31.5.12

Box-Opening: nYID Emilia

After spending the night before last in a sleepless state of anxiety over whether nYID Emilia would arrive and what she would be like, the package arrived.


My excellent assistant, Mr. Black is helping to unwrap the box.


A first glimpse at all the treasures!


The box of clothes and the wig.


The inner box.


The nYID boxes are all glossy and snazzy compared to the EID boxes, but somehow, they feel a little more fragile.


With the lid taken off, I could see the nYID manuel for restringing, the CoA, and Emilia's head.


Another shot of Emilia in her box (sorry for the blurriness).


I took her out of the foam cushions and began to unwrap her packing.  Her peach-gold skin looks like some kind of hideous pink against the green blanket-- I can say this is not a very accurate representation of her real colour.


Detail of her blank face and shoulders.  


Inside her head-cap, which I think shows the peach-gold colour a little bit better (though in all honesty, this is kind of a magical colour that seems to change dramatically depending on the light and colour context).


A partial shot of the after-math:


After this, I started to work on her face-up.  As I may have mentioned, this was the first time I had ordered a full doll blank.  Initially, I felt concerned that I wouldn't be able to enjoy the experience.  There have been two (or three) box-openings that disappointed me hugely because the doll arrived with a face-up that I did not like.  Based on these precedents, I expected the worst.  

Instead, it simply felt as though the doll could not properly arrive until she ceased to be blank.  I did not even bother to try her dress and wig; all that I could think about was giving her a face.

So, I raided my art and face-up supplies and set to work.

Progress: basic blushing.

Progress: eye-brows.

Progress: more stuff done to eyebrows and blushing.


Progress: for how long can I avoid painting eyelashes?

Progress: I continue to avoid painting eyelashes.


By the time I finished the face-up, the sun had long set.  Only then did I try the outfit.


Iplehouse designed a stunning ensemble for their lady-- I feel incredibly lucky to have this outfit.


The purple is a beautiful, rich hue in person, and the jacket of the dress is rather swoon-worthy. 


Here is a first shot of nYID Emilia wearing her opera gown.  I am focusing on her hands because their aesthetic beauty is likely to have an edifying effect on even the most casual viewer.


And here she is!  I realize the face-up is not 'professional-quality' and that my technique has still many improvements to make, but considering that I have not yet seen any Emilia's with custom face-ups for inspiration, that the weather was very inadvisable for face-upping, and that I had never painted on this colour of resin before, I will admit myself to be pleased with the result. *puffs*


A quick close-up to deflate my ego >.<


Thank-you very much for looking!

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Notes:  On the whole, I am impressed with nYID Emelia.  Although I did not have particularly low expectations for Iplehouse, Emelia is even more lovely in person than I anticipated.  As I worked on her face-up, I kept finding nuances in her sculpt that surprised and delighted me.  

The nYID body is wonderfully curvaceous and has many improvements from the EID female body.  I am so glad that Iplehouse changed the elbow joints.  They also made some kind of gear-like joint in the hips so that the nYID girls can sit straight better.  I had a bit of trouble with making Emelia stand, but I think this had a lot more to do with the weight of her wig and elaborate bustle-era dress, than with the doll itself.

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26.5.12

nYID Emilia is almost here!

 

My nYID Emilia from Iplehouse has arrived at the local airport.

I am so ridiculously excited and nervous.  Excited to see this nYID girl in person, but nervous because I ordered her blank, and not only have I never before tried a face-up on a skin tone like peach gold, but I've also never had a full doll arrive blank, and I don't know if it will impede my initial appreciation of her or not.  Also, I haven't seen any non-company face-ups on the Emilia sculpt anywhere, so I'm very unsure of what is going to be possible. 

Even so (or should I say, especially so): 

24.5.12

Cold Comfort









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Madeline, my Raurencio Studio Adonis/ Iplehouse hybrid in a sad, dreamy mood.  She's still so mysterious to me.
 

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14.5.12

The Hospital Visit

After being increasingly sick throughout the month of April, I had to go back to the hospital.    When I had been there for a few days and my condition was good enough that I could do more than just lie in bed, my mother brought Elena to visit me.


We took a little walk around the hallways near the SSU, where I spent most of my time.  

 






  


 


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 Two extras: my bedside table and a close-up Elena



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I don't think I can ever say how grateful I am to my wonderful parents for their support during this ordeal.  I must also say that I was frequently extremely glad to be sick in Canada rather than elsewhere, and that the RNs Re---, Sa---, De---, Go---, Pa---, and Se--- were fantastic.  

Thank-you everyone for making a difficult time a lot better!

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