The Broken One

When I shelled Z, we decided to do the leaner version of him when he was just coming back from his brokenness a bit, and not at full weight, so he's on the leaner version of the Iple body. Lyn outdid herself with him. He is so detailed, he has his slave tattoo's, facial scar, Brotherhood pec scar, piercings and his back scars along with his girls, Nalla and Bella carved in his back. It's been a while since I've had him out for photos so I decided to get some new ones of him today.

Trying to show off his back scars and the carvings of his girls in his back here.

Lastly a shot of his face showing the awesome job Lyn did on his facial scar.

Fly By Nalla

Just a fly by shot of cuteness...………….Nalla and Boo.

The Healing Hand

Another old picture I dug out of the archives...……...showing the level of detail Lyn did on V's "healing" hand...………….well, in Butch's case its healing, not so much for anyone else.

Penthouse Playtime

I took these pics a couple of years ago, inspired by V and Jane playing at the penthouse.

Just thought I'd share them here as I did like how the whole series of shots turned out. 

The dolls can be a challenge to pose at times because of their weight and balance points, but both V and Jane were cooperating for me the day I took these.

And a shot actually showing Jane's face.........she really does "feel" like the Jane I see in my head. Both of these dolls do.

Second Chances

Since I hadn't had Selena/Therese out for quite a while I decided to give her and Trez a little play time yesterday to continue on with the romantic theme for Valentine's Day weekend. The color resin that Iplehouse used for this version of the Kamau sculpt was so beautiful I wish they had continued on with this color. The current ebony resin is much darker and not near as "rich". Makes me very glad I got this version of the sculpt, who does make my perfect Trez. Gotta love that eight pack.

Selena/Therese shares a body with another character, so she doesn't get as much playtime as some of the other characters. I do like this sculpt in this role though.............even if she isn't seen very often.

My favorite part of this pair is defintely Trez though.

Xhex and JM

Continuing on with the romance for Valentine's Day weekend, I put Xhex back together (she plays a different character in the Outlander universe) and got JM out for some new pics. I've been re-reading The Savior and was inspired by the 2 of them. I really haven't taken that many pics of them together in all the time I've had them. Part of that is I struggle with a correct wig for Xhex. I did however find a wig in my stash that I like better on her.

I really want to get a new body for Xhex so she is taller, now that they have released a slightly taller body for the women in the Iplehouse universe. Romantic pictures like these can hide their height differences pretty well though.

I like how this profile shot turned out. 

One last parting shot. They both look like they have a lot on their minds. Now to decide which couple I want to photograph next.

The Day for Romance

It's Valentine's Day, so thought it appropriate to revisit some of my favorite romantic shots of some of the couple's I have living here. I've been revisiting old photos a lot, some that I took back in 2011/2012 time frame and just adding a few edits. The one below is one such photo. I've been so lucky to have found artists with specialties in all areas to help me achieve my vision for these characters...………………..seamstresses/tailors/wig makers...……..and my friend Lyn Raftis, who through her artistic talent has brought their faces to life. V still amazes me every time I look at him, and Jane is pretty perfect for my vision of the character as well. The plan is to take some new photos of some of the couples during the weekend, but for now I hope you enjoy taking a walk down memory lane with me and enjoying some of the "vintage" photos, lol!

Rhage and Mary are two of the few dolls not painted by Lyn in my crew. They were dolls I had already acquired that seemed to plug into the roles of Hollywood and his Mary. He doesn't have all the little details of some of the other dolls, for instance I haven't had the Beast done on his back. Of course its rare I would photograph his back anyway, so never bothered. These 2 are definitely due for some new photos though.

I shared most of my Wrath and Beth couple's shots in my second posting earlier this week. As noted then, they are one of my favorite couples, even if they are a bit hard to photograph together as his resin is a bit darker than hers.

Z and Bella are definitely due for some new photos. Lyn put a ton of work into Z...……...making him just right. You can't really see the scar on his face well here, but its beautifully done, as are all his tats and piercings. He even has Nalla and Bella and all the scarring on his back. He's a wonderful work of art. For his hair Lyn also used fibre past to make it look like he had a skull trim and then she painted it to look as realistic as you can get on a doll that has a head cap.

Butch and Marissa...……….I've debated re-shelling Butch for years. He is a doll I had on hand when I decided I was going to shell the Brotherhood characters and I just plugged him into the roll. I like him with Marissa (who I do think fits her role better than Butch), but Iplehouse has since come out with a sculpt that I see in the role more...…………...so he may still get re-shelled down the road.

I do like this shot of them though.

Manny and Payne. I do love these 2 together, his sculpt  is my perfect Manny, even if he is a little tall in scale with the rest of the crew. I know you can't see his face well here,  I'll share more of them in another post at a different time. I wanted to concentrate on photos with a romantic vibe for today.

John and Xhex……….I still haven't found the perfect wig for Xhex. I have one that's close, but it was made for another sculpt and it doesn't fit perfectly around her ears. This one is a little long, but for now I'm making due.

Blay and Qhuinn……….2 of my favorite characters in the series. I just love John, Blay and Qhuinn partly because I guess we got to watch them grow up and we have gotten so much of their story over the years. As I mentioned in my very first blog post I've reshelled Qhuinn since I first started the group. My original Qhuinn's resin color never worked with Blay and I had to edit everything in black and white to make up for that issue...……….plus Iple came out with another sculpt I thought fit the character better, so I re-did an older version of Qhuinn with his Brotherhood pec scar. I am now seriously considering re-shelling Blay as well...………….the resin color has always been a bit too dark for a redhead. I had this sculpt originally on order to use for another character, when that didn't work out I pigeon holed him into Blay. I do LOVE his facial sculpt for Blay, but the resin color has just never been right. There is now another sculpt that has been introduced that I can see as Blay. I may just order him in the coming year and give Blay a re-boot as well.  In the meantime, I do like this picture of  my present Blay and Qhuinn quite a lot.

The last picture I'm going to share is of Xcor and Layla. My version of Xcor isn't exactly as described in the books. I know he has shorter hair...………..I just always picture him old world with his hair a little longer when I read for some reason, so my version is more in that vein.

I do have a couple more couples not shared here...…………..as I don't have photos of them that I'm really pleased with. I hope to remedy that and share them soon as well. Happy Valentine's Day!

Hollywood Stare

Just one shot for today, because I was going through old pictures again and found this one of Hollywood.  He really needs to come out for some new shots soon. I realized when looking through the albums I haven't photographed him in quite some time. Gotta love those baby blues on this guy though.

Twins

I took some new pics of V and Payne this week, because as I was looking through old pictures I came across this old picture of V and Payne taken in September 2011. It still remains  one of my favorite pictures I've taken of characters within the Brotherhood world. I realized that it has been quite a long time since I've photographed the siblings together. My thought was to symbolize them having each others backs even if they didn't grow up together, or in V's case even know the other existed.

 I  started thinking that I'd like to revisit that shot though and take some new pics of the twins. The photos below are the results. Both characters have had hair style changes since the above pic was taken. I do like the black and white feel of the above photo, and may edit the shot below in black and white eventually, but it was fun getting them together again. I wish Ward would revisit Payne a little more so we could learn a bit more about her. We get to see V quite a bit, which I love, as he is one of my favorites, but I'd like to see a bit more of Payne and how she interacts within the Brotherhood world, and how her relationship with her brother has evolved as well.

As I said in my previous post a couple of days ago spotlighting V, he is one of my favorites. His resin representation is almost spot on how I see V in my head. I have really grown to feel the same about my resin representation of Payne. She is pretty darn close as to how I see Payne in my head when I read too.

As I was photographing V and Payne, I was thinking about how twins are supposed to be so rare in the vampire world, yet there are quite a few representations of them in the story: V and Payne, Z and Phury, Ehric and Evale and now Rhampage and Lyric. V and Payne are the only set of twins I've shelled in resin. I have Z, but never got around to Phury, partly because he's always been one of my least favorite brothers and there was always someone ahead of him on the list that I preferred to shell first. Now, the sculpt I've used for Z has been retired, so even less of a chance we will see Phury in resin form, as I can't see using a different sculpt that wouldn't be identical to Z. I've not grown attached enough to Ehric and Evale to shell them...……...although who knows, I guess it could happen down the road. I do have Nalla and LW, so I guess I could eventually get around to shelling Rhamp and Lyric to keep them company. For now though, twins will be even rarer in my household than they are in Caldwell. I will endeavor to try and photograph these 2 more to share though. I had forgotten how much I really enjoy seeing them together until I got them both in front of the camera again.

Mr. Latimer-Cover Model?

I was looking at the cover for "Where Winter Finds You" yesterday and thought to myself...……….that cover model looks an awful lot like my version of Trez. He's even wearing almost the same thing. I actually took this pic of Trez a couple of years ago, but I edited it a bit yesterday. Doesn't it remind you a bit of the cover to Where Winter Finds You?

And now the actual cover for comparison.

And a sexy shot of Mr Latimer……………...just because I like how this picture came out. I need to get "Therese"/Selena out this weekend and reunite them. He looks awfully lonely here.

And one more close up before I go. He's one that can rock the bald look.

That Pesky Angel

I was inspired this morning to get Lassiter out for some new photos as its been a long time since I've photographed my favorite Angel. Lyn Raftis is the artist that has painted most of my Brotherhood dolls. Way back in 2010 when I decided I wanted to shell the characters in resin I sent Lyn the first couple of books, and she became hooked on them as well.  One of  Lyn's favorite characters is Lassiter. She was the one that suggested I use the Bichun sculpt. Most other folks that own one of this sculpt portray him as an Asian character.  The best thing about the Asian ball jointed dolls are the fact that they are a blank canvas, and with an artists inspiration, different eyes and wigs,  the same sculpt can look very different. In fact I have some dolls that I change up the wigs and eyes and have them portray more than one character when photographing them. Anyway, Lyn suggested I use Bichun, even though that probably wouldn't have been my first choice at the time. She assured me that she could turn him into our favorite angel if I found the right eyes and wigs to use on him.

I have to say, he came out pretty perfect when she was done with him. Lyn came up with the patterns for his piercings and did them on his nipples as well as his face/ears. I was able to find a couple of different wigs for him that are blonde/black, but the one photographed here is my favorite. You can see him wearing the other one in his bio pic at the left of the page.

He's been a fun one to try and find clothing for...………...still looking for those assless chaps, lol! I did find a couple of gold bracelets that work as necklaces for him.

And below, one of my favorite photos I've taken of him, even though it is a fairly old photo.

Vishous

Since I've been inspired to start the blog I've been looking at all the pics I've taken of the Brotherhood characters since I began shelling them in 2010, and while I'd like to think my competence with the camera has improved over the years, one of my favorite pictures I've taken of all the Brotherhood guys is this one of V, taken in about 2011. I dusted it off and did a tad bit of re-editing, but it remains one of my favorites of him. 

V is one of my favorite characters from the books. He makes me furious at times, but there is just something about him that speaks to me. Of all the dolls that I own in the Brotherhood world, this one is probably the one that comes closest to my vision of how I see V in my head. My friend Lyn went all out on him when painting him and he has tats not only around his eyes, but on his hand (even if it is covered by the glove at most times) and in his groin area as well. 

He even has Jane's name in the Old Language in his back. How's that for detail?

Most of my guys have the Brotherhood scar on their pecs as well, which you can see here.

And another close up of V to end things...…….just because I love him. Some V and Jane shots coming up soon in honor of Valentines day this week!

THe King and his Queen

My plan was to get Wrath and Beth out today and take some new photos in honor of the new blog. Since Wrath and Beth were the start of the series, and are still at the heart of it, I thought it would be fun to get some new shots. The weather however has been very uncooperative, so alas no new photos of any kind today. I take all my photos using natural light and it is so overcast and gloomy here today there is no natural light to be had. I do however have quite a wealth of photos I've taken of the royal couple in the past, so thought I would share a few of them.  Beth was one of the first dolls I shelled in the series. I actually already had her as another character, but when I decided to shell some of the characters from the Brotherhood world I thought she actually fit how I pictured Beth in my minds eye, so I had my friend Lyn darken her brows, and Beth was born. She still remains one of my all time favorite female dolls.

 

Wrath was a little more difficult for me, as I had a very specific look in my minds eye for him and there were no sculpts that really came close when I first shelled Beth. I had another doll originally I tried to shoehorn in the role, but he didn't really work for me the more I photographed him, so I decided to just be patient and wait until the right sculpt came along. It wasn't until August of 2014, 4 years after I first started shelling the characters that my perfect idea of Wrath came along. I can't remember when Iplehouse released the Dexter sculpt, but when I looked at him I knew that he could make my perfect Wrath. Below is one of the first shots I took of him with his glasses (as close as I could come to wrap arounds) when he arrived home in August 2014.

He comes as close to I could have hoped to get in doll form of capturing how I see Wrath. He has the level on intensity I was looking for and looks dang good with long black hair. A shot of him below without his glasses.

I love the intensity of his stare in the above photo. Wrath is the only doll I actually have a vampire head for as well. See below. It's the best shot I have at the moment of his actual vampire head. will try and take some more. If you look closely at Beth's neck. My friend Lyn gave her very slight bite marks.

Another favorite shot of the fangs.

While Wrath isn't my favorite character in the series, Beth is my favorite Shellan……….and together, they are probably my favorite couple. A few favorite romantic shots of them below from the archives.

And when some good light finally makes another appearance, I'll get some more of my favorite royals to add.