The specifications for the custom head are as follows:

Head circumference: 20.5cm

Width of head at the middle of the eyes: 5-6cm

Height of head from crown to where it joins the neck: 13cm

Neck circumference: 9cm

[Please see the attached pictures for measurements.]

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Still dithering about appropriate eyeballs for Jareth. Apparently no one makes custom glass OR silicone OR urethane eyes in the exact specs I want. So I'm going with low-domes from Captured in Glass. One pair is $10.38. Airmail shipping for one order is $6.00. Here are my possibilities.

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Jareth's shirt and coat from CheeryDoll left South Korea on August 31st. As of September 1st, there were in New York City. They should be arriving to me within the next 2 or 3 days. EMS is fast.

I just paid off my estate planning! Now to get the FLE car its well-car checkup, and then I'm off to JARETH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It looks exactly like a fashion illustration featuring a scrawny, elongated model who's about 11 heads high. It's like someone took your average BJD, reduced the x axis to 75% and increased the y axis to 125%. In a marketplace full of rounded, blocky, childlike dolls, Doll Chateau's gravity-defying aesthetic really stands out. I dig it.

Lola Paprika and Dorothy have turned into MONEY!!!!!

I'm that much closer to affording Jareth's head and body....

If this is going to be the Best Jareth Doll Ever [TM], I should invest in accurate eyes: 14mm low-dome blue/grey eyes with medium-sized pupils and darker rings at edges of irises in glass, urethane or silicone. In other words, artistic representations of my own eyeballs. o_o

Eyeco's Ultra series might work.

His head looked too wide, so I reduced the x scale to 95%. The latest iteration is on the bottom.

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Put ears more flush with head, gave more depth to philtrum and shape to upper lip, narrowed lower face a bit, pinched outer corners of lower lip a bit, narrowed full dorsal plane of nose a bit, dropped outer corners of eyes down a bit, narrowed top of head to more realistic proportions, erased forehead folds, narrowed width of back of head.

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I currently have four dolls on the marketplace: Lola Paprika, Dorothy, Noodge and Sarah. I'm not in dire need of funds, but I would like them to sell off expeditiously so that I have have the money to pay for a) the rest of estate planning fees, b) the FLE car's well-car checkup and then c) JARETH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Meggilu has an extremely detailed tutorial about how to paint eyebrows on BJDs. I may use it, or I might squint and say, "Okay...the eyebrows go about there..." *scribble*

Naiara's general faceup tutorial on DOA.

Cifr's general faceup tutorial on DOA.

Elisa_maza's tutorial on DOA.

Leechy's tutorial on DOA.
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I'm doing the faceup on Jareth 2.0 myself. I'll have no problem with the eyes; those shapes are pretty flat, so they're easy to deal with. I will, however, have problems with all the nooks and crannies of the mouth. I hate painting mouths.

I've decided to go for the "nude lips" look, in which the lips are exactly the same or almost the same color as the surrounding skin, differentiated mainly by high gloss varnish. I thought it might be as easy as just glossing the lip area repeatedly until it really shone, but I asked Andrea, more experienced in doll painting, if she had any tips. She said:

"Put lots of high gloss varnish on it! Oh, wait... Another thing I've done is to use paint that's almost the same color as the skin. John (kd_230692) will paint the lips, then wipe away all but the paint that's deepest in the line between the lips (usually he'll do that because he's not happy with the lips he painted, then likes the look of the line alone...)

"I've also used a bit of pastel on the lips, then glossed over that (but I've done that only once, for Gretchen here http://www.flickr.com/photos/dollsahoy/6076359350/ --a color closer to the skin tone would make the effect more subtle, of course. )"

I think I'm going with the paint-and-wipe effect. It ends up looking pretty good, actually.

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