BJDs and unskilled modifications

I suppose if I didn't have good face-up or modifying skills (which I assume I don't since i've never tried), I would practice on some cheaper dolls than the top-of-the-line expensive type. Someone earlier made the comparison that you don't learn to sew on silk and satin, but on cheaper cotton or polyester fabric and work your way up. That's seems to make sense to me.

 

I don't think there should be "rules" of what you can/can't do to a doll you bought, however, I don't find anything wrong with criticizing/disagreeing with a certain modification.
Art is there to be disagreed upon... or praised.
If someone makes their 800$ doll look like poop, then it's open to be criticized/disagreed with.

 

I apologize but I honestly think the idea that someone can't do something because they're not good at it or they run the risk of doing a bad job of it sounds a bit... haughty.
If someone puts through the effort to buy one of these dolls and wish to mod it to their hearts content, I say let them do it. Although I agree, I'm a bit sad when I see a really messed up doll, I won't go all psycho and say that person is terrible or something else to destroy their self confidence. If they're unable to fix it they can always sell it to someone who restores bjds, but, in any other case, they know what they're getting their self into by modding.

 

Well, since it`s their doll, they ca do anything with it. Their choice.Of course, I do die a little when I see a messed up , otherwise beautiful doll.But if they like it ..oh well.I don`t really like gore mods , because theyre sometimes (actully pretty often) bad quality, and it`s usually overdone and distasteful.But I do like the good quality ones.. But I agree with alot of the eople here, that you do have to start somwhere..My first face up ever was horrible.But I kept trying , and now it`s got to a point where it looks decent. Just cause their first couple of trys weren`t to good , people shouldn`t be descouriged to try againe. At least that`s my opinon.

 

So...question, I suppose. Are we saying it's a tragedy if the dolls are for show, and we should practice on other heads or such before we do the "show piece"? If so, having done a few artistic endeavors myself, I can understand not doing a new technique on my show piece! By the same experience, however...I'm pretty sure Van Gogh looked at a lot of the pieces we treasure today as "poor quality" paintings...and I've personally sold more of my failures than my successes. I feel this is due to the individuality of the piece, and isn't that the idea of BJDs anyway, making the dolls individual?

 

Oh, and for the beautiful argument? I find deformity beautiful and "pretty boys" abhorrent...so it seems we are at odds, as I die a little inside when I see another "pretty" doll.

 

Recently I've seen a stunning OOAK BJD by an artist sold on eBay.
As part of the sales conditions, the artist stated the doll was an art doll and should not be modded in any way.

While I understand the way the artist feels about the doll, how could they enforce this?
Now the doll is with the new owner, that owner can do anything they want with it.
Even if the buyer agreed with the sales conditions, these conditions are not enforceable in the real world.

 

QFT.

Art and beauty are not synonymous. Art does not have to be beautiful, and beautiful is highly relative anyways. There is highly skillful and beautiful art that communicates nothing, and less skillful stuff that's more moving because it does communicate. The art-skill-beauty connection is, to my mind, tenuous.

And let's face it, some people will want a more Robert Bateman version of BJDs, and some will want something that brings a different message than accuracy, realism, and standard notions of beauty. Me, my message is about as deep as hot guys, some effeminate, some only effeminate by western standards, and cute kids . But I'm now willing to attempt modding to get that.

 

You are totally right, in that the request is not enforceable. I would guess the seller, by making that statement though, is simply trying to find an owner that is happy with the way the doll looks as is, and is not interested in mods. You have to think about it from the artist's point of view. Granted, decorating a BJD would probably veer more into the realm of craft than art, that artist is still spending their time and effort to create a one-of-a-kind doll. To have all that work destroyed by the new owner would seem like a big waste to them, so I can sort of understand it.

 

Actually, in that case it was a doll sculpted & hand cast by that artist being sold as a full-set, and her note in the auction was more about it not being meant as a usual customizable bjd but as a finished showpiece. I can understand wanting to make that clear to the buyers (especially when a lot of people on ebay may not be familiar with bjd in the first place.) Its still not enforceable, in the same way that anyone that buys a painting could go off and paint on it too. But it helps to clarify her intent with that specific piece.

I love modding... but when I first got into dolls it scared me a whole lot. I probably read 30 threads about seam-sanding before even undertaking something as simple as that. As I've gotten more comfortable, I've gotten more and more addicted. Now there's hardly ever a doll of mine that I just leave alone, I end up modding some little thing or other on almost every one. It kind of puts my stamp on them & really makes them mine. But I did buy and trade for a few project heads & parts to go really crazy on, before doing the scarier mods on more expensive dolls.

I do prefer to look at skilled-mods (and a highly skilled modded doll is usually more appealing to be than an out of the box pretty doll.) But it should be about the owner getting what they want out of their doll, if I don't like it I don't need to look at it

 

Thank you candygears for pointing out that last sentence. It's one that many people, including myself, forget. I honestly think that's the cure for all this "heartbreak". You don't like my mod? Is there a gun to your head saying you have to look at it?

 

I've seen good mods, and I've seen not-so-good mods. I've seen original art that I consider really good in museums, and then I see other pieces that makes me wonder why they're in a museum - but someone had to like them enough to put them on display. Like everyone else has said, art is very subjective.

If BJD companies didn't want people to modify their dolls, why exactly do they sell things - on their sites - for the sole purpose of modification?

 

One thing which is extremely evident on this forum everywhere are the very strong opinions for and against modification everywhere. There are the opinions of certain modifiers and customisers who in some cases seem to believe to buy a doll with a default face-up and / or no modification is a crime and have strong views about those who don't customise, and there are others who believe to alter a limited edition doll almost sacrilegious. However, there are also plenty of people who are under the understanding that, unless you are producing your own one of a kind art-doll BJDS (which are OT on this forum anyway) or you are one of the craft practitioners working for an BJD company then the owning of ABJDS is a hobby. Therefore, as a hobby - an activity pursued for the pleasure of the individual,it is up to that individual as to how they appreciate and enjoy their dolls. There is no right or wrong way to enjoy a hobby... just lots of opinionated individuals willing to give their two cents about how their way is best. :P

 

I used to be against modifications of any kind. Now, even though all I've done is sueding (and a not-so-serious attempt at seam sanding) I'm a lot more acceptable to modifications. I am a stickler for certain things, like seam lines from epoxy and little details, but I've realized that modifications don't mean something extreme all the time, like adding extra arms or something. I really like subtle modifications more than extreme ones, like opening the eyes or mouths a little, shaping elf ears, even tattoos. I've seen some pretty awesome tattoo work on these dolls.

That being said, I also agree with this:

I've read the occasional statement from people who seem like they can't wrap their minds around wanting a default face up, or not wanting to do their own face ups right away, and don't feel like commissioning someone, either. You don't have to customize a thing, which is also good about this hobby: the option to not do something is just as prominent as the option to do something. People are perfectly free to customize to any extent they see fit, but with that logic, people are also free to do absolutely nothing, and be just as happy. Very few times have I gotten the impression that I'm not fully in the hobby if I take the default, but there have been times.

Emma's default is pretty. Sure, it might not make her as unique as every other default-faced, DM Kid Flocke's out there, but I'm OK with that. I wanted the doll that came in the picture, and I knew what factors I had to select for that to happen. Yeah, the fact that I didn't want to do my own face-up right away, or spend any more money on a commission were part of it, but 90% of it was that I liked it.

And sure, we'll see what happens when I have to redo her face. I already had to glue on part of an eyelash, and that wasn't so bad (although, I didn't think it would be). Maybe I might attempt to do some variation on her face-up, but I only hope that this happens a long time from now.

 

In the case of an artist making an explicit request to leave work unmodified--If the artist wishes his artwork to be left unmodified, I think that wish should be respected. Obviously, there is no such thing as the mod police, but if the artist wishes his artwork to be sold to someone who loves the piece for what it is instead of what it could be, that wish should be honored.
In the case of bad mods--It pains me to see a low quality mod or face-up or outfit on any doll. I understand a doll is extremely customizable. I understand that everybody starts somewhere and that some people have access to higher quality items that others don't- but that doesn't mean I can't hate a doll that looks like he's has a hammer to the face. And that doesn't mean my opinion should matter to the doll owner... it's the owner's decision, but I tend to look at poor quality work on something that was once so purely beautiful as one would look at a Waterhouse painting with holes punched through and a unibrow and mustache drawn on Ophelia's face. Obviously opinions differ, but this is mine.

 

Well here's how I see it.

1) With moddinga BJD - Companies produce more than one of each mold usually. They are quite aware that ppl customize their dolls. This is why BJDs are so popular. Once the company sells them the owners can do as they wish. Even if modded, the base of the mod is still a specific sculpt from a company. Besides which since there are unmodded dolls of the same sculpt around, no one is going to think any worse of the sculpt just because of one "bad" mod.

2) With changing the work of a faceup artist - This is different because this is an OOAK work by an artist. It would reflect badly on the artist if the doll owner did a modification to the faceup that was not up to par with the artistry of the artist. In this case a change could affect the overall balance of the face and make it lose the charm it had so I can see why the artist would not want to be associated with it even if it is just the lips or a minor change.

 

While I do agree that an owner can do anything they want to their doll, I do believe that if you partially change something like a customized faceup that you shouldn't give credit to the original artist any more unless you specifically point out what they did and what you did. Otherwise, you may be hurting future commissions for them. Even if it what is added is attractive and a good job, it no longer reflects the artist's true capability.

It reminds me of my mother who had made a lovely painting or my grandparents and gave it to them as a gift. She had done it in back and white. My grandmother decided that she wanted more color in her face and added makeup to portrait of her face. (grandma gets weird ideas sometimes) My mother was horrified to have this work of art not only ruined, but that her name was attached to it. Yes, it was my grandma's to do with as she pleased, but what she did definitely made my mothers artistic skills look bad to anyone who didn't know that the makeup job wasn't original.

 

Interesting- a lot of times dolls are highly customizable for the users & consumers to do as they wish. It's not like we are destroying the original, the prototype or the one of a kind.
Also, a lot of times there are flaws in what one artist does in sculpting. Overlooked.. or they were learning themselves and screwed up a join system or something like that. People love the doll and say oh.. I really wish she could sit instead of lay there like a dead fish and they modify it to be more poseable to be proud of it. Not everything is going to be beautiful or perfect, but practice is the way to go.
Personally, if I modded something & I screwed up I'd buy that same thing over again.

 

Most of the dolls are pretty expensive. Some cost over a thousand dollars. One of the things people should consider about customizing is that they should not customize unless they are willing to ruin the doll they are customizing and lose value. The second you sand the makeup off you are stuck.

If someone is willing to risk it than they have every right to do so. It could come out really epic. One of the draws of the dolls is being able to customize them. When done right they are gorgeous! When done wrong they can be absolutely hideous. I think some dolls done by professionals are ugly. However, just because I do not find it aesthetically appealing does not mean that other people don't. I've seen faceups that I thought were pure derp. However they have a right to mess their dolls up.

 

I just finished my first major (first in general) mod project..... I hybridized, did heavy subtractive modification, opened eyes, jointed a tail, and dyed the whole thing. Twice.

Sadly, the second layer of dye ended up a little blotchy. (I had to dye all my WS pieces blue to match the R.Taco head I started with, THEN the whole doll tan from there) But all in all, I realized I didn't care and that I'm happier than ever with him. a few of his mods look like beginner mods yes, but they don't look BAD at all. People should be free to do whatever they wish with their dolls, just so long as they're happy with the end result.