I really like his face.
That is all the tattooed men for now. I’ll get this last bunch into my etsy shop in the next few days. I have fish and lumberjacks on my desk now.
cherub tattoos
Sepia Man 2
He is an entirely different shape.
His toile tattoos show some Civil War scenes.
And that is an antique pearl button for his belt buckle.
A reminder- I am teaching a Tiny World Class at Gather Here on April 13 and 14. Come join the fun!
Zoo Tattoo
easter memories
Finally, it is beginning to feel like Spring around here!
Big Man- fancy
He’s got sparkly ric rak on his belt. I happen to have quite a bit of fancy trims, dating back to making costumes when my kids were little.
The back view of people on the back of his legs makes me laugh.
3/4 view
I’ve been thinking about doing a face from a different angle for a while, wanting to see if I could make it work on the same doll design. Here is my 3/4 view face-
Of course I needed a little push to go from thinking about it to actually doing it. This was that push-
That blue on the side of the eye. And this is how that ended up there.
There are many challenges in putting together a tattooed fellow. One is that I need a toile fabric for the tattooed parts and a plain fabric for the head and hands. The fabrics are over-dyed so the color needs to match, and to a lesser degree, the weave texture. If there is a section of the toile fabric that is plain, Hurray! I can cut my parts out of that. Sometimes I have to squeeeeeze and I’m thinking as I cut it, I’ll make this work somehow. Maybe I was thinking that I’d sew the little part of print on the inside. Or fiddle with the seam allowance. But then, later, probably many months later, when I sewed it up, I’d forgotten all about that. And when I stuffed him, there it was. And another blue print section on the other side of his face, now covered with hair. Because obviously, this was an opportunity for creative problem solving.
And I am so glad I made that little goof-up because who knows how long I would have waited to try this 3/4 view and I love it!
You can see that the ear is not sewed at the side seam as I usually do. And the other ear is right around on the (usually) back of the head.
Other details include another toile with a castle- I’m seeing a trend here. Also, a great old brass button and some very vintage white ric rac.
Sepia Man
He isn’t really all browns but I worked off that idea.
Another amazing toile with loads of fun imagery including more castles. The challenge is to decide what to highlight.
I chose this natural color antique button instead of metal. And used dark browns where I might usually use black.
Castle tattoo
This toile is amazing- castles and boats.
a class, an essay and the beach
I’ve got various random bits of news. I’m teaching a Tiny World class at Gather Here on April 13 and 14. Come join the fun! This class is suitable for anyone who can thread a needle.
And, I am the guest blogger (or Curator) at Jenny Doh’s blog, Crescendoh.com. I wrote an essay on the theme of “Art Saves” here.
We were away for a few days at a family gathering. On the way home we stopped at a few beaches along the East Coast and saw many signs of the damage from Hurricane Sandy. But still, the beach is so beautiful.
And one more thing- Instagram. I can’t stay away. I’m mimikirchner over there if you want to find me.