BJDs and unskilled modifications

I don't mind mods, no matter how poorly they are done. And as for compairing a BJD to a piece of art, I think the proper comparison would be an art print, seeing that BJDs in general are merely recast of the original art.

With this oppinion I feel that mod gone wrong only harms the unfourtunate modders wallet, and serves as a good, sadistic laugh for the rest of us:P Just kidding with the last one... hehe... but as long as the mod doesn't limit an other perons chanse of getting the doll of their dreams, I think it's cool. The only thing of real importance is whenever or not the owner is happy with his/her doll

(another great thing about poor mods is that they give artists a challenge in the case of the modded failure beeing commisioned for some kind of repair, I've seen so many creative solutions to this!)

 

I can understand why the face up artist would be upset, really I do if the artist put in so much time for only one doll. But also, people have to start somwhere, I myself am not the most artistically skilled person in the world but I know what looks good and what doesn't. I think with the right amount of practice a unskilled person could make a beautiful faceup.

As for not associating the doll with the company anymore... I can't see why not. Its not all about the faceups with the sites, its about the doll as well. Particular companys have particular dolls. I think that the companys and face up artist in general, know that somtimes a customer will change the faceup of their dolls. I think that is more then common knowledge. I can understand ( like I said above ) the artist getting a little bit hurt because they put time into making the doll beautiful, and they might think "Well if they were going to change it, then they should have bought a doll without a faceup!!" But, I don't think its wrong by any means to make your doll your own, and just because the owner may be a little unexperianced in the art department... practice makes perfect!!

 

No. A Doll is not art. It's craft. It's a consumer item. And as skillfully sculpted as it may be it cannot be compared to Fine Art (which I think is what most people mean when they say art, with or without a big 'A').
I'd love to make my own dolls one day and if I were to sell them, I'd be very happy if the owners did their own thing with them, that's all part of the appeal of dolls for me. Even if it's a hideous mess, it's the owner's product once they've bought it. They're welcome to stick it in a blender if they like, the sculpt copyright owner forfeits any right to get annoyed when they sell copies of the original on the terms that dolls are sold. It would be like Ford getting upset if you drove around in a dirty, beat up car.

Having said that, I can understand a faceup artist getting annoyed if someone changed their work and then kept on passing it off as the faceup artist's. A faceup is a one-off work for an individual customer and that's very different from a doll, which is a mass (or at least multiple) produced facsimilie of a sculpt.

 

This is exactly how I feel on this matter, except worded better then I probably could have to me a blank doll is like having a poster of the Mona lisa. Is the poster considered art? To me, it really is not.

 

If it's a doll I'm purchasing, I want to know everything that's been done to the doll before I buy. If it's not a doll I'm purchasing, it's not my business.

 

I like to think that newbies like me try to treat their doll as a person with no mechanical experience treats their car. You don't tamper with the breaks, or the engine, or add a new stereo - just fill it with gas, add a few frilly details, like an air freshener, and that's about it.

The doll equivalent, for me, would not be to do any extreme sanding, or any alteration I might regret later on, even if I could use doll putty to redo it (that could go horribly wrong, too!). The most I'd do is to do a face-up, change the wig/eyes, and outfit.

I suspect it might be different for other people who have seen a BJD in real life, or something, but I like playing it safe.

 

You have to start somewhere, and thats what buying broken dolls, practice heads and the like are for. You aren't going to be skilled the first time you ever pick up epoxy and start modelling, or start doing faceup. You have to learn, and posting photos and getting crits are the best way to do so.

It used to bother me a LOT when I saw poor faceups or mods... but then I'd look at amazing ones and go "WOW"... then one day I realized "hey... that awesome faceup artist must have been pretty bad when s/he started, too", and think that if someone keeps up at it, they will get skilled as well.

Art is after all, a learned thing. NOBODY is a natural. You may have a bit more of a grasp at the start than others, but it's about practice, and learning, so you are going to do shitty the first time or so. Hell, the more times you mess up, the more mistakes you make, the more you learn.

 

This is the same for me. I actually bought a blank head so that I can start doing faceups on it and practicing, I'll not do anything drastic to my first few dolls, but I'm sure once I get the practice, I will finally put gills on axel. xD

 

I might go as far as piercing the ears, but I need to see more tutorials on that before I feel confident enough.

 

Well, I don't usually post in these types of threads because they tend to set me off, but I'd like to comment on some of the things mentioned by the starter of this thread, which I have underlined.

First of all, there is no set definition of what art is. Art can be anything from a 10 foot alabaster museum sculpture of the human figure to a wadded up piece of Kleenex blowing around in the breeze. I personally do believe that BJDs are a form of art. I also believe, as an artist, that art is constantly changing and taking on many forms. Art isn't stagnant, it isn't stationary and it certainly isn't judgmental. Therefore, I believe it is unfair to say that a BJD, once it has been modded by someone who has 'less than company-quality skill', becomes 'a mess due to lack of skill'. Skill, in the art world, is irrelevant and subjective. So therefore, no I don't believe the person making modifications to their OWN dolls should be just as skilled as 'company artists', if what they are doing to their dolls is making them happy with their dolls. If a person has modified their doll and they love it, then that's all that matters, not the opinions of other dolls owners. A person modding their doll isn't modding it for the entire BJD collective, they are modding their doll for themselves. Even if everyone else thinks the doll looks 'a mess'....the term 'a mess' is subjective, and in my opinion, is a rather unfair term to use.

Secondly, going on to the next underlined issue I have, if I order a doll from say, Iplehouse, and spray paint the entire doll hot pink, does it cease to be an Iplehouse doll? No. If I took this head-to-toe pink doll and drilled a hole through his left eye, would it then cease to be an Iplehouse doll? No. The term modification is defined in a few slightly different ways, depending on where you look it up, but the gist of the word modify is: 'to change somewhat the form or qualities of'. There is no correct way to perform a modification. Just because someone takes their vintage 1970 Shelby Mustang GT500 (some would consider this car to be a work of art) and goes on a rampage of modifications that someone else thinks is horrifying and disrespectful to the car and to Ford doesn't mean it ceases to be a Shelby MADE by Ford. So yes, I think it doesn't matter how a modder modifies his or her doll; the doll is still of that company.

 

I have encountered mods that made me cringe when I saw what had been done to the doll, but so long as the owner is happy with their doll, or at least considers their creative efforts worthwhile, I cannot find fault with their choice to make modifications.

With regard to face-ups, I had a doll arrive a few days ago. I can see why a face-up artist might take exception to someone changing their work, especially if the changes are not so skillfully done.

However, when this new doll arrived at my door, I had requested a custom face-up and had also been very clear about what I wanted. For some reason, the artist gave me something that looked completely different.

I had never so much as changed the eyes on my first doll-- but, while the company face-up on this new, second doll was undoubtedly skillful and photographed well, I could hardly stand to look at the doll that way. It was a crisis.

And so, for the first time, I removed a doll head and made significant alterations to a face-up.

I feel sorry to have replaced the artist's better work with my less skillful mods. I would never wish to claim that the parts of the original face-up which were retained are my own work, nor would I want to insult the artist by neglecting to explain my alterations... I don't think I will post pictures of my new doll on the company site for a long time, out of consideration for the person who did the face-up.

But at least now I am able to love my new arrival.

 

What you have to remember is that to become skilled at something takes practice. You can't just pick up a paint brush and expect to paint a perfect work of art; you have to practice. It's the same concept with doll modifications, you can't expect your modifications to be a hundred percent perfect the first time, so the more you do it, the better you'll get.

 

Candidly, I do hate horrible face ups LOL...BUT everything is in a matter of opinion. Some things may look better to others, it is true, and yes, everyone has to start somewhere. Since beauty is in the eye of the beholder, the mama or papa to that doll may or may not agree with what everyone thinks of their handy work.

That is why this hobby is so wonderful it allows for everyone to be happy with their dolls!

 

Whoa, ancient thread walking. But the OP, IMO, starts from a false premise:

Most companies sell customizing tools and even sometimes teaching materials on how to do customization or mods. The faceup artist in said company is unlikely to be named or credited to begin with. Said faceup artist probably did dozens of that same faceup, or possibly was a part of a team doing faceups. I can't speak for them, but I'm going to go out on a limb and suggest they don't much care if it gets wiped. Maybe the doll designer could be, but Volks doll designers and faceup artists seem delighted to see what owners do with their creations. These dolls were designed to be customized. Volks runs classrooms on how to do faceups to encourage people to get hands-on, because, hey, they sell a lot of customizing and modding tools.

If the doll is ever sold, then absolutely all known mods and customization must be mentioned. And it's best to mention in gallery posts etc., if you've got a mod, custom faceup, or enhanced/altered faceup (I'd suggest the same for hybrids), because people may be using those pics as references. But you can't disassociate the sculpt from the company; they still made the original, you can't claim all of it as your work, good or bad.

And company or commissioned faceups by faceup artists are entirely capable of being gacktsdamn awful. Even skilled people can mess up or have differing taste to your own. And I don't see where all these FUBARed heads are that makes this such a big deal. A bad faceup or off mod is probably well within the realm of rescue anyways.

I've lost interest in practice heads for faceups, because faceups come off, but I did get a MNF sleeping head that I'm starting very tentatively to do my first mod attempts on. If I mess him up, I'll still have the original. But I might just end up getting him to a point I'm satisfied with, doing one of my amateur faceups on him, and even *gasp* taking pics and posting them! You know where the back button is . . .

 

I think if your going to start modding, you should use a practice head first. Especially if you intend to mod a particularly rare head.
Everyone has to grow and learn and just because the head you started on is someones favorite doesn't mean you shouldn't ever have tried.

HOWEVER. I do agree with the face-up artist. If someone builds onto a face-up it's no longer entirely the artist's work and as such shouldn't be claimed as theirs. If the add one was of particularly low quality then i i'm more so on her side as it can be damaging to them if someone doesn't take the time to read it's only half the artist face up.
I think she's perfectly justified to politely ask the commissioner not to say the face-up was done by her as it could poorly reflect on her skill.

 

The owner should specify any modifications she did herself. However, she can't claim the work entirely as her own either -- that would be disingenuous -- she can't take credit for something she didn't do. The correct thing to say if asked was that so and so did most of the faceup, but that she (the owner) repainted the lips (or whatever) herself. That's being truthful and keeping any resulting confusion to a minimum.

I've altered a custom faceup before and that is how I would handle it as I can't take credit for the doll's lovely eye makeup. That wouldn't be right.

 

I don't really have a strong reaction to badly done mods -- it's your money, knock yourself out. But I think part of the concern over it has to do with the irony of purchasing what, in most cases, is a relatively large amount of money and then not paying to have a face-up done by a professional artist, when the owner does not have advanced or even basic skills.

If someone buys a $5 Barbie and proceeds to badly makeover the girl, I doubt a soul would comment. It's when we're discussing dolls priced at $400 or $800 that people start to have an opinion. That's my observation anyway.

On a side note, someone earlier commented how "anything can be art, so we can't have a judgment about what is a good face-up job or not" (paraphrasing here) That to me is the whole problem with the way people view art today -- by positing that anything (or everything) can be art, you have essentially destroyed art by accepting any definition as valid. For centuries, art was defined by the skills employed and beauty created by the artist.

Anyway, I just had to chime in on that issue. It may come off as snobbish, but oh well. I don't go around calling myself a plumber just because I can clear a drain, or a barber just because I can cut my hair...

 

Treasure or blank canvas

I think it is all about how one sees the doll. One can see the doll as a treasure something to never be hurt or changed and thats fine too.
Then some people see the doll as a blank canvas. If you see the doll as a blank canvas as something to be painted and worked on then its fine to do whatever you want to a doll. After all you paid for the doll and the doll is a way to make art. I often see my own dolls as blank canvas I don't mind messing up or doing a bad job with a doll it takes a lot of time to learn how to paint and the samething can be said for a doll. It makes me sad when people say a doll is not pretty I don't feel like anyone has a right to say another persons work is ugly. The person did try and even if its not what you like you should respect the fact that another person wanted to do something and did it. (even if its not what you like) I feel like doll people can shut out new people by the way they push how to treat a doll at times.

 

Even the least expensive bjds are still a big chunk of money. However, in a hobby geared towards customization, how can one say that the owners should leave it up to the professionals? You can't build skills without doing, and you can also enjoy doing something without ever being able to reach a professional type level. I just don't see this type of concern as being very valid considering the type of hobby this is.

Yes, I have noticed the money thing too.

What is art is very fluid, there is no doubt -- people have argued how to define art for ages if that tells you anything. Here are some things to think about: beauty is largely in the eye of the beholder, and not all art is meant to be beautiful in a classical sense -- it can be powerful, provocative, whimsical, disturbing, etc etc and beautiful too...sometimes, and depending on your own definition of beauty. You can make more of a case for skill, but even there often times people don't always understand and therefore underestimate the different skills required to do certain things. How many times have you been to an art museum only to over hear someone proclaim "I could do that!" Personally, I see that as highly debatable, and since they didn't even come up with the idea in the first place ...

But, back to dolls, I like to see people actually at least try things. Often folks don't even attempt artistic projects, because they fear failing which is sad, because you don't have to be fantastic at something to find the experience enriching. I really appreciate that this hobby really encourages owners to try things themselves -- sure you'll get some not so fab results sometimes, but the good that comes out of it far out weighs the less successful outcomes IMO.

 

Everyone's got to start somewhere... That's pretty much how I look at it. I think people that are new to anything like that really just need to do it and get feedback.. and actually learn from the useful feedback so they can improve. As long as people are learning and trying, I can't judge them for it.

Modding is not for me. I love my dolls the way they are, but if your willing to do it, more power to you.