I have been fascinated with the Russian Rag Dolls for a long time now. I have been collecting information abou
Group of ten Russian handmade dolls Circa 1920's These ten miniature dolls were individually hand made, possibly in the 1920's. They were given to me a few years ago by an elderly friend who said they'd been hers when she was a young girl living in Russia and that her uncle, a toy maker, made them for her. My friend was 102 years old when she passed away earlier this year. VRMD#1 To preserve their market value, I've made no attempt to clean or fix them in any way. The material they are made from at first appeared to be balsa wood, but a hole in the bottom of one of the dolls, probably made by a nail the doll was attached to while it was being decorated, shows what appears to be some sort of composition material which is waxy and hard - so I do not really know what the material is. Many of the dolls have individually braided hair, which seems to be silk thread and the old style painted on clothes and faces are done in a naive style. Other materials used in decoration for hats, scarves, etc., are: a very fine tissue paper, vegetable husks, and what seems to be cotton or felt. Feathers in a hat look as if they came from a down pillow a very long time ago; they are quite worn. Each doll, except one has a label on the bottom with what appears to be the name of the doll in Russian. I have posted photos of each doll, including the labels on the bottoms here as there were too many to post on the store On Etsy. If you are interested in purchasing or making a bid on the group click on any of the doll’s pictures you will return to www.LaloBean.etsy.com These sweet family of sisters, as I've come to fondly regard them, would make a wonderful addition to any serious Russian doll collection. VRD#4
Musetouch Visual Arts Magazine
Heralded as the "new wave of Russian art-doll designers", Elena and Ekaterina Popovy's eerie and surreal creations captivate the viewer from the first moment, true works of art. The Perm natives, have studied art and fashion design in the Ural State Academy of Architecture and Arts in Yekaterinburg, yet their passion for designing and sculpting
Giles, Prada and YSL dress models of a different shape
A video posted by ?????? ??????, ????????????????? (@michael_zajkov) on Jan 17, 2016 at 4:52am PST Russian artist Michael Zajkov is an incredibly talented
These eye-popping art dolls will give you the shivers.
Artist Marina Bychkova sees her hyperrealistic dolls as more than just toys. Working under the name Enchanted Dolls, she sculpts elegant, ball-jointed
Michael Zajkov, from Moscow, makes dolls that are painstakingly hand-sculpted, with glass eyes and French mohair wigs with uncannily human expressions that are snapped up by collectors.
The most challenging part of creating a matryoshka doll is painting the face. This is a special job reserved for our portrait artists alumni of the Higher School of Folk Arts or the legendary Stieglitz academy. But all artists need guidance. Occasionally the leading portrait artist explains the intricacies of painting on a convex wood surface. This master artist also demonstrates how to mix tempera paints with water because painting wood with water-based paints requires special consistency. Photo: Brushes of different sizes for painting Nesting dolls How to paint the matryoshka doll face When painting nesting dolls, we encounter the distortion of proportions due to the doll's convex surface. We use a small mirror to achieve perfect symmetry and natural, feminine features when painting the nesting doll. There are several stages in painting a matryoshka's face: First, we smoothen the wooden surface of the matryoshka doll with thin and soft sandpaper. The area where matryoshka face will be painted must be perfectly smooth. We then apply a light primer made from water and PVA glue (Elmer's glue). At the next stage, we draw the face with an HB pencil. We use this pencil to mark the doll's face and other small details. After drawing, we check the doll's reflection in the convex mirror. Using a convex mirror, we can notice minor flaws and asymmetries unnoticeable to the average eye when looked at directly. We mix tempera paints with water in the right proportions. The master portrait painter inspects our brushes and the tempera paint mixture. We use natural zero size brushes. Using such brush size is slow and difficult. However, this is the only way to achieve the natural and sophisticated features of the matryoshka face. How long does it take to create a matryoshka face? Photo: painting a traditional matryoshka face on blank dolls Even when creating a standard five-piece set, the long and detailed process takes one to two days. But painting large nesting doll sets (30 piece matryoshka dolls) takes a minimum of four days. How does a fabulous Matryoshka face appear? The inspiration behind our Firebird nesting doll's face is the image of a cute little girl from Russian folk tales. Our Blonde beauty with blue eyes attracts attention with a naïve expression of her eyes, a good-natured smile, and a healthy, childish complexion. A pale pink blush helps to make the cheeks look natural. Photo: An exclusive Matryoshka doll face Our main catalog of nesting doll faces includes ten sketches divided into two groups: classic and exclusive. We paint the classic matryoshka sketches on the main series of our Firebirdworkshop matryoshka catalog. The exclusive faces are drawn and painted once; sometimes, several copies are made. They are exclusive because there are no similar dolls to such masterpieces. They're drawn and painted by our finest portrait painters. Sometimes the exclusive matryoshka dolls portraying a girl in Russian folk dresses and similar outfits are sold as part of private orders or our limited edition collection. Photo: An Snow maiden nesting doll featuring an exclusive matryoshka face However, when drawing and painting on a blank doll, we take into account our customers' ideas. If necessary, the portrait master reproduces the matryoshka's face from the customer's photo. After all, Rome was not built in a day. Creating an exclusive nesting doll takes three times as much as creating an ordinary one. Photo: Artist painting a matryoshka doll set Just before you leave… Thank you for reading this article. Click here to read other posts about Russian nesting dolls. If you have any questions, you can contact us via chat or by email.
I have been fascinated with the Russian Rag Dolls for a long time now. I have been collecting information abou
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More often than not, people think dolls are meant for children, but a Russian couple’s work can prove them wrong. Anastasia and Sergey Lutsenko’s dolls look like real humans: each one has her own unique look, personality, and charisma. They have an incredibly realistic human-like appearance, making us wonder what the artists’ process is like, from modeling the wigs and clothes to making them by hand.
For some, porcelain dolls are eerie creations found in horror movies, such as Annabelle. And yet, they usually play a huge role in one's childhood and even elicit nostalgic memories later on in life. Whether it's a ragdoll or a sophisticated Barbie, many people, even as adults, remember their dolls, and there are still those who count them as collectibles.
