Does your lack of creativity limit your enjoyment of the hobby?

That's not a lack of creativity. It's a different way to "play." A lack of creativity implies a lack of imagination. I have no skill with a needle and no patience with myself to improve it. That's a practical acknowledgemnet of my limits at best and an admission of laziness at worst, BUT it doesn't imply a lack of creativity. You had to have SOME sort of vision for your doll that you executed with the resources around you. That's creativity.

My way to play is similar to yours. My creativity is expressed through the clothing and accessory choices I make and in how they are displayed. I don't find an inability to sew terribly limiting though it does make it frustrating to have an idea and not be able to execute it. If it gets annoying enough I'll have to track down a tailor and describe my vision to them. Even that requires creativity. I don't care so much about the photography. It'd be nice to know tips and tricks, but that's not the way I play.

Tl;dr No and I'm not uncreative with my dolls. I just play a different way than the popular expectation.

 

I find character creation and styling to be almost an automatic process because I'm that used to doing it now. I'm also good at designing clothes and making faceups in PhotoShop, however my practical skills in how to bring my visualizations into reality are often lacking. I do think it gives me a reason to learn those skills though.

 

I don't have a lot of artistic or creative skill because I get frustrated at my lack of ability, so I stop trying, so I never improve...

But I want to use my BJD, when I get her, to help me get better at sewing and to find a creative outlet in that. I don't think I would have as much enjoyment if i wasn't able to do that, but I still think there's a good deal of enjoyment in the hobby just from looking at the doll and owning one. There's something creative even in just finding a way to make them aesthetically pleasing and displaying them, y'know?

 

I don't think styling or display is a lack of creativity. It's just a different kind of creativity. I have a terrible time matching my own or my doll's clothing so I find anyone who can put together an outfit to be very talented!

 

I've always considered myself a creative person, and that spills over into the doll hobby. I may not be a professional, but I sew, faceup, tattoo, photograph, and write for my dolls. I also role play, which is the adult version of how I've always played dolls, I guess. lol I'm a vry hands on person, but I think we all enjoy our dolls differently.

 

Fashion is the hardest. I'm pretty fashionable irl, but the problem with dolls is that they don't come preprogrammed with specific hair and eye colours and freckles etc. This is great for some people!!! But for someone like me, who is miserable at coming up with appearances ("character design"?), it's a horror. As such, my dolls have a small wardrobe because I'm afraid to spend the money if it turns out I don't like the style after all.

 

I consider myself a creative person but I've gotten out of the habit of using it much due to an illness that affects my dexterity. I'm hoping that my doll will jumpstart my imagination and encourage me to try things I've never done (sewing for one) so he's kind of "creativity therapy" for me in a way.

 

"Creative" people are just "uncreative" people who did not quit when it was difficult, a thousand times over.

 

I'm very artistic and can do faceups/clothes/modding/photography, and I do those things to get my doll how I want it initially then I'm perfectly satisfied looking at them as pieces of art.

 

I've always been a crafty sort of person, so it was natural for me to want to make things for my dolls when I started collecting. Making clothes for them is how I "play", even though I'm not particularly skilled or talented in that arena. But I keep at it, and I improve a little more as I go along. I would love to be good at face-ups, but I don't have much natural talent for painting. I'll stick with sewing and writing for now.

 

I am a bit in the middle (probably where most people are, perhaps!). I mostly know what I like, so I can choose beautiful dolls and outfits that appeal to me. I mostly put them on the shelf. But now and then I will take some photos of them and dress them differently and take them to meetups. I don't do mods. I will sometimes do faceups. But that is about it.

Questions for those who consider themselves to be uncreative or have no artistic skills:

Do you ever wish you could do more with your dolls than admire them?

I do a little more than just admire them, but not much. It's not like I'm totally re-doing them often. But if I wished to do more, I suppose I could. But then, that is true of anyone. If someone wished to learn photography or how to faceup, it is very possible, after all. I think that if you have a good eye for art and for what you like, then you have some sort of artistic ability. I think that even sending off a head to get faceuped means you have to have an idea of what you want, which is helping to create something by working with an artist--like an Art Director. Just commissioning for something requires some idea of what you want--some sort of designing skills.

I do not think doing more is necessary for my enjoyment. It might make you more involved with the dolls. But I am quite content in dressing them and looking at them and sometimes taking photos of them.

If so, what skill do you most wish you had? (Face-upping, sewing, doll photography, sculpting, mod work, character creation, furniture/set making, etc).

I do wish I were better at faceups. I do make them for some of my dolls, but they are not as good as I would wish. But--it is a good think I really love company faceups, I think!

If so, have you tried to be gain a skill and failed, or do you lack the time/motivation to try?

I sometimes think I would like to try to do more... but I am very unmotivated! There are so many lovely company faceups, and individuals who are better than I am. And I don't really mind my own faceups if a doll is blank.

Questions for the more creative/artistic hobbyists:

Have you always been a creative/artistic person, or is your creativity linked directly to BJDs? (For instance, if you are a face-up artist, did you paint before entering the BJD hobby? If you write photostories, were you a writer/photographer previously? Etc)

I am a professional artist/illustrator/animator. BUT that doesn't automatically translate to doing things with dolls. In my case, I can do a basic faceup, but that is about it! Sure, I could draw/paint pictures of dolls, but I don't really wish to do so.

This is why I am in the middle of these categories! I am artistic, but not really in doing it with dolls!

If you previously had no creative/artistic abilities (or your first attempts with BJDs were bad), what motivated you to keep trying?

I had some artistic ability, as I said, but it doesn't mean one is automatically good at faceups! I had to start at the beginning like anyone. But it did help that I had basic art supplies lying around. Anyway--to answer the second part--with faceups, some dolls don't come with company faceups or I don't like the company faceups-- and I don't like sending heads to others, so that motivates me to try doing faceups.

Interesting questions.

There seem to be many people who do amazing things with their dolls when they haven't really done a lot of overtly artistic things previously. But I think dolls drawn out the creativity in people. Even if it is just buying and dressing dolls to express creativity (and I do think that is being very creative and a great outlet for people), it is still a creative activity. Many are motivated by dolls to take it much farther and do spectacular things! And those who are already doing wonderful things in sculpting or photography, etc., are also motivated to do more with dolls. I love how bjds bring out the creativity in everyone.

 

im not a creative person actually. i just enjoy dressing up my dolls, taking a couple of pictures of them and appreciate their beauty, i did some crafting for my dolls (made a pair of sandals for one of my dolls and the result was a disaster haha), i actually did my MSD's face up too, but these projects of mine just turned out normal with no creativeness at all XD but im fine with it coz i enjoy doing this stuff for my dolls.

in my opinion, lack of creativity/artistry will not affect your hobby. if you're happy and you enjoy your dolls then its fine =)

 

I am not the best at doing face ups or sewing clothes, but I do enjoy arts and crafts. However, I would not say I am creative, because I'm not. I have always liked doing art though and I find that doing the dolls face up, making clothes, or taking pictures are all things that I do to enjoy the doll. I wouldn't get enjoyment out of just putting the doll on a shelf. It's a personal thing, but I just couldn't justify spending so much on a doll to sit on a shelf. However, I don't really view my dolls as a collectable item.

 

I would say yes. When I'm feeling down or have artist block (read: writer's, acting block) I find it hard to enjoy my dollies as much as I usually do. It's kinda weird.

 

why blunder around on your own when you can make an expert do it magnificently?

But seriously it's fine. You can nurture a skill and all, but aint nobody got time for that :p

 

No my lack of money does lol

 

I can paint small details and even do more if you give me access to photoshop. However, something about trying to do my first face up on my new $400 doll makes me cringe. I'm not sure how people start doing faceups, but I don't want to practice on my first doll : / I rather start on something cheaper and work my way up. However, I'm not sure how I could do that. By the way, I ordered the regular factory face up for my first doll. Besides painting, I'm good at photography and creative writing. Though I have not done any of those things related to the BJD hobby because I'm new to it, I can see myself being very comfortable on the creative side of BJDs.

 

I've always been very imaginative. I've made stories up since I could talk, & started sewing (for my Barbie doll) when I was 8. Now, I cannot do faceups nor dremel work (I do know my limitations). I'm working very hard to improve my photographic skills I think Rosslyn's correct - although some people may not be as IMAGINATIVE as others, most anyone can be CREATIVE if they really work at it!
BTW I think there's a correlation between being imaginative & procrastinating....

 

I'm a creative person, but not a crafty person. It's really easy for me to make characters and envision what I want a character/doll to look like. (the design aspect) I can also not only write backstories, but write short stories with my dolls as characters.

What I cannot do is sew. This is frustrating. But it doesn't stop me from being a BJD owner. I have my vision of how I want a doll to look, and I will hunt down a seamstress, or outfit that fits perfectly. Though it would be easier if I could do it myself. (I've tried, I just can't do it. LOL)

I just love this hobby and I do believe that creativity and BJDs go hand in hand, but all levels of creativity may apply, and different people play with their dolls in different ways. That's what makes this such a great hobby