Making dolls look less like dolls

Dolls will always be dolls and there really is no way around that. We can repaint their faces and add new hair and custom made, fitted clothes, but they will always be dolls. The dolls I make start out as toys and then I change them until they look less like dolls and are less like toys. Because that's all we can hope for. But what do we do to make the dolls look less like dolls? And what do I really mean by that?These first 2 dolls were made fairly recently. One in July and one last week. Both have padding added on their rear ends so they sit well, both have new hair and both have custom made clothes. However the doll on the right also has padding added to her waste. She still looks like a very thin lady but she also looks more human.
You can really see the difference from the back. The doll on the left has a sort of pinched waste and the doll on the right looks like a person. If you are not completely familiar with dolls you may even need to look twice to see that the doll on the right is in fact a doll. But the photos were taken in the same spot in my yard and from the same angles (lucky for me I always take certain angles). My newer dolls also have a few other standard body upgrades but they were discussed in a previous post. Changing the base doll takes time but the results I think are well worth it.

Now making dolls look more like real human beings is only part of what I meant by "making dolls look less like dolls". My best example of that is this group shot. Now a shot like this is actually very hard to get and takes a lot of time. But since I have used this as my website header, my blog header, on my business cards, gift certificates and so on, I thought it was worth the effort. It took hours to get this photo to look like this. With this many dolls there were so many opportunities for something to look like a doll. So I took bunches of photos, uploaded them, studies what needed to be fixed, fixed it, took more photos and so on. Hours. And then if the dolls in the back row fell over (which they did a few times, lol!) I had to start that section over again. The cowboy in red still looks sort of doll-like but most everyone else looks more like a person. The pink western doll on the far left is whispering something to the youth doll. The ladies in front are leaning in to cuddle with my "Travis" doll. Just a few things real people might be doing in a group photo.
After the photos were uploaded, and I could clearly see all the details, I would adjust the dolls to make them look less like dolls. If they had a shiny spot on their face I would move them so the flash wouldn't hit them in the same way. If they looked stiff and unnatural in their chairs I would bend them a bit more so they looked like they were actually sitting comfortably in the chairs. It took a lot of time but it was fun as well.

Then their is the "doll love" photo, also from the last post. Dolls don't really want to sit on picnic tables, even if the tables are in 1:9 scale. So I had to bend them and squish them to make them sit there. And then the cowboy was a bit reluctant to hold onto his sweetheart. He kept popping off the table! I didn't go inside to upload the photos to study them but did enlarge them on my camera display. When the dolls looked as if they were staring vacantly off into space I would adjust the angle of their heads or the angle I took the photo from. This photo was nice but...


...this was my favorite. I also noticed that the guy looked like he was hovering off the table so a little more cropping and voila! The dolls look less like dolls and more like a couple enjoying a romantic moment. And from the angle I took the photo it looks like the lady is looking into her man's eyes. In fact her head is turned very far to the left. It is physically possible (I tried it) but it's not comfortable. In the photo it looks natural and sweet.
Now setting up dolls in date scenes and group shots is probably totally pointless for most people but attention to details like how a doll is sitting and where your doll is looking can really help you in the show ring. If your doll is vaguely looking off in the opposite direction as your horse is moving, it will look like a doll. But if you have the doll focused on the same area the horse is headed, it will look less like a doll. Which is all we can hope for ☺.

New dolls

I realized this morning that I have not done a blog post in several months. Part of it was lack of cool photos (because photos in blog posts make everything more fun) part of it was the craziness of summer and part of it was I didn't have much to talk about. I was thinking about the newer dolls I have done recently though I wanted to share a bit. This first one I especially like. She has carved feet, a padded waste to make her more realistically shapes, her first finger on her left hand is split out from the others so she can hold the reins properly. She is just so much easier to use. I am really liking the body upgrades that are standard on my newer dolls.
This next doll is also really cool because she can do so much. For as long as I can remember hunt seat dolls could either do flat classes or over fences (in-flight) because a regular doll looks silly going over a jump. This doll got a body rebuild so she is able to do flat classes and then also get into a jump position and do over fences classes. She is great for almost any English class you can think of and very easy to use.
This next d0ll also has the new, standard body upgrades and is in an outfit that is currently trendy in the show ring. She has decorated chaps and a back zip OOAK silk shirt. She also got new make-up and a manicure.

This last photo I took to amuse myself. I had this pretty lady doll and this bendy cowboy and they wanted to hang out together at (on) the doll-sized picnic table. They look to me like they are enjoying a nice date on a beautiful summer day. What you can't see in the photo is this lady's diamond engagement ring! Doll love amuses me :)I guess the last new thing I should mention is the interview I did with Jeanne Grunert. Here is a link to the written article and here is the link to the photo article. I really enjoyed doing these and was very flattered to be asked.

Travis on show weekend

This could be a post weekend show report, but it's not. On Saturday I went to Factory Ponies Live held in Spencer, MA and on Sunday I went to NEMHC also held at the same hall in Spencer, MA. While I did actually show on both days I was more concerned with my son Travis. He came to the shows with me for the first time ever.
Bringing my son to a show might seem like no big deal but Travis still has limited communication, can get very silly and hyper and loves to run. Lucky for me there is also a very large chair closet that he was allowed to hang out in. Not only did we nickname it "The Cave" but there were stacks of chairs Travis could climb when Mom wasn't looking.

On Saturday we did take several breaks to go outside and run around. Travis has learned at school to stay within a defined boundary while running off steam so I told him to stay on the carpet of the covered porch and as long as I reminded him every now and then he listened and got to run and run. My daughter, Elecktra, also came to the shows with us and helped me keep an eye on Travis and they went out for running breaks together once I had defined the boundary. Travis looks like he's having a good time.
I thought that the second show day would be even harder for him but as soon as we came into the hall he went right into "The Cave" and asked for his blanket so he could hang out on the floor. Elecktra set up his chair couch (3 chairs next to each other that he liked to lounge on) and he was super calm all day and only wanted to take one running break. A good weekend all around.
Surprisingly even though I didn't pay as much attention to showing as I usually do and I got only OK placings in a lot of classes, I had enough points for Lady Liberty to earn Western Performance Champion and then Overall Performance Champion. So the weekend was great and I got some big rosettes. Good times.

Weekend show report CM performance

I am sort of impressed with myself. I managed to get the OF photos from Quabbin Valley uploaded and blogged about last night and this morning I have managed to get the CM photos uploaded as well. Yay for getting things done!
First up was the stock horse division. This is my Bold Endeavor resin, Cloud Dancing. He is wearing a saddle by Pam Perkins and the doll was dressed by me and has a sculpted head by Liesl Dalpe. Cloud Dancing only did 2 classes in the Stock horse division and they were other stock work where he got 5th with his team penning entry...

and non-competitive (ranch scenes) where he got 4th with this scene of moving the herd.
Up next was the western division and the doll was switched out for my casual doll. I had a natural trail entry but either I missed the photo or just can't find it. We got 3rd place with that entry.
Next was Arena trail and the doll was switched again, this time to the "me" doll made by Joan Yount. We got first place with this box entry.
Next was western games and I was so thrilled to finally do well with this 2 barrels and a pole game. The idea and reference photos were from Jennifer Buxton's blog. I would post a link but I can't ever find the right blog when I am looking for it. Anyway, the games entry got 1st place!
Next was the other western class and Cloud Dancing got 1st with his western riding entry.
Now we need to switch horses for a moment to talk about my new horse, Flash in the Sky. She is a Matriarch resin painted by Joan Yount, wearing a western set made by Jennifer Buxton a saddle pad I borrowed from my friend Linda White and my cheetah print parade doll. Perhaps it was the mixed, non-matching gear that did her in. Or perhaps I was not too careful with set-ups. And I just now realized why I couldn't find the natural trail entry for Cloud Dancing, it's because Flash in the Sky did that class, lol. For natural trail she got 3rd, for Arena trail she got 4th and for pleasure she got 6th. Not a great start to her show career but she is very pretty and will probably be a halter horse. And sooner or later she will have gear that matches and an owner that pays more attention to detail and then perhaps she will do better. I enjoyed looking at her all day anyway.
Now we need to switch back to Cloud Dancing who actually did very well in western pleasure getting 2nd place.
That was the end of the CM western division and Cloud Dancing received the championship!
The next section was the other performance section. First up was Showmanship which is one of my favorite classes (and yet I skipped it in OF...). Cloud Dancing got 1st place for his set-up
The next class in the other division was "scene". Cloud Dancing was in a bareback pony ride scene and that earned him 1st place as well.
next was generic performance and Cloud Dancing got second place with this auction set-up...
Which was enough to bump him up to Champion for the other performance section.
The next section was sport horse but Cloud Dancing only did one class and that was Dressage. He got third with this salute. The judge said she absolutely loved it and would have placed it higher but she likes to see the bridle numbers. I have one and forgot to put it on. I knew I forgot something.
The next section was the English performance division. The first class was games and Cloud Dancing is now wearing a tack set made by Lauren Islip, a saddle pad made by me and finally a doll I made as well. This tennis ball relay entry got 2nd place.
Next was the other English performance class and Cloud Dancing thought about doing therapeutic riding but I just didn't have time to fix the tack. So he did a riding lesson and got his OF friend, Lady Intrigue, to come and play as a prop horse. The hunt seat tack on Lady Intrigue was made by Jennifer Buxton, the hunt seat doll and casual doll in the flowered shirt were made by Joan Yount and the casual doll in the blue sweater was made by me.
Cloud Dancing's natural trail entry "out for a walk with the dogs" got him 2nd place.
I borrowed this gate from a new show friend, Jenna (can't remember her last name) and Cloud Dancing got 1st place with his arena trail entry.
All together it was worth champion in CM English
Last was the CM costume division. First up was Native American costume. I absolutely adore this new set of mine (still don't know who made it) and Cloud Dancing looked very nice in it. The judge thought so too, she gave it 1st place.
I had a parade entry for Cloud Dancing but didn't manage to get a photo. It was sort of like cheating anyway since there was only the one entry in the class AND I could not get the bridle to fit because his head is bigger than Skippa Latte's (my OF Breyer Partygirl). I put down a card that said it was bridless parade. I don't think that would fly in real life. Maybe in an arena class, who knows.
The last class of the day for me was the CM other costume class. Cloud Dancing went in again this time dressed as Harry Potter. He got first and then moved onto get champion of the CM costume division. All in all it was a very fun day.
To top off the excitement of awards for the day Cloud Dancing managed to get enough cards to round out his numbers of cards for his NAMHSA performance versatility award. I wrote to the merit award coordinator and asked if he would actually be eligible for the award having earned all the cards he needed (plus some extra) in just 2 shows. The MAC said that there was no rule saying how many shows you needed to enter, just that only 2 cards per class per show could be used. She also said she looked forward to seeing the horse that earned the PV award in only 2 shows as she also likes horses that can do it all. But now Cloud Dancing needs a new goal :)

Weekend show report OF performance

This past weekend was the third annual Quabbin Valley Performance Open. There were not a lot of showers out this time but the hard-core performance junkies were there so competition was fierce. Since there weren't tons of us I figured I would be able to handle taking photos of every entry throughout the day (to make the people that didn't come jealous, lol) and I managed to get most everything. I did miss a few classes all together because I zoned or was frantically changing costumes but for anyone that wants almost 200 performance photos to drool over here is a link . Enjoy the show. Now I did actually do some showing that day so here is my show report. I'm starting with OF performance because it was smaller for me (I only brought 1 horse that did more than one class). The first class of the day for me was OF English games. This is Lady Liberty, an OF Breyer Lady Phase, wearing a tack set from Four Corners Tack, a saddle pad by me and a doll by Joan Yount. This set-up was good for 1st place.

The next class was Other English Performance and Lady Intrigued entered just this one class for the day. The saddle and bridle were made by Jennifer Buxton, and I made the halter and all the dolls plus the props (except the cones which are from the Breyer trail set). The little rider doll is my son Travis. Or at least he is close enough that he looks like my reference photos and when I ask Travis who the doll is he says "Travis". This set-up earned 1st place as well. I am now 3 NAN cards from a NAMHSA superior event horse award with my therapeutic riding set-up. I have worked for this one since I started showing performance (almost there!) Lady Intrigue is semi-retired and this season has only come to shows to do therapeutic riding.

My next entry was OF English Natural trail. Joan Yount also made this doll and I made the roll-up trail footing. If I could find a way to make it unroll a bit nicer it might do better. But the entry was worth 5th place.
After that we moved onto arena trail. Lady Liberty did this really cool bridge entry where the rider is supposed to stop and show the mail. The judge gave this one 1st place as well.
Next up was OF Hunt seat pleasure. I don't think I paid nearly enough attention to detail or the doll (bad Anne!) because this one only brought in 4th place.
Next up was the OF costume division. Skippa Latte came to the show to do the costume section because she was working on a performance versatility award and only need one more card in the "other performance" section. Well she got it with this Native American costume entry. I am not sure who made the costume but it is lovely, detailed, and so in-scale. The doll head was sculpted by Joan Yount and I made her dress. I will be remaking her dress as soon as I get some thinner leather. I got 1st place for this one.
Next was parade but I seem to have missed getting a photo of that one (oh, really bad Anne!) Skippa Latte again wore the cheetah print parade set I created with the matching cheetah print doll also by me. That was worth 1st place as well.
The next class was OF other costume. I made this Harry Potter costume and even though it was made on a horse that didn't have a lifted tail the judge liked it well enough to give it 2nd place.
Which was enough to get Skippa Latte the champion rosette for OF costume.
Next for me was the OF western division. We started it off with this natural trail entry. Lady Liberty is wearing a saddle set by Pam Perkins, a pad by Elise Partanen and the doll is by me. I am not sure if my doll falling over caused the problem or if everything else on the table was just cooler (though I have photos and could check...) but this one only brought in 4th place.
After that was arena trail. I switched out the doll for the "me" doll that Joan Yount made me for Christmas (it does look a lot like me!). The ground poles were done my Marci Driscoll and I made the flowers. We got 3rd place for this one.
Next came western games and we got 2nd with this water relay entry. It is not a hard set-up so it is hit or miss with the judges. I guess it was a good day for the water relay.
Next up was the OF other western class. Lady Liberty tried a western riding entry which earned her another 3rd place. I missed the photo of western pleasure-stock type but she also earned a 3rd in that one.
And that was still enough to get her OF western reserve champion.
Soon I will do my post on the custom division. I have been very busy with doll making (though I seem to show a lot of dolls that I didn't make, lol) so I have not had time to fight with the photo uploader. CM coming soon though!

Region X Equine Xtravaganza

This past weekend was the Region X Equine Xtravaganza show which was held as a benefit show for region X regionals. It was a fun show and really was a benefit show. All the judges and the announcer were volunteers, the ribbons and rosettes were recycled from other shows and a large amount of money was raised. The start of the performance section, as with most shows, was a harness section. This is Kate Dwyer's four-in-hand entry that she has been working on for awhile. I made her dolls and she made all the harnesses. It amused me that the lady is the one driving :)

Lady Intrigue has been my main OF English horse for 2 or 3 years now and I thought it was time for a semi-retirement. She came to the show just to do the other English class with her therapeutic riding scene. I am working towards a superior event horse merit award and she still needs a few cards for that. So she came to the show and lucky for me the judge got a really good look at the scene before the arena wall came down and knocked everything off the table. My little Travis doll never even let go of the reins.
This is my new Bold Endeavor resin, Cloud Dancing. I named him the day before the show but I didn't much like the name he came with so I am glad I thought up something new. His first class of the day was other English performance. I set up a tennis ball relay game (like egg and spoon but with tennis balls and rackets) and that got him his first ribbon of the day with 6th place.
For trail Cloud Dancing tried a new sort of bridge entry. The pattern states that the horse should walk onto the bridge, stop, the rider must show the mail and then they walk off. I got to make tiny mail for this class and it was more interesting than simply standing on the bridge to I enjoyed it. The judge thought it was worth 4th place.
Cloud Dancing would not be suited for an over fences class (not in any way I can think of) but the class name was just "hunter" so I came up with this gate entry from a Handy Hunter class. It was not spectacular but it still did place (7th)
During lunch there were several fun classes set up (no NAN cards awarded). One of the classes was to create an "x" rates scene, but not dirty, region X related. I loved this very detailed set-up of region X regionals.
This entry needed to be photographed in two parts. This was the sign on the outside of the box...
...and this was the inside view! It amused me quite a bit.
This was a really cute set-up and I loved the details! The table was very nicely make, the ribbons and rosettes were adorable and the shirt the little girl is wearing is a very good representation of the region X logo. I love miniatures :)
Cloud Dancing tried out a team penning entry for his other working western (with stock) entry. He managed 5th place.
Cloud Dancing was in a western riding scene in the other western performance class. With so little in the way of a set-up (he had footing and a couple of cones) I didn't think he would do well. I guess his simple entry was perfect for him though since he got second place!
Western pleasure was the second class Cloud Dancing got first place in. Though I completely forgot to take a picture of the trail class.
Skippa Latte came to the show just for the Other ethnic/historical/parade class. She needed a couple more NAN cards in "other" classes for her performance versitility award. I made both the costume and the doll and am happy to say that they got second place in a fairly large class (though I did forget to count the entries). Perhaps by the next show I will have a pad that I actually like.
Cloud Dancing got third in his other Showmanship/other performance class. Pretty good considering it was a big class with a mixture of all sorts of entries. I am sure with some effort I can improve it a bit more.
I tried uploading the photo several times and it always came out sideways (even when I flipped it in different ways) so this is what we are stuck with. But Cloud Dancing had a very good first show and came away with overall performance champion. I plan on taking him to another performance show in a couple of weeks as well. This time maybe I will remember to take pictures of everything :)
I forgot to take a bunch of photos, including the one where Cloud Dancing got second in the Native American costume class with the costume I made. I had a very stress free show since I mostly showed one horse and only had a handful of resins to show in the halter classes. But it was the first show of the year and I spent a lot of time socializing. It was a great show and a lot of fun. My next show I plan on reminding myself to actually use the camera.