25.6.12

An Another Great News

          In the last year, "The Immortal Classique" has made several female dolls, starting with “Sahara”, “Bai Zuzhen”, “Evginia”, “Adriana”, “Pocahontas”, and “Queen Victoria”. All of them have been well-received by doll lovers, collectors, and many of my friends and fans. Because of your feedback, I’ve been able to improve the dolls themselves, the photography, the props, and every other aspect of the craft. Though the effort is exhausting, it gives me great pleasure whenever I finish another doll, costume, or prop. And as an added benefit, I have come to know several talented artists, such as Freddy T., Miwa M., Cholo A., Tatiana F., Marina B., and Chewin M., who have given me the inspiration to succeed.

 I'd like to announce here that it's the time to reveal the latest project, my first Immortal Classique male doll, based on the work of another talented artist with whom I am friends: Nene Tina Thomas. Before we'll talk about the details and theme, I'd like to say something about my male doll's inspiration. Several months ago, I received a lovely email from her about my dolls. Since then, we have been in constant contact, and we have been exchanging ideas about bjds and art. After a while we become close friends. She sent me a link to her website,(link) and I fell in love with many of her paintings. Some are romantic, some are like the fairy tales from mythic history, and some show the emotion of the character through the facial expression. One character in particular struck my fancy, called "Lord Phaedron Daane". When I first saw it, I thought it was just an ordinary painting that Nene had been inspired to paint. When I asked her about it, I learned that Lord Daane is one of the major character of a book series she and her husband are writing, called “The Zarryiostrom”. Nene and Steven work together on the series, with Steven writing the book and Nene creating the imagery. Unlike many novels, this one contains many pictures of the characters painted by Nene. They are so incredibly beautiful. After seeing them, I didn’t hesitate to ask Nene for permission to make a male doll inspired by "Lord Phaedron." 

         From my Facebook page, many of you probably followed my male doll project for a while, before I stopped working on it. It may have seemed like I abandoned it completely, but the doll was kept in a drawer while I worked on some of my female dolls. I thought several months ago about coming back and working on it, but I was suffering from a lack of inspiration. None of the ideas I came up with seemed to fit the doll, and so it sat idle, until I saw the painting of Lord Daane. I realized that the main reason that I should start with this project as my first male doll was just because I loved it! 

"Lord Phaedron Danne" by Nene Tina Thomas



I like almost every aspect of this character’s face, from his charming look, the oval shape, full of lips, and long raven-black hair with its distinctive white streak. His eyes are very tender and calm. He looks very tall and slender, which is perfect for my tastes as I don't like broad shoulders, or big muscles with six pack abdomens. He looks less like a fantasy character than a modern mannequin, with a more realistic body type. In the story, Lord Phaedron is 20 years old and his character is very honorable, which is reflected in his look. When I asked Nene about his costume, she said “unlike my other characters, who are very serious, Phaedron is a little bit more casual. Pretty much all of my other male characters are wearing jackets so this sets him apart a bit.” I asked her if I could design an outer jacket with no sleeves, and she said that would be fine. That made me happy, because I think a black jacket with some metal on it could make him look like a warrior.
        As a final detail, I have asked Nene to send some close-up pictures of his pistols, main gauche-dagger, and rapier. The pictures below show the props designed by Nene. I'm so excited to see the whole things get done. It make take times to produce these props for Phaedron, but the results must be great. 
All weapons designed by Nene Tina Thomas
                                
        The props and the costume of Phaedron's look very powerful, so I think the diorama for him should be glorious and magnificent, too. I imagine three large gothic windows lining the polished walls and floor of a midnight black marble corridor, perhaps accented with a luxurious chair or a elaborate vintage couch. I’m not sure about the big chandelier, but it would be nice if I can find one. Through the windows maybe you can glimpse a clear blue sky with some clouds,  and perhaps some branches with tiny pale cherry blossoms. I have pictures in my mind, but I only need time to make the whole things into reality. Now it’s time to bring the male doll back and start modifying him! For more working processes of the male doll, please visit the facebook fanpage.(link)

Thank you very much to:Nene Tina Thomas, Steven Plagman and my friends here.Hugs/Nune

*all pictures are the copy rights by Nene Tina Thomas.