Discussion thread for Limhwa Limho Mano

Dollyholic, I'm sorry, but are layaway orders possible for those who want to buy tanned Mano?

 

*nods* I never doubted that she could make them pretty, thats why first seeing the flat bottoms is abit of a shock. XD I was expecting to see her pretty sculpting. Although observing his bare footed photoshoots to be fair it looks more realistic than the round bottoms would be. With our real feet, the cushy parts do flatten out alittle when standing. With resin it is impossible for it to act cushy. *lol*

It is all right, I do not love my Mano any less. He is my first doll of this size and more than likely the artist's thoughtful designs have made him the best one for me to get first. ^.^ I knew the very first time I saw him that he was the one I'd been waiting for.

*squee* 33 Yes, he has the best legs I've yet seen on any of the male dolls and probably most of the females too. Thats something that has always bothered me about alot of sculpts, they tend to neglect the legs a great deal. They tend to have the barest details and to be on the thinner side.

I love what Limhwa did with Mano. ^^ He does look agile, graceful, and strong. And his expressions can be alot of fun too. XD He an look so tender one moment and then so grouchy. *lol*

 

Whee posing!

I really agree with you Luminaire on the versatility of his face. One minute he looks so tender and sweet and the next he can look rather angry. His nose is beautiful too. Not just a pointy nose that most dolls have (I guess due to the influence of anime) but a "real nose", which I find makes him look distinguished.

 

*giggles* Yeah, that whole photoshoot(about 77 shots) was me playing with his posing and with different angles. XD

I tried for probably 30 minutes to get him to stand on one leg, and he did for a split second. But I was unable to get him to do it solidly with the way he is now. Perhaps with sueding and/or wiring he could do it. His center of gravity does make balancing him very different from the smaller boys. He prefers to be arching backwards in order to stand with his legs straight up and down. I was trying to show the arching of his back in the second pic I posted. He's not really touching the chandelier, it only looks that way. XD

Yes, he does have a great nose. I'm not a big fan of the really pointy noses, but they work for some types of dolls. His eyes and brows add much to his versatility.

 

For those of you who missed the excellent interview done on Limhwa by Haute Doll magazine, here is the secret of Mano:

She created him to be both a villain and hero at the same time. How did she do this?
His face has asymmetry. It's very subtle and clever, but it's there, and this is how she gave him two different characters in one face. She's such a genius; I just love this woman.

I got really upset after Mano's release... there was a woman in France who placed his head on a grid and showed everyone on a French forum how his face was not symmetrical from left to right. She blasted Limhwa, saying she had released a defective doll. Personally, I felt sick. If Limhwa wanted to make a perfectly symmetrical face, she would have. She created deeper feeling in this face, and he has this clever dualism. Many of the others on that forum jumped in, agreeing it was atrocious and defective work because the left and right were not perfectly balanced and equal. I never even bothered to bring this up to Limhwa, because I felt she would have also been horribly disappointed. She feels Mano is one of the best things she's created.

I've always been impressed with the owners on this forum because many do appreciate art, and look at details and view the details for their artistic worth. And I have a lot of French friends who appreciate great dolls (bisous to you all!). It was just hard to watch this group surrounding her and verbally stoning her and assaulting her character and talent.

And now you know why he can look sweet, then angry and stern. Because you are looking at a work of art by someone who had a vision... wanted to push the envelope...and give you something truly beautiful and versatile as a character.

to you all!
Catrina

P.S. Layaways can be done, but you must have it nearly paid off before we send in your order. This due to those who change their minds, and demand refunds on custom dolls we have placed orders for. When dollyorphans arrive here from Korea, it makes us sad.

 

It's funny, that was one of the first things I noticed and loved about the sculpt-the delicious asymetry in the face! I blame the portrait painter in me, but I LOVE the fact that he's a bit off, (it's fascinating). And it was one of the first things my mother, also an artist, commented on when she saw him, (big grin on her face and 'that's so cool!').

oh! And I recieved my sexy muscle chest today-COMPLETELY made my weekend-gorgeously sculpted pecs and ribs and clavicles-here I come!!!!! *brandishes blushing supplies*

 

I really loved that Haute interview. It was so cool to find out she made his face based off the hero and the antagonist of her favourite computer game, combining those elements to create his really versatile sculpt. As for asymmetry, I hadn't even noticed (not an art student or anything) but I think that's more realistic, human faces aren't perfectly balanced either are they?

I had noticed his mouth was quirky but it only endears him to me, he can grin or pout and those beautiful "pillow lips" ah, so pretty. I don't really know how to explain it but knowing he's got "flaws" (I use this in ref to any face being "flawed" by asymmetry) really just makes me love him more, he isn't the "ideal" symmetrical face. He's a super stunning guy with a face that could actually exist in nature. Something about that makes him more relate-able. Its easy to picture him existing in real life, doing things, having problems, being happy etc. Whereas with some dolls, they are so gorgeous it only seems fitting that they came from another world, they are just so pretty as to be ethereal.

Mano offers us a realistic beauty, and while I love my "equally proportioned" dolls, its cool to know one is more unique (and natural) in his looks.


PS:
It makes me feel like I could cry hearing people rip him apart. Like, you don't just love someone for their looks >_>, character is also a part and Mano has both. Gonna have to seek out m'boy and carry him around now. Ugh, such icky behaviour all for some balance!

 

I am completely stunned that supposed lovers of dolls would so carelessly, unfeelingly, and selfishly tear apart any artist's work like that. Such people can not be called lovers of art because it is a fact that it the non-symmetrical features that make us who we are.

There are many beautiful and famous works of art that do not follow perfect symmetry. Masters who deeply appreciated and understood them. Not to mention, many gorgeous human beings in the world who also have such "flaws".

How would that woman like it if we stuck her face on a grid and picked it apart? The insolence! Rudeness!

I am glad Limhwa does not know about it, it is too low to even touch her footprint. She should not be troubled or hurt by it. You did the right thing Catrina. Thanks so much for posting that, I did not know that was his secret. ^.^ I feel even more blessed to have such a wonderful doll!

How could anyone not see that it makes him more real? He is soo life like, a warm beauty. The subtle changes in his face make photographing him a sheer joy.

*completely baffled by such people in a forum like that*

hee, you know Yuu-chan I still find Mano to have that ethereal quality to him. Some of his photos just make me go all starry-eyed, "You're an angel!" *lol* as embarrassing as that is to admit. XD Part of it is the way he glows, many of these dolls glow like this(quality of the resin I understand) like they have an inner light. My Hikaru does this too and it strikes me every time. 33

btw you may call me Lumi instead of Luminaire as it is easier. ^_^

 

Mmm *nod* that's a good point Lumi.
French resin (I'm assuming your boy is French resin) really does have a beauty about it, that gorgeous almost life-like inner glow and warmth. I'm not always careful about putting my dolls in dark places, so I went with the beige urethane option, which can exude that warmth. Glow, maybe not so much.

I don't think its odd to call him an angel at all. His face really does have this quality about it. My boy is a rather worldly Brit, so I guess his ethereal-ness isn't as obvious XD.
Going back and looking at my most recent pictures of him (which I should post, most are pretty decent), this quality is more visible now that its been brought to my attention.

As for other stuff, just call me Yuu

 

*nods* Yes, he is french resin. I was excited about getting a french resin doll because he would be so different from my two boys who are urethane. It is lucky I do have a very dark, dry, cool room to put them in.

Maybe it is my bad photography but even my urethane boys can glow on me...probably is my bad skills. XD

Ooh do post your pictures of him, Yuu. ^^ Hehee, so it is even more fun to see the ethereal-ness of your boy because of his character.

I got to post some too I have acouple silly ones I want to post as well as at least one I dare say could be called smoldering. *fans self* whoooo!

 

My first thoughts when I heard the "asymmetry" comments were "only a moron would expect a sculpt based on a human face to be symmetrical, as humans are not", but then I thought maybe they are just stone ignorant, which is more forgivable. I guess. I am just so sick and tired of the perpetual search for evenness in the BJD face. It is a bizarre affliction, not unlike people who want to "fix" themselves with plastic surgery, when they don't need it.

 

On one hand, there is research proving that the human mind seeks symmetry in faces. It is hardwired into us to seek symmetry as one definition of beauty and desireability . Nature, however, serves us up with a delightful mix of symmetry and asymmetry in the human face. Because of how we grow as embryos, our two sides develop a little differently. Why do I have a deep dimple on one cheek and none on the other? That's nature. Do I feel defective that I lack an equally giant dimple on my other cheek? No! I think it's part of my character. Besides, my husband thinks it's cute.

Also, as we grow up, our habits and lifestyle impact our faces.

I think with art, you can enjoy both strict symmetry -and- appreciate a more natural, nature-given asymmetry. Neither is "correct" or "defective;" it just IS WHAT IT IS.

The group-stoning of artists offends me though. Sometimes it appears to be almost a sport. Some of these dolls take a year or more to sculpt, and the artist puts an incredible amount of life and love into the doll. It actually matters to Limhwa that "her kids" are loved. She trusts me to explain all this to you, in my little ol' asymmetrical way.

Catrina

 

I didn't even notice the asymmetry except to note that his face looked like a real person's, and real people usually do NOT have perfectly symmetric faces. To be honest, it drives me insane when someone makes a fuss about a sculpt having two eyes that aren't perfectly symmetric, or a slightly crooked nose or wobbly chin, because, while too much of that gives you an ugly bad-looking sculpt, a small degree of it makes it look more like a person and less like a "doll" which is why I am buying BJDs in the first place and not "uber-perfect" Barbies and other "fashion dolls".

To be honest, one of the major reasons it took me this long to get a Mano is that in many of his incarnations, he is TOO pretty and perfect-looking for me - the opposite of any sort of "defect". It really helped seeing the charity auction Mano done up as more of a "regular joe".

I guess whatever any artist makes, someone can find a reason to pick it apart. It would be nicer if they just said "I don't like it" and left it at that.

 

Different people always seek different things, it is true that most humans
usually look for "perfect" symmetry when judging beauty, but as it's been
said before, humans are far from being perfect themselves, or 100% symmetrical.
As someone who has been creating and admiring art for as long as I have (twenty
or so year, boy do I sound old right about now), I can honestly say that I don't find
this type of 'criticism' as a bad thing.

As someone somewhere once said, "all criticism is good criticism, even the
bad kind." As long as your work is being recognized, as an artist, it truly doesn't matter
if everyone loves your work, but that you are been 'acknowledged,' and talked about.
Art is not something you can tag easily, some people will disagree with "what makes something
art." Obviously and undoubtedly sculpture is an art - these type of dolls in particular
are hand sculpted, and hand cast by the artists (in most cases), so these dolls
could easily be considered art pieces by most, but not all will agree - especially if you
consider that most "art-critics" believe that art should "inspire creative thought in the viewer,"
then only a few may see these dolls as works of art, and most will fail to see it.

The important thing to remember is that people are talking about this artist's work,
even if it's not all good, and definitively not constructive "criticism,"still, a true artist will learn
to work accept that his/her work will not always be "approved" by everyone, and grow from that
experience. I have also come across comments that the artist's works are "repetitive," but
owning one of them, I believe that all of her sculpts are truly different, and have subtle differences
that makes them unique to one-another. All artist have their "signature," all of their works will
always have something that you can trace back to them - if you can't identify someone's work
just by looking at it, maybe it's because the artist hasn't found its "signature" yet. Besides,
all current BJD companies have similarities between their sculpts, I doubt their's a company out
there right now, that has sculpts so different form each other that you can't tell that they are made
by the same company/artist. In my opinion if you can't see just how different Limhwa's sculpts are
from each other, then you are not truly looking at the sculpts, but at the way their face ups are done.
Just my "two-cents," I truly admire this artist work on Mano, and from photos, I can appreciate her
other works as well (Mono would have to be my second favorite of her works).


- Enzyme ^________^

 

I just think that's funny considering the number of unsymmetrical dolls in the market.

My Dollmore Ipsae had quite a few unsymmetrical characteristics. (Honestly, this is why I sold her.)

But honestly, I never noticed on Mano. I'll look again, but nothing ever popped out to me.

 

Which is, again, why the Model Dolls resemble real people. The Bella Auden is way, WAY asymmetrical. By contrast, I find many of the Volks sculpts to be perfectly symmetrical...and less interesting.

 

Even bad criticism shouldn't miss the point entirely.

Theres a big difference between an artist setting out to make a piece symmetrical and failing and someone like Limhwa carefully planning exactly how and in what way it will be asymmetrical in order to show different expressions according to light, angle, and perspective.

Limhwa set out to to make Mano exactly the way he is, theres no accidental flaw. She didn't try to make a symmetrical sculpt and end up with something asymmetrical in the end. She planned it and its so skillfully subtle how could it possibly deserve to be called defective?

Thats where I draw the line when it comes to the way those people at that forum behaved. They didn't just criticized, they unfairly insulted the artist by ignorantly saying what she did with his face was defective work.

This might be why I've never bought a complete volks doll(I have 2 SD10 bodies)...I've liked and admired many since I was introduced to bjds, but I never liked one enough to buy it. hmm though there have been some I've wanted to...but the timing was always bad money wise. XD But its true that they're alittle less interesting, epecially after the noveltly wears off. Most of them I find myself looking at a year later and wondering what the heck I thought I liked so much? o.O;

Its even worst when compared to hounds. I used to adore that sculpt too, but now that I have a Mano I can't see myself buying a Hound anymore. *still surprised about that*

btw, anyone seen or have any interesting couple pics between Mano and other types of woman dolls? I keep picturing a tall woman as his counterpart....I wonder if Limhwa will make a 60cm female doll sometime. I think that would be perfect.

 

given my habit to OCD over asymmetry, i don't think i could deal with a mano, then, if he's as asymmetrical as he's made out to be. already, many volks sculpts irk that part of me quite a bit. D:

his body, though, i like quite a lot. the musculature is really nice. :3

 

kiradyn, did you notice that about him yourself? When you look at his photos on site and from us owners do you see anything that bothers your OCD? *curious*

I wouldn't say he's that asymmetrical, in fact mostly only a few seem to notice it without using a grid. Again it's stated to be subtle. ^^

 

I agree with everyone here-- critiques are great, and I know all of the artists I work with crave them. IMHO, the difference between a critique and an insult is intent. Critiques are offered cheerfully in order to help the artist you are offering the critique to. I think artists love critiques because it's valuable to borrow the perspective and eyes of someone else, and learn something new about your own projects. The insult is offered angrily in order to put down or condemn the work of the artist.

kiradyn_rhiode, you could take a peek at owner pics or the pics in the NEWS thread with Mano. He has asymmetry to his face, but it's done subtly. The people on the doll forum had to pull out grid paper to illustrate it, because it's not the type that slams you in the eye. I 'd be interested to see what you think.

Well, back on topic with a bit of Mano trivia. The first version of the Mano head was created over a year ago, and I was shown the master sculpt (grey stone clay). He was a lot more stern looking, and didn't have the fuller mouth. I think Limhwa was trying to make a guy who wasn't the typical pretty boy. I told her he looked very scholarly, but had a soft side. His nose was much longer and thinner, too. So the final version of Mano was a real surprise to me.. she'd given him the ability to look stern, but in his current version he also has a very soft and loving look too. So to that original sculpt, she'd managed to add so much more emotion.

Another interesting thing about the Mano is that they seem to take on a different look depending on which resin choice you make. When I have some time I will take pictures of the three boys I have, in French resin.. normal beige.. tanned resin. They are three brothers, but each is unique looking.

Catrina