I'm Not Dead...

... just very busy! Otakon is fast approaching, and I've been doing all sorts of things to make myself busier.

I'm sewing 3 cosplays, opening a photography commission shop, my faceup shop is picking up, and I work a full time job with another part time on the way!!!! I overloaded myself for sure - I don't think I'll be posting until after Otakon!

CSaw Feature

I've been a huge fan of CSaw's for a while! As you can see, her photos are full of color, life and light that just radiates from the computer screen! The Thailand based photographer has a beautifully faceupped collection of Volks dolls which can be found in the sets in her Flickr, or viewed at her blog named Pastel Cottage. Robin, this Volks Miruku, really made me miss Kumiho... T_T

Her beautiful F-01 dolls also softened my originally harsh opinion of the mold with their beautiful clothes and well-done faceups. The colors in her photographs always give a serene and cheerful feeling! So refreshing (points! XD).

Her SD Lisolette makes me want one, too.... Her collection of cute girl dolls makes me die of moe! I really admire her collection and her photography! Please check her websites often for updates..... I don't post a lot, so I'll be lurking right along with you! XD

Clara and Marion Again

Some better photos of Clara, with her actual wig. I never thought that the Kurumi wig would look better on her.

I painted the Marion yet again... still no name, no character. I don't know what to think of her when I look at her. I think part of the reason is that I don't ever favor blonde dolls, so this is a new thing for me... she's just so... fair. @_@ Please let me know what you think when you look at her!!! I need some inspiration for her character and my brain is all wrung out. XD

Faceups Done, No Success to Report... :(

I've finally finished the other two faceplates' faceups. The first is a mod on the closed-eye Latea faceplate. I wanted it to be very anime-and-art-like, kind of like a resin Dollfie Dream or the bjd version of Blythe. I plan on getting animetic eyes at some point, so that she doesn't look like O_O all the time. She will have oddly colored hair, as well, to amplify the anime effect (I hope). I opened her eyes with a Cera-kanna knife and sanded the edges, then sanded off a lot of her nose.

The Marion faceplate didn't turn at all how I'd hoped. The expression is too bleh, the palette too plain, but that's how she'll have to be for a while. I posted so much of the Latea faceplate last time that I didn't want to post her here - she still has the same faceup, so nothing new anyway.

I wish I had the money and the time to invest in an air brush, although with my poor faceup skills it might be a waste anyway. I've redone these faces a billion times and I can't seem to get it right.

I finally got them faceupped, sorry, no tutorial...I don't think I'm good enough to give advice yet lol. I was really frustrated, I think I actually got worse at doing eyebrows and lower lashes. I'm really considering sending them away for a commissioned artist to do, I'm just so frustrated with the way they turned out. I got many more worthwhile pictures out of the Latea faceplate than Marion, even though I feel more connected with the Marion's personality. Still no names... Any suggestions welcome? I'm thinking that they could both be characters from my in-progress book project....

I love the Zero default wig! It's so soft. The only problem is that it has a TON of flyaways....

Braveheart

This is Rafen's cat, Braveheart. I guess that makes him mine, too, but he's the most uncuddly cat I've ever met. And before him, I didn't believe in uncuddly kitties. He acts really cute so you'll pet him, and then he'll bite/claw your hand 2 seconds after you start. And he only meows for company when he wants to use the litterbox. -_-

Chibi-lilie's Deviantart

So, yet another great photographer appears on this blog! Chibi-lilie was discovered while I was thumbing through my DA notifications. :3 I love the soft, colorful style of this photo, and the focus is just right! (If you haven't noticed, I fangirl good bokeh!)

The angle and tone of this edgy picture is spot-on. I'd love to have this on my wall - speaking of which, she has a few prints for sale, so check those out as well (great transition, I know, lol).

All of her dolls are based off of her original characters (or OCs for short). They are much beloved, and she even has a contest going for her watchers to draw her doll characters! If you're interested, you can see her DA for details. It ends on the 15th of March.

Her coloring and composition is usually excellent, but in my opinion the quality of her work tends to vary, with lighting and focus issues being the main reason for my comment. However, you could never tell from these example pictures, which are all from her gallery. I look forward to seeing more work from her, and I can only imagine how amazing she'll be when every photo is consistent!

Akine's BJD Designs and Photography, More Flickr Uploading!

I like this method of uploading better. :3 I can grab HTML code from Flickr and get big, luscious photos that I love while still not having to save them to my hard drive first!

Anyway, enough with my Flickr experimentation. :3 I want to feature Akine, a very talented BJD dress designer and photographer. This is my favorite of her photographs - the dolls are lovely and impeccably styled, and I really do adore fringe-banged wigs.

This is a look at her lovely workspace, and just take a gander if you will at her AMAZING sewing machine! I would give a limb for a beautiful piece of machinery such as that! On the right you can see one of her lovely dresses.

As you can see, her photography has a lovely, fresh air to it. Please go check out her Flickr Gallery!

Shining demon by Madam Page, Flickr Uploading!

Shining demon

Originally uploaded by Madam Page

So, I no longer have to steal photos from Flickr from photographers I like and then link them. Flickr has this new 'post to blog' thing in Share This Photo. I really like this idea, but.... I'm not such a fan of its execution. I can't post multiple photos from this wonderful photographer in one blog post (from what I can tell) and the entries that I post to the blog from Flickr will always have to be edited and touched up like this one. I will probably only use this feature for photographers and other artists from whom I can only obtain art via Flickr.

In any case, I love Madam Page's lovely soft photographs. They are mostly darker than this one, but all the same quality in composition and all with the same ingenious lighting. Her dolls seem very human, all staring out at you from their shadowy dream worlds or having a moment with themselves to which you were a fortunate witness. Please head over to her gallery and admire more of her gorgeous work!

da-bu-di-bu-da's/Oso Polar's Pictures

So, I'm trying to get back into the swing of things. I wanted to start out with a gloriously beautiful feature, and so I will... !

da-bu-di-bu-da's DA gallery is filled with beautifully light pictures of herself, her dolls, and her other assorted creations. I first found her as Oso Polar on Flickr, and I can never forget her beautifully styled and photographed Zaoll Luv, pictured above. The style of her photography is what really draws me in with its light and effortless delicacy. Her subjects seem to live in their own peaceful, quirky, handmade world that is never disturbed by worry or trouble.

Please visit her pages and support her with your adoration of her fine art - I know you love it. You can't not.

Stress Photoshoot

This is the second installment of my joint project with Angeldolls' Xynsta. Since we live 3,000 miles away from one another, we figured it'd be cool to do collaborative shoots around the same theme, and put them side-by-side to create an interesting contrast of ideas. Here, our theme was Stress.

Xynsta's model: Bluefairy Shiny Fairy May in School Uniform
My model: Kumiho, a Volks Kurumi from Dolpa 16, clothes by me

Please click for full size!

Dolls and Lingerie - Definitely NSFW

Okay, so just in case you didn't see the title, again, this is NOT SAFE FOR WORK! XD Don't let your coworkers think you're a creeper!

So, in case you were wondering where this came from all of a sudden, I want to tell you all that I work at Victoria's Secret. It's a place where I have to stare at panties and bras all day, and, of course, we have lingerie. I've always admired lingerie, even though I'm sure a lot of it is uncomfortable to wear, and I think it's definitely a fun piece of clothing that can be made into a work of high art, complimenting the female form without obscuring much of anything.

Iplehouse has recently opened a new line of dolls called E.I.D., a tall, mature, curvy, and not-as-stick-thin line of doll which is supposed to call to mind the beautiful grown woman. I think they accomplish this beautifully, as you can see from this picture of Asa. All of the E.I.Ds are lingerie-clad in the promo pictures, and while I was staring at lingerie at work today, I wondered what everyone thought of this trend.

Dollmore has long been offering lingerie with their basic dolls, and they have a new set of 3 limiteds (pictured) that come with lingerie. Individual doll owners also sometimes shoot their dolls dressed in lingerie.

Take this beautiful MNF Lishe for example. Her owner, yennaibi, made this set for her, and I think it looks really professional and cute! (Check out yennaibi's flickr in the link, she has some other great photography and sewing projects!)

You can also order lingerie custom made (or by auction, etc.). Linnabeti made this set, and you can commission her for sets like these on Den of Angels.

To be honest, I always felt a bit strange about dolls in lingerie, because lingerie has always had that sexuality and erotic connotation about it, and no matter how human they look, dolls are still dolls. But it's like anything else - if you find beauty in something, photograph it! I don't find as much beauty in eroticism, but for some people the two words are synonymous, and in some lingerie photographs eroticism isn't the central theme. I think it's possible to take the sexuality out of the naked form, like in artistic nude pictures, so why not do the same with an only-slightly-clothed form? And doll lingerie takes some really amazing skill and craftsmanship, so on that merit alone perhaps photographs are warranted.

Does it lend a human air to the dolls? Do you get it just because it's pretty and you wouldn't want to wear it yourself? Do you like the art form of lingerie? Do you just like that style of photography (pin up, artistic almost-nude, etc.)? Tell me why you choose to make, photograph, or look at photographs of dolls in lingerie!

Photoshoot Happiness

These are all pictures of my best friend, Justice M. I really love how they turned out and I'm glad that I got these shots, because she's so pretty and I don't have a whole lot of pictures of her. This also marks my first real shoot with a person as opposed to a doll, and I really cherish this whole experience! These photographs are extra special to me. I hope you like them, too! More can be found on my DA or my flickr account. :3 I'm kind of failing at updating the Tumblr lol.