Posing and positioning

Karrot · Post by **Karrot** » Thu Jul 10, 2014 1:58 pm

Life-in-Plastic asked about poseability and handling of Xiaoli, but the answers I have would apply to any TPE or Sil doll and I think the topic deserves its own thread for discussion, as I am by no means the final authority on this.

life-is-plastic wrote:
..from all the pictures you've been posting Karrot, I gather that she's pretty posable ... could you please elaborate on that for a bit?

I'm just wondering how easy it is (how does the overal handling feel), and how well she holds poses you put her in.

It's like with anything, It all comes down to balance and poise, and sometimes an extra pair of arms or a prehensile penis :haha4:

Weight is your biggest adversary with posing a doll that's not on a secure stand or lying on a solid surface.

Getting Xiaoli into the poses where she's lying down are easy enough and once in them she will stay there until moved (A dolly at rest will remain at rest until her partner moves her : Newtons first law of love dolls)

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She'll stay like that all day with no worries. Getting her in to that pose I started with her on her back, arms at the side. I bent her right arm out in front at the shoulder , then positioned her hand by her head by bending the elbow, then rolled her on to her side (you can just see her fingers by the top of her head in her hair). After placing the pillow in front and positioning her head I bend her left leg and arm in to position.

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For this one I started with her on her back again, positioned her legs then bent her up at the waist. Add the pillow and pose the arms and head. she'll stay like this without issue too.

If the pose requires her to support herself you have to think about balance and support.

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This was on day 1 with her so all the joints we still very stiff. Elbow and hip joints have loosened off to the point where they dont hold many positions now, but this doesn't stop her kneeling up. Getting her in to this pose is more work and requires some physical strength and planning. The way I do it is to get her sitting with knees bend then pick her up by rocking her forwards on to my forearm, so that her stomach is across my arm between wrist and elbow. This leave me a hand free to manipulate and steady her. I place her on to her knees and then straighten her hips to bring her body to vertical, after that its down to balancing her and posing arms etc. (A dolly thats badly balanced will be in motion until she hits the floor : Newtons second law of love dolls)

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All other positions are variations on these themes and getting your doll in to them is just a case of thinking about the end pose and how best to get her in to it.

Some tips I use when doing a shoot.

To ensure that poses look realistic I often test them out on myself first. Little things like you cant actually look directly along your own shoulder unless you twist slightly at the waist and roll your shoulder forwards a little.

You're trying it, aren't you

Watch for fingers, make sure they arent mangled or in some unnatural position. A relaxed hand has curled fingers, with the pinky curling more than the index finger

Check the eyes to ensure they are both pointing at you or the camera, and remember eyes move differently to each other and actually begin to cross as you focus on something close.

Check the hair. Wigs can move during posing and they invariably dont give you a sports illustrated style cascade without some work. Real models get into position then a team of professional hair stylists get involved to pose the hair, teasing a bit here, a curl there etc until they get the desired effect. Sometimes it just falls right, most times you will need to tease it in to place. Keep a brush handy to bush out any tangles and fly away strands.

Check your props are where you want them to be and look right.

Dont neglect the back ground. A busy background will draw attention from your subject.

: P1010496.JPG (89.53 KiB) Viewed 2033 times

This is a good pose (I'm told) but an awful picture. It was a quick snap as I liked the pose, she looks like she's fed up and just taking a smoke break, but the background is terrible. Random lego toys (mine) a tripod box, a camera bag and random sheets and pillows just make it a mess and spoil the look, drawing attention away from Xiaoli.

Hope that helps and answers a few questions, and I hope others can put in some good tips on their methods and experiences.

Karrot

Post by **brigittes hubbie** » Thu Jul 10, 2014 3:45 pm

A fantastic report, and I love the first law of love dolls. :haha4:

He was a true genius,
Chris

KillO7 · Post by **KillO7** » Thu Jul 10, 2014 3:53 pm

Thanks alot Karrot.

deerman · Post by **deerman** » Thu Jul 10, 2014 6:57 pm

Thanks Karrot!

posing is a labor of love.

DollAfficionado · Post by **DollAfficionado** » Thu Jul 10, 2014 7:25 pm

Very nice poses. I find that the hands and fingers are the biggest challenge when trying out new photo poses with my TPE doll.

Post by **Playtime** » Fri Jul 11, 2014 10:54 am

G'day everyone,....

Brilliant synopsis on posing.
And love the 'Doll law of Physics'

Playtime.

von_Shredhead · Post by **von_Shredhead** » Fri Jul 11, 2014 11:18 am

Nice intro tutorial on posing!! Brilliant!
Cheers.
Von

windave · Post by **windave** » Fri Jul 11, 2014 11:56 am

Thanks for your great suggestions. Posing and photographing can be a lot of hard work and all the effort is for nil if the results are poor.

life-is-plastic · Post by **life-is-plastic** » Fri Jul 11, 2014 1:43 pm

thanks for that write up Karrot

... didn't really expect a whole posing tut

I'm afraid I might not have been really clear with my question regarding your posing of Xiaoli; of course a lot of basics will apply to both TPE and silicone dolls. But I was merely interested to hear your insights how in your opinion this particular doll is holding up and how she is to work with. Not all dolls will pose the same, hold positions the same way, give feedback/resistence etc. New buyers will be interested to read about this, and also how the doll holds up; it's also a bit of a review on the used skeleton, and how well it's designed and made.

I have a MLD myself, and she won't hold many poses all by herself apart from those simply laying down

For posing I have to prop her up as much as possible, but many poses she just won't do without any assistance/help/tricks.

dragonfly8878 · Post by **dragonfly8878** » Fri Jul 11, 2014 1:53 pm

Great tutorial, Karrot, and quite instructive. Newton's Laws of love dolls are classic. I wonder if Asimov's Laws of love dolls are also in play.

1) A love doll may not allow their human being to focus on anything but them, and must distract their human being constantly with their beauty and charisma.
2) A love doll must dress and pose in photogenic and seductive ways, in order to accomplish the First Law.
3) A love doll must, by every means possible in accordance with the First and Second Laws, cause their human being to fall in love with them, thereby ensuring the proliferation of more love dolls.

Lemminkainen · Post by **Lemminkainen** » Fri Jul 11, 2014 2:08 pm

So that's what happens behind the curtain?
This was a very nice tutorial. Thank you.

Lemminkainen

Karrot · Post by **Karrot** » Fri Jul 11, 2014 3:13 pm

LIP, aside from the elbows and hip joins loosening up very quickly Xiaoli is a pretty stiff doll. shoulders, knees, neck and rotations of the hip, elbows and knees are all still very tight and require proper handling to move them.

The limitations that the loosening has cause is that she can no longer hold her legs raised if lying on her back and her elbows cannot hold a pose between straigh and about 60' bend, after that they stiffen up enough to hold a pose.

The skeleton feels strong, though I think an improved joint fastening would be a good improvement, as the nuts and bolts used are welded together at the factory before moulding takes place. This means they cant actually fail completely, but it also means they cant be tightened

Karrot

Post by **brigittes hubbie** » Fri Jul 11, 2014 4:43 pm

dragonfly8878 wrote:Great tutorial, Karrot, and quite instructive. Newton's Laws of love dolls are classic. I wonder if Asimov's Laws of love dolls are also in play.

1) A love doll may not allow their human being to focus on anything but them, and must distract their human being constantly with their beauty and charisma.
2) A love doll must dress and pose in photogenic and seductive ways, in order to accomplish the First Law.
3) A love doll must, by every means possible in accordance with the First and Second Laws, cause their human being to fall in love with them, thereby ensuring the proliferation of more love dolls.

That´s a great collection of laws.
Chris

Post by **Slew** » Fri Jul 11, 2014 5:58 pm

Thanks Karrot, it's great to have insight into how you do what you do.

And, dragonfly that is hilarious, I hope my dolly will abide these laws!

Slew

samfaster2413 · Post by **samfaster2413** » Fri Jul 11, 2014 10:39 pm

Good tutorial Karrot.

dragonfly8878 wrote:Great tutorial, Karrot, and quite instructive. Newton's Laws of love dolls are classic. I wonder if Asimov's Laws of love dolls are also in play.

1) A love doll may not allow their human being to focus on anything but them, and must distract their human being constantly with their beauty and charisma.
2) A love doll must dress and pose in photogenic and seductive ways, in order to accomplish the First Law.
3) A love doll must, by every means possible in accordance with the First and Second Laws, cause their human being to fall in love with them, thereby ensuring the proliferation of more love dolls.

Nice laws, i agree.
(Reminded me of the 3 laws of the movie iRobot)