Company faceups?

I love shelling my D&D characters into dolls! All their faceups are done by me. I don't mind wiping and redoing the faceup until it feels right.
While not technically answering your question: nothing bothers me more than when a company fails to provide a blank head in the promo pics.

I buy all my dolls blank and like to know what I'll be working with

 

Definitely own faceups.
I've removed several company face ups and they always looked like someone had no time for it, very reduced and soulless.
But if you imagine you have to do the same face up all the time with the same rules... How should there be any soul in it?

This is just my opinion. If people like company face ups, it's their choice or preference.

 

I had a few done in the past from Impldoll in particular because I like Impldoll's company faceups a lot. But since I started doing my own faceups again I think I prefer doing them myself

 

I definitely prefer doing my own face-ups. I can connect to my dolls better this way and making a character come go life is a lot easier when you can paint all the little details you like!

I have made two exceptions. I absolutely love my Minifee Alans company’s face-up and it was one reason why I bought him. I also bought a dream valley full set that hasn’t arrived yet. I got him with a face-up, because it was an anthro doll and the company face-up really fit the character. (Snowy depths uncia. I wasn’t sure if I could pull off the animal markings or something similar haha)

 

I have various second hand dolls with company faceups, and I'm reluctant to change their faceups since it's become a part of their character due to them already having it and being the same as their photos since...well, it's a second hand doll. I don't usually choose company faceups myself due to the stories of company faceups rarely matching the picture. My Dream Valley Achelous is very similar, even if he did come with some weird green blotches on his face. That did further deter me from ordering company faceups due to the lack of control I have over them. I'm not a good faceup artist but I don't want to send my dolls off to another artist since it's a hassle and I don't want to risk my head getting stolen or damaged. I don't mind doing it myself since most of my dolls don't need very fine or detailed faceups.

 

I always faceup my dolls myself, I really enjoy painting them. I don't really use dolls to shell characters, but I also don't think I could get any "character" out of them with a company faceup most of the time, I still have preferences in what I want them to be. I do think some company faceups are gorgeous but I'm mainly in the hobby to DIY as much as I can.

 

Mine comes down to one thing: is the face humanoid? If yes, then I need the company faceup, because I've learned the hard way that I'm really bad at doing human facial features from blank. I can add stuff to an existing one, but that's it. If it's not a humanoid face (I have three anthros and a skull), then I'll do it myself, because that's a style of face I can get from my imagination onto the actual resin.

 

I don't care for company face-ups for two reasons mostly:
- they usually don't fit my character
- a lot of them are pretty bland

The latter stems mostly from the fact that company artists not only have to repeat the same face a lot of times, they need to do so in a somewhat short timeframe as well. That is especially true for full-set dolls that are sold in limited run batches.
For the face-up artist(s) that means they suddenly have to paint dozens of heads the same way, as quickly as possible. In order for that to be possible, the full-set design is often either:
- simple from the get-go, so it's easy to repeat
or
- simplified for mass-production, which means the buyer won't receive what has been shown on photos since that was basically a very detailed and ideal version of the face-up made without time constraints
Most of the time that means the face-ups are airbrushed, with minimal color variety, and low to medium amount of line-work. Basically you get one shade of pink on cheeks, chin, ears, inner eyes, maybe forehead. Another shade for the eyelids/lips. Base for the eyebrows. A couple lines for eyebrow hairs and eyelashes. The eyeliner. Gloss. Boom, done. Makes it easy to finish several heads one after another when they can all be blushed together.
There is no skin texture, there is no gentle shading of skin folds, there is no blending of many different colors to achieve more depth.
That does not mean that there aren't beautiful company face-ups (Peakswood has gorgeous ones for example, even though they very much follow the mentioned above formula), but it very much means that they often don't really show the potential of a head. I feel Iplehouse for example is a huge offender, because many of their face-ups are equivalent to "playline factory" face-ups. They look insanely mechanical for something hand-painted, as if printed on. There is nearly no shading going on, which considering how their heads are sculpted feels a bit criminal. The heads have SO much realistic potential that gets completely ignored by this face-up approach. But it's of course easier and faster to do
The real magic usually happens in the hands of the owners, or a skilled face-up artist that can afford to put in the time.

So in short: no, the company face-up never made me worry. The blank head sometimes did though because some heads just don't look good unpainted.
Some are even blank gorgeous and you can see the potential from a mile away. Others you really need to see painted up well to go "oh that is possible?". Even if the latter can backfire when you realize a head is super bland, and a lot of face-up magic tricks had to be used to make ANYTHING show up on the head. Like the ones that have super flat lips with no expression, but artists somehow made it look like there are fully sculpted lips with a smile "hidden"
Fooled me more than once.

 

I purchased my first three BJD with custom company's face ups. Afterward, I got most of my BJD and head sculpts blank. Because of that, I never really minded company's face ups, default ones to be specific. I got my sixth doll with full default company's face up and body blushing, and I wasn't disappointed. The second doll I got was from the same company, so I already knew the painting on the doll would be nice in person. The face up and body blushing looked exactly as done in the promo photos.

I however, prefer painting my own dolls. The custom face ups I got from my dolls' respective company's were hit-or-miss. They look/ed nice, for the most part, but two were not exactly what I requested. I haven't shopped for BJD in a very long time, so I don't know if any company still take custom face up orders. However, I would still rather purchased dolls blank. The one doll I got fully painted and blushed was an exception. I always intended to paint and customize my own dolls, and don't feel like paying others to do that for me, anymore (I never commissioned anyone, but I did pay the companies for the custom paint work). Even if I suck at painting miniatures, I still love doing so myself (As a traditional artist, it's kind of hard not to want to paint on everything!). I enjoy the process, I find painting extremely relaxing, even when I have the worst shaky hands on earth. (:

 

I'm still new to the hobby and all the dolls currently in my possession are secondhand, but I ordered a Myou Chelses back in August that I'm still waiting on and I'm a little nervous about her face-up. I wasn't totally happy with what I saw in the promo images and requested some alterations, so I'm not sure how she'll look when she arrives. Other than that, some dolls I own have their company face-ups from Luts and look good. One I'd like to have redone.

As much as I'd love to do my own face-ups, I've only first started dabbling in it and I haven't liked the final results yet, so I can't say I'm happy making my own. They're fun to work on, but at least for now, I hate seeing them when they're done. They don't make me happy or fulfilled and I'm only working on some practice heads. I did recently send one doll to be repainted by an artist, though, and now she's the most beautiful doll in my collection. I'd love to work with more artists in the future, so long as I can budget for it.

 

It depends on the company for me... Some have styles that I like a lot, but others? Not so much. I have no talent at all for doing faceups myself (And can spend literal years waffling over sending any of the gang out to have someone else paint them-), so it does matter to me how much I do or don't like a particular company's style... Or if they offer faceup services at all, in some cases... Not enough to completely turn me off of getting particular sculpts, mind, but sometimes influencing rather I go for a new one fresh from the maker or prowl the secondary market for one that already has a faceup that I like.

 

Usually I prefer to do the faceups myself, that does mean it can be a long time before my dolls have faces. But I just prefer having more control. I'll feel less bad wiping the faceups off if its my own work too.

 

Definitely prefer my own. Company faceups might be more professional and can be very beautiful, but all of my dolls have in depth characters, all of whom are just regular people. I feel like company faceups tend to be too "perfect doll" beauty, and sort of generic most of the time. They don't capture the "soul" of the character.

I do occasionally have exceptions. I'm considering buying one of the Iplehouse FID girls, and her head is so tiny, I don't have skills nor dexterity to do a decent faceup on her. So I will be getting a company faceup on her. In that case, the default actually does work pretty well for her character.

 

Sometimes. If I can paint on it and make it more my style.
I changed my Angel of Dream Bo faceup a bit.

 

I mostly prefer company face ups, if I want to change some details I prefer to try asking if the studio can make the changes for me rather than buy blank And I have had really good luck it seems with getting dolls whose faceups match the promo pictures. I like the face up styles of the doll brands that I own. If I don't like the default make, it's a tough sell to get me to order it blank.
Not to say I won't buy blank. I have before. But the doll has to be something special and unique in my eyes. If I think I can find a similar enough doll with better default make I'll pass it up.

 

I dont know how to do faceup so I dont mind company faceups. Unfortunately not many of the dolls I buy have the option of a faceup, but when it is available (by itself and not in a fullset), I usually get it.

 

If I like the company faceup, I'll leave it. No sense making more work for myself! But I haven't bought a doll firsthand in ages, so I've had to develop basic faceup skills so as not to completely murder my bank account. Just commissioned one for the first time a few weeks ago, and that doll is VERY special to me.

I do enjoy doing them myself, but it's such a huge time committment if I want it all done in one day, and getting all the supplies out/cleaning up is a bit of a hassle.

 

I usually prefer to do my own face-ups, just because I find it fun. If I get a full set doll, of course I want the company face-up, but other then that it doesn't matter. If I pre-order I get blank dolls, but if the doll is in-stock and comes with a face-up, then that's fine too, I might wipe it, or modify it though, unless I really like the company face-up.