BJDs and unskilled modifications

I think if you never first take up modding you never get skilled. Every skilled modder started somewhere... And even when a mod doesn't go well there's always other modders out there who love to get those dolls and add epoxy and sand until they're new.

They are art, but art is always changing. Actually, that's one of the things I love about these dolls, that they were made to be so changeable! I mean, you paint the faces to give them all sorts of expressions. Modding and painting are similar in that respect, you change the art to make it appeal more to your tastes, only modding is more permanent.

Still, sometimes way new and wonderful works of art come of these mods, and those should be treasured and it should be remembered a lot wouldn't have come about if not for the original modding. Also, I doubt companies hate modding. I mean, they practically tell people they can either have dolls with seams, pay extra $$$ for sanding, or sand them themselves. And sanding seams is just one small way of modding the doll.

So mods are okay, even if not the most skilled out there, everyone starts somewhere and companies seem okay with the idea of amateurs sanding if they want to, even if they may sand too much.

I also think it would be wrong to mod a doll and NOT give the company credit for the original mold, since that is what it stems from and is based on. After all, someone did all that hard work of making what people then mod!

 

Whatever goes on with the dolls once the owner gets hold of them is no one else's business. After all they chose to spend their money that way so if they want to ruin it (in the eyes of some of you) then why care? If they'd spent it all on alcohol instead (not hard to do where I live, one moderately big party is enough, and yes this is just an example, could be anything), who would have cared?

If it was truly a one-of-a-kind true art piece, then yes it would be a different thing. But these are sculptures of which there are tens (if not hundreds) of copies. If someone decides to screw up one then eh. The world goes on guys, relax.

 

I know this has been said, already, but everybody's got to start somewhere. And I think it's only natural that, no matter how you poke or prod or try to change the mold, you give credit that it was originally said mold.

But yes, I do agree that after a point - and not a very far off point - you should also say as an up-front disclaimer when you name the mold that it has been altered. I mean, say you want to pierce the ears, I don't think that level of modification requires a "but this isn't how I got it" statement. But if you shave elf ears off, it would be a nice addition to the doll's introduction. If you make a few touch-ups to the makeup, no biggie. But if you've face-painted and blushed and tanned the doll, then you might want to let people know you've changed it.

Where the line is drawn is a much more personal question, and I honestly don't know where I stand in the matter. But "do bad artists have the right"? Sure, they do. Is it recommended? Only if they're going to keep trying and practicing until they get it right. Should they call it their own? I'd say, only if they feel that it is, for better or worse.

 

It's all a matter of personal taste, in my opinion. If the person who mods the doll likes it, then that's brilliant - even if someone else looking at the modded doll thinks it's ugly and ruined. If everybody liked the exact same things, then the world would be boring and no-one would create anything new.

I also believe that one of the major points of these dolls is customisation, to reflect the owner's feelings for the doll. Even if a modification is, in someone else's opinion, terrible, as long as it was done with love and care it is a perfect addition (maybe even an enhancement) to the doll in the eyes of the owner. The same thing (kind of) applies to parents and children. For example -if a mother dresses her son in a pair of purple dungarees with orange spots and a lime green bobble hat, because she thinks he looks absolutely adorable in them, what right does the neighbour have to say "Why'd you dress them in that? It looks ridiculous!"

 

I think it's silly to assume someone is going to pay upwards of $200 on an item and then feel like they have no right to mess with it.

Would I? I'm still debating. Definitely not on anything with a company faceup, or a custom one. I'd totally do a blank, or redo one that I bought off of the marketplace that I hated the faceup on.

I can sort of understand the whole being pissed off that you did a faceup for someone and they painted over it, but on these dolls it's COMMON to redo faceups often, so I don't think I'd take it so personally! Honestly, saying you'd never do a faceup for someone again is just making you lose money, it's not hurting anyone else.

In the case of dolls released specifically as art dolls like one-offs, I would probably really be upset to see someone mess it up, but I never know that when I sell someone a painting, or something that they aren't going to screw with it.

 

Well practise makes perfection... a lot of people buy their dolls with the sole purpose of pratising and improving. Once you buy a doll, you buy the tight to do with it what you want... modify it if you must, its YOURS!

 

Well you all have to start SOMEWHERE with mods... how do you learn to make mods on a resin doll if you've never done it? There is only so much you can read about and actually working with the material will give you the most learning in the end.

Say like, I am an excellent water colour artist... then I pick up oils but that's a different medium and oil 'moves' and 'behaves' different than water colour... I would have to learn how to paint ALL OVER AGAIN! And I can read all the books I want on oil painting but in the end I need to paint with oils to learn how to use oils.

Also I agree with the face-up artist being upset over her work being 'altered' when the customer painted over the lips. I'd be mortified! In fact a similar situation happened to me before. I drew a picture for a friend and gave it to her. Later I found out that she had COLOURED IT!!!! I did NOT give her permission to do that! When I signed that picture I considered it FINISHED! I NEVER drew a picture for her again.

I'm sure the original sculpters may be a bit resentful if people decided to 'practice' on their particular mold... like bad eye opening jobs for instance. Though these dolls are sold with the mindset that people would be modifying them by painting faces and different wigs and eyes.

If I made a full-set that was supposed to have 'these eyes' and 'these wigs' and 'these clothes' then I would probably be more upset than if it weren't.

 

But how many dolls are actually signed and with a copyright that says "do not alter". If there are dolls like that, then fair enough, don tpaint them etc etc... otherwise, as the owner, you have bought the rights to your doll... and if it gets damaged, well then, thats arisk loads of people are willing to take i guess..

 

While I sometimes cringe at modifications done to a doll the key for me to remember is - it's not my doll. As long as the person doing it gets the result they want and the owner is happy I think that's what matters. "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder." is really key here.
That being said I would never custom my dolls because I know I don't have the kind of skill to get an outcome I find appropriate. It's really down to what the owner of the doll thinks. If they love it and no one else does that isn't a problem (unless they want to sell it and its maimed that bad but they knew the risk :P ).

 

Here's my opinion. If a noticeable mod is done to a doll it should be mentioned in every place the doll is shown, and this is MANDATORY. No matter if mod was made with a great skill or was it complete mess. This is not just a credit issue. Because people see the picture and think: "I want this doll", and later they discover that this is not the original sculpt, the face has been altered - so they actually do not have a chance to obtain exactly the same doll. They become frustrated.

That's a pity to see poorly done modifications but I think the way: "Your money, your doll, your right to do everything with it".

I own I-Doll Byul with major face mods so I have a good reason to think about the matter.

But I am also thinking about another aspect of modding:
Do you feel guilt towards doll's author when you start doing mods?

And my answer is yes. My Byul turned out very nicely, many people say that. Anyway, I know how much effort is put in the doll. Doll maker tries his/her best to make all the parts in the same style to achieve harmony.
I'd like to show my doll to Andro, her author, but I'm rather timid about that.

 

it's true that these dolls are made by very skilled artist and a lot of respect should
be given to them. However, one of the special elements about bjd hobby is modification.
people are attracted to bjds because they can do face-ups and other personal changes
to these dolls. So, just because one is not skilled at modifying dolls, it's not right to
say that they're banned from making changes.

 

Clearly, because someone owns the doll, they can do whatever they want to it.

But everyone has to start somewhere. If nobody ever modded because they had no experience or skill with it, this community would not have the experienced and skilled modders it has today. You have to do it to learn it.
Research should be done beforehand, just so you don't end up completely ruining your expensive toy, but it is your property to do with as you wish.

I completely agree though, that changes of that nature need to be specified. To sell a doll you have badly modded without letting the buyer know is misrepresentation and fraud.
I don't think that it needs to be listed absolutely everywhere the doll is shown though. That to me implies that modding is wrong.

If you would not otherwise list the company and sculpt, then don't bother saying you've made changes, for instance if the thread is something like "Check out Nina in this sweater I made her." The thing being showcased here is the sweater, and not the doll.
If someone wants to buy said doll, and can't immediately tell that it's been modded, then they likely can't recognize which company made it without having to ask. It's at that point, that the owner should divulge that they modded heavily.

 

I understand the whole "BJDs are a work of art" thing, mainly because I treat mine carefully, keep them clean and try to ensure they're as perfect as when I bought them.
That being said, I have only two. They're both MSD.
With my first girl I did my very first tentative faceup (looking back it was BAD, but not really bad for a first), then after a while I opened her sleepy eyes with help of a tutorial.
They were uneven to say the least.
After a lot of aftercare and attention her eyes are a lot nicer, and more natural looking (excluding the fact that she has no lid-creases, that being said, it suits her and now she's OOAK)
Then I got my first boy doll and he went through a huge array of crap faceups, now he's perfect!

So yes, I think even if you do a mod badly, as long as it's not as though you've cut the doll's head in half, I think anything is fixable.

 

No that is like saying that one should never paint a picture or draw something or do anything even remotely creative.

A person has to start somewhere. First second third tries may be horrible but afer tie a person may get better.

 

If you get a drawing wrong, you throw it away and draw it again. Or erase it, or whatever. What saddens me is when I see extremely expensive and limited dolls ruined by poor modifications. Why not start with a cheaper doll?
Yeah it's the owner's doll and they decide what they want to do with it, but it still bugs me. I won't lose any sleep over it, though.

 

...buy a cheap practice head.

But I will still never throw a $500 + doll into a pot of boiling water or whatever. no sir. That's just too expensive to mess up, "Art" or not.

(haha all these mentioning of "lets make insert great painting here better" makes me think of the DADA movement. Thank god for dada!)

 

Boy I hope not. I'm far from a professional artist, and I surely wouldn't want people acting as if I don't have a right to modify my own dolls to whatever I see fit. That's like saying that a beginning artists shouldn't be allowed to paint on canvas' (Since to a canvas maker, it is a piece of art.) Or that they shouldn't use a tablet (because a tablet manufacturer/developer might consider it a piece of art.). If they have the money to, why not? We all start at the beginning and I'm afraid that sometimes people forget that. Picasso didn't start out doodling perfect anatomy in his math books, and I'm sure that no other artist did either. Art is a struggle, a talent, and a passion; no one started out as a master, they earned that tittle, through time, effort, and dedication.

The great masters have even said this themselves; You learn more through your mistakes than you ever will through your accomplishments. It's even been proven in studies about the brain, that you will learn something quicker if you see yourself or someone else fail at it.

I think the phrase goes:

"We learn through our mistakes."

 

I think this is a bit of a touchy subject. When dolls are sold as kits or without face-ups, aren't the designers and manufacturers inviting people to modify or change their dolls? I have seen many things done to dolls I would never do myself but I feel at the same time this is what these dolls were intended for - that is to be customised and individualised...

 

This thread has reminded me of one of the first major mods I had seen done to a doll. This modder had decided to go all out and do an extreme mod of a BBB Isabella (a $120 doll of 1/6 size, fortunately a easy to replace and common sculpt) into what I felt was freakish and grotesque demon mod by giving her everthing from tubes and gears, a gasmask-like face, and painting her skin a scorched-looking black and brown. It was just nasty.

The intention was to make a succubus, with what I guess were steampunk details. It was completely frightening and actually made my stomach churn, especially since I knew that the original sculpt was of a sweet looking young girl. After the intial "*GASP* What have you done to that poor doll?!?" wore off, however, I realized that it was a bawlsy task that obviously took a great deal of time and effort to complete, and it's intention was to shock, which it did very successfully.

That Isabella helped me to realize how much this hobby is run by the mods people do to them, from simply changing the eyes, or completely changing the sculpt. It's what makes the hobby tick.

I have zero issue now with any mods done to a doll, whether pleasing to my eyes or not. It's those very modifications and simple details that makes these dolls what they are, and what make each one special. The doll you bought isn't a complete work, it's just the canvas that you start from. And that's the entire reason I decided to jump into the hobby in the first place.

But if you do mod, I recommend doing your research on how to do it safely without destroying a doll, but remember that people like Buff are there if you do something terrible (on accident or otherwise) anyway.

 

This isn't a question about should they mod or shouldn't they. That's simple: They bought it, they can break it. That's their right as the property owner.

Where the shoulds and should nots come in is selling and such. It's clearly not being sold in mint condition once it's been modded. It's not a 100% honest representation of what the mold is capable of becoming once the nose has been sanded down and the ears bent and the mouth carved to have teeth, unless the ones viewing are willing to do the mods, as well. In these situations, the doll should be labeled as "modded" or what have you, and that's pretty much it. We have no place telling doll owners that they shouldn't modify their dolls, especially since these dolls come from the land of resin model kits, which were made to be sanded, painted, and assembled to the builder's tastes, not necessarily skills.