Notes from the Artist: The Making of Sally
So I am a long time fan of Tim Burton. I have wanted to make a Sally for many years and here she finally is.
So this doll took me a week to create. Now for anyone who works at home you know that a week or work is not 9 to 5. So many days and nights to create this girl.
I started with her body. I wanted to make sure I could get a good color. I had a Frankie Stein and she is a pale green and I needed her to be a bluish grey. So I clipped off her neck bolts and sanded down her entire body. Then buffed it and sprayed it with a uv matte sealer, giving me a tooth to adhere the color of PanPastels. Working on this in many layers until I was happy with the color. I had already removed the hair.
After I knew her color was nice I went ahead and set her aside to work on the dress. I was pretty excited about this because I had to hand dye each piece of fabric and then hand paint them to create my own textiles. This was super fun.
Once the fabric was dry and it was soft and flexible I create the pattern for Sally's dress. It was kind of complicated but I enjoyed it. I had to hand sew the entire thing because of the size. And then I added the top stitching in the end for those final touches.
Next I found a perfect pair of black Monster High shoes and cut them down to look right and then hand painted and sewed the socks.
So with her costume completed I had the idea that I wanted a stand for her that would be awesome. The base began with a piece of wood. The top was coated with apoxy and then sculpted it to give it a stone floor appearance. I made a table and pressed the feet of the table into the apoxy to give it an anchor so when the pieces travel the table can be put in a stable place.
I let those things dry so I could paint them and moved onto Sally's hair. I used a method of wigging and then partial rerooting to get the hair to lay down properly. I used saran hair.
And then it was time for all those accessories. I spent a lot of time sculpting each individual piece. The three containers for Worm's Wart, Deadly Night Shade and Frog's breath was made out of apoxy. I also made the tiny thread in Sally's basket along with a loaf of bread. Oh and the Jack O'Lantern. The cat, soup and spoon were made from polymer clay.
Some items are found and redone to go along with the set up. I really enjoyed ever aspect of this and I am contemplating creating Jack. Though he would more than likely have to be hand sculpted.
The Jack Skellington "chair" was something I owned and thought looked cute next to the set.
Thanks for stopping by! Her auction is live right now.
XOXO Laurie
