Face-up on your First doll; Brave Enough?

I did do the faceup on my first doll. It wasn't very professional, and I have redone it twice since, and it is still not very professional. (Don't talk to me about eyelashes. ) But it was the thing that made my doll my own, and that's one of the coolest things about this hobby.

 

My first doll is on order. She's a Narae and I had a lot of different face-ups I could choose from. If she even looks close to the style I picked she'll be exquisite, and beyond anything I could hope to do myself. For the amount of money I paid, there is NO WAY I am going to risk everything by attempting to do the face myself.

For a cheaper doll, or something other than the all important FIRST doll I suppose I might attempt a face-up if the creative side of it lured me enough. Honestly though I don't consider myself a good enough artist.

 

I feel answering to this question from the hypothetical point of view about how I would react if now was the time when purchasing my first BJD would not be fair. During this long I have learned a lot. So I will answer from my own real experience. When I got into this hobby and got my first BJD I ordered her with face-up. I not even thought about doing it by myself. I have followed that line all the way through with all my crew and love every result, but I have several - In fact, many - extra heads for the most of them I want to face-up by myself. After five years with BJD at home I think I am starting to be able to give it my first, but serious, try.

Because of all this, I guess my answer would be the second, which I voted, but not because of the given reason. My main one is I love the work made by my BJD's brands.

 

Honestly, I'm not sure yet. I'm still waiting for my first doll to pick me, and in that time I've noticed that face-ups from the company usually look really nice, compared to anything I might be capable of. But...there is still that twinge of excitement at the thought of doing one myself. Don't get me wrong--I'm just barely artistic. But I do think I'd like to try. Maybe on my first one, maybe not 8D

 

Well..I did my doll face-up and...isn't very professional...and i didn't like it a lot, a few months later i changed her face up and it was my second face up, this second one was much better than the first, and i would prefer a professional one but i couldn't pay it, but anyway doing a face up isn't that difficult and with the time you gain experience and it's another way to custom a BJD

 

I didn't do the face up on my first because I got a free default one, but I did do the face up on my second doll and have done all my dolls' face ups since. I was horrendous at first, and while I'm still not at a professional level, I've probably saved hundreds by doing them myself rather than getting defaults or sending them off to be done by someone else on the forums. It's also been a great learning experience and I feel like I improve each time I do one.

 

nah! i'll wait until I got my first FULL SET DOLL first..

and then i'll learn how to make one...laster on ><

 

You can try to get a cheap obitsu head first if you are not really confident in your skills, it will give you the practice you need without screwing up an expensive resin head. My first faceup was on my obitsu head...and it FAILED horribly but I don't feel so bad because another head costs like 20-25 dollars or maybe cheaper on ebay. I just saw 2 blank 60cm heads on ebay sell for $14

 

It is practical to get a practice head, but if you use the right materials which won't get into the resin, there can't be much that can go wrong with it. The first face up I did was on my girl and it didn't turn out very well, pastel smudges all over. When I cleaned her it all came off very nicely. And it's fun to do

 

Been there, did that, still practicing. haven't got the guts to mail off my doll's head to some stranger, no matter how well recommended, after I waited so long to get her. I'll just keep plugging away at it until I achieve something I can live with. I have a couple of factory faceups I won't mess with until I absolutely can't avoid it (chipping, wear, etc.).

 

I was planning on doing it myself, but now I've gotten way too attached to her. She deserves more talent than I have.

 

I definitely was too nervous to do the faceup on my first doll!!!

I kept thinking about how expensive it was and how I was such a noob and could totally mess it up.

But that was before I knew how to avoid bad mistakes and learn that faceups could be wiped (sometimes more easily than others, however!) and re-done...

Now, I still think that many defaults can be done better than I could. They are pros, after all, and I just don't have the greatest control when it comes to fine hair-strokes... So I still order default faceups.

However, I will do my own when there's something special I'd like to do with a particular sculpt and the default isn't thrilling me.

My second doll did not come with a faceup.

 

Had I ordered my first doll blank, I would have given it a go. I can't own a BJD without at least trying a face up which I plan to just as soon as I get some practice first on a less expensive head that if I make mistakes, I won't freak out too much. I find the whole face up concept fascinating and I'm always looking to learn something new. Besides, I'd like to know how to repair face up chips as I am sure it's something I'll have to deal with sooner or later.

 

I did it! Totally worth it. The first one SUCKED. But I did her second yesterday, and it looks pretty decent.

And as for being shakey, I'm on medication that give me horrible hand tremors, so bad that I have trouble holding things sometimes. As long as you're kind to yourself and determined, you can get through it. I say go for it!

Finally, the nice thing about BJDs? Their faces are meant to be painted on. As long as you have the proper supplies, you can always take it off if you don't like it, and send it to one of the lovely ladies or gentlemen on the forum to get a faceup.

Good luck!

 

It's a coincidence I haven't need to think about faceup yet. I got my first boy from the marketplace and he came with the default faceup. The same happened with the second (whom I'm awaiting now).

On the other hand, a friend on mine got an Iplehouse girl without faceup because she wanted to try and do it herself. She came to my house and we gave it a try together. And I swear it was really hard! I think it's almost impossible to do a good faceup the first time. You need to get some practise, try many, many times. After my experience with my friend's doll, I started to admire people who are good at doing faceup.

If I were to get another doll from a company, I would get it without faceup (because they are really expensive) and them ask someone to do the faceup for me. I'm lucky because in my area there are some people who do great faceups, and I can ask them for something special without spending so much money.

 

My first doll came with the default. It has since been changed, but I sent her somewhere else to have it done. My second also came with a face-up, but it was also changed shortly after she arrived. The third I ordered blank, and sent him somewhere else. The fourth was a puki with a face-up. I sold that face-plate and now have on a pukisha one that doesn't have a face-up at all. So he is still blank (after almost a year!). MNF Soo came w/o a face-up. I got a friend to do one on her, but then I decided to do one myself and it came out bad. So she is just a head now and she is blank. Sixth was from Crobidoll, so I ordered him w/o a face-up. He's at a friend's right now getting a really nice one, but I did do his original face. Seventh, Eighth, and ninth have all come with default face-ups that I won't change unless I have to b/c they are limited full-sets.

 

I didn't have the resource back when I ordered my first doll, so I had the default face-up. But considering how much information and tutorials are out there now, I'd say give it a go^^ As long as it's nothing permanent, you can paint it as many times as you want It's a great learning experience and a great way to bond with the doll.

 

I'd love to be able to do a face up, but right now I'd be afraid I'd mess up the doll.

 

No, I prefer the default make up or someone else who have experience to do it...
I think I have to practise a lot before making a real make up for my doll!

 

I thought I would and got the materials in preparation and ordered her with a blank face then when she arrived I just though 'I'm going to wreck her.' I ended getting a commissioned face-up from someone on DoA. I'm more confident to do it now and plan on doing future face-ups (having a boyfriend that can fix it if I mess up helps a little bit)