Latest Adventure in Doll Making

Designing an original Buster Keaton cloth and paperclay figure...

I began by sculpting a simple 2-1/2" face in polymer clay (the purple mask on the left). I'm NOT a sculptor, so this was a challenge.

But the idea was ultimately to create a mold in which to make paperclay casts, so I could recreate the doll face however many times I wanted. For molding material, I selected a two-part silicone molding putty, which once mixed, sets up in less than an hour! After curing and cooling the original poly clay sculpt, I pushed it into the silicone compound. Once the silicone had cured, it was firm but flexible, and I was able to pop the original mask right out of it. The flexibility of this molding compound eliminates any worries about undercuts. Another nice thing is there's no need for a release agent. Instant gratification (after hours of agonizing sculpting -- ha!)

The next step was to push the casting clay (in this case, an air-dry clay other than paperclay, since it was what I had on hand, and I'm really impatient) into the silicone mold. Again, no release agent is required. After making the cast, I removed it from the mold to allow air to circulate around it, since it takes a day or two to dry completely. It shrinks a bit too. The white mask on the right is the cast.

The next step was to draft a pattern for a cloth body for the figure. I was able to get a head start by adapting a pattern I'd drafted ten years ago. It was for a larger-scale female figure though, so I had to do some tweaking of body dimensions and proportions, and to scale it down. I cut, sewed, and stuffed some mock-up body parts to make sure I was figuring correctly.

Here I have pinned a test torso and upper leg together. Buster Keaton was a short man, so I think these proportions look about right. He seems to have too narrow shoulders, but the upper arms will complete the shoulder lines and give him a more typical masculine upper body. And a bit of needle-sculpting can provide muscle definition if needed, but I'm getting way ahead of things here.

The clay mask will be glued to a cloth head-back. I plan to fill in and smooth out the resulting seam/gap with paperclay. Ears will be cloth and sewn onto the head back before the clay or any other media are applied. Once the head is constructed, smoothed, and sanded, it will get a coat of gesso, then be painted. Hair will need to be glued on; I haven't decided yet what to use for the hair.

I plan to sew Buster's iconic outfit from his silent shorts (including the pork pie hat!), which means I'll have more pattern drafting to do. But I don't mind that -- I love designing clothes.

By the way, here's the doll I designed ten years ago, the pattern of which I'm adapting for this latest doll:

That's right, who knew that Bettie Page would one day give birth to Buster Keaton?