Hi all! I wanted to share my current doll sculpting project. I am a beginner in Blender and creating ball jointed dolls in general, so I'm sure I'm probably not going to be doing things the most efficient way, and I'm sure I will encounter a lot trial and error when it comes to perfecting the joints, but that's what learning is all about.
This doll sketch I created about 2 years ago and I'm still eager to see it strung together, even if the first draft is rough. I really like to proportions of this doll and I like the oversized head. I don't plan on making it overly detailed since clearly realism isn't the goal here.
I don't love the side view, and clearly hands and feet will be an after thought once the rest of the body is complete, but I'm fine with that.
My general plan of attack is to simply get the head and body (minus hands and feet) modeled and printed as soon as possible. I think seeing it in real life will help confirm that the doll is living up to expectations or if major changes are needed.
The very first step is setting up the new sculpt file. I edited my drawing and saved the front and side views as different files, which can then be imported to Blender as transparent reference images with opacity over the sculpt.
I had previously attempted to get a quick first draft crated in clay, but never quite got to the finish line there.
Blender has been difficult to learn - I had actually tried on a few occasions over the past decade or so to learn it on my own and failed. This time, I spent the last week actually taking the time to take some free courses online and I'm pleased to say I understand the basics enough that I'm excited to give this sculpt a go!
Wish me luck, it will be a lot to learn, but I'm happy to be learning something new. In the long run, I think it would be so fun to do craft shows with my custom dolls and sell a variety of boutique doll clothing for some popular brands.