Disney Concept Art : The Mary Blair Exhibit

I had the pleasure of going to the Mary Blair Exhibit at the Walt Disney Family Museum last year. I always found the traditional cell animation of Disney so beautiful and still watch the old classics just to look at the background, so of course I had to see the wonder concept work behind Mary Blair. It was sad that most of her work didn't make it into the public eye, but this exhibit traced her art from its traditional roots where she learned proper technique, to her breaking all the rules with vivid color, and to the design of the Small Small World Ride.

I thought I'd share some of the photos I did manage to take. I have gotten out of the habit of living behind the camera and really took the time to sit and enjoy the work. We also got to enjoy a little corner of Marc Davis's work too!

Marc Davis

Mary Blair

One of my favorite pieces. I would love to hang this right over my bed and dream of Neverland

The Three Caballeros

These works were heavily inspired by her trip to South America.

Cinderella

And last but not least, one of my all time favorites

Hope you enjoyed seeing her work!

Keep in touch everyone,

Laine

Looking back: The Techniques and Art Challenges that Defined my 2014

I can't believe it is already 2015. 2 weeks in and I'm already getting swept away. It has been a crazy past year, but full of many new adventures and discovering both myself as a person and an artist. I had the wonderful support of 2 new regulars for 2014, and they challenged me and pushed me to do many new things!

I learned that I should expect less to be done in November and December between a convention and the travel time to see family for the holidays. So here's a recap of the FIVE new techniques etc that really defined my 2014!

1. Ombre Dyeing: 

My first true example of ombre dyeing started with a sunset and this little girl. Fading one color into another made for a beautiful hand dyeing technique and opened so many doors to different themes and expanded the stories I could tell with my work. It put a modern twist on my traditional techniques and made for a feast for the eyes.

2. Wings:

This year is all about wings. Goose wings, posable wings, fairy wings. I really went all out this year starting with these beautiful 1 meter goose wings. Learning wing and feather anatomy as well as constructing the bone structure to allow for opening and closing really made for my crowning glory this year! Definitely bought a lot more wire this year.

3. Clay:

When I first experimented with polymer clay, I really wanted to add it to my pieces as antlers, claws, and really make my pieces mixed media pieces. It started with an jackalope, but I really learned what I was doing when I made this beautiful winter buck. He was the perfect way to finish 2014 as well as teach me I can't bake thin pieces of clay in my oven at the stated temperature. Clay really gives me another medium to communicate through, and I couldn't be more grateful.

 4. Felt Flowers:

Nothing made me happier this year than taking my use of wool to the next level with both wool felt flowers as well as wet felted flowers. I never knew I could do these things with fabric that I have done with tissue paper, and they really allow me to explore this material to a entirely new dimension. Not only am I using felt to make scarves for my pieces and keychains, but now I can layer, cut, and felt to make beautiful pieces that can stand alone or pair perfectly to an ombre dyed doll.

5. Sewing Full Time:

Last but not least, I got to try sewing full time this year. Granted, I am still finding my niche in the market, but it is definitely enlightening to see what it means to sew 50+ hours a week and think about the numbers all the time. It made me think about what I was sacrificing in my art in order to make ends meet, and if I really wanted to do it as a job. We all know that when you are working vs doing a hobby, some element of enjoyment does leave. It really showed me what type of artist I want to be, and how I want to carry on with my art. Time really gave me a lot of food for thought, so I hope to share more wonderful things with you in 2015 as I straddle both being a teddy bear maker and a general plush artist.

Thank you so much for reading. I hope you've enjoyed my 2014 as much as I have. I really appreciate all the support and love you've given me. 

As always,

Keep in touch,

Laine

The past three months

For all those new to my blog or just new to me in general, I'd like to just do a quick recap of the past three months or so, so we can catch up and get to know each other. It's the lightning rounds!

Commission Roundup!

AWA 2014 Roundup!

Chromatic Garden Roundup!

To see which dolls are still looking for a home click here!

Now hit reply and let me know what you've been up to!

A Realistic Styled Canadian Goose: My Process

Oh I had to rest a day or two before I could even summon the strength to write this. I first started this project a month ago and came up with a plan:

• ultrasuede beak & feet
• pose-able anatomically correct folding wings
• armatured neck and wired feet

I gathered a variety of photos of Canadian geese in different poses, looked at plush birds, and finally looked up wing anatomy. 

Goose body with one wing structure

I started with the head first before making the  body and estimating the distance needed for the neck. I had sewed the minky part of the head together with the intention of being able to machine sew on the finished beak. Alas that wasn't possible given the tough to pin nature of the ultrasuede, so I had to settle for hand sewing it. I bent 2 straight needles and just had to give both my hands a rest from the stress of sewing through layers of ultrasuede. 

Upon finishing the head, I noticed that a goose's body has a gradation of colors, so I chose three tans/browns to use for the wings. The commissioner had requested for something more huggable than a doll for display so I decided to do the main structure of the wings with wire. I had played with ideas of steel spokes already made to bend, plexiglass, and foam core, but none of these suited my use. 

To make the wing structure, I bought 12 gauge aluminum wire and with a sketch I drew of the bone structure, I wrapped one wire around the other to form a stronger wire that will stand up to much posing. The downside to that is when I went to sew the wire into the plush lining, every time I hit a wire, I broke a sewing machine needle. It ended up being the limit to my machine's foot with two pieces of minky, quilt batting, and a thick wrapped wire, but using a total of four pieces (two for the outer most structure and one more for the inner bottom) and several hours later, I had two complete wing structures. 

Start of feathering with two of the colors

Now time for the feathers: It was my first time attempting this sort of wing, so I did not really have a plan for where to start feathering. I decided to do it in four sections according to where the wing would need to bend when the wing would close. I used the middle to provide a sense of scale and also because the wing centered around everything else folding over the middle. 

Next up: outer section

Finishing up with the inner section & another bent needle

It is important to note that I drew feathers of varying shapes depending on where in the wings they were. I had looked at drawings of feathers and was warned by anatomy books against using just one single pointed shape. The shapes of the feathers ultimately helped shaped the overall structure of the wings for a finale that I'm quite pleased with. The inner most part blended perfectly with the tan back I had originally incorporated in the design

Finally the last part was to do the "drumsticks" and legs.

Attacking the legs

This was fairly simple: using the same 12 gauge wire, I wired the legs and stitched the wire into place using my machine, then had the lovely task of hand sewing the wired legs to the body. First I attached one side to the body, following that with the unstuffed drumstick. By sewing the drumstick over the legs, I had the legs attached to the body on one side and the drumstick on the other and once stuffed, the drumstick provided structural support for the legs. 

The finish project measured 20 inches from beak to tail and 1 yard/meter in wing span. I had crammed the remainder of the project right in after I got the boxes from my old apartment into my new and sewed for a minimum of 10 hours for 5 days straight in my desire to finish this (I actually would forgo eating just due to concentration) I learned a lot about wire, quilting, and ultrasuede in this project. I'd have to say I am well exhausted and have no desire to attempt such a project until I recover, but it was definitely an experience. 

I'd like to thank the person who commissioned this! Each piece is always to learn more.

Now for some brunch and possibly some livestreaming later.

Have a wonderful day and thanks for reading,

Laine

The Story of A Blue Giraffe Named Clover

Clover's story probably best begins with Christmas last year when my friend Kimmymanga sent me the most adorable pens.

I never really thought about it extensively, but this blue giraffe definitely provided me with enough gumption to make another giraffe. It was also because I had heard from my talented friend Nyssa that she'd be giving the idea a go. 

Blue Giraffe Commission by Nyssa

It just sounded too adorable to pass up, so I set out to have the pieces cut and the majority of the machine sewing done before I left to visit fiance and family in California. Sadly, in my scramble to pack and clean, that did not happen, and in the time I spent there, I only managed to get the head hand sewn. It was a first for me not to be sewing my way through the long layovers, but spending time with friends and family sometimes needs to come first. 

Something I realized was that our time with the special people in our life is really what means the most. Often I keep myself isolated from those offline. I have just retreated to being a person behind a screen, and it was a wonderful change to take the time to have conversations with family, go jogging, and just be beside them to talk, play, or just enjoy their company. 

When I was finally ready to finish it, I had run out of eyes, so for a while, he was sitting looking quite sad with me, but I was already starting to love him. I took the time to needle sculpt his feet to give him hooves, and it was just the right touch. 

Today I finally had it in me to just finish him. As I was working on his eyes, I realized he had the kindest eyes I have ever felted. Something about them just spoke to me. Originally, I had intended to make a gentleman character to match the last giraffe I created, but he was just so guileless, like a child.

My last giraffe: Georgina

 I still had every intention to dress him while I was shading him, but by the time I finished, I set him down and he just looked at me, and told me he didn't need to be dressed.

The back of Clover as I added his markings

And so here he is now.

 For added warmth to compliment his cool tones, I added a warm golden brown to his ears and cheeks instead of my usual pink blush. He really made me feel at peace when I finished him. I hope you'll enjoy him as much as I have. He is looking for a home, so please feel free to click here if you are interested in adopting him. (All materials are also listed)

Thank you for reading,
<3 Laine

The Conclusion of "Four Seasons of Ombre": Autumn Aria & Winter Waltz

Hi everyone,

It has been a while since I wrote a post. Between finishing the Spring Semester and visiting family, I have been bouncing all over the country. During my actual travels, I did not get as much sewing done as usual because I chose to spend more time with people than dolls. It was actually a first for me. I usually get so much done on trains and planes. But without further ado, I'll introduce Autumn and Winter:

Autumn Aria:

Autumn Aria is inspired by the forest and warmth of the changing of colors. Originally, I was very nervous to use vivid saturated colors, especially those in red. With the encouragement of Paula (from http://www.allbearbypaula.com/) who took the time to show me some of her vividly colored bears, I was able to take the plunge and dye the lower half of Autumn a cayenne red. Naturally being fall, I thought of school, so her sailor collar and headpiece reflect that of a school girl's.

Being a little heavier on the top, she was a little harder to photograph than Spring and Summer.

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Winter Waltz

With this little fairy, she's full of longing to sprint and play. She is made of blue and a teal/kelly green ombre. For the longest time, I didn't know if I would make her a princess, ice queen, fairy, rpg inspired etc. Eventually I settled on something other than the conventional blues and whites of winter. I incorporated greens from the ice palace of Jessica Day George's Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow (a retelling of a Norwegian folk tale).

Armed with a new phone, it was much easier to take progress photos. As much as I love my DSLR, it can be quite heavy on the neck and hands during extended times. From sewing to felting, you can go step by step with me. I also had the pleasure of livestreaming the face felting for a few people. In the middle of the night, I had to remember how I made felt roses the last time and after 3 that were scrapped, I got the hang of it again.

Then the most important parts of her story: the wings and collar. Inspired by the high collars seen on queens in animate movies, I made a high back collar with a ribbon tie. I debated on how to add her wings and eventually settled for attaching them on the collar. They can be moved and pinned to show various stages of flight.

I can just see her reaching for the sky.

Now I have come full circle with Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter. With each piece I tried something that I've never done before, and I have to say, overall, I am pleased. I will have to take a break fro making bunnies for a while.

Until next time (a Canadian goose),

Laine