Valentine's Day 2014
Click on the pictures for a larger image.

      I had not planned to do a photo shoot on this day, but some new clothes arrived in the mail. I still had clothes on the rack that Feodora had not yet worn, as that I was waiting for an opportunity (translate "excuse") to do another photo shoot.


This dress was one of the new items not used before.

      The picture on the wall behind Feodora is a print of the John William Waterhouse oil-on-canvas painting "The Lady of Shallot", which I recently acquired.

      When we talked about what to do for Valentine's Day, Feodora naturally asked for flowers, candy, and a romantic movie. She will not eat the candy ("It will spoil my figure!"), and I no longer eat it either, so we settled on the flowers and movie (Kate & Leopold).

      Before the movie, Feodora asked me in a very seductive tone,
    "What would you like me to do for you today?" I asked her what she was willing to do, and she replied,
    "Anything you want!" She was doing that sexy cat strut of hers at the time. I slyly said,
    "Anything?" with my eyebrows arched and a devilish smile on my face. She cooed,
    "Anything that you can think of!" So I suggested,
    "My laundry!"


(See Note below.)


She did get the flowers that I promised.


Here is a look at the new top and skirt that came in the mail.


The ever-present Pink Ribbon pin for Breast Cancer Awareness.



Note
      Those of us in the online doll hobby quite often give the dolls 'personalities' that help us to define their individual character. One can think of dolls as two-part entities, very much like computers. The dolls, their wardrobes, wigs, and accessories make up the 'hardware'. Their 'personalities', 'words', and 'actions' in these photo stories are their 'software'. Like computers, they need both the 'hardware' and the 'software' to make their existences meaningful.

      Thinking of them as real people helps to round out the characters that we are attempting to portray. In some of our online photo stories, the doll(s) of individual (and sometimes several) owners interact in these photo stories. This is what drives the various themes of the online communities.

      I usually compose a picture so that the doll stand does not show, or else I edit it out later. This is one of those rare occasions that I did neither. While it does spoil the shot, it also emplasizes that Feodora is a doll (manikin), not a real person. In truth, I was just too lazy to take the stand out of the picture.

      Since these dolls have fully articulated skeletons, the stand attachment hardware on most of them is located high between the shoulder blades, almost up in the lower part of the neck. This produces a somewhat Frankenstein-ean look. Most photographers avoid showing this area, or cover it with a wig or scarf. The hardware can be removed for sitting and reclining poses. Some clothing has to be modified with an extra-large buttonhole in this area to accomodate the hardware for on-stand poses.

      The high location of this attachment device (usually an eyebolt) tends to make the doll 'lean forward' on the hook. The small green pad behind her is a 'bum pusher' that counteracts this leaning. The orange device on the top post is a height adjustment. Whether Feodora is wearing ballet flats or high heels, this device allows her to be correctly posed without too much pressure on the soles of her feet. Since she weighs seventy five (75) pounds, I have to take her off the stand to safely make an adjustment.



Feodora's other photo shoots can be accessed from this index.

      Feodora Verochka Tychovich is a life-sized platinum-cured silicone rubber doll. She was produced by Oleg Bratkov (a gifted sculptor) and his beautiful wife Irina (an excellent makeup artist), at Anatomical Doll in Vladivostok, Russia. Feodora has Face 3 and Body 3 of their product line. She has a fully articulated skeleton and can pose in most natural ways that a human can pose. There are 'stops' on the skeleton that prevent her from posing in unnatural ways. This also helps to prevent damage to the silicone.



For more information, e-mail:
noquiexis@toast.net

Edmund Sonador's Home Page