Black White and Red. Viva Commedia!

These are the theme colors for my Commedia Dell Arte interpretation. This post is dedicated to the personages that I have been  working very hard on for about an year.

So... (the dram beat....) I am proud to present my three favorite characters of famous commedia!
Stroll down to see the glory of White Black and Red! Viva Commedia!

Coviello is complete! Here is the first sneak peek.

Yes, it is true! He is finally done! Here is the first teaser peek of Coviello in his full glory, complete with his beloved mandolin. I have to give credit to my wonderful husband Sergey for a wonderful photo session this afternoon.  Here is the first of many wonderful pics, and more are to follow...

Coviello is Getting Clothes!

Did I ever mention to you that I work full time teaching silly teenagers, who are full of surprises every day? By now they are getting weary of school, and do not want to do anything, it takes extra effort to inspire  and persuade them to work... Then I rush to take care of various errands, then home to cook dinner... clean...  Taking care of my own adorable three men (one husband and two sons) Sounds familiar, ladies?

So, here is my idea of rest: sewing Coviello clothes, in between cooking dinner and going to sleep, I have about two hours of my own favorite time! I need to finish Coviello by October 10th. Here he is, finally skinned and clothed!

OK, when I say "skinned" I don't mean that the skin is removed, of course, quite on contrary!

"Skin" is a layer of usual nylon sock. It does not
have to be expensive thick kind. 

I like to layer clothes,
sewing them on gradually,
 therefore they can't be removed.

The choice of color is not accidental:
he is "Valet of Hearts" 

More on Coviello:

The little guy is assembled at last! I love this stage: it is wonderful to see my idea finally coming to life and materialize into a new creature! Of course there were a few unpleasant bumps and surprises. Fot example, my lovely labrador Daisy, who is usually a good little girl, decided that I ought to pay more attention to her. So she snatched "Coviello"'s head and run away! Chewing on it too! Don't get me wrong: I love her dearly, but at that moment, when she held about five hours of my sculpting work in her sharp fangs I was ready to kill the darn dog! Fortunately she did not chew much on his face, so I was able to fix it.  So here he is!

As you can see, Coviello's head is
in one piece (no thanks to Daisy
the silly dog)

Yes, well, maybe he does not have
what you call "The Classic Beauty"
but he is not lucking in character and charm,
so I think he is still a "ladykiller"

Back to Commedia Dell Arte: Coviello, the clever servant

Conceiving an new personage is always interesting. I started it because Teffy Effy Funny Land(one of my BLOG connections) made a great proposition: she suggested that creative people get together in groups in order to make something inspired by the "Commedia" and make it in the form that corresponds with a deck of cards.

Of course, I could not miss such an opportunity because it it is just what I like! It is also great to work with others. Thanks to the Internet, the people who share the same passion can easily overcome the distance and other inconveniences of living in different parts of the world and connect.

I got a red "valet". It could be any servant from the Commedia rich tradition

So here is my personage of the Commedia: His name is Coviello, he is a servant but unlike Arlecchinno, he is smart and sassy. Coviello loves to sing and dance. His mask is long nosed and brown. Coviello almost never parts with his mandolin. He is  ready for a good joke and a lewd street song!  Coviello is very practical and sly, "street-smart".

So, my fiends allow me to introduce to you...

Dancing and playing, that how I see this joyful character

My interpretation of Coviello:

Here are rough sketches of his costume and some
 attributes of the character

I've decided on the appearance and size and
made a wire armature

 a little "meat" on the bones  added by "Sculpey"

I decided that Coviello should have a big nose.
Why not?
His mask is certainly big nosed.

Ahh... shoes and hands! Also made in "Sculpey" 'Living Doll"
and "Cernit"polymer clay

Working on Pierrot

I am happy to annonce that my little Pierrot is complete at last! This labor of love took me about four weeks to complete. In the process I experimented with the new ways and materials. It was quite a journey! I

I love to start working from the head:
it helps me to define the character.

am pretty pleased with the result, but of course, there is space for improvement. Here is the journey from the beginning to the end. I decided to reveal it to you, and if it inspires anyone I would be very happy.
Here is how it all started...

Blue print and the armature.
You simply can't underestimate that.
They are the foundation of the figure.

Earlier, I already used this image:
legs, arms, hands and feet are freshly backed and
 ready to be mounted on the armature.

Now the doll is assembled!
I love this stage: finally I can see the whole figure!

I prefer to make my figures completely adjustable
to different postures.

Making clothes presents a great challenge:
it takes as long, or maybe longer to
design and sew the costume as
to assemble the doll itself.

What a journey! I loved every minute of it! 

Pierrot, My New Project

Yes, another lovely personage from "Commedia Dell' Arte" This is my favorite! In Italian theater his name is Pedrolino, but I like French  "Pierrot" better. Pierrot is a gentle, dreamy, slightly melancholic character. He is sweet and kind boy, younger brother of silly and hyperactive Arlecchinno.
I thought about creating him for a long time, and finally got to it. My Pierrot is very young, almost a child. Traditionally, this part was played by the youngest actors.

Pierrot is already fully assembled, and I am ready to create his costume.  I intend to follow the tradition of the costume of course, but create my own interpreation.

The New Beginnings!

Here it is! My favorite moment! it is almost magical: the birth of the new doll! Going from conception to reality.  After I finish with the rough sketches and the initial research, I'd like to start with a face. The face defines everything else; character, mood, posture.

Polymer clay is my favorite material for sculpting, For this little guy I used "Sculpey". This face is already backed. The head is empty inside, yet, still somewhat heavy.

This is another of my favorite personages from the "Commedia Dell'Arte" In my opinion, the most adorable one. I wanted to make him for ages, and finally got to it! Can you guess who he is?

Arlecchinno is complete!

At last! The result of hard work of three months: I started working on Arlecchinno in the beginning of April. My Arlecchinno in his full glory! The most challenging work that took most of the time was his costume. Of course, it is my own interpretation of the classic character. Mine Arleccinno much more childlike and naive.

But in my research I actively used this wonderful site:
http://shane-arts.com/Commedia-Arlechinno.htm

I found the summary of classic "Commedia Del'Arte" extremely interesting and full of useful information.




















A little latter, I still plan to add traditional "Arlecchinno"s mask to his costume.

Arlecchinno, the next step.

Slowly, but surely I continue to work on Arlecchinno's traditional stage costume. It really taxes my sewing abilities (which are very few) to the limit.  But I really feel that it pushes me to improve on something, that before I did not even attempted, because I considered myself being hopeless.  Yes, it comes together. I don't regret the time I spend on the project. Working on my dolls, even if not everything goes smoothly brings me pleasure, and when it is  finally works out, great satisfaction.

Arlecchinno

Commedia Dell'Arte continues to intrigue and inspire me in my art doll making. After I completed sweet flirtatious Columbina, I continue working on her beloved, Arlecchinno.

Arlecchinho is a low class personage, usually plays role of a sly servant, who wants to cheat his masters, but because of his silliness, always fails and gets himself in trouble. Arlecchinno is a man-child, who often frustrates lovely and clever Columbina, but she always forgives his shortcomings and takes him back.

At this point I have already completed the building of Arlecchinno's body, and ready to work on his costume.

I am rather pleased with him at the moment, he looks wild already!

"Columbina" is finished

Today I finished my beautiful "Columbina"I loved working with her, and I feel I went farther in terms of technical complexity.

Slippers for Columbina

It is a fun project, as I work on the girl, more and more traits of her character come out. She is sure the special girl. Surprisingly enough, the one of the most challenging parts of this project was to produce the decent pair of slippers for Columbina. I spent

about eight hours to figure this out. Here they are, after three tries, I finally got it right... The slippers are about two inches long and about 1/4 inch wide. My first foot ware for a doll.  
I am exited as all of this comes together!