My Mixed Media "Deerly Yours" Art Dolls From The "Beyond The Imaginarium" Class

The second part of the "Beyond The Imaginarium - A Compendium Of Holiday Merriment with Mary Jane Chadbourne" was to make her "Deerly Yours" block art dolls.

I had bought Mary Jane's "Deerly Yours" unfinished wood kit as I didn't want to have to cut the wood.  The kit had enough wood to make three tiny art dolls, two of which had reindeer antlers.

In this class she provided several different ways for finishing their faces and one way was to learn how to watercolor them.

I had never drawn faces for dolls on a flat wood surface before let alone watercolor painted them so this was a new experience for me that I was really looking forward to learning.

I have always felt that drawing faces was my weakness and an area I definitely needed a lot of practice with.  So, while I was looking forward to this I was also hesitant as to whether or not I would be able to do it and would be happy with the outcome.

Well, Mary Jane is such an exceptional artist and teacher I had no problem following her detailed, step by step methods for learning how to watercolor paint their faces.  They came out so much better than I had expected they would and I was pleased with them.

As I was drawing and water-coloring each of the faces their little personalities started to develop.  As doll makers know this tends to happen with "dollies" which is why I always say they have minds of their own.

This dolls' face came out reflective and thoughtful so I decided to create a "gentle" theme for her.

This dolls face came out "playful" and a little mischievous so her theme needed to reflect that.

My 3rd "Deerly Yours" doll's face came out a little pensive so her theme definitely needed to reflect. that.

I had so much fun with the faces I can hardly wait to apply the techniques I learned to other ideas that are swirling around in my head now. For a woman who never does anything in moderation that could be a disaster...lol

I tend to favor "Victorian" or floral embellishments for the dolls and crafts I make as well as sponge painting them and did so with all three of these dolls.

I also decided to make them angels as well and embellished wood angel wings from my stash.

My 1st "Deerly Yours" art doll face was reflective and gentle so she needed coloring and embellishments to reflect this.  So I chose a gentle green, nature and floral theme for her.

She loves flowers so they are evident everywhere.

I wanted this doll to be a little Victorian (now why is that ...lol)  with Christmas color floral embellishments so I gave her floral a collage outfit with red paper flowers and wired miniature floral.

I added a "Merry Christmas" sign that I had embossed in gold, silk floral, and floral stencils to her base.

I didn't realize until I took these pictures that some of the embellishments I had added around her wrists had come loose.  Oh, well! I fixed it but decided it wasn't worth it to re-take all the pictures....nah!

My "playful" doll was the 2nd "Deerly Yours" art doll I made.  Since she was a little bit mischievous she needed a color theme to go along with that and red seemed a perfect choice.  While she's playful and mischievous she's also a bit of a tomboy so I also gave her a woodsy theme.

I'm not sure if she's a bit of an imp or wondering if she's going to be caught playing a trick. Definitely a little "devilish" even for an angel.

I'd been saving some tree and reindeer ribbon garland that I had bought years ago and wanted to use.  However, I just never seemed to find the right application for them until now.  What's more appropriate for miniature reindeer antler doll who's a bit of a tomboy than reindeer and woodland ribbon embellishments.  Seemed like a perfect fit to me and I was happy I was finally getting a chance to use them.

 

She really seems to be wondering about something and questioning whether it's worth it..... don't you think? Hmmmmm.........

Even though she's a little woodsy I decided she was still a little "frilly" so I gave her a little Victorian flair and added the pearls to her neck and base.

I added a gold embossed wood sign to the bottom of her dress.

With a blues and pensive theme going on my 3rd 'Deerly Yours" doll was the most decorated of the three art dolls I created.  I decided to add glitter embellishments, Christmas garland, a paper deer and other "blue" Christmas embellishments to compliment her theme.

This art doll is so pensive one has to wonder well she really likes the holidays or not.

Her blue collage outfit is embellished with a star that I embossed with teal powder.

The paper deer was also part of the Christmas gift tag set that I bought while shopping at BJ's close to ten years.  I think the blue reindeer is perfect for this dolls "blue" theme and hope you would agree.

Truth be told I had way too much fun with this class and my mind is swirling with all the possibilities of other dolls and crafts that I could make now utilizing some of the techniques I learned here.  Oh, the possibilities.......