In the beginning when the art doll is only a fleeting thought, just a glimpse of an idea, the excitement starts to build. I'm not as disciplined as some.  I don't usually sketch and plan everything down to the last detail.  It grows in my mind, and when I start, the fleeting thought grows and takes on its personality, and I can hardly bear to stop.  The doll doesn't always end the way the way it begins.  Sometimes, it sort of dictates  and becomes.

Each soft body doll begins with a wire armature that is reinforced with brass tubing. Over that is placed a body skin which is then stuffed and needle sculpted to form the muscles and shape the body.  The heads, arms and hands, feet and calves are hand sculpted from polymer clay, then baked, sometimes painted, sometimes with dry China paint or heat set paints, and then attached to the body. Brass posts are inserted in the base and fitted into the brass tubes in the legs.  Most of the sculptures are removable from the bases. The mohair wig is usually the last to be placed on the doll.

Last year, I began to teach myself the intricacies of the body developed by the world renown doll artist, Robert McKinley.  His method has fascinated me since I first learned of it.  It has been quite a journey but so rewarding.  The last four character doll sculptures I've done have been using his method, and I love it.  I still use the soft body method previously learned for Santa's but will always use McKinley's method for my other works.  If you've not tried his way, you should.

I've also recently begun rooting the hair into the raw clay before baking.  The results are so life like.  This is also a new procedure that I will continue.  Rooting the hair is tedious and time consuming, but I feel the results are worth the time and effort.

I've known since before beginning to sculpt how the doll would be costumed, working out the details as I worked.  The entire process is fun, but the costuming is the icing on the cake. I talk to them; they sort of talk to me; my husband shakes his head and smiles.  The process, depending on the difficulty, can take a week to a month or more.

Original Art Dolls by Lynda Dunham-Watkins

                    Powderly, Texas

The Process

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