Making a "blurry lines" background for doll photography. An experiment.
Oops! How's your summer so far?
While working on one of my previous posts, I chatted on Twitter with a fashion doll stylist who gave me some great pop photography ideas. While we were having a "chat", I came across some ideas for templates and designs to use for the wallpaper, but since my previous post was getting too long, I decided to save it for future publications.
When I started photographing my doll with my phone, I got the idea to make a background/line blur. A few months ago I bought a new phone which has a portrait mode which blurs the background much more easily than my camera. In fact, some of the pictures from my last post were taken with my phone. So I thought it would be a good idea to have a fuzzy/unclear background to take pictures of the dolls. I wanted to make something very simple for everyone and with accessories that everyone could easily find. So I grabbed my crafting kit and decided to do a little test. I don't have a plan, I don't know how it will end, it's just a pure desire to do something. Looting Warning: It didn't turn out the way I expected, but hey, I learned something along the way. Let's start with a bit of my experience.
At first I thought of drawing a large piece of cardboard, but it could be a bit big for a first project. A sheet of A4 paper can also be very small and should not be larger than a serial box. Luckily I discovered a few weeks ago that my regular stationery store now has A3 car sheets that I use and are easy to use. I bought two, one black and one white. For today's craft, I'll be using white. I also chose to use two acrylic paints: Folk Art in Light Periwinkle and Americana Acrylic in Sea Bridge .
I chose to keep my page in a vertical position because that's how I lay most of my wallpaper and I thought it would look better. Then I measured and marked the center of my skin.
Since I wanted to make 3 strips, I decided to make each 7 cm (2.75 inches) wide. I started marking the center and made sure the center of the strip was aligned with the center of the skin. That is, I measured 3.5 cm above and 3.5 cm below the marked center. From there I noticed the top band is 7 cm and the bottom band is 7 cm. I'm not drawing full lines, I'm just marking the points so I can have a guide. Since it's a blurred background, it doesn't have to be perfect, but I just want it to be fairly symmetrical.
Now it's time to start drawing the lines. I started with my Seafoam color in my top row. You don't have to draw perfect strokes, just make sure your brush is slightly dry by the time you reach the edges.
I ended up with something like this. Again, this doesn't have to be perfect, as "wave" is the key word here.
Then I painted the bottom line with my bare palm paint. Again, you don't have to hit the perfect shot. You can draw the inside first and then draw the edges with the "dry brush" technique if that's easier for you.
My original idea was to paint a center line by mixing two colors that would go out of color and have some sort of "gradient". However, you never know how some of the factory colors will react when you mix them. Their formulas may contain pigments that are not very visible but react strangely with other colors. Let's see what happens.
The color didn't come out the way I expected, so I ended up adding Amsterdam brand acrylic paint and it looked closer than I did.
I drew the center line with this color again with a dry brush technique around the edges. If you think the medium color has taken up the other two, you can always take a little more and touch the edges.
And that's the point. I know it's not a masterpiece and it looks a bit flimsy, but I hope it looks good on camera.
Once dry, I moved to Lorna McNessy for a quick shoot.
I think this color scheme will suit girls of Lara's generation. I rescued them from my parents' house a few years ago and don't really show them here. Now is the time to shine.
I think it would be a good idea to keep the page in a horizontal position to see what it looks like. I think it tastes better that way.
Overall, I'm very happy with the results, although I made a few mistakes and the results weren't what I wanted. I wish the color looked more pastel, but it dries darker than expected. At first I wanted to get some sort of watercolor effect, but was afraid that if I mixed too many colors, the cardboard would shrink. It does crease a little, but when the paint dries, it snaps back into place. Either way, I think it looks good on camera. I could do something similar in the future, but with warm tones, only next time I will test my colors first.
I also found a piece of printed paper at a small stationery shop in my town. It has a small diamond print on one side which looks really good on camera
However, it has a 70s print. For some reason, it reminds me of bathroom tiles
This is a fairly large sheet. For reference, here is a "behind the scenes" image.
It comes from a brand called Maildor, which I just saw and is also available on Amazon. If you want to research it, here are the details:
Hope you enjoy this article. It took me centuries to write it. I took all the photos and then I was too busy and didn't have time to write a post. When I finally have time, I don't feel too inspired to write. I'd like to write a few more articles before the end of the summer, but I'm a little busy and don't know if I have the time or the energy. It's not that I don't have ideas for future articles, but when I see how busy I am, I feel like I don't have enough time, which overwhelms me a bit and makes me less eager to write. Has this ever happened to you?
I want to end this post on a positive note by greeting my pop friend Dom He was one of the first doll collectors I came across when I started collecting and he is invaluable. He is an Oz collector and you can check out his amazing dioramas on his website . You can show her love on her Facebook page, My Doll Space .
I hope you had a fantastic summer and see you in my next article. You have to be careful.
MC
PS I just got my title and they are pretty good. We'll see how the next semester goes.
Similar posts:
Quick and easy pop photography background concept
Create more pop photography backgrounds
While working on one of my previous posts, I chatted on Twitter with a fashion doll stylist who gave me some great pop photography ideas. While we were having a "chat", I came across some ideas for templates and designs to use for the wallpaper, but since my previous post was getting too long, I decided to save it for future publications.
When I started photographing my doll with my phone, I got the idea to make a background/line blur. A few months ago I bought a new phone which has a portrait mode which blurs the background much more easily than my camera. In fact, some of the pictures from my last post were taken with my phone. So I thought it would be a good idea to have a fuzzy/unclear background to take pictures of the dolls. I wanted to make something very simple for everyone and with accessories that everyone could easily find. So I grabbed my crafting kit and decided to do a little test. I don't have a plan, I don't know how it will end, it's just a pure desire to do something. Looting Warning: It didn't turn out the way I expected, but hey, I learned something along the way. Let's start with a bit of my experience.
At first I thought of drawing a large piece of cardboard, but it could be a bit big for a first project. A sheet of A4 paper can also be very small and should not be larger than a serial box. Luckily I discovered a few weeks ago that my regular stationery store now has A3 car sheets that I use and are easy to use. I bought two, one black and one white. For today's craft, I'll be using white. I also chose to use two acrylic paints: Folk Art in Light Periwinkle and Americana Acrylic in Sea Bridge .
I chose to keep my page in a vertical position because that's how I lay most of my wallpaper and I thought it would look better. Then I measured and marked the center of my skin.
Since I wanted to make 3 strips, I decided to make each 7 cm (2.75 inches) wide. I started marking the center and made sure the center of the strip was aligned with the center of the skin. That is, I measured 3.5 cm above and 3.5 cm below the marked center. From there I noticed the top band is 7 cm and the bottom band is 7 cm. I'm not drawing full lines, I'm just marking the points so I can have a guide. Since it's a blurred background, it doesn't have to be perfect, but I just want it to be fairly symmetrical.
Now it's time to start drawing the lines. I started with my Seafoam color in my top row. You don't have to draw perfect strokes, just make sure your brush is slightly dry by the time you reach the edges.
I ended up with something like this. Again, this doesn't have to be perfect, as "wave" is the key word here.
Then I painted the bottom line with my bare palm paint. Again, you don't have to hit the perfect shot. You can draw the inside first and then draw the edges with the "dry brush" technique if that's easier for you.
My original idea was to paint a center line by mixing two colors that would go out of color and have some sort of "gradient". However, you never know how some of the factory colors will react when you mix them. Their formulas may contain pigments that are not very visible but react strangely with other colors. Let's see what happens.
The color didn't come out the way I expected, so I ended up adding Amsterdam brand acrylic paint and it looked closer than I did.
I drew the center line with this color again with a dry brush technique around the edges. If you think the medium color has taken up the other two, you can always take a little more and touch the edges.
And that's the point. I know it's not a masterpiece and it looks a bit flimsy, but I hope it looks good on camera.
Once dry, I moved to Lorna McNessy for a quick shoot.
I think this color scheme will suit girls of Lara's generation. I rescued them from my parents' house a few years ago and don't really show them here. Now is the time to shine.
I think it would be a good idea to keep the page in a horizontal position to see what it looks like. I think it tastes better that way.
Overall, I'm very happy with the results, although I made a few mistakes and the results weren't what I wanted. I wish the color looked more pastel, but it dries darker than expected. At first I wanted to get some sort of watercolor effect, but was afraid that if I mixed too many colors, the cardboard would shrink. It does crease a little, but when the paint dries, it snaps back into place. Either way, I think it looks good on camera. I could do something similar in the future, but with warm tones, only next time I will test my colors first.
I also found a piece of printed paper at a small stationery shop in my town. It has a small diamond print on one side which looks really good on camera
However, it has a 70s print. For some reason, it reminds me of bathroom tiles
This is a fairly large sheet. For reference, here is a "behind the scenes" image.
It comes from a brand called Maildor, which I just saw and is also available on Amazon. If you want to research it, here are the details:
Hope you enjoy this article. It took me centuries to write it. I took all the photos and then I was too busy and didn't have time to write a post. When I finally have time, I don't feel too inspired to write. I'd like to write a few more articles before the end of the summer, but I'm a little busy and don't know if I have the time or the energy. It's not that I don't have ideas for future articles, but when I see how busy I am, I feel like I don't have enough time, which overwhelms me a bit and makes me less eager to write. Has this ever happened to you?
I want to end this post on a positive note by greeting my pop friend Dom He was one of the first doll collectors I came across when I started collecting and he is invaluable. He is an Oz collector and you can check out his amazing dioramas on his website . You can show her love on her Facebook page, My Doll Space .
I hope you had a fantastic summer and see you in my next article. You have to be careful.
MC
PS I just got my title and they are pretty good. We'll see how the next semester goes.
Similar posts:
Quick and easy pop photography background concept
Create more pop photography backgrounds
