for dio!

ah, dio kicked my ass into posting some new stuff ^.^

here's the dress (somehow i messed up the paint and had to remove it, and in the process the remover dissolved some of the sculpey... troubles never cease!! you can see where the folds on the arm USED to be... ugh):

if anyone wants to see syaoran and the making of him, go to my new tutorial on the pinky-street forums (gosh it took me FOREVER to do this tutorial today!! >_<):

http://www.pinky-street.com/forums/index.php/topic,9588.0.html

ohisashiburi neeeeee

ah, it's been a while. life gets in the way.

i was packing up some of my stuff moving and i had my modified bangs piece for shampoo on a table and i put something on top of it. smash. ruined. my taste for that project has soured due to this turn of events so i'm going to work on some other things before i continue.

on the ever-growing list of new and unfinished customs i've added syaoran from Tsubasa and Gwendolyn from Odin Sphere (game).
comparison shot:
i've changed some stuff since i took these pics, but will have to update them later. and because i HATE how this blog adds photos, i'll put the custom dress i made in a new post.

too much

not that anyone would know this, but this blog got its name from a song by the Oohlas. very addicting song, it parades through my head at least twice a day.

annnyhow, i've decided to rip the shampoo backhair super sculpey off of the pk06 hair piece and smush it onto the new pk18's back hairpiece. well, when i get it in the mail. pk06's 'flip' at the bottom of the hair is giving me grief (as it's smashing into her ruffly sleeves). pk18's hair, in my personal opinion, is a customizer's dream. the bangs are super-flat so i can sculpt on top of them but retain my laziness by not needing to make hair pegs. the back hair is perfect as well, since it's smooth and doesn't have any lines i have to fill in. ooooh, i will be making molds of these... or just buying loads of pk18! (other than that, i'm less than thrilled with these new girls but oh well).

so, this will put production back a few weeks until i receive the new girl in question. so, in the meantime i suppose i will work on nico robin. or start a new project comepletely (that i will also never finish)! yay for procrastination! ever since i first picked up this manga i thought the two main girls would make the best pinkys ever. cute hair, adorable outfits. the manga in question is Sugar Sugar Rune. Chocolat has difficult hair because it's long and always flowing and flying everywhere, and she's got no bangs. Vanilla's hair is difficult because it's very floofy, short, and curly. my first play attempt:
sorry the picture sucks. needless to say, this was a failed attempt so i smushed it. it makes me all the more envious of sculptors like Bubba. i wish i could absorb some of that talent. though i always hope that if i get lessons or something my sculpture would improve. on Chocolat i will have to use wire to keep the hair in place, and possibly some new techniques.

wish me luck!

i will have to stop working on pinkys soon so i can lament my lame photoshop talents and color some art for MangaNext. *sigh*

Adventures with new toys

Went to the art store this weekend, and guess what was on sale? Bake & Bend Sculpey. i've been dying to try it, it's a sculpey that is like rubber after baking. my idea was that it would make the ideal material to make parts to go on pinky's heads that need a little give (hair bands, headphones, etc).
i got all excited, cast a mold of pinky headphones with oyumaru, then stuffed some bake&bend in there. yea, didn't work so well, as bake&bend is a very smushy consistency. so i figured it would cure if i put it in hot/boiling water. nah, that didn't work. it either didn't cure all the way, or cured too much, as it got rather crumbly. i'll have to try again... how i do love new materials/toys!

in other news, i sprayed a new hairpiece i made with mr. surfacer. i felt like using the hairpiece in a photoshoot, so that's what i did to touch it up and man, i need to sand more. i based the hair piece off of a doodle i did at work. my friend says that her head looks HUUUGE with these hair pieces but i still think she's cute as a button! i still need to drill holes and put dowels in so that the pieces can 'lock' together. but, that might not be for a while because i'm lazy and want to finish shampoo. hairpieces are so easy to make, and they don't take that long so i always end up procrastinating and making bunches of them. one thing about this one that i'm pretty pleased with is that the front hairpiece overlaps the back piece. it looks nice, but doesn't make it very practical with other hairpieces. oh well! Still getting used to posting pictures here. the post-it looks odd, but hopefully the others will come through ok.
hopefully, i will be working on shampoo tomorrow, but i do need to get a bunch of art together for the convention coming up...
also! i did a bad coloring job, but it's art and it's pinky, so here: (clickey her for the proper size)
and also because i can't resist:
while i was picking up materials at the art store they were selling mini-easels and canvas. how can you not adore this? (again, clickey for larger image)

how many mistakes would a customizer make if a customizer could make mistakes?

Got some WIPs for y'all. working on shampoo from ranma again suddenly and am almost done. just need to finish the cuff on one leg, finish the hair backing, and touch-up the apron/skirt/bow. they all cracked due to my manhandling and also because sculpey firm just doesn't seem to stick to itself or the pinky at all (not like premo or epoxy). the hardness can also be a factor, i think it's more prone to break. i really like it, it's a shame it doesn't stick at all. it will be a problem in the future, and i'm already seeing the drawbacks now. different sculpey for different purposes, i suppose.

shampoo: (clickey her for a larger view. guess this blog won't let me post large images even though i am hosting them.)


she is going to be a clusterfuck of materials. super sculpey firm for bulk of apron, front hairpiece. epoxy for pants customization, super sculpey for her back hair piece (which i'm almost starting to regret). i really wanted to try super sculpey to give the pinky:st forum some feedback and to expand on my customs FAQ. i think i like premo more than super.

still need to get a gundam real touch marker for her eye makeup (shampoo usually wears purple shadow, and i'm anal, so she's going to have it).

there's something rather odd about sharing loads of custom secrets that you had to work really hard to get. i suppose it is talent as well, but when you just hand someone all the secrets that you had to learn through trial and error it feels a bit like cheating. though, i really hope it turns out that with what members learn they will contribute back and we will all be able to help each other. we'll see.

...and on to Nico Robin!:



this is the scecond front hair piece i've done for her, and i think i will be fine with this one being the final. i need to add some longer hair on the sides. still have no idea what legs to give her. wanted to give her arc's legs, but now i'm not so sure.

need to use my oyumaru. i was so excited to get it after tenshi told me its name, but i haven't at all. i think i'll go get some of that rubber-curing sculpey and throw it in the oyumaru and try to cast pucchi's headphones and see how it turns out. i need to cast tamae's head for nico robin anyhow. a dremel and airbrush are still on my wishlist *sigh.*

should have more progress this weekend, stay tuned.