How to Make Perfect Ball Joints

Today is Tutorial Tuesday and I found this tutorial on a Russian website to share.  Author describes a great technique for making a perfectly round ball using LaDoll clay.  The artist will use the balls for the joints in her BJD dolls, but I bet there's other uses for a perfectly round clay ball!  This technique may also work for other brands of air-dry clay (such as Creative Paperclay).  You'll have to experiment.

Meet a New Clay: LaDoll

I just realized that we've never done a "Meet a New Clay" for La Doll clay.   This is one of my favorite air-dry clays, so shame on me!  ;-)   

LaDoll, distributed by Activa, is the doll artist's choice for excellence with its mixture of pumice, talc, small amounts of paper pulp, and additional binders. Extremely pliant, it can be worked indefinitely by keeping it moist. It will adhere to any core material (wire, mesh, rigid wrap, paper, glass, plastic, wood, Styrofoam, and more) and can be stamped, carved, or sculpted with exceptional detail.  It can be drilled,

Tutorial: Creating a BJD Head and Face

~ click photos to enlarge ~    

Linda Macario, the Italian doll-maker, has written a wonderful tutorial for creating the head for a BJD (ball-jointed doll) .   LaDoll air-dry clay is suggested.  Creative Paperclay would also be suitable for this project.   Lots of photos demonstrate how to sculpt the Styrofoam core, apply the clay, model the facial features, hollow out the head & insert the eyes and also create the head articulation.

Further steps in the tutorial demonstrate how she paints the delicate features (called "face-up") to create a doll similar to the ones shown in these photos!   Aren't they beautiful?   Linda is an amazing doll artist!   This is a great air dry clay tutorial even if you're not interested in making a full BJD body and just want to sculpt the face.   I hope this encourages you to make your first doll!   I'm excited to try it myself! ;-)

  

Ball-Jointed Doll (BJD), Step by Step

BJD from BlueFairy dolls

What is a BJD?   A BJD is a ball-jointed doll .....any doll that is articulated with ball and socket joints.  Body elements are held together by thick elastic cords, making them fully articulated and highly poseable.  BJDs are capable of standing on their own, without a stand or other support, and are also capable of very natural looking poses.

WIP by Morezmore (OOAK)

Such a doll is sometimes called an 'articulated puppet'. A favorite pastime among collectors and hobbyists are posing their dolls and photographing them in various positions that imitate real life.

How to Sculpt a Fairy Head

Great photo tutorial from the late* Hannie Sarris showing us, step by step, how to sculpt a fairy head.   Hannie used LaDoll for this tutorial but says this sculpting technique is suitable for other air dry clay.
http://www.hanniesarris.nl/page.php?page=sculpting_fairy_head&lang=en

The basis for the head is a special type of styrofoam, also used for coffee cups.   She inserts a small dowel or stick completely thru the foam and coming out the top of the head.  This just makes things easier to handle while sculpting.  The hole in the head can always be patched later or covered with hair.

Example of completed fairy below:

Psyche by Hannie Sarris

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*Hannie Sarris passed away suddenly and too soon due to complications from pneumonia on May 2, 2010   In Memorium

Customize a Face Mold for Santa

Air-dry clay can be used with push molds just like polymer clay.  Today's tutorial from Polymer Clay Express shows you how to customize a Polyform (Sculpey) face mold to create a Santa face.   The completed face can be used for an ornament, package topper or a Santa doll.    Tutorial:  Customizing "Grandpa" to make a Santa ornament    Even though the tutorial was written for polymer clay, the steps are essentially the same with air-dry clay...just don't bake and let it air dry instead.    You can leave the clay in the mold while drying, if desired.    

The tutorial doesn't make it clear that flesh colored clay must have been used to start with (it looks white in photos) because it skips the step to paint the flesh color and goes right into antiquing.    For air-dry clay users, you can tint the raw clay in advance or paint with acrylics after it cures.    I prefer multiple THIN layers of paint for the skin tones.    

Only the very soft air-dry clays are available pre-colored and other brands must be pre-tinted or painted.   Some soft clays may work OK in the push molds but many soft brands do not hold detail well.   It will look OK at first, but as it dries it sorta 'puffs-up' and detail gets lost.      Clay brands such as Creative Paperclay,  Delight and LaDoll may work better.   Those clays also allow more customizing because re-shaping and blending of seams is easier.   Please leave comment if you have any questions!

Meet a New Clay: LaDoll Cloth Clay

Cloth Clay  appears to be a new formula for LaDoll clay (which is distributed in USA by Activa).  Cloth Clay sounds similar to fabric stiffener or Paverpol because it can be used to drape fabric...but it's not exactly the same.  It is a liquid clay (packaged in a 600 gram jar).

Cloth Clay is an air-dry clay sure to inspire some new styles of doll crafting.  It can be used in a manner similar to the clay-over-cloth technique currently used by many soft doll crafters or used to drape fabric on a sculpted clay figure (see below)...or it can be used like a clay slip, to fill small holes or cracks on finished surface of a sculpted figure.  

For a smooth surface:
After modeling with LaDoll, Formofit, Premier or Premix, the artist will rub the surface to create a smooth finish. However, often there are tiny holes or cracks left on the surface  Apply Cloth Clay with a flat brush  and allow to dry.  When dry, sand with a sanding pad (first Fine and then Extra Fine) in order to obtain a perfectly smooth, satin-like surface.

Instructions for use with cloth:

1. Create a doll's body, head and limbs (with a wire armature, if desired). Model figure using LaDoll or your favorite clay.
2. Cut out lace or fabric the desired pattern for the dress. Sew the parts together as necessary.
3. Pour the required amount of Cloth Clay in a bowl. The amount depends on the amount of cloth.
4. Soak the fabric thoroughly with Cloth Clay. After the fabric is thoroughly saturated with the clay, lightly squeeze (do NOT twist) the excess clay back into the bowl. Twisting the fabric will result in an uneven finish. You want enough Cloth Clay in the fabric but you don't need it "dripping wet".
5. Return the remaining Cloth Clay to the original container and tightly seal. You may wish to place a piece of plastic wrap over the top of the container before tightening the top. You want to keep as much air out of the clay as possible.
6. Spread out the squeezed cloth, separating the folds, etc., and place it on the doll's body. Remove any threads you might have used for gathering if necessary and cut all thread tails. Let air dry completely once you have the fabric placed as you would like.
7. If desired, paint your creation with any water-based medium that you wish.
8. Apply a finish coat with a clear water-based lacquer or sealant.

Let us know if you've tried this product and how you made use of it!

What is a BJD?

BJD stands for Ball-Jointed Doll.   It's a doll with ball-and-socket joints in its body, arms and legs.  Sometimes the waist and fingers also have articulating joints.    Making and customizing BJDs has been a popular hobby in Japan for a long time but popularity has now spread all over the globe.  Commercially made dolls are made of resin (and are quite expensive) but it's possible to make your own BJD with air-dry clay.  This is not a project for the beginner or the faint-of heart!   LOL

LaDoll and Creative Paperclay are two popular clays for creating BJDs.    Polymer clay is sometimes used but doll quality air-dry clays seem to be the most popular for one of a kind BJDs.

There are many variations in the way to join each part of a doll, but essentially all limbs and joints are joined together by hooks and loops of elastic that are string as shown in image below.

A well-balanced, well-constructed doll can sit, bend and stand by itself and imitate human movement very accurately.  Arms are attached by elastic running through the armholes and torso.  In each leg, loops of elastic run from a hook inside the ankle up through the knee, through the leg-hole, and up to the head.  All loops being hung on a hook inside the neck.   Another band is attached to hooks strung inside the wrist joint.

Of course, to have this type of joint stringing, the doll must be hollow.   There are several different methods for accomplishing this.   The one thing they all have in common is that dolls are made in sections which are formed over some kind of removable armature.    Many tutorials suggest using Styrofoam, straws and other material as the removable armature when creating hollow parts.

Tutorial Links:

"How to Make Noah's BJD Doll"    A lengthy and detailed, step by step set of instructions previously featured here at NewClayNews.

"How to Sculpt a BJD Doll using Paperclay"    Another excellent and detailed tutorial we've previously featured.

How to Create the Aimi BJD (Google translation)  The traditional Japanese method with very detailed instructions to create the doll shown at top of this post. Original Japanese page

"What is a BJD" is a lengthy, multi-chapter article explaining BJDs, their manufacture, wigging, costoming, stringing, repairing,etc

"How Ball Joints Work"   A series of photos showing the inner workings of all the joints.

How to make Noah's BJD Doll

A couple of days ago we featured a BJD tutorial on a Russian website, this is another BJD tutorial showing you some additional techniques.    Noah's Doll is sculpted with an air-dry clay stone clay (most likely LaDoll clay).

This site is in Japanese but has been translated to English.
English version.  

What is BJD you ask!

The following description of a BJD was taken from the Noah's Doll tutorial:
It is a kind of a doll with ball-and-socket joints in its body, arms and legs. Limbs and head are joined together by loops of elastic. There are many variations in the way to join each part of a doll.

The drawing at the right shows the basic construction of Noah's doll.
Arms are attached by elastic running through the armholes and torso.

Each leg has its own piece of elastic.  Loops of elastic run from the ankle up through the knee, through the leg-hole and up to the head.  Both loops being hung on a hook inside the neck.

Other ends of the elastic are attached to small "S" shaped hooks  inside the wrists and ankles respectively.

If constructed properly and is well-balanced, a BJD can stand on its own.

Of course, to have this type of joint stringing, the doll must be hollow.   There are several different methods for accomplishing this.   Noah's doll uses a combination of Styroform, sawdust clay and stone clay (LaDoll).    All air-dry products. 

If sawdust clay is not available to you, Celluclay (an instant papier mache pulp) or  an air-dry clay such as Paperclay could possibly be substituted for constructing the base form over the Styrofoam.    Do not use polymer clay for base layer because the Styrofoam armature CANNOT be placed in oven.

I think the main reason for using the sawdust clay is that (1) it's the traditional way and (2) is to keep down the cost and the weight.  The Styrofoam armature will be removed after the "core" layer has dried....then every part will be hollow.   This "core" layer will be the base for applying the final layer of  LaDoll  and the detail modeling.   LaDoll dries very hard and durable and can be sanded and polished to a fine finish.  

Hope you enjoy this tutorial and try making your own BJD.   For future reference, I will be adding this tutorial to my Air Dry Clay Tutorial Directory.

Spotlight on Hannie Sarris, Fairy Fantasy Art

Hannie Sarris is a doll artist working primarily with air-dry clay (LaDoll) and specializing in fantasy figures. Hannie says: "I experimented with all kinds of figures, but slowly returned to my first childhood love: fairies and fantasy....I adore the timelessness and the lack of boundaries of the fairy fantasy world." The photos shown here are just a few of her lovely figures, see more on her website Fairy Fantasy Art.  These beautiful and delicate dolls are larger than many fairy figures you'll often see made of polymer clay.

Although Hannie will sometimes create with

Sculpting a head with air-dry clay

For our Tutorial Tuesday we have a 2-part video by Bettina Bishop showing her technique for sculpting a head.  She is using LaDoll Premier, a stone-based air-dry clay favored by many dollmakers.  See her gallery of dolls at http://bebidoll.de/galerie.htm

Part One



Part Two