Young Ian

My first impression of the Venitu sculpt by Fifth Motif was, my gosh he would make a terrific young Ian from the Outlander series. I had fallen in love with the books by the time Venitu was introduced, and had decided that I was going to shell Jamie and Claire in resin form.  It didn't take me long to decide, since Venitu was limited and there was no guarantee he would be offered again, to bite the bullet and order Venitu to be my young Ian. My friend Lyn agreed to paint him for me and I decided I wanted to shell him with his Mohawk tattoo's. He and Jamie actually arrived home from Lyn's "spa" at about the same time, September 2014. Below is one of the first shots I took of him wearing his Dollshe khaki urethane eyes and the Monique Paris wig. Lyn did an awesome job on his face up.

I have tried several wigs on him over the course of his time with me. Below is another early effort that didn't stick.

He has also worn a mohair wig when dressing up.

I always seem to come back to the Monique Paris wig though, so a year or so ago I decided to put a few braids in it. While it isn't the perfect representation of how I see him wearing his hair, it works for now.

Next to Jamie and Claire, Young Ian (and now Rachel) are probably my next  favorite characters followed closely by Lord John. When I shelled Young Ian, they hadn't come close to casting him in the TV show yet, so I cast him in my resin world based solely how young Ian looks in my head. The sculpt probably comes closest to what I see in my head when I read the character of all my Outlander dolls.  I based all the dolls on my internal representations of the characters more than the actors on the TV show though. 

 I have been able to acquire a couple of pieces of clothing that work perfectly for his character (in my mind as well). I was walking around JoAnn Fabrics one day when I came across some calico fabric that immediately made me think of Ian.  There are several passages in the books that mention Ian's love of calico fabric. In  "My Own Heart's Blood" book 8 in the Outlander series Rachel muses in chapter 131,

 “Are you all right, Rachel?” I asked, [. . .]

“I am,” she answered, her voice slightly muffled behind her not-quite-sterile-but-at-least-boiled mask. She’d used one of Ian’s handkerchiefs for the purpose; it was an incongruously cheerful calico in dark-pink-and-white checks. Ian’s taste in clothing was strongly Mohawk.

Earlier in Chapter 94, his fashion sense and love of calico fabric was mentioned again : both curiosity and conversation rose to a much higher pitch when Ian walked in. He wore a new shirt, white calico printed with blue and purple tulips, his buckskins and breechclout, moccasins--and an armlet made of blue and white wampum shells, which I was reasonably sure that his Mohawk wife, Works With Her Hands, had made for him.

So, it only seemed fitting that the piece of calico fabric I found should be bought to make something for Ian. I bought it and sent it off to Robyn and she made the shirt he is wearing below, along with the vest, which also seems to suit him.  I have another piece of calico in reserve with a white background, that has Ian's name all over it...……….especially after rediscovering the quote from Chapter 94 above. I love finding little details, like the calico fabric,  that just add to the authenticity of the characters.