For the last year or two, I’ve been fascinated by sculpting tiny hands and feet and trying to achieve a realistic look of them. It wasn’t always like this, my preferences changed over the years and my dolls changed as well. There have been a lot of different stages, from creepy dolls to melancholic slender creatures. At this point, I’m exploring how detailing can change the character of the doll. So in this article, I want to delve into the topic of sculpting at a very small scale and how to achieve that realistic look when creating art dolls.

You don’t have to sculpt every detail

This might sound counterintuitive but sculpting every tiny detail can make your doll too over-processed, too technical and lifeless. What I’ve found in my trials and errors is that detailing a few body parts and leaving others quite simple can give a lot of character to your doll. Usually, I spend a lot of time detailing hands, feet, facial features and keep the parts like legs or torso plain. Those realistic components stand out even more when the rest of the doll is smooth and not over-complicated.

Best practices in detailing small features

Since this topic fascinates me so much I talk a lot about it in my new masterclass for ball-jointed dolls. Detailing can take such a long time but it’s quite therapeutic if you have enough patience, haha. I like to combine two techniques when detailing - sculpting with tiny watercolour brush and carving after the clay has dried.

Sculpting in layers can make a big difference as well. Air-dry clay tends to mush and squish together if you’re not waiting for the previous layer to dry. This can prevent you from achieving clear and crisp details when sculpting.

Anatomy knowledge

You don’t have to know every bone or tendon but being observant and have some basic anatomy knowledge is essential when sculpting realistic details. Even though I’m trying to achieve that realistic look, I don’t strive to be 100% accurate. That’s the beauty of doll making - you can stylize human anatomy and still sculpt lifelike features.

For example, when sculpting hands, I like to create a skeleton frame that depicts the bones of the fingers. Knowing where the finger bends, how the joints are aligned helps to sculpt more realistic hands. For such anatomy lessons, I really like the proko.com website. Even though it’s meant for drawing, the simplistic way of explaining human anatomy and clear drawings are very helpful for sculpting as well.

Have realistic goals

Sculpting incredibly detailed and lifelike dolls might be aspirational for a lot of artists at least once in their careers. But it’s very important to have realistic goals so you won’t get discouraged from the get-go. If you’re just starting out, make room for yourself to become comfortable with the medium you’re working with. If it’s air-dry clay, test all the techniques, see what’s working for you and then gradually introduce more difficult designs. As with everything it takes a long time to train your eyes and hands to achieve something that you see so clearly in your mind. Have fun and keep practising, it’s the only way to reach all your goals in this realm!

Two different feet sculpted by me in the year 2014 and 2019

I hope these tips were helpful to you. Let me know if you have any questions in the comments below. Consider joining my BJD masterclass if you’re interested in this topic. I’ve tried my best to gather all the anatomy knowledge, sculpting techniques and detailing practises in easy to follow tutorials, videos and step-by-step photo instructions.