"How is it going?"
Lawrence had been standing, posing for his portrait for what felt like hours.... Monica came in to check on Narin's progress.... She kept looking at her husband, who she thought looked absolutely magnificent. "How is it going?" "Fine, my Lady. I'm quite happy with how the painting is coming along." "I know His Majesty is too busy to pose like this a second time..." "So I've been focusing on capturing all the details of his regalia first. I'll address his actual likeness later." "Well, it looks like you've been doing an excellent job so far." Lawrence interrupted the two of them.... "My horse is getting very restless. He's had enough with standing here." "it's time to stop." "Very well Sire. Time to call it quits for today."
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Narin did a quick sketch and started painting. He'd never done a royal portrait before... Narin was highly educated, but also had a love of art, so had studied under the best artists of the day. However he found there wasn't much money in being a painter, so he found a position as the King's secretary instead. But he was still a very skilled artist, and was feeling reasonably confident that he could do the King's portrait justice. He started with a quick likeness of the royal robes.... Narin knew better than anyone how busy the King was... So the goal was to start by capturing the details of the royal robes .... ...and that of the horse's armour... ....and then he could finish the King's likeness and the background later, at another time. Narin went to fetch Lawrence's horse... "His groom has fed and watered him..." "..so he should be good for a while." "Hopefully he won't get too restless before I can capture his likeness." And then Lawrence and his horse were finally ready for their portrait..
Lawrence was almost ready for his portrait. "You still need your crown, my love." "Not that one. I'd rather be immortalized in something less ostentatious." Monica wasn't going to argue. It was enough that her husband was even going to pose for a portrait, so she passed the crown of state to Narin to place on the throne. There it would be in the background, but at least still in the painting. Then she placed the smaller royal circlet on Lawrence's head instead. "Hold still!" Finally he was ready...
Monica and Narin helped Lawrence into his royal robes.... "I really don't have time for this," he complained. "I know dear. But it's been a long-standing tradition." "And it's only once every ten years, Sire." "Well, I guess we better get on with it then." Narin placed the royal chain of office on Lawrence's shoulders.... ...and adjusted it a bit... "There...I think we are almost ready."
Lawrence was a busy King and didn't really have much use for pomp and ceremony, but it was part of his job, and Monica kept reminding him that it was traditional for the King to pose for a special portrait every ten years to mark the anniversary of his ascending the throne. So he didn't really have much choice. The Queen, who loved her husband dearly, dreamt of a magnificent portrait of him all decked out in his full royal regalia. So it had been arranged.... As luck would have it, Narin, who was the King's private secretary, also happened to be a very skilled artist, and he agreed to paint the portrait. Which pleased Lawrence no end, because he could still discuss business with Narin, instead of wasting his whole day standing there posing for a painting in silence with some flaky artist. Narin was all set up in the great hall, ready to begin. "I understand that you'd like your horse in the painting as well Sire..." "...so he's waiting in full armour, and I'll fetch him as soon as you are ready." "Great. Shall we get started then?"
It's been a record-breaking warm 'non-winter' and now we are headed into an early spring. Sara had picked some pussy willows... ...and was out enjoying the beautiful weather... ..watching the geese in the spring flowers...
When my first Baby Elf from DreamHigh Studio arrived last summer, I found her head way too bare looking. But I didn't want to make a wig that would make her head look even bigger, so I painted some hair on her. My intentions were to paint hair on my second baby elf and all the faceplates. But that meant both dolls would look exactly the same, which didn't seem all that appealing. But then, when everyone started getting their own baby elves, someone posted a wig making tutorial on Facebook that showed how to make a really wispy baby wig. It looked adorable, so I thought I'd give it a try. The wig cap was made the same way I always do, by first covering the entire doll with two layers of plastic wrap, then wrapping the head with a long strip of 1/2" wide peach coloured tulle. The wig cap tends to shrink a bit, if the tulle is pulled tight, so it's important not to stretch the tulle when wrapping the head. It was convenient that the doll didn't have eye lashes, so I could tie string around her head so the tulle was nice and smooth. Then I painted on the first layer of Gemtack glue. It has to be Gemtack glue since it dries waterproof, which means the wig can be wet later, without falling apart. After the first layer of glue dried, I painted on a second layer. When the second layer had dried, I carefully drew on the edges of the hairline so I'd know where to cut the cap. Then I removed the tulle cap, and the plastic wrap from the doll. I cut the wig cap along the lines I'd drawn. Then I covered the baby's head with a new double layer of plastic wrap, and secured it around her neck. (which always feels so wrong, like I'm suffocating the doll) Then I started the tedious task of gluing on individual tufts of mohair, by first brushing a line of glue on the wig, positioning the end of a thin wisp of mohair on the glue, and then using the brush with more glue to securely hold the mohair in place. Each time more mohair was added, it needed to completely dry before more could be glued on. I was working on two wigs at once, each a different colour, so had to be careful not to mix up the two colours of mohair. I kept gluing on thin wisps of mohair until I reached the crown... Then I brushed some glue into the middle of the crown, and laid two thin strips of longer mohair criss-cross across the crown. When the glue was getting tacky I pressed it down with the edge of a comb to suggest a 'part'. I'd occasionally press the 'centre part' until the glue had dried. When the wigs were thoroughly dry - I waited 24 hours to make sure - I wet the wigs, carefully combed the mohair, and applied a bit of hair gel. Then I started trimming the hair, snipping upwards towards the crown one tiny bit at a time. I was very pleased with the final result - nice thin, wispy baby wigs that didn't make their heads look bigger...
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AuthorMartha Boers is an award-winning Canadian doll maker and costumer specializing in fantasy and historical-style costumes. Archives
March 2024
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