Thursday, November 22, 2012

Carving Queen Anne Doll - Forked Wooden Hands Tutorial




I started carving dolls about a year ago. I couldn't find anything online about carving Queen Anne style wooden dolls.  So I decided to make my own Queen Anne pattern based on photos I have found in books and online.  I am making this tutorial so if any other artist wants to make a doll at least they might find this technique helpful.  This is my process of making the forked style hands. It is actually easier than I thought. But challenging none the less if your not use to working with a bandsaw.


I have designed the fork style hand with
 several versions.  I posted two profiles here . . .
the one on the right is harder to make but what good
is making art without a challenge.
 I am making the simple version in this tutorial.
 Hopefully it will help someone else along the carving journey.



I am using a 2 inch by 2 inch block.
It will cut 2 pairs of hands.
I traced the back of the hand pattern.
Making sure to make the 3 cuts that form the fingers.
Place a dot with your pencil as a place to stop when cutting on the band saw.

Turn the wood block on the side and trace the side profile of the hand.



Cutting to dot on the block of wood with your band saw.




This is what the block looks like after cutting on the band saw.
 The blue line indicates where to cut the wood .....will later be used
 to cut the wood into 4 pcs(4 hands



Cut between the index finger and thumb


Cut off the corners, then the inside curve between the index finger and the thumb.
The blue line is where to cut the thumbs to length . . . don’t cut thumbs too short. . .it is
better to leave them on the long side. . .just in case you get carried away with sanding. . .LOL


Notice: the Red line where the thumb and index fingers are cut at the same time.

This makes it easier to remove wood from the palm of the hand while leaving the thumb intact.
This is the hand with the wood from the palm removed. Now all that needs
to be done is refine the shaping of the hand.
Good Luck!








Thursday, October 4, 2012

First Carved Wooden

For Sale in my esty shop: www.aliceswanndolls.etsy.com
This is my first carved doll Elmire.  She went through  numerous of changes to get her to the finished stage. So many time I was tempted to throw her away but I kept on carving her. I know I did her two sets of hands. She turn out to be a great doll. The pictures don't do her justice. She looks so much better in person.

Since I love 18th century fashion. . . . I  used vintage linens for her clothing and hand spun wool yard for her hair. Oh and her hat is so adorable!!! Dont you just love it!



I like how pretty her face turned out after the wax rub. It gave her a patina.



Making shoes for a wood doll
came out pretty good! Practice make prefects as they say! 





She wears a ruby ring on her hand. . .
I even made her a pocket.

Saturday, September 8, 2012

Miss Sweetness Sunshine is done


Look a OOAK doll named Sweetness! She is a doll inspired by the Queen Anne dolls.  Her head is sculpted for air drying paper clay that has been covered in stockinette and painted with alkyd oils. The head is attached to a wooden body. Her legs are cloth with wood beads for knees . . . she sits nicely in a chair so she can show off the red bottom of her pointed-toed boots. She wears an angel necklace and a corset that laces down the back. Sweetness is dressed in red, white and blue. Her dress is silk with a vintage cotton lace slip. She has carved basswood hands. She is so sweet. Her hair is a navy yarn called wool lashes. It is so soft and curly. Sweetness has a gentle smile with downcast glass eyes that express her shyness. She is sure to add beauty to any doll collection. 


Sweetness

I love the wool lashes for hair and her sweet expression is priceless!

 
 

I am so proud of the hands .....they turned out so nice.
Sweetness is for sale on my etsy site.

Monday, September 3, 2012

Carving Woodies

I joined a woodcarving group online. DollCarving AndPaintingArtistry on Yahoo. Fun group. . . .I am learning lots of great things about carving in wood. Here is my Queen Anne inspired doll all painted. Her name is Claudia Trustworthy. I need to work on her arms but after a year she is almost done. It has been a labor of love but I really have learned alot about how to carve and how to construct this type of wooden doll. So hopefully many more to come.. . . . .

Sunday, September 2, 2012

Wooden Hands

I have been carving wooden doll hands.  The doll hands I sculpted from paperclay never turned out the way I envisioned them.  I am having better results with wood. I like carving...but my carpal tunnel does like it...lol  Well...one's gotta do what one's gotta do...lol.  These dolls hands have been through a lot of changes......as it takes alot of trial and error.  I am developing my own techniques as I go along. It is not like I have a pattern to follow.  Sawing wood on a bandsaw it rather tricky and dangerous too. I dont want to loose a hand,  making a hand no pun intended....lol  I love trying new things. It takes practice, practice and more practice. I'll keep trying till I get them right.