Doll Portrait: Esme

Something I wanted to share :-) As you all know, I am a huge fan of Sarah Faber's Dolls (aka: Black-Eyed Suzie)

When her last shop update happened I was beaten to the draw by a very nimble-fingered friend. There is a reason we call her a comment ninja... she has uncanny powers of posting comments on drawings and photographs before you've even clicked the submission button.. it's truly amazing.

Not realizing she'd adopted the doll I had my eyes on, I sent her a very childish message full of moaning and wailing. Oops. Wasn't I embarrassed?! To show her I harboured no hard feelings, and was infact, overjoyed for her, I drew this little portrait of the doll, Esme.

And Annina's photograph of her:

A doll-like countenance...

It's clear I've had little else besides dolls on my mind lately... all my latest coquettes have been looking positively dolly recently.

Remember that secret project I was meant to be working on, nothing else, everything put aside till it's done?
Well, I happen to be very well trained in the art of procrastination.
Allow me to introduce these two little time-wasters I completed when I should have been working on that afore mentioned project!!

I cannot even begin to deny (and won't try) that the latter of the two ended up looking very Black-Eyed Suzie-esque...

ps. They'll both be skipping off to etsy soon, too :-)

The beauty of an original #11

I only recently discovered Sarah Faber's dolls, but let there be no doubt that it was love at first sight.

Giddy, aching, obsessive love. The sort of love where you want to be sitting at your writing table, with candles burning, dressed in a silk gown and lace shawl, writing detailed and lengthy love letters on ageing parchment with an ostrich feathered quill pen. Then you sprinkle scented parfum on those letters, seal the flowery envelope with wax and deliver by carrier pidgeon. Then you wait all night, by your window, staring into the deep night.........

too excesive? I'm sure you get the point, but that's how I feel about Black-Eyed Suzie dolls. The tattered Victorian in me fell helplessly, utterly and irrevocably in love with her characters and the stories she creates for them.

 Her dolls are all beautifully hand crafted. Tattered bits of lace and torn silks, whispy hair styles, pouting downturned cherry lips, and oh, the eyes. Beautiful, big, melancholy eyes she makes herself. I think it's definately the eyes that snagged me so.

So far I've survived two of her shop updates. By survive I mean waiting expectantly infront of my computer screen for the exact second her shop update happens, the heartwrenching process of choosing, the incredible self restraint not to click "purchase" on each little urchin that tugs at my hearstrings.

Before I gush any more and embarrass myself for life, let me introduce these little wild girls from the woods, shall I?

Black-Eyed Suzie (Sarah Faber)

Cecily & Philomena

~*~

please do visit her :-) at etsy or at her blog

Philomena's Portrait

As I’ve been thinking of the art-dolls that I’ve been adopting lately as muses, I like to put them to work as soon as I can.

This little Victorian urchin is a portrait of Philomena, my first Black-Eyed Suzie acquisition.

I find it interesting though challenging to try to capture a portrait likeness of not only a doll, but also of someone else’s artwork and style. Not only is it a little tricky to keep the portrait style in my own vein of work, but also to keep the figure looking like a believable character rather than a frozen “doll”. Well, the latter was not such an issue here, as Sarah’s dolls are so full of emotion and brimming with expression. In fact, much more so than my humble depiction of her, I just couldn’t quite capture that exquisite melancholy gaze!

One of the most lovely things about Sarah’s dolls is there expressive hand made eyes. There is such depth to them, to which no watercolour drawing on paper can compare.

The muse and the resulting artwork:

Wide-eyed Coquettes

They're wide eyed and bushy tailed... and even if I tried I couldn't deny that a certain Black-Eyed Suzie aesthetic has crept its way into these girls.......

Serious Flora

Stern, steely, serious Flora.
Dressed like an angel, with a glare cold enough to freeze your little heart.

Stephanie

With a very enchanted-doll-esque collar and corset....

Scarlet Romantic

A little lady in red. Her roses have wilted and her letters have been read, crumpled, and tossed aside.

The beauty of an original #10

I have admired this artists work for a long time. I remember discovering her work as a teenager and just falling deeply in love with the characters she creates, and the melancholy world they inhabit. I have always been deeply inspired and in awe of the sheer amount of drawings Natalia has made. I do not know how she finds the hours in the day to produce all that she has. It is something I wish I could emulate, just draw draw draw!

Now that I'm in my frivolous Art-Collecting mode, I was delighted when she decided to sell this original, one of my favourites from her "Precious Things" limited-edition art-book. And it truly is amazing, to look at all the details up close in real life. Her style and technique is wonderful to behold in the flesh. It's definitely left me hungry for more.

So here's a little snapshot of her beautiful drawing after I framed it, and some of the other muses posing delightfully infront. They'll be introduced later!

Natalia Pierandrei - Pioggia (Rain)

Dear Santa....

All I want for Christmas is....

Looking for something unique for that beloved aesthete in your life? The sweet gothy girl you've been crushing on? That lovely fellow who wears Victorian-era bloomers to the office? A Black-Eyed Suzie gift certificate is for all those in your life who have a penchant for the creepy cute...