Book Review: Susanna Oroyan books

The following review is written by Cindi of ClayItAgain.artfire.com

This week I am reviewing 4 Susanna Oroyan books. You probably wonder why I chose to do 4 at once. Well, as the titles infer, they are all about the doll making process.

I first saw Susanna Oroyan on the Carol Duval Show several years ago. She had several dolls (part polymer clay with fabric clothes). At first I didn't like that idea. In fact I despised it; the fact that she was 'cheating' and not using polymer clay clothing! How jealous is that of polymer clay? LOL Just looking through these books is like eye candy for an aspiring doll maker. There are polymer clay dolls, paper clay dolls, soft sculpture dolls, primitive dolls, beaded dolls, any kind of doll you can imagine and every book is just filled with pages and pages of inspirational pictures.

Susanna is a master doll maker and shows every step along the way to making any kind of doll you can imagine. She has 100's of photos (from over 100 different artists) of all different kinds of dolls.

Fantastic Figures deals with clay sculpting of dolls and every aspect of it-from the head to the feet. This book is strictly clay dolls where as the others have various other mediums.

Anatomy of a Doll is just that- basic doll anatomy; different forms, heads, body joints, and assemblies. There is even a face gallery showing pages of just faces on different types of dolls-painted faces, soft sculpted, polymer clay. And when it gets time to add hair, there is a whole page of different ideas for hair materials to consider.

Designing the Doll is taking your doll making to the next level where you begin to do constructive thinking about your future dolls. Proportional charts for adults dolls(women and men) then teens and children and toddlers. Forms, design elements, armatures (which ones would be best for your project), construction material, and assemblies.

Finishing the Figure is all about dressing and accessorising your doll. Ways to make fabric clothes for your dolls, how to make patterns, and how to add the details that bring your dolls to life. She shows different ways to mount your doll a stand if that's what you want to do.

I just can't say enough about all the inspiration in these books. And even though I would not consider making a cloth doll, there are several that have inspired me even so. I paid full price for all the books and I could never part with them simply because it is so easy to get lost in them for hours at a time...the photography of the dolls is that good. If you ever want to delve into the doll making aspect of polymer clay, try looking through her books at the book store and see if you can walk out with just one ;)

What will be next? Not sure....Maybe Lisa Pavelka? or Maureen Carlson? Leave me a comment and let me know what you'd like. Until next time, happy claying!