Mathilda Crawatt

There was always going to be a keyboardist in my band project, but somehow I ended up making some relatively more obscure (in popular music sense) instruments before it. I wanted a proper keyboards/electronics set-up with two to three machines; at one point I thought I'd combine it with a full-fledged percussion set, but I'll do it separately so I can build more characters...

This model was built in two phases; I made the first version of the skirt and the keyboards late last year and all the rest in January. The skirt is inspired by one worn by some passer-by in Riga last September; some versions included also bright pink, but it didn't work - it was probably too dark - and I setteled with these three. I'm happy how those hues, being so close each other in (dark/light) value, seem to merge... A bit like the gradient in early evening sky, I think. I wanted the rest to be simple and soft, so I left the legs bare and made a fluffy woolly jumper. Unusually it's designed mostly in Studio: I was away from my bricks for almost three weeks and made some CAD sketches, including two dozens for the milit'ry boots, and also some extra shoes for the next build I'll publish, likely. It took some fixes in real world, including the red detail, but it's mostly the digital design.

The hair is something I have wanted to try for a while. I bought plenty of those ziplines in reddish brown and flat silver from Lugbulk last year, and I already used some on my Bio-Cup entries. They're probably the most hair-like plastic elements that exist; I made two braids, six lines each, and they took a few tries to get decent. The side buns were even more complicated - their logic is unknown to me! The back hair has simple three layers, 5 or 6 lines each. The large bow was a late addition, but the model needed it; just some upwards-oriented shape to contrast the downwards-sloping ones in the skirt and locks... There was a similar issue in the first Doreen Inverardi, which I fixed succesfully in the revisited version.  

The keyboards are basically based on the technique I developed for Mika Rättö's Roland Juno in my Circle project in 2018. They don't mimic any real instruments but are based on my metal images of Nord Electro and Eko Tiger Junior. They're not accurate at all! Neither are the connections authentic, because I was after the chaotic feel of such machinery and wiring as experienced the listener. There are some pedals, as they're potential for dynamic posing, and an additional effect/loop machine. The amplifier, or probably it's a monitor (which probably should be aimed at the musician herself), was a fast build too; and one I'm very happy with. I had three spare banana gears, and it's not easy to use three; and I has been wanting to use those hockey nets, too, but their colour is kinda bleak. They look decent against black, though, and slot perfectly into the grooves of the banana gears! 

An unifinished version of this, without the loop machine and one layer of hair was exhibited in Pii Poo Tampere event 13th-14th January. Here's some photos of my set: