Notes on the Making
Process, decisions, behind the scenes — how the stories get made.
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The sequential art of dolls – Scott McCloud’s Making Comics
I read Scott McCloud’s “Understanding comics” years ago, when I was thinking of making an adventure game. It’s a high-level look at the art of comics – well worth a read if you’re doing anything in the realm of sequential art. I’d missed his more practical guide – “Making Comics” – which is totally fantastic…
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Through the miracle of Photoshop – changing your doll’s expression
I love my dolls’ faces – all of them – but in the midst of an episode I’m often struck by the unanimated expressions of inanimate objects. I hit this most often with Daisy, who has a decided happy expression on her face through all manner of unsettling experiences. (Oddly, Camellia’s expression is suitable to…
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My Doll Adventure 25: Rosie’s bird adventure, part 2
In our last episode, a falcon appeared in the garden while Rosie slept. Rosie’s story continues. ***** All paintings from Gustav Klimt, who lends himself to birds :). I’d wanted to use Chagall, whose dream-like worlds fit the dreamy nature of Rosie’s adventures, but he’s already crammed so many objects into his paintings I couldn’t…
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Angles of motion and selecting in Photoshop
I’ve been working on the first photograph from Rosie’s bird adventure – the photo where she’s flying off with the bird. Here’s where I started. Just me, holding Rosie and the falcon above my head while I photograph upwards. For Rosie’s dream shots, I always use a painting in the background. For this episode, I’m…
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Lots of learning about photography, but no pictures
One of the benefits of my new backwards weeks is that I can sit down and learn new things, instead of rushing through a photoshoot. That’s what I did this weekend. I’m working through two books. One is a Photoshop training guide. Nothing exciting, but I’ve learned a ton of things about selecting objects and…
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My Doll Adventure 24: Camellia finds a friend
In our last episode, Camellia received a gift of clothing and food. The next morning, she leaves the camp to gather fruit. The panther doesn’t follow and stays in camp. When Camellia returns to camp, she sees the panther standing by a stranger . . Together, they work on building a hut . . .…
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Fire in miniature photography, and a hut
On Monday I wrote about getting the right shots for the start of Camellia’s next episode. Today I’ll show you my experiments on bringing fire in miniature photography, and the makings of a hut. By Friday, I should have everything ready for her episode. I’ve seen different suggestions for making a fire that looks like…
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Set up for Camellia’s next episode
I’m flipping the schedule the week (and maybe for the following weeks as well, if it works out well.) So, instead of starting with the finished episode on Monday and talking about it the next couple of days, I’m going to write about doing the episode on Monday and Wednesday, and then share the finished…
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What I’m working on in April
My main doll adventure is humming along nicely (although, not bloodlessly :)). We’re halfway through the 7th sequence (a full round of each doll’s story), with 3 full and one short sequence remaining. With the main plot sketched out, my big remaining issue is sets. I took everything apart when I moved things around last…