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Do it yourself or pay someone else?

Jun 28, 2009

    1. 1) I prefer to ask someone else doing it as I have no talent at all!!!
      2) I have an artist I really like which is Nina aesthetics

      4) I have been Lucky so far and always like my face-ups!
       
    2. I tried doing a face up myself but to be blunt... It looked awful /)_(\ so from now on I will either get company face ups or send them off to an artist. The supplies are expensive and getting a face to look perfect takes a lot of work, so even though nothing good came of it I am glad that I tried it out, because it gave me more respect to face up artists.
       
    3. 1) When it comes to face-ups, would you prefer to do your own, let the company do it (when that's an option) or have someone else do it?
      I prefer to do my own.

      2) If done by someone else, is there a certain artist you have in mind? NA

      3) If done by you, why did you decide to do your own?
      I really enjoy working on faceups and it is how I bond with my dolls.

      4) Have you ever gotten a face-up you weren't happy with? (Either by the company or another artist) And if so, how did you go about fixing it?
      No. I rarely get faceupped dolls but those that have come faceupped were done well enough. However since I have a hard time bonding with dolls I don't work on I end up wiping them and painting them myself anyway. In general I like very small brush strokes and a softer more realistic look. I am rarely satisfied with the blushing usually.I received a Dikadoll Batian that I repainted much more to my liking. Fairyland work is generally very very good so I don't like to wipe them if they come with a faceup. Surprisingly, my resin Hujoo girl was painted very well so she's also retained her company faceup.
       
    4. Short answer: pay someone else!

      1) When it comes to face-ups, would you prefer to do your own, let the company do it (when that's an option) or have someone else do it?
      If I like the company face-up, I'll let them do it. If not, I'll commission someone from DoA.

      2) If done by someone else, is there a certain artist you have in mind?
      I try to pick someone who has done face-ups in the past that are similar to what I want.

      3) If done by you, why did you decide to do your own?
      I've tried one out of curiosity, but I never planned to keep it. I'm picky about how my dolls look, and nothing I do could ever be adequate.

      4) Have you ever gotten a face-up you weren't happy with? (Either by the company or another artist) And if so, how did you go about fixing it?
      Yes! Both of my Ringdoll's (Pan and Valo) had terrible default face-ups. I commissioned an artist to redo both of them, and she did a great job. Unfortunately, I still ended up selling the dolls, but it was because of factors other than the face-up.
       
    5. 1) When it comes to face-ups, would you prefer to do your own, let the company do it (when that's an option) or have someone else do it?
      I prefer doing my own, even though I'm a beginner.

      2) If done by someone else, is there a certain artist you have in mind?
      n/a

      3) If done by you, why did you decide to do your own?
      Because I plan to do photostories, I plan to change my dolls over time as their characters develop and I feel that I need to be able to re-do a faceup, or change / repair it, without depending on someone else('s timetable).

      4) Have you ever gotten a face-up you weren't happy with? (Either by the company or another artist) And if so, how did you go about fixing it?
      n/a
       
    6. 1) When it comes to face-ups, would you prefer to do your own, let the company do it (when that's an option) or have someone else do it?
      I would prefer to do it myself. It puts a use to all the art supplies I have around :sweat Plus it makes me feel like my doll is one of a kind, just for me. My Ante is a popular sculpt, but she isn't exactly like anyone else's. It helps me bond with them.

      2) If done by someone else, is there a certain artist you have in mind?
      No. This is part of the reason I wouldn't commission one. I see all sorts of beautiful works by artists but I don't trust my description skills.

      3) If done by you, why did you decide to do your own?
      I usually have a poor image in my head of what I want them to look like before I get started.
      Also, FL Chuchu's default faceup has angry eyebrows. That didn't fit the character, and they made me nervous (Angry doll kill me in my sleep?) so that was a no right from the get-go. However, I've never worked on dark resin before so all my tan dolls have company faceups..

      4) Have you ever gotten a face-up you weren't happy with? (Either by the company or another artist) And if so, how did you go about fixing it?
      I wish my Erzulie's lips were a bit redder, but it's a very minor issue that I only even thought of because you asked. I feel no need to fix it.
       
    7. 1) When it comes to face-ups, would you prefer to do your own, let the company do it (when that's an option) or have someone else do it?
      I prefer doing it myself.

      2) If done by someone else, is there a certain artist you have in mind?
      N/A, but just in case I felt the need to get a special faceup in the future, I do keep a few artists in mind. I like to look at other artists' work and learn from their techniques.

      3) If done by you, why did you decide to do your own?
      Initially it was out of necessity; the doll was blank, I had the materials and I was sick of looking at his bald face. Then I found I wasn't too shabby at it and now I completely prefer it. Makes me feel like my doll is 100% unique (for better or worse) and completely mine. :)

      4) Have you ever gotten a face-up you weren't happy with? (Either by the company or another artist) And if so, how did you go about fixing it?
      N/a
       
    8. 1) When it comes to face-ups, would you prefer to do your own, let the co someone else do it?

      I prefer to do my own.

      2) If done by someone else, is there a certain artist you have in mind?

      N/A

      3) If done by you, why did you decide to do your own?

      For one it saves money. Second, I am nervous about somthing happening in the mail. Third, I enjoy doing it myself.

      4) Have you ever gotten a face-up you weren't happy with? (Either by the go about fixing it?

      N/A
       
    9. I actually have never had a doll face-up done by somebody other than myself. I had been interested in getting a doll years before I finally got my first one, but at the time I was in high school. Shelling out $500+ to get a doll seemed impossible. When I finally managed to get my hands on one...I honestly never considered sending him off to get a face up and he didnt come with one, so I just jumped right in. I bought the stuff that I needed....luckily I already had most of the pastels and pastel/watercolor pencils that I needed from art class in high school and I just went from there. My faceups are far from professional and I am far from a good artist...but I feel like it makes them more personal when I can do it myself. I am always trying to improve my faceups and I learn as I go.

      When I buy a doll, I probably will always order it without a face up. I am so used to doing my own faceups so it really doesn't bother me. I just ordered two new dolls and I got them both without face ups. I'm also too impatient to wait the extra time that it will take for the company to do the face up on top of getting the doll made and shipped out, haha. To me its an extra expense that I could save by doing it myself.
       
    10. My first doll I decided to do the face up on my own because I saw the prices ridiculous, I quickly realized that it's a lot harder than it looks and I was only staining my doll. On my second one I purchased her with a face up and I love it, it was done by the company and I saw a picture of what it would look like before hand, otherwise I wouldn't be sure who to trust to do it themselves.
       
    11. 1) When it comes to face-ups, would you prefer to do your own, let the company do it (when that's an option) or have someone else do it?

      Well, I'll start off by saying that whilst I'm very creative I'm not especially artistic. For example, at Uni I need to devise lesson plans and learning materials, and I always get told that I think of some extremely unusual and effective teaching methods. I'm also a writer and my work in that always gets positive comments as well. However, these are all mental skills, and the moment my hand touches a canvas with a paintbrush everything goes wrong. I have some truly beautiful paintings in my mind, but my hands just don't want to do it. That's why I've not attempted a faceup on my dolls yet... strangely enough, I have a few small off topic dolls that I've painted that look kind of nice, but then I have a slightly larger off topic doll that looks horrific with the face up I've given her.

      Both of my dolls have the company defaults, and I think they look really nice and much better than I could do. My first doll got the company faceup because he was a fullset and I wanted him to come to me finished. I knew I couldn't paint him myself and I didn't want to get my boy then have to send him away again to be painted by an artist. :(

      Seraphine has a company faceup because I adored the Mo 2 company default, so that's pretty straight foward.

      My second preferance would be an artist that doesn't work for the doll companies, but I'm wary of sending my dolls heads away lest they got lost or broken in the mail. :sweat When my dolls faceups eventually wear off (I've been very careful with them, and Ces' is pretty much still pristine after five years) I will probably look for somebody to do them again. I do however want to purchase a reasonably cheap MSD head one day and use it as my practice head to see how I fare on resin dolls and so that maybe one day when Ces and Seraphine are really old I'll be able to paint them :lol:. I know what I'm like though and I'd probably end up getting the head a body.

      2) If done by someone else, is there a certain artist you have in mind?
      I wouldn't really know where to start looking for artists. I do tend to like faceups that are fairly dark, with clean lines and subtle blushing. Something that's quite subtle but not natural looking or bare.

      3) If done by you, why did you decide to do your own?
      Eh heh heh. The things is, I never entered this hobby to be creative. Yeah, sure, my dolls have characters and personalities and I dress and pose them accordingly. But the one effort I made to make doll clothes by myself produced raggedy boxer shorts when I was trying to make a T-shirt. My dad and I have sewn Ces a pair of jeans which look pretty good, but that's only because my dad told me exactly what to do. And I really can't paint to save my life.

      I do want to learn, but it'll probably take a lot of time, especially since I can't really afford a practice head at the moment, and I don't want to wipe off my doll's current face ups because I'm happy with them.

      4) Have you ever gotten a face-up you weren't happy with? (Either by the company or another artist) And if so, how did you go about fixing it?
      Hmm, Seraphine's face up looked nothing like the picture. Not even a little bit. I'll admit I was dissapointed, but I do enjoy the face up she has anyway, so I didn't do anything to 'fix' it.
       
    12. Well, I have both company and artist faceups. I'd like to try, but my attempts need to be done more often than I can. I might buy a head eventually for that purpose.
       
    13. I have some dolls with company faceups, but I really prefer doing them myself. It helps me bond with them when I do things for them myself. At the same time though I might get a doll with a faceup and keep it as is. Why I prefer doing it myself is so it will fit my characters perfectly, but if a company faceup already does that I don't see the need to change it. I got into the hobby for the creative aspects so it would be funny if I didn't do the majority of it myself.
       
    14. My first doll will arrive in January but I'm aching to paint him the way I want. I couldn't imagine him having a painting done by someone else than me. I think it would probably be harder to bond with the doll for me. As an art student I'm pretty confident about my skills and I have most of the supplies ready too. Also, I'm lucky to live about 500m away from our university's supply store where I can buy most of the needed supplies.
      There are also so many good tutorials on the net about face-ups that it is very easy to study how to make them. Though, some times it feels I spend too much studying and not enough doing. :sweat
       
    15. 1) When it comes to face-ups, would you prefer to do your own, let the company do it (when that's an option) or have someone else do it?
      If I like the company's face-up I will order it, but I prefer to do my own. It helps me bond and I like being able to have my dolls look exactly as I planned.
      2) If done by someone else, is there a certain artist you have in mind?
      There are a few face-up artists whose work I admire, but I think if I were to get a face-up done by someone else who I would choose would depend on their style.
      3) If done by you, why did you decide to do your own?
      I have only done one face-up so far, and I didn't like the default face-up so I ordered her blank. I already had many of the supplies so I thought I would give it a try and if it didn't work out then I would find someone who could do it for me.
      I would love to get a practice head to play around with because I really enjoyed the experience of doing the face-up myself.
      4) Have you ever gotten a face-up you weren't happy with? (Either by the company or another artist) And if so, how did you go about fixing it?
      Not yet. My first doll still has her company face-up, and I was happy with my first attempt at my second doll's face-up.
       
    16. 1) When it comes to face-ups, would you prefer to do your own, let the company do it (when that's an option) or have someone else do it? I do it on my own always, sadly I ruined two heads due to my rusty skills at the first time which i regret deeply yet i do face up by myself still

      2) If done by someone else, is there a certain artist you have in mind?N/A

      3) If done by you, why did you decide to do your own? there's this risk, the artist postponed the due time and it can be as long as a year lateness

      4) Have you ever gotten a face-up you weren't happy with? (Either by the company or another artist) And if so, how did you go about fixing it. since i do it by myself always and i'm not skillful, that means i'm unhappy with all of my dolls' face-ups
       
    17. 1) When it comes to face-ups, would you prefer to do your own, let the company do it (when that's an option) or have someone else do it?
      I'd prefer to do it myself. I'd never get a company faceup. I like my dolls to look unique.
      2) If done by someone else, is there a certain artist you have in mind? I did have Rakeru Sensei do a faceup for a doll I just couldn't get to look good. I had redone her face myself several times and was never satisfied, so I sent her away.
      3) If done by you, why did you decide to do your own?
      The artistic side of this hobby is very important to me and I love doing my own faceups. Plus it's cheaper, since I have all the supplies already. Also, its nice to be able to erase it whenever I want without feeling guilty or like I wasted money.
      4) Have you ever gotten a face-up you weren't happy with? (Either by the company or another artist) And if so, how did you go about fixing it?
      Ah, yeah. My one faceup experience was like that. Rakeru sent me a photo and it was beautiful...except the eyeliner was really thick. On a tiny it looked kind of strange. I asked if they would mind redoing it and Rakeru was very kind and redid it for me. Now my doll is absolutely beautiful!
       
    18. 1) When it comes to face-ups, would you prefer to do your own, let the company do it (when that's an option) or have someone else do it?
      I prefer doing my own faceups, I believe I'm the only one who would truly understand how I wanted a doll to look. I also like the feeling of accomplishment when I do my own. I won't take a company faceup off of a doll if it came with one. I have one doll with a beautiful faceup given to him by a previous owner that I won't remove either.

      2) If done by someone else, is there a certain artist you have in mind?
      I don't send my heads out. If I did, I'd love to commission an 'unknown' artist. Each artist has their own distinct look...I don't want my doll to share any looks with a ton of other dolls.

      3) If done by you, why did you decide to do your own?
      It's cheaper in the long run and I know what I like.

      4) Have you ever gotten a face-up you weren't happy with? (Either by the company or another artist) And if so, how did you go about fixing it?
      Nope. If I do something I don't end up liking, I just wipe it off and start fresh.
       
    19. My questions are:
      1) When it comes to face-ups, would you prefer to do your own, let the company do it (when that's an option) or have someone else do it?

      I would rather have someone do it. I don't have the patience to learn at the moment, and I don't have the confidence to do by myself. Also, doing it yourself requires that you have the proper tools not just to do proper face-ups but as well as to protect your health. (Due to the sealants)

      2) If done by someone else, is there a certain artist you have in mind?

      It depends on the style. But at the moment I don't have a particular artist in my head.

      3) If done by you, why did you decide to do your own?
      n/a

      4) Have you ever gotten a face-up you weren't happy with? (Either by the company or another artist) And if so, how did you go about fixing it?
      No. I always love the face-ups done by those who I commissioned. Either that or I slowly come to love them more and more each day
       
    20. I would always get company face ups if it's an option. If not I would have someone else do it for me. There is no particular artist I know of that I would have do it, so I would probably go with one that was well recommended whose work I like. I've never messed up on a face up because I've never done one. ;)

      I have a friend who thought she'd save herself $70 on her Angell-Studio doll by having an "artist friend" do it for her. Here she is probably 5 or so years later, doll still without a face. I don't want to have that happen to me, so company face up will always be my pick...