Deciding color schemes for dolls

I am really bad about making my characters in video games a certain color with dyed armor and such so yeah, I think my need for a color theme is starting to slowly leak into my dolls. I need to try to remember to be more flexible.

 

I chose Linden's pale, neutral faceup and body blushing to coordinate with my favorite colors - browns, greens, greys, and saturated reds and blues.

That said, he has all of two outfits, and both of them are predominantly brown. I'd be fine if he up and turns into a mori boy on me - he's a deer, after all - but I have plans to make him some more flashy, colorful things too.

 

My characters and dolls generally have a clothing color scheme, I color code them. It happened unintentionally and I honestly hadn't noticed until someone pointed it out at me. Hair/skin/eyes tend to not go with the chosen color scheme though, just clothing.
For instance, Oliver is the only that his entire being follows a theme, he has a pastel theme and is pink coded. Pastel blue hair, pink eyes, pink clothing. But he's naturally a ginger with blue eyes and 'chose' to alter his hair and eyes in character to match his theme
Kishen's theme is red and gold. He wears shades of red and likes gold accents, but he has black hair and brown eyes.

 

Quite a bit of intetional colour scheming here! Otakar is black, black, and more black, with only really his eyes - dark purple- and the brown and orange-pink in his face up to counteract it. He's modelled after a crow, though, so it makes sense. Valli was going to be blue, white and grey, but after buying her Official Eyes (tm), which are green, she's leaning more towards reds and browns, with the white. She's still in blue and grey right now, rough, and will be until I can find the fabric dye I want. Hideyasu is black, red, and grey/silver while his future!doll bf Tianzhu is white, blue and gold. Likewise, when I get Otakar's husband as a doll, he'll have a contrasting colour scheme of white and red. Valli's familiar Winterberry (IslandDoll AnAn) and Tianzhu's familiar Yu (Sakura & Paper Xiao Jiu) are both white resin and don't wear clothes, so their colours are eyes (green + black, respectively) and future faces ups - Winter's going from a calico to a white cat, and Yu will probably have either blue or gold decore to match her master.

... I really like black, red, blue, and white, apparently. They're all good colours, but it feels kind of boring when I say it like that...!

 

I had ideas about certain colours for certain dolls but of course, once I tried to put those colours on them, they hated it. Or looked terrible in it. A lot of my dolls tend to end up kind of monochromatic when it comes to eye/hair but it's not something I consciously set out to do in 99% of the cases. Some of my guys definitely have preferences to what they'll wear though.

Moswen and Khale both hate being dressed in red. They turn into the amazing noodle dolls when wearing red and getting them into red outfits is an exercise in patience and frustration. Moswen loves purple and blue. Khale prefers pastels, white or black. Edenlei goes for neutrals on the lighter end of the spectrum (cream, white, sand, light tan, etc.). Saraf likes jewel tones and colours that represent fire (he's the God of Primal Flame). Fei-Lau is all about white and palest blue (he's the God of Winter Storms). Wu-Tyr like dark tones in blues and green (he's God of the Depths). Sleet loves red and black but hates pastels for himself (he's a sociopath that likes to kill).

I have 2 who refuse to wear clothes (Darius and Naicree) even though they are humanoid. And I have Haniel, who is my little fashion disaster. His favourite outfit is a bright orange shirt with a raging out Incredible Hulk on it (with a glitter boarder around the Hulk), brown and green plaid pants, purple sparklie running shoes that light up when he takes a step and a red cowboy hat with a giant brown ostrich plum feather in the hatband. It's eye-searing bad. He's also got baby pink hair which makes the whole ensemble even worse.

As far as resin colour goes, I have white, NY, 2 different tans, 6 different greys, black, red, turquoise and green. The whites vary in tone from paper white to cool white to creamy white to rose white (some creamy white dolls are due to aging). NY varies based on companies and the age of the doll. The turquoise doll is actually an RS old blue that has changed colour due to age (he's about 7 years old now). I have a serious weakness for coloured resin, grey in particular. The only colour I'm not terribly fond of is NP. I'm not sure why.

 

Yes, my dolls do tend to have color schemes. Dorian is pretty monochrome, except for his violet eyes. The tips of his pointed ears also have the faintest purple on them. His character is a psychic shapeshifter, and since purple is a color commonly associated with psychic abilities I wanted to tie that into his look. Astraeus is the personification of the night sky, so his faceup is black, blue, and gold. His eyes are a matching blue. Darius is royalty, and his colors are red, black, and gold, and I wanted to emphasize the gold in his horns so I chose golden eyes for him. Colors are important for my characters, and I like to use it to pull their "look" together

 

My dolls definitely have color schemes. It looks nicer in my opinion. I don't want the "pink shirt with a red plaid skirt and yellow socks" look.

 

I choose a color-scheme for my dolls but they tend to have other ideas so it doesn't always work out. In my experience, their color-scheme is somewhat tied into their personality/style so sometimes the idea that I have for them ends up being totally not what they have in mind and then I have to go about trying out new things until something sticks.

 

Right now I'm choosing pantone palette to match the dolls I'm awaiting to be shipped in

 

I do... But it is a bit more complected than just choosing a couple of colors... I like dressing, and plan to pain the ones I'm painting myself, with their coloring in mind, much like you do for the real person. In fact I have a lot of fun applying makeup and fashion color theories to the dolls wig/eye/skin combo. Currently on the hunt for a very particular pastel shade that I think will look great on the doll I ordered
Correction - color theory says it will, I have not tried it on anyone - don't have any girlfriends in that color combo

 

My dolls are all in a pastel color palette. I love light pinks, baby blues, and sparkly eyes.

I also like to photoshop different looks on a BJD before I even buy it (so I can know whether or not to purchase wigs/eyes/clothes from the same vendor to save on shipping). I get so particular about every detail, that I am also careful to adjust the levels/saturation of the things I piece together to make sure the lighting is consistent (like if a picture of a dress was taken in bluish lighting vs a picture of a wig that was taken in warm lighting). I do this to make sure that I am getting the most accurate depiction of colors for coordinating.

I know it sounds like a lot of effort, but it only takes me about an hour, and it saves me a LOT of $$$ and headache in the long run. No buyer’s remorse for me!

 

I find that having a colour scheme/ palette really helps me as you are less likely to clash with clothes and hair.
I am a visual person and sometimes colours do surprise you when you think they wouldn't go together but I find that this is more unusual and rare.
So I like to have a selection of colours that sit comfortly and harmonise each other so that I don't have to worry.

 

I like to draw my dolls before I buy one. I call them my character concepts to feel fancy like I'm making a animated movie haha As part of the concept I do assign them a color palette. I have a "green witch" whose colors are green (duh lol), brown, taupe, mahogany, and a smidge or dusty pink. Then my goth girl pretty much just wears black haha that one is easy. But sometimes she dips her toes into cyberpunk and wears holograhic blue/purple . . . with black

I like when others have dolls with tan skin/white hair. I think it looks neat! I love to see purple skin dolls too, though I'm not sure if I would get one.

 

Yes! For me, planning things out is half the fun, haha. Plus, I hope to save money/time/effort by knowing ahead of time what color fabrics to buy, or whether a pre-made item will fit into a doll's wardrobe.

For my Unoa, Charlie, I'm using a wardrobe I had planned out for my own self, but would never be able to execute in real life. So her skin, hair, and eye color all match mine. Since I already know what looks good on me, that makes things a lot easier! Right now, her wardrobe is all-black, but with colorful accessories. In the future I hope to add a Fall/Winter wardrobe based around grey, and a Spring/Summer wardrobe based around navy. Whenever I make/buy stuff for her current black wardrobe, I think about whether it would go with navy or grey also. I want to be able to mix-and-match as much as possible!

Ooh, I really like that combo also! Reminds me of Princess Kida from Disney's Atlantis Also: very dark skin with white hair... like X-Men's Storm

 

Do you ever plan out a general color theme for your dolls? Do you plan the color themes out before the purchase or after?
I don't plan it in advance except if the character I've planned for the doll has notable features (for example, my main MSD girl has red eyes and some color options for her clothing will make her eye color pop more than other). Any other case, I just try things then usually end up having some colors picked that fit that particular doll.
Do your dolls ever have any specific colors they tend to gravitate to, whether it's a wig, eyes, or clothes? Are there any favorite or unique color combos you've seen on dolls that you like?
As some others have already stated, white hair is also a thing for me (and in combination with a darker skin color is just wow), so right now one of my dolls is white-haired (and my next doll is going to be Storm from the X-Men so... xD). Other than that, I have no fixed preferences for my dolls. In fact, I think having a myriad of different colors cheers me up.

 

I think only one of mine, or maybe two, have a colour theme. One girl has a lot of pink and white, pink hair, clothes, accessories and furniture. Another is all about black. He’s a very cool dude. He needs either a Harley or a sports bike.

 

In terms of planning a color theme... kind of? Some get more of a color theme, some don't! I more of plan what kind of clothes they wear, and that lends itself to certain colors. For example, my one goth gal leans more into the black/white/purple side of things, but Nikki gets more black/white/red. Nova's supposed to be more homey and foresty, so her stuff is often warm, not super bright in color. Clover gets pastels (and her color scheme is based on a blue tortie bunny, so she's pastel herself!), and an incoming doll who's supposed to be her partner I think will get brighter colors.

Color combos, I don't know if I have any I tend towards, but uh. I'm very fond of purple and it can get pretty obvious Ara has purple hair, again the goth gal with purple in her scheme, Megu tends to get a lot of purple stuff, including a very dark purple wig... I'm typing purple so many times it's not looking real any more!

With resin colors, I'm fine with white and peach/normal, I love tans and pastel fantasy colors, but I'm not really fond of grey or jewel-tone fantasy colors unless they're transparent. Pure black is also good though. I'd guess I have two dolls in fantasy colors, if you count Clover? (Technically there's three but Orchid doesn't wear clothes!) Clover's faceup is super pale to match her coloring, and I didn't worry a ton about blushing since she's supposed to be fuzzy. Thalassus, who's a pale blue, I leaned on the fantasy colors for her blushing. Her scars are a purple-blue, and I blushed her with more purples and I think a bit of magenta? I'd have to double-check what got smeared on her shoulder... Anyhow, cool tones for her actual body, then I went with a contrasting red wig for pizzazz. Most of his clothes thus far are more neutral to let the rest shine, but uhhh. I need to make more anyhow.

 

Some of my dolls certainly do have colour schemes... Alto (on my pfp) is basically themed around his black/white chimerism. I didn't -set- to dress him in mostly black and white fashion too, but it always felt right on him. At least he wears a dash of neon to break it up.

With Yohre, on the other hand, I gravitate towards greens, Zaphiel prefers reds, Astraia wears blues, lavender purples and pinks... Sen is pink himself top to bottom but mostly/only wears white. It's just character quirks mostly, or what just suits them best, the same as with people.

I generally don't plan colour schemes in advance when it comes to clothing, as I feel that dolls always have a way to foil such plans! I do think a lot about their hair and eye colours though when I'm creating their character. It has to make sense for them or it won't work! (Unfortunately half my crew is comprised of middle aged japanese men that don't so much like dyeing their hair... so I'm stuck with a lot of dark haired dolls as a result!)

 

Totally! I do character dolls and the vast majority of the time I do dolls based off of musicians I like so I tend to follow their color palette! I really do favor specific colors and general themes for my dolls, sometimes I will dress them up differently for a cute “special dress up time”! special dress up time usually has a cohesive theme that I pick and then my dolls can get a special outfit in that theme even if it isn’t what they would always wear (but even then I try to add in some colors and vibes similar to their main style)

 

I focus on the sculpt first and then on the aesthetics. My girl has a light make up so naturally she will look better in light colours but darker colours will be fine, too I guess. I bought her more for sewing than collecting and had to give up that idea for a longer time. Now that I can actually do it I rather think of what I can design and her to be a model than to fit her in particular. She's just that - a model, hence I have a couple of wigs for her to change her personality whenever I need it.

I would love to have a white skinned girl, however, with light make up to play with some of designs: like muted colours, or contrasting ones etc. but that's only when I conquer basic sewing :P