cryptic-forge

[cryptic-forge]

at one point i had the thought to print 1/3 versions of all of my bjd heads to get more real estate to do faceups. i gave up on the idea pretty quickly, but had already printed a few. found this half-finished mermaid head the other day & decided to see the project through.

i plopped her on a random 1/3 vinyl body i've had for years and wrapped it in fabric, and accidentally ended up liking the look -> am debating whether i should desing a humanoid body for this head and sew a multilayered, flowy kimono-thing.

her led is on in all the pictures, but most were taken on the balcony, where the ambient light renders it invisible. the last two i took inside with different camera settings to try and get the light to show up a bit. the eyes are reflective, so the led lights them up excellently.

i'd like to redo the forehead antenna, because i feel the stem is a bit too bulky, but she's currently using the smallest led i have & that is just the size of the wires.

[cryptic-forge]

made a tiny esquie because i'm obsessed with expedition 33 & wanted a quick, fun project. i didn't go for game accuracy here, just picked some materials that had good vibes & ended up with this somewhat-chibified version of the Large Friend.

[cryptic-forge]

yellow water lily has always been one of my favorite plants -> made another flower fairy inspired by it. the whole plant just is chunky and plastic-looking irl, so it was super fun to reference for sculpting. also, this doll is a surprisingly sturdy stander despite her silly little heels.

[cryptic-forge]

status update: my partner was able to live out their goblin creacher dreams & was the absolute belle of the ball, a hit among stall vendors and passing children. just according to keikaku, honestly; they draw the attention, and i can vibe in the background and feel good about it without talking to strangers.

made some accessories for me & partner to wear to an event. the mask is for them, and the oak wreath for me. bark & branches & acorns are natural materials, the fake flowers i bought, and the oak leaves are cut out of fabric leaves that had a good texture but were the wrong shape. the mask is not a single slab of bark, but assembled of small sections glued to a felt base.

[cryptic-forge]

What's your recommendation for glues? I always struggle to find properly strong ones

honestly, same. i mostly use hot glue, wood glue, and liquid rubber, supported by metal wires/wooden sticks/stitches when possible. i suppose that is the best tip: use internal support structures and drill through things whenever you can, and reinforce with glue.

i would also like to use two-part epoxy and superglue more, but due to my workspace situation, toxic/smelly materials aren't very feasible.

[cryptic-forge]

made some accessories for me & partner to wear to an event. the mask is for them, and the oak wreath for me. bark & branches & acorns are natural materials, the fake flowers i bought, and the oak leaves are cut out of fabric leaves that had a good texture but were the wrong shape. the mask is not a single slab of bark, but assembled of small sections glued to a felt base.

[cryptic-forge]

this is laurel, another minor npc from my tabletop campaign. i made her up on the spot & she wasn't supposed to have much significance, but the players ended up falling in love with her -> she became more relevant -> i also fell in love and made her into a doll. she's mostly inspired by cranes and secretary birds, and how fun it would be if they had little arms.

[cryptic-forge]

what do you think about the hand sculpting VS digital sculpting debate and why do you choose to sculpt digitally ?

why pit two bad bitches against each other? claiming digital and traditional art are somehow inherently opposed makes no sense to me & sounds like boomers going "oh, so the computer does it for you?" back when digital 2d art was starting to become more common and accessible. the most important thing in sculpting is your concept & understanding of shape, and how you execute on those is up to preference. also maybe there are/will be younger people who have only done digital art, but if i think about people my age, we have all started traditionally and built the base of our skills there, and still do trad art as well -> the dichotomy makes even less sense.

as for why i sculpt digitally:

i don't sketch, so the sculpting phase is also the sketching phase. i love being able to change proportions effortlessly, and making multiple iterations of body parts.

when i have a project idea, i want to sculpt the rough shape of it immediately, and then leave it to a wip folder until i can get back to it. i have so many wips there's no way i could keep them traditionally.

the ability to start and stop whenever i want. unfinished parts won't dry, and on the other hand i don't need to wait for a thing to dry before i can add to it. autism brain loves setting its own schedule.

autism brain also hates clay caking on my hands. i do use tools, but i'm still very handsy with trad sculpting & up to my elbows in clay in 12 minutes.

the convenience of instant symmetry. when i've sculpted a good leg, i'm not really interested in doing it again in reverse.

taking finished parts out of the printer feels like getting a little gift.

[cryptic-forge]

teapot dragons!

in a way i like this design a lot. on the other hand i think the original teapot animal having a humanoid face is part of the charm; it is supposed to be uncanny. anyway, here be dragons, both available in my shop.

[cryptic-forge]

some girls for your day.

carissa [troll] is my oc, misha [fairy] belongs to @posnakkel, though her visual design is also by me. i redid carissa's tattoos and added a little makeup since the last time i posted her, and misha is brand new & will get her own photoshoot later. she's a little smaller than the bjds i usually make, and fits in rainbow high clothes -> i want to play some dress-up.

[cryptic-forge]

me & partner went to take a walk in the woods, and took a gobbo with us to experience some nature. also features me as a background cryptid in the last photo.

the goblins need some sculpt updates, and also a reprint because the original gobbos are blighted with z wobble, but i still love taking them outside. photographing the littlest of guys experiencing situations is great.

[cryptic-forge]

some florals, for spring. i'm trying to take a bit of a creative break, but had to sculpt this little guy. i gave her three legs to break the classic Flower Fairy Ballerina silhouette just a bit, but it's not super visible in these pictures.

it is also balcony photography season again, so she got to go pose among my abundance of BEANS. all the beans i planted actually sprouted, and instead of pruning some, i have filled our balcony with them. at least it will be extremely verdant once they start to climb properly.

[cryptic-forge]

a robot girl roundup, just for fun. features my original sculpts, monster high customs, and kitbashes. also features the fact i don't really own any props that go with robots, so it is Ring Lights Or Nothing. might have to invest in some scifi props, because i'm definitely going to keep making robots.

[cryptic-forge]

a Cool Rock, with a dash of gold & body horror.

i'm especially happy with the gemstones, which are made of transparent worbla & colored with markers. i've made crystals like this for a doll once before, and it was nice to do a design that revolves around them.

[cryptic-forge]

on the one hand i love robots, on the other i'm a very organic sculptor, hate modeling hard surfaces and am not that good at mechanical greebling. so sometimes i have to sit on the floor & play with legos.

i sculpted the face, but otherwise this robot is made of various toy parts, beads, and headphone cords. i used a lot of bionicle bits, because bionicle is just about the only type of robot that is easy to find in thrift stores. i was also able to use bionicle joints for all major points of articulation, and they're a joy with the way they bend in all directions and hold poses. most of this is Illegal Bionicle, though, with a lot of cutting and gluing involved.

[cryptic-forge]

I think its awesome you create, modify, sew and paint dolls in so many ways, you're everything i dreamed about being as a preteen (and tried to do to... various results lol) i think it's seriously so cool! Creating so many little creatures <3

this is why i love making dolls. when the only concrete premise is "this will be a creature of some sort", the medium can be anything, and mixed media can get truly mixed. also my material hoarding tendencies get rewarded when basically anything can go into a doll, or inspire a doll.

also, thank you.

[cryptic-forge]

so i'm in bed, looking at the ceiling, thinking of getting up

but it is as if someone is watching me.

may i offer you a crumb of nostalgia? or a refreshing sip of vinegar?

some friends & i ended up talking about animorphs a while ago. at some point in the conversation i was explaining andalites to my partner who never read the books, stopped & went ".........you know what i'm gonna do?" to which people responded with "make an andalite bjd?" and yes. they were absolutely correct.

this also finally motivated me to sculpt a centaur body with more joints. i'm very happy with the range of motion in this, especially how nicely it lies down. need to work a little bit on stability, but the poseability is where i want it.