Customer Reviews

Designing the Doll: From Concept to Construction

5 star:		(21)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

"Designing the Doll" gives many great examples of remarkable artist dolls, but it also gives some excellent how-tos that will help you realize your own designs. This isn't a project-oriented book; there are no real step-by-step instructions that will help you make a specific doll. Rather, this book gives the artist a good grounding in basic technique. Where you go from there is entirely your own business. Some of the techniques Oroyan covers are: sculpting, jointing, soft bodies, wire armature and materials. You'll come away from this book with enough information to design and follow through with your own projects.

It's been a long time since I made a doll, but this book has got me wanting to try all sorts of new things.

Anatomy of a Doll was great....but Designing the Doll is absolutely fabulous! I eagerly anticipated this book and was not disappointed. The pictures alone are worth the price of the book, but the details included in Susanna's book are just incredible. Concise and thought provoking. You won't look at making a doll the same way again. Obviously I highly recommend this book for anyone interested in taking their doll making to the next step.

What would the doll world do without Susanna's books? Designing the Doll is just as informative and inspiring as her first two books. She provides very useful information along with fabulous pictures of all types of dolls. The details in this book are very helpful to the serious doll designer as well as the hobbiest. Her flow of information is logical and well thought out. If you make dolls or simply like to look at them, this book is for you!

I bought this book to learn more about doll and puppet making. I learn a lot about different types of dolls and the doll making process. If you are a puppeteer this is a great book with excellet ideas. If you just want to learn this book will inspire you.

For any of you who believe that dolls are just children's toys or cutesy collector's items, you have obviously not seen this book. Oroyan's Designing the Doll: from Concept to Construction, is a very impressive book. While it is as advertised, a book on making dolls, it is first and foremost an art book. Throughout the book, the author is addressing the student as artist. She covers issues such as color, texture, drawing, abstract and impressionism, scale, etc. The details of construction are included as are some patterns, but the greatest value of the book is actually in the illustrations of finished dolls, some by the author and some by others. These are exceptional works of art. Some are actual portrait works, capturing in miniature the personalities of those portrayed. Others, while they may have had human models, are designed to capture an essence or spirit, an impression or meaningful event. When one sees dolls such as these, one understands instantly why a person would collect them: they are Michelangelos in miniature.

This book is such a treat to look at--wonderful photos and the script is clear and concise. Dollmaking has taken on new meaning with the elimination of "cute" and onto art pieces. Good show!!

The pictures in this book are incredible! The multitude of eclectic styles inspire, and while this is not exactly a how-to, it gets you thinking about the possibilities. In the book, Oroyan focuses more on the different options an artist has: planning ideas (and ways to do this), materials, questions to ask when thinking of the concept, elements of design (e.g. form, scale, color, etc), and she includes some sample sketches that illustrate these ideas, showing some do's and don'ts along the way.

While I have never made a doll, this book has been useful on a few levels. The discussions on scale, caricature (again, with do's and don'ts and how to achieve different goals there), creating abstractions of the form, trying different styles, working with faces and hands, gestures, clothing patterns for the dolls, different materials, anatomy...this book has so much to offer! The images alone earn Designing the Doll 5 stars--everything else is icing on the cake!

This book includes some amazing images. There are several artists in this book besides Susanna Oroyan, but it is definitely her work and the details she brought to her pieces that make one want to begin the process of doll crafting. The book's doll images seem a bit dated now as many of them were created to reflect pop culture images from specific time periods. This is a good companion piece to have along with S.O.'s other doll crafting books. It provides excellent instructions on creating the doll's basic form and then ideas on how to proceed once the "skeleton" framework or wire armature is done. Susanna Oroyan was a treasure. Her generosity in sharing her knowledge and skills is sorely missed.
Sincerely, rainadelmagick

In this book Oroyan takes the concepts she introduces in "Anatomy of a Doll" and adds detail, lots of detail. She introduces the doll maker to the mathematical formulae of proportion, balance and design. Don't let that scare you. She shows you ways to apply all that she has introduced . The examples in here are even more stunning than in "Anatomy..." and more diverse in their topics and construction. While she introduces "mixed media" dolls in her anatomy book, here she explores the range of forms they can take.
This book is an excellent addition to any serous student of doll construction's collection or as a resource for someone needing to make figures for some other project.

I purchased this book and read it all the way through. It was very interesting, and delivered the goods on how to design a doll. I loved the conversation on the thought process that a person goes through (or may need to go through) to design a doll. I love that the author left designing the doll in your hands, by giving you the tools to make your idea become a reality! The author understands that each person wanting to make a doll has their "own" way of doing things. She sweetly guides you through all of your options from "your" idea, construction, costuming, face concepts and much more. "Designing the Doll" is a great doll making reference guide for getting your doll out of your head, into your hands, and out into the world.