KOKESHI DOLL
Here is glimpse of the Kokeshi doll that I just finished... yeah, it's that tiny thing left of center in the photograph. The doll will be part of an exhibition at The Japanese American National Museum, in Los Angeles, this June. It was a fun experience mostly because I spend so much of my time working on the computer, so when the opportunity arises where I can investigate new materials to work with, it's all the more fun.
Here is glimpse of the Kokeshi doll that I just finished... yeah, it's that tiny thing left of center in the photograph. The doll will be part of an exhibition at The Japanese American National Museum, in Los Angeles, this June. It was a fun experience mostly because I spend so much of my time working on the computer, so when the opportunity arises where I can investigate new materials to work with, it's all the more fun. 
The Kokeshi dolls are wooden but as you can see, the final doll looks more ceramic. I basically sealed the surface of the doll with Absorbant Ground and then drew on top of it using ink and watercolour. Afterwards I poured resin onto it (... I know it's super toxic, but I use it only about once every year or two...) to give it the appearance of a glassy surface. Initally I planned to keep the content more obscure, focusing more on creating a pattern, but somehow I moved in this direction drew a face, and then hair, etc. In the end, it ended up looking like my best friend. Ha!
