Ode to Silly Songs

This is probably one of the silliest pieces I’ve ever worked on. I’ll be the first to admit it. It’s actually been in the works for over a year (wow! has it really been that long since I first came up with the idea?). Our ADO team (Art Dolls Only, an Etsy team) recently decided to do a monthly challenge called Bathing Beauties and this partially finished doll had to come down off the shelf and be finished because she fits in perfectly with that theme. As you can see, though, she’s not quite done yet.

Here's the lovely and not quite finished bathing beauty.

Now, let me just give some background to this. My husband and kids were hanging around the dining room/kitchen one day (can’t remember what we were doing) and I started singing the Purple-People Eater to my kids, figuring they would like it. Of course, my memories not what it used to be and I started mixing up the lyrics with Itsy Bitsy Teeny Weeny Yellow Polka-Dot Bikini. As you can imagine, it made for some interesting and even sillier lyrics than the songs normally have by themselves. To top it off, my husband was convinced that the Purple-People Eater sang, “Why’s everybody always pickin’ on me?” during the song.

Side view. You can see her wings, three-fingered hand, saggy butt...

Which is how the Purple-People Eater wearing an itsy bitsy teenie weenie yellow polka-dot bikini and wondering, “why’s everybody always pickin’ on me?” was born. As you can see, she’s still a work in progress. She needs hair (probably sculpted although I might use some yarn/fiber), ears (holes poked into the sides of her head), and I haven’t decided if I will give her a tail yet or not. And she needs to be painted, naturally.

Back view

The other thing I’m not sure about is her expression. When I look back at my original sketch (I didn’t think to take a photo of it so I could post it here), I made her with a big smile on her face, really fat lips and a couple of fangs. No nose either. The one I’ve done has a pretty human looking nose and a little mouth that’s down-turned because I figured she’d be sad/embarrassed since everyone is picking on her. I was even thinking of making her cheeks very rosy. But when I look at the sketch, I think she might be better with a smile, so I may change that before I finish her up.

Close up of her butt and wings

The painting may end up the being the biggest challenge for me. I recently decided to take a little more control of the various paints, pastels, etc. that I work with and bought pigments so I could mix my own artist paints/colors. I now have “the fear” of getting in there and actually mixing up some paints (acrylics or egg tempera are two types I’m looking at). Maybe I’ll take some photos while I’m playing, as one site put it, studio alchemist. Then I can share my disasters and, hopefully, some successes as well with the paint mixing. Hmmm, I may have to just pull out my artist acrylics from the box they’re in (waiting to be sold) just so I can finish this doll by the deadline.

The front of my lovely bathing beauty to be.

Tags: ADO monthly challenge, ADO Team, air-dry clay, art doll, Art Dolls Only, Lady Artisan, monster, purple people eater, Sculpting