The Six Finished Dolls - Doll # 3

Here is Doll # 3

Sorry, but I had been asked on Facebook if my dolls are still available. Someone already owns this set. I prefer to sell a set. The clothes will have the same theme.

My idea for this set was Summer, Sleeveless, flat shoes, 1950's 1960's. As if Ann Margret was performing in Bye Bye Birdie. Did you ever see that movie? lol.

Just to let you know, I clocked myself making the shirts. Yes, they may be sleeveless, but it took between 6 to 8 hours for each one of them. I drink a lot of coffee and I did way back. Sometimes I stopped working at 8 a.m.! I will show you two pictures of my clutter. I also took a footage of the clutter, where I panned my camera, so there was a lot of fabric and thread on the floor, then I showed my sewing machine and serger, and then I also showed some books and my electric guitars nearby.

Whenever I worked on the dolls, I sometimes had tutorials on writing or music - guitar playing, harmony, etc., playing on the computer screen. I don't watch television. I tend to watch whatever is online. I'm surprised YouTube has long documentaries, and I like watching stuff about aliens and UFOs - well, I'm a writer, so I'm looking for stories I might possibly become interested in writing.

Here's the third doll. Take the green screen out with Photoshop or something else, if you want to make the pictures more personalized. I hope you like my work.

I will finalize the hair when I give them to the collector. I don't want to keep styling the hair too much. This is why this one has "big hair" even though it's straight. We're talking miniatures anyway, so it's not like you put some sort of conditioner or whatever here. My biggest worry is preservation of the work. The porcelain keeps forever, as long as the piece is not dropped, but I have to make sure the rest of the work is durable. I can't just experiment with materials, because at the end of the day, these are art dolls. You can check Wikipedia - there is an entry called "Art Doll."

The Six Finished Dolls - Doll # 2

So I will let you know what their names are, but be forewarned, they will have a lot syllables, it would be hard to pronounce them. Nickelodeon or Comedy Central might get this funny idea, that all the names, and they will carry my last name, are like different people from different alternate realities, and maybe we all do something to solve a mystery. But it's for kids, really. So there's really not just one dollman, there are many. It's an idea. Actually I really just wanted to name the dolls in a crazy way... okay, here's an example. Chulafracatina Farvularlurtinderloo-Zubiri. I think as long as there's a "a" ending the first name, it's a girl's name, unless it's kinda Japanese, then it should end with an "o."

Aside from my written books, I'm now confident that I can rewrite and illustrate the classic fairy tales, using pictures of my work, all costumed appropriately.

Well, not just that, I can make myself available to do workshops and seminars, and that's another set of books.

The green screen is to help you take out the background, so you can make your nice little backgrounds, maybe add a poem or something. Or use them as your avatar in the forums. As long as it's for non-commercial use, you are okay, no need to ask me for permission.

I'm available to be sold by art galleries, art representatives, doll stores and interior designers, but if you want to contact me directly, please do so. I'm happy to make the dolls / dioramas for you, but be reminded all this takes time, and I will ask for a nonrefundable payment.

The Six Finished Dolls - Doll # 1

I want to name them, but I have this notion, an interpretation of Construction - Deconstruction. So it takes a long time to make a doll, even when they are in a batch. The process with the porcelain requires for the dolls to go in the kiln about 7 times, all the while hoping that nothing goes wrong.

Then there is dressing them up, and adding the wig and jewelry, etc. Then I add the backdrop.

So my construction - deconstruction thing is to finally name the dolls really long names and give them funny stories. I also think this stems in the fact that my full name, Valentino is 4 syllables. When I was in school, Valentino was the longest names in school.

Here's something else, I am also adding my last name as if they were my ex-wives. Sorry, but it's a stupid joke, and it's a way to get my name circulating with the dolls. I've never been into naming them normal names. Then I say, in some other reality, I'm sure all this is real. haha. I'm going to say so-and-so is my 938th wife. So I'll assign a random number and just later on catalog which set really was first and so on.

I'll write more on the next entries.

So here's my first of the six. I hope you like them, and share this blog with your friends and kids.

Once again, I'm posting in order to let kids and other internet users use the pics for themselves, like avatars or making non-commercial greeting cards and adding poetry, etc.. This is also the reason for the green screen.

Finished Dolls by Artist Author Valentino Zubiri!

Ummm,  I had to mention my name on the headline because Google indexes that. I'm not self-centered, I assure you, but it occurred to me to once in a while add my name on the heading.

I'm sorry it took a while to get back. I have been busy up until May, doing something else. Then I decided to finish the dolls, but I also felt I had to study more stuff, including enamels, engraving and stained glass.

I'm uploading 130 plus pictures in separate blog entries. So here is the first set, which will be the shoes, all finished and shaped like shoes.

If there is any knowledge I can share with you. The shoes are striped to match the fabric. They have metal inside, and it's the metal that is keeping the shoe shape.

My desire to make the shoes as "realistic" as possible, is due to lessons in engraving using gravers. Engravers actually use microscopes, or scopes, in order to keep their work as detailed and accurate as possible. If they have this type of discipline, then I thought I should also probably have this type of discipline, at least with the shoes.

I'm sharing all the pictures I took, because there might be kids out there who might want to use it for their internet presence, especially since this set is done.

If you are interested in collecting my work, I'm available. I would prefer that you get in touch with your favorite art gallery, art representative, doll store or interior designer to get in touch with me, unless you are okay dealing with me directly. The dolls in the picture already belong to someone else. I only plan to use a doll's head twice, once for the collector, and once for myself, so I could tour the work, or take photographs.

Just to remind you, making the art dolls from scratch is very time-consuming and there will always be a wait.

I am still looking for a literary agent and have yet to finalize anything with a commercial publisher, but you can now purchase and read Dollman the Musical, A Memoir of an Artist as a Dollmaker, on both Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble.com. It's a good read, about children and their problems once they've grown up. It can change your life. A Hollywood film company expressed interest in reading it, and all this can take years, if something even ever happens.

I am getting more exposure, having finished this set and sharing pictures on flickr and facebook, together with BlogSpot.