Baby Doll

Being my first serious project, Baby as a character has become somewhat of a mascot for my art. Because of this, I wanted to have her in this art project if the opportunity arose, so when I got the idea to customize a 17″ doll into a moveable piece of art, making the base character Baby came to mind. Below is the doll I’m using as a base compared to the hight of usual dolls, the modified head cleaned up, and the fur coat I handmade. I also used Apoxie Sculpt to add to the breast area and fill in the back of the doll, seeing that Monster High dolls have very slim backs.
The doll has her eyes cut out so I can apply inset eyes, which add much more sparkle and 3D effect.

Candy Designs

Concept designs for Candy, the doll for the failed doll swap. There is also the doll certificate with the end design.

I’m honestly so sad that the doll swap didn’t end well, but I guess that’s what happens when the admins aren’t strict enough with the rules.

Custom Doll Practice Work Update

I kind of forgot to post photos of the practice doll repainting that I posted about ages ago. Since then, I’ve completed 2 more dolls along with finishing the original practice one.

This is Mortality. He definitely isn’t the best doll but without proper materials, I think he turned out great for a first time.

Here’s Alice. She’s my second doll and used to practice changing the colour of doll skin using soft pastels. Her skin was originally green and it took around 15 layers of yellow, red, and purple to neutralize it.

Lastly, here’s Candy. She was actually made for a doll swap where artists are partnered up and make dolls for each other based off chosen themes. The overall theme was Lolita, and my partner chose the secondary theme of Candy. Unfortunately, the doll I received in return after sending Candy away was low effort, lazy, and the artist ignored the themes and the basic rules of design. Because of this, Candy is being sent back to me (the artist saying she wasn’t good enough for her anyway) and I will be able to have her back on my desk soon.

I like to think that I’m quickly improving and while OOAK dolls (One Of A Kind) don’t seem to be fully recognized in the art community, I hope to continue customizing dolls to make them into interactive art pieces with personality.

Tiny Folio Work

Before leaving for Sydney, I got an A5 size journal for planning and brainstorming for my future grant related art. I’ve filled it with inspiration, photos, ideas, sketches, budgeting, and memorabilia to help me with this artistic journey.
I’m of course not going to post all pages, but here’s a few that preview what I could possibly be making sometime in the future.

Dog Portraits

Every year my mum forces me to paint for her birthday, so this year I did a 3 part series of my beautiful dog Bailey (yes, my nickname is named after her). These portraits are in a simple cartoon style with the canvases being no bigger than my hand – this is because I uh did them the night before her birthday.

Mardi Gras Photos

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I actually took a total of 800 photos and 20 videos. I can only show a few photos because as I’m sure you can assume, taking photos of moving people in a heavy crowd in the dark is quite difficult. Many photos and videos are blurry, but I still got as many as I could and the costumes and attitudes shown have definitely inspired art in me that I wouldn’t have been able to think of otherwise.

There were heavy themes of unicorns, butterflies, and open sexual freedom and expression that I plan on carrying through into my art. I also had a cowboy throw his hat at me, which I brought back to Melbourne.
Unfortunately, all forms of media had lied to me and there were no beads thrown.

Travel Grant Plans

Just as a little update – Since winning the Fiona Myer & The Myer Foundation Travel Grant in 2017 I’ve been to Sydney for the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras Parade. I was there for a total of 3 days, exploring queer-friendly stores and spoke to other parade goers. There will be a post with photos once my dropbox loads!

Here are the plans so far for the art to come from this:

• 2-4 large acrylic/mixed media paintings
• 1-2 character design/figure based sculptures – polymer and paper clay
• Illustration booklet + large prints of mock social media posts
• Ready-made doll customization – poseable doll sculpture

I want to make the most of this opportunity and after planning and filling a small visual diary with ideas since returning from Sydney, I’m finally getting a roll on getting into these projects.
It’s been hard to get started because I had to plan then order materials online, but now that they’re starting to finally arrive I can get it done!

Harley Quinn Doll Custom

Here’s a doll that I customized to look like my own design of DC Comics character Harley Quinn for my twins birthday. The doll started off as a Batgirl doll from the DC Superhero Girls, and I drew on the face and made all the costume.

The materials I used are:

• A Batgirl doll from The Reject Shop
• Acrylic paint
• Soft pastels
• Watercolour pencils
• Cotton/Tulle fabric
• Cheap nylon doll hair off AliExpress which was too stiff and was a mistake
• Mr. Super Clear sealant

Putting the head back onto the body caused the face to smudge, so in the future, I’ll paint the face while the head is on the doll.

Business Cards

I ordered business cards to bring around with me and to put in packages when I make physical sales. Just something to give out so anyone interested in my art who hasn’t met me online can easily contact me.