Yes, there is a story.

Origin of the Shop: My wife, Julie, was given a Blythe doll as a gift. She had no idea how infectious the Blythe-bug was, but it did take possession of her. I take interest in what brings her joy, so... in time, I learned the names of some of her dolls, took photographs of them for her, even bought a few dolls for her. Along the way, I learned to appreciate (and be amazed by) the unique abilities of Blythe dolls to express feelings, especially in a sweet, innocent, almost fairy-like way. Additionally, I have always enjoyed pencil drawing, but had not pursued it in many years. Being a practicing physician (psychiatrist), and pursuing other hobbies, I didn't realize I had time for drawing. One day, when winter weather had us housebound, I had the idea to draw one of the Blythe dolls in the context of Dante Gabriel Rossetti's famous painting, Proserpine. I enjoyed doing it, and even though the first version of it was not very good, many of the Blythe fans on Facebook loved it and requested I make more, and make them available as prints. I found that drawing Blythe dolls into famous paintings allowed me to merge three of my loves: 1. Connecting with my wife, Julie, in a hobby that brings her joy, 2. My love for art, especially Pre-Raphaelites, Renaissance, Art Nouveau, and fairy tale illustration, and 3. My love for drawing.

About the Drawings: I love drawing. Even though I am the one doing the drawing, making decisions about what to draw, how to compose it, etc, the process of the image emerging is almost one of being a passive spectator. While I am drawing, I feel almost as one watching a dancer dance. I feel a thrill as each mark of the pencil defines a boundary, or gives depth or shape to a fold of clothing. It's all I can do not to run and find Julie and say, "Hey, look how this shadow just brought her face to life!"

The Process: I have a folder on my computer of images of famous art that I love. Each one tells a story to me. The artist captured not only the story, but a look in the face of our hero. It may be sad, pensive, coy, curious, dejected... whatever. I imagine whether I can place the enlarged head of the Blythe doll into that image and make it work. If so, I begin by choosing a model among Julie's dolls that I feel could most express the feeling/emotion in the original, and pose her and take photographs of her until I capture that feeling, taking into account the lighting, angle, hair, etc. Then I draw preliminary sketches of the original painting, but placing the doll's head/face in place of the original. Proportions are critical. I may print several photographs of the doll model in various sizes, cut out the head and place them over the sketch until I find the size that best suits the painting. I will use the size of that image as a guide for finishing the sketch. I then make any other adjustments necessary to the sketch; rearranging the hair, the objects in the back ground, the shadows, etc, until it all comes together naturally. Then I re-sketch the image onto the finer quality paper that I will draw the actual drawing on. This sketch is often a bit rough and inexact, so I blot it with a kneaded rubber eraser until the lines are almost invisible and use them as a general guide, almost like a watermark. Finally, as I put serious pencil to paper, I concentrate on putting each mark exactly where I want it, and to which darkness. I started off using primarily Faber-Castell pencils, ranging from 4H to 6B in hardness, changing from one to another depending on need. More recently, I discovered a 0.3 mm mechanical pencil with lead as soft as 2B. The very fine mechanical pencil does not require sharpening every one minute. If I need a sharper point than 0.3 mm, I simply rub the point on a piece of scrap paper for a few strokes and it is as sharp as I want it. This is now my primary pencil and I use it for 80-90% of the drawing. I still use the Faber-Castell pencils for very light and very dark shading. It is very difficult to work on a larger drawing without smearing and smudging the drawing by dragging ones hand over it. I use a sheet of tracing paper under my drawing hand to prevent smearing. Once the image is complete, I spray it with a fixative that prevents accidental smearing or smudging with handling. Lastly, I take the drawing to a local professional printing company. They scan the image onto their computer, make whatever lighting adjustments they feel it needs, (according to my instructions to come as close as possible to duplicating the original pencil drawing), and print it on 90 lb Crane's Lettra Paper using their million dollar HP Indigo 10000 digital offset printer. The Lettra paper was nearly twice as expensive as their first choice premium quality paper, but the brightness and softness made a noticeable difference in the quality of the prints. I wanted the best quality print they could make. I feel they look better than the originals.