#strangeasks

[strangegutz]

I've been following you for a while now because i love your art but I've been OBSESSED with your red riding hood + big bad wolf dolls since you started the set. they're so good they've singlehandedly given me motivation to continue my job search again so i might be able to buy some of your dolls in the future.

YAYYY THANK YOU!!

[strangegutz]

being a a fan of both your doll making and hbg is such a treat, everythime you come up on my timeline i am delighted.

sorry to hear you cant work on hbg as much as you'd like :( i really hope you can get to a place where you can safely work on your passion project

i love your work, i love your blorbos, please take care !

Thank you so much!! I hope so too :( it does make me happy knowing people are waiting for Heartbreak...

[strangegutz]

is that a labubu dressed like a leather daddy on your belt in the pride pic, because if so that's awesome

SURE IS! His name is Rico and I made his outfit :)

[strangegutz]

giving you a hug and patting you on the head and tucking you to sleep and giving you milk and cookies

im a 28 year old man

[strangegutz]

Why do you all your doll photo sets include an upskirt shot? Is it to show off the craftsmanship, or something?

yeah its because i'm a huuuuge pervert and it's a sex thing

no yeah it's to show off the craftsmanship. if you look at the "upskirt shot" photos you will see they are wearing bloomers. I take photos of the bloomers so that you can see them, because I made them and am taking photos of my work, because they are cute. I also like taking photos of the scrap spirits falling all over the place because they are like weird clumsy bugs to me.

[strangegutz]

i want to get into sculpting dolls. the thing i think i’m most worried about is faces, do you have any tips? sorry if this has been asked before. you’re one of my fave artists

Ooh, that's hard. This may seem like a cop-out answer, but I sincerely mean it, you need to just experiment. Even if you draw and understand faces pretty well, you'll find that sculpting is a whole different ballpark and needs a whole different approach, different for everyone, which is why my illustrations look like THIS while my sculptures look like THIS

I've gone through a lot of different face styles over the years, and still flip-flop between them

There's a similar throughline though, I always just build the face on a perfectly round ball, adding a chin and just popping the features on- this isnt realistic in any way, but the style works for me.

Experiment, experiment, experiment. If you're not sure about the sculpt, let it sit for a couple days- either let it grow on you or say "nah" and squish it back up and use the clay again. you WILL figure it out! And sometimes just knowing how to work the clay is half the battle! My faces aren't realistic in any way, you could even say they look a little... shitty... but when you approach having lower skills with confidence and intentionality, it will wrap back around to being unique visual interest. Just start doing!

I realize this is more of a vague pep talk than any concrete advice, so I leave you with this tip: I've found the best way to get your doll's eyes symmetrical is to cut the eye shape out of some craft foam or other thick material like cardstock and pressing it into the sculpt as a little stencil.

[strangegutz]

sorry if this is a question you get a lot but do you know/remember the first art doll you ever made & why/how you started? your art is really amazing & inspiring to me so i just think seeing how you started off would be interesting, but i understand if you dont want to show it or anything heh :P

Would be this one. Still holds up, imo! Ive been sculpting, painting, sewing, and just all around crafting for my whole life so the difference isn't super drastic. I started because my buddy @s3rnielsen said "hey you have those skills, put them together and make dolls" and I said "sounds good to me!"

[strangegutz]

which fictional robot design to you serves the most cunt.

May be a predictable answer for me, but ASSAULTRONS from Fallout 4 are CUNTRESSES!!!! Some people are really horny for these things but for me theyre the perfect blend of utility and womanly to be super camp in my eye. Look at its wedge heels and pincers. And the fact that theyre fucking SCARY, running in a full sprint at you to blast you with massive, ear-splittingly loud laser right out the center of it's head.

Forget the Brotherhood of Steel, we have the MOTHERhood of SERVE and it will rip your arm straight off

[strangegutz]

i’m so sorry about the people misinterpreting your big bad wolf.. just wanna say from one trans man to another i got it loud and clear 😳💘

ah it's alright, I know it's not malicious, just people joining in on the "this is a woman to me" joke, probably not even realizing it's art by a trans man... I'm also a bit extra sensitive about it, as a guy that desperately wants to be seen as a gay man but is always mistaken for a butch lesbian by strangers, but it's not like anyone would know that, ya know!

I don't wanna ruin anyones fun, but I will say that it's probably safer to keep that joke to bigger properties, and not overtly queer art by an overtly queer artist- just a gentle suggestion!

much love to you and my fellow trans men!! i love us and i love making the art i want to see in da world

[strangegutz]

Is there somewhere I can read all the HBG lore 👀 aside from combing the tag

I don't have a good place to read up on it around here, but what I CAN do is show you some of the slides from the "What the Hell is This?" powerpoint Puzz and I made for a stream talking about our projects!

ALL THIS AND MORE CAN BE REVEALED TO YOU BY WATCHING THIS VOD!! (and the 2nd part)

[strangegutz]

hiii just wanted to say i picked up my first ever block of super sculpey to make some cosplay stuff with SPECIFICALLY because “oh that’s what that artist i really like uses for his sculptures!” and i had a ton left over and i’ve been having SO MUCH FUN teaching myself how to sculpt :D

AYYY THESE ARE THE THINGS I LIKE TO HEAR!!! Keep it up everyone!!!

[strangegutz]

Ohh wait i have a doll question! I'm sorry if youve already answered this, but:

Absolute basics if you're on a budget? I know not to skimp on quality clay and paint, but as for a workspace and tools, what would you say are the bare minimum basics to start out with making art dolls?

Ooh, yes! I can think of a handful of things off the top of my head- First off, tools-

A set of metal tools and a set of silicone brushes/blenders will put in SO much work for you. Sets almost exactly like this are the tools I use! I do have a bunch of different size sets of the rubber brushes

Prices vary, but a helpful workspace accessory is a glass cutting board, one thats completely smooth, no texture! It's easy to clean, very solid, and no texture means you can roll your clay out directly on your work surface. Also, sometimes polymer clay can break down plastics, so it'll also make sure your desk doesnt melt.

and a cheap bulk set of different kinds of nail files are great for fine sanding on a sculpture!

[strangegutz]

If it's okay to ask, did something happen with Heartbreak Gulch? Forgive me if it's imposing, I was just surprised at the shift away from it because you seemed so keen :(

I was made privy to a deep financial issue that I didn't know about, so I have to put down the toys, so to speak. It hurts a lot to put them on hiatus, because it felt like I was really getting somewhere with it, but they don't pay the bills, and drawing takes up a lot of time I could be using to work. HBG will still be there, it's hung around my head for 8 years, but I gotta go cold turkey for now ❤️

Hopefully everyone that followed for them will stick around, I'm sure I'll squeeze in some doodles here and there, and my friends are still drawing my characters when I can't!

[strangegutz]

would you happen to have made any fat dolls? I would be really interested in seeing that kind of body type in your artistic style

Not enough, honestly, mostly because of the construction- The more bulk there is around the wire skeleton, the less the doll can pose, and up until recently I just assumed people wouldn't like to buy a doll they couldnt pose fully (even the Reds and Wolves cant fully sit down)- but people don't seem to care, so I've been branching out to more sculptural bodies, and want to make them more diverse. I'm not very good at it tbh, my attempts always end up being way too long as compared to wide, I wish practicing making fat art dolls was as easy as drawing studies!

[strangegutz]

I'm not in a financial spot where I could hope to afford your leather daddy wolf dolls, but I'm absolutely in love with them - is there any chance you'd sell prints of these handsome boys?

Good idea! I think my phone photos are clean enough to look good as prints- after I finish the last ones (one more Wolf and one more Red) I'll look into making postcard sized sets!

[strangegutz]

I'm sorry if this is too personal but your art has made me interested in making dolls and I have opened up a little craftshop in my small town thanks to you so I wanted to thank yoy

OH AWESOME!! I wish you all the luck and money in the world!