From: =?Windows-1252?Q?Mathieu_Ren=E9?= <creaturiste-AT-magma.ca>
To: <PaperMacheArt-AT-yahoogroups.com>, <puptcrit-AT-lists.driftline.org>
Date: Tue, 9 Jan 2007 21:55:50 -0500
Subject: [Puptcrit] Review: Wendy Froud's Dollmaking DVD


Hi all. I just got and watched the two-disc DVD, and here is my review...


Creating a Faery Figure,
With Wendy Froud.
(2-disc DVD)

Available on: 
The World of Froud website (cheaper shipping (at least to Canada), but only Credit cards accepted)
www.worldoffroud.com

The Gnomon Workshop (credit cards and Paypal, but more expensive shipping)
www.thegnomonworkshop.com

My review:

Awesome!
Highly reccomended.
Very detailed, very complete, very impressive, yet totally accessible.
So captivating I watched it all in one sitting (240minutes), on an empty stomach (got it in the morning), with only two short interruptions (quick phone calls I received).


Wendy Froud shows you the magic, but makes it accessible to almost everyone.
I say almost, because it is a very detailed method, one needs patience, open mindedness and dedication to follow along. You also need to take the time to actually do the work. In today's fast-paced world, that's not a given to everybody. As a technically oriented person, I am delighted she went into so much detail! She gives ideal tips on how to make things so much easier. Her method for doing hands is so much easier than anything else I've seen or tried!!

She speaks as she works. What is happening in her hands seems to tell her what to say.
She doen't give me time to  think about questions, she explains well and generously, with  just the right amount of repetition or proper assimilation.

She works with a wire and foil armature, does the head, torso, hands and feet out of Polymer clay, and the rest of the body in soft materials.  The first DVD has all the info you need to work very well with polymer clays (not much about baking, but you can get that info on the package of your polymer clay).
She's the smoothing Queen!  For the modeling step, the same methods and tools apply to when working with oil-based clays (and most of it for ceramic clays as well).
The supplies she uses are surprisingly quite inexpensive and easy to find.

Her method is very logical and practical. Each step builds on the one before. Lots of hindsight involved.
Wendy Froud is a creature of contrast: great strenght and grace at the same time.
Watching her work is fascinating, and it is impressive that she can talk so fluidly about the process as she works.
Other Gnomon workshop DVDs I've seen involved a lot of narration dubbed after the fact (which is totally ok too). If this one features some of it, it is seamless.
 
At the end of the two-disc video, I felt confident I could make such a doll without having to watch the video again.
But of course I would watch it again, and again...

Makes an awesome gift for anyone who likes creating with their mind and hands!
I got it as kind of a gift (in exchange for an Art doll I will make).

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