Travian Designs

I can’t believe I’ve never posted anything of my namesake on this website before!

Doctor Travian’s Supernatural Orphanage is a project I started about six years ago when I discovered a passion for painting dolls. I was fascinated by the Monster High dolls, at the time I was going through a Universal Horror phase and I was amused at the idea of these monstrous characters marketed to young girls. It inspired me to see where I could take them, how far I could push the concept, at first only visually, but later I developed elaborate backstories for each of my characters.

It is an epistolary tale, told by an urban explorer in the present day piecing together the story of an old abandoned Victorian asylum. It had once held Cordelia Travian as a patient when she was a teenager, her inexplicable connection with the paranormal had led others to deem her insane. Later she would return and purchase the sanatorium and convert it into an orphanage, but what the public never knew was that it was not inhabited by human children. Travian would travel the world researching supernatural beings, and in some cases adopt those found in perilous situations.

I no longer customise dolls but I am still invested in this story and it’s characters, so I plan on continuing the project through writing and illustration. This page will eventually become a directory to additional photos and illustrations.

Below are the core cast of characters: Continue reading “Doctor Travian’s Supernatural Orphanage”