If you’ve followed my work for a while, you might already know that I create dolls using two main materials: porcelain and air-dry clay. I’ve been talking quite a bit about porcelain lately, so I thought it would be nice to shift focus and share a bit about the air-dry clay I rely on the most.

I've been sculpting ball-jointed dolls for quite a while. Maybe six or seven years. And in that time, I've accumulated a few tips that I find helpful to be better at sculpting. So today, I want to share that with you. As always, let me know if you have any questions or need advice in the comments. Alright, let's move on to tip number one!

Making miniature shoes for my ball-jointed dolls is one of my favorite costume-making activities. I've been trying to incorporate even more intricate details into my designs. I feel that those details can elevate the doll to a new level. So today, I want to show you how I made these platform heels for my recent ball-jointed doll, Rafflesia. You can find a full video tutorial on my Patreon.

Since I started to create porcelain ball-jointed dolls, I’ve been fascinated with sculpting miniature features and getting them as detailed as possible. I feel like the hands, feet, facial features give so much character to the doll. But to get them right is always a challenge, especially if you sculpt on a small scale! So today, I want to share my favorite techniques for sculpting miniature features.

After sculpting the doll face you’re happy with, there’s another hurdle to overcome - bringing it to life with painting. I see some doll makers and students of mine struggle with this. Painting could make your sculpture look livelier, more realistic. So how to achieve that? Today I want to share some tricks which will make painting doll faces easier and more fun!

When I got interested in porcelain ball-jointed dolls, assembly was a great mystery for me. I knew that a lot of ball-jointed dolls were strung with elastic string, but porcelain dolls were different. Most artists used steel springs, and I couldn’t wrap my head around the techniques behind them. Today, I’m still trying to perfect my assembling methods, but I’m very close to finding a permanent way that works for my dolls. So keep on reading to see how to assemble a porcelain ball-jointed doll.

There’re so many tools and art supplies out there that it’s easy to get lost. I know the feeling! I wasted a lot of money over the years buying things that didn’t work for me. Because of that, I want to share a streamlined list of supplies that I use to sculpt ball-jointed dolls.

Porcelain is such an interesting medium that even painting it can be incredibly fascinating. It involves many layers of China paints, fragrant oils, firing the paints in the kiln, and lots of patience. Today I want to talk more about China painting and explain how it works. Keep on reading if it captivates you as well!

I remember when I first saw a ball-jointed doll, I was in awe. I had so many questions about the technology and design behind them. But the first question was: “How they made it hollow?”. If you never sculpted one yourself, but you’re intrigued with this art form, you probably have this question as well. Today I’ll try to show how to make a BJD hollow at the first stages of sculpting.