Saturday 21 February 2015

The story of a stamp design

Art doll made from paper clay

I thought it might be interesting to share the story of how some of my new stamp designs for Stampotique originals came about and today I'm going to sure the story of 'Queen of everything'

I have long had a bit of an obsession with art dolls - the weirder the better! My daughter used to make lots of wooden spoon dolls and it always brought back lots of memories of making them myself as a child. Oh yes, the satisfaction of sticking the eyes on and a bit of wool for the hair! And then those dolls really came to life. But what I really liked about them was their unique wooden spoon shape ... that long neck ... that oval face!

A couple of years ago I started making art dolls from paper clay and dressing them in scraps of vintage fabric ... subconsciously the shape was rather similar to those old wooden spoon dolls ...


In my Art Doodle Love book by Dawn Sokol (which is my favourite place for sketching and practising) I tried to draw similar shaped doll faces. As you can see it took me a few attempts to get it right. In these early attempts the proportions of the face are all wrong:


But then it got a bit better! Try and try again .... And I decided to add the hair slightly differently ... in the style of Leia (Star Wars) although this was very much influenced by Dina Wakley who used to add this style of hair a lot in her drawn faces.


And then wooden spoon doll became part of a much larger doodle in my book:


And from that I added her to various other projects such as an altered matchbox ...


And a mini journal page:


And that's how things evolve! Generally speaking I'm not afraid of getting things wrong, I'm quite happy to try again, and try again. Mistakes are the proof that you're trying, right?!

If you want to see how the stamp turned out in the end have a look *here*!
Don't forget, there is a Stampotique blog happening right now to celebrate and showcase all of the latest releases. Check out my previous post and join in the fun!

Please note in the UK Stampotique Originals are available from:



18 comments:

  1. How lovely to hear the story that inspired the stamp!
    Your art work is amazing and I am so pleased you now have a range of stamps
    It's Crafting Time near Cambridge is also stocking Stampotique rubber stamps and has ordered a selection of yours including this one I believe!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Kate, thanks so much for sharing your inspiration story! Your new stamps are wonderful and you must be so very excited- why, I'm excited for you!! heehee Best wishes! xoxo

    ReplyDelete
  3. Loved making those dolls too lol, both a e you improved your doll making skills ;) thanks for sharing your creative process I found it fascinating and am just loving your style :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Great to hear why and how it all started. Xx

    ReplyDelete
  5. Great story !! Great stuff Kate !

    ReplyDelete
  6. thanks for telling the story,your stamps are so great.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Lovely Story !!!!

    I want them all haha...

    ReplyDelete
  8. I need to get some of your stamps they are so cool thanks or sharing been trying to carve my own not easy but fun yours are an inspiration zen hugs have a great day

    ReplyDelete
  9. That's sooo interesting Kate. I love your wooden doll faces. I'm reminded a bit of Worzel Gummidge when I see them.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ha ha! Too funny! I used to LOVE Worzel Gummidge and Aunt Sally :-)

      Delete
  10. Thanks for sharing the story about how the new Queen of Everything stamp came to be!

    ReplyDelete
  11. What a great story. Loving your new stamps

    ReplyDelete
  12. This is so Great to hear the story behind your art. Thanks for sharing.

    ReplyDelete
  13. CONGRATULATIONS on becoming a Stampotique Stamp Designer Kate! Loving your whimsical designs and it's fab to read how The Queen began.

    Looking forward to getting a few of your images! :-) x

    ReplyDelete
  14. She is gorgeous, I loved hearing about the process :)

    ReplyDelete
  15. All your angels are BEAUTIFUL ♥

    Didn't a gorgeous, talented lady once say, there are NO mistakes :D

    ReplyDelete

Thanks so much for leaving a comment!