Hollywood Dolls

This is probably one of the best sculpts that Tonner did. I wanted a gentler Edward, one like Heathcliff, a dark side but still you could see a loving face. I gave this doll a major haircut and sculpted the hair with gel and dabbing of hairspray. Held by little rubber bands as it dried, but taking them off so they won't leave a mark on the hair. By sculpted that means arranging the hair so that it looks proportional to the face -- less doll-like. The eyes appear blue here but they're actually black with some greys and whites. And of course those little points in the black that glisten. The hardest part for me were the lips. It is hard to find the right solution or mix of paints to capture the actor's lip color (which was actually stained/tinted red) in the film. The sides that frame the face have been painted on too. Edward's face is not rectangular in Twilight but rounded at the top because of hair that falls to the side of his temples. The eyebrows were brushed with a ratio of 3 parts water 2 parts paint then it progresses from there. I wish I had more patience and new brushes though.

Well, hope you like him. = )

In the previous post I mentioned I wouldn't touch the eyes, but friends said I had to to give the eyes "more soul". I always encourage comments and criticisms. How else can you grow? And there are some things that your eyes don't see after staring at a piece of work for a long time.

I still have to practice on blushing -- major. And still working on perfecting some strokes, so bear with me.

Here's Bella! Again, the hardest parts are always the eyes. The sculpt eyelid as I mentioned before has a deep crease, me thinks too deep that the paint just flows into it. But looking at the pictures of the actress, that eyelid is not too pronounced and just a thin line that hovers over the eyes. Well, the pictures arent so clear, but I just had to line it very thinly, and which eventually gave me a migraine the entire afternoon, haha! The nose -- ahh well, that's another difficulty. Tonner seems to have very pronounced noses with their dolls -- at least from what I have. Some of the repaint artists who have done Isabelle, Noel Cruz and Isabelle and Laurie Leigh (who, I believe re-sculpted the Bella nose) did excelllent in their Bella noses. Wish I had their patience.

If you have the Tonner Bella doll, you'll notice that she is a bit heavy on the hips -- to think it was supposedly a mold for a teen body, she seems to have given birth already to her vampire child. This makes the doll head a tad too large for the body, or so I seem to see.

I am pondering on a body swap with a Tonner Scarlett, but that would mean buying another set of clothes for the Bella doll. Since the dollar is too high for my Philippine peso, I might as well learn the value of contentment.

Here is Bella -- now.