Face-up on your First doll; Brave Enough?

Yeeep. I did. A few ones, as a matter of fact. xD; and then several dolls that came after him as well...

 

I think if someone wants to do their first doll's faceup, that's awesome! You're more brave than I was I did order my first doll blank, since I planned to commission it done for one reason alone: I didn't want to be disappointed in my doll because of my inadequate faceup. I wanted to fall in love and instead of ordering default it would be more custom and done especially for me. Looking back, after doing several faceups and knowing what I know now, I might have given it a shot because I have gained confidence in my faceup skills, and if it doesn't turn out you can always send it out to be commissioned later

 

My first doll came with his default face-up, so I didn't have this problem. However, I would not wipe his face-up and try to do a new one myself. For one: I am nervous about doing face-ups anyway, and then two: I like his default to begin with.

If someone wants to do their own face-up on their very first doll, I don't see why not! They are obviously braver than me, so kudos to them!

 

I'm currently doing the faceup on my first doll (taking my time, gathering quality supplies slowly). That was actually the whole aim of getting a doll in the first place; to customize it myself!

 

I plan to launch myself into the hobby fully with light modds, fantasy faceup and full body painting/blushing on coloured resin. I make cloth dolls in a range of sizes and am generally crafty with a slight obsession with detail so I feel pretty comfortable with the thought of doing all that. I have also done a ton of research. It was the customization that appealed to me in any case!

 

I'm planning on doing my first doll's face up, but I'm extremely nervous about it. I think I'm going to be able to do the conturing and freckles just fine, but I'm super stressing over the eyebrows. I think it's hard to pull off eyebrows convincingly and I'm predicting that's where I'm going to fall short. :T We'll see though.

 

I ended up doing the face up of my first real bjd because the dolls I ordered with face up were preorders that were taking FOREVER to arrive, so I finally broke down and get a doll that was in stock at DDE. He was blank so I did his face-up. Ironically, one of my other dolls arrived about the time as I got him painted. He is not as professional looking as the other but will have a special place in my heart because he was my first try.
[/URL] IMG_2682 by therealwalter, on Flickr[/IMG]

 

I actually did it! My first bjd is an Asleep Eidolon Aure that I did her face up because I messed up her company face up.
It probably doesn't count since I had a lot of experience doing face ups on other dolls like monster high and azones
but still face up on a bjd is a little different.
Here she is:

 

No, I got a face up with my first doll and I'm still not brave enough to wipe him down and give him my own.

I'm actually just going to buy another head of the same style for him so he has another version that isn't as feminine and his default as well. XD

 

Nekomuchuu, she's gorgeous!

I ended up having to redo my first dolls faceup - she still had her original, which was about eight years old, and it was disintegrating badly.

Fawn's new faceup by ladymadrigal80, on Flickr

It's not perfect by a long shot - I really messed up her lower lashes - but she still looks like herself. I make cloth dolls, and in a way, this was easier. You can sketch in a cloth doll's face with an air erase pen, but one mistake with the permanent paint or fabric marker and that's it. With Fawn, I could just wipe off my first twenty or so failed attempts at doing her eyebrows until got them looking like, well, eyebrows. Besides, she's so pretty that not even I could make her ugly.

 

I did it too but doing face-ups was the one of the main reasons I got my BJD. I don't feel that I was brave but rather prudent. I watched numerous artist's face-up videos and I read a lot about this topic beforehand, I learned what materials I should and never use. Even so the first one turned out horrible. But I don't regret it. But to tell the truth my doll was quite good bargain, according to others he was very cheap. If my first doll would have been a rare, limited or more expensive sculpt, well, I'd think it over twice before I start it.

 

I would be totally nervous to do such a thing! I've tried repainting dolls before and I'm really horrible at it. I think I would get a doll with inset eyes and a hard plastic head to practice if I wanted to do it myself, but when the time comes for me to change my girl's face I'll probably just mail her out and get it done!

 

I have no skill or experience with face-ups or painting. If I attempted it, it'll would end up being a disaster. Id rather have someone else have a default face-up or have a face-up artist do it for me. If I ever do decide to do my own face-up I would get a doll head to practice on.

 

Yup, I painted my first dolls and ... still paint almost all of them. (Think I've improved quite a bit since then though, haha). I don't believe I've ever sent one to a different artist to get a face up, no matter how big of a fan I am of some people out there. I like customizing them myself too much.
I do have a few that came with company face ups or ones a previous owner did though, which I kept or only altered slightly because I found them fitting.

 

I bought my first couple of dolls with a face up. I was too chicken to try it out myself. Now, I'm doing my own faceups. I'm happy enough with the results that I've decided that I don't need to pay for a faceup ever again. There's something about customizing your doll yourself that makes them feel so much more yours. I love the faceup my first doll came with and I'm finding it hard to wipe her. It's time for it to be redone but I keep putting it off.

 

My first two dolls were Pukipukis I bought in-stock from DDE, so they came with their default face ups. My third was my Realpuki Toki full set, I haven't gotten around to painting the accessories or attempting the faceup on the sleeping plate.

I'm definitely planning to try doing faceups though! I have a couple blank dolls on order that will need faceups, but I'm not sure how soon they'll get home. I just ordered a practice head from MoC, so that should get here first so I can get started.

 

I haven't done any faceups yet because the idea of messing it up is just so scary! But I'd really like to start and you have to practice at something to get better at it! Thankfully one of my friends has offered to guide me through the process and help me!

 

I feel like thats the most exciting part about my first doll. You get to give them their own personality and its all flowing right from your mind through your fingertips. Its like you can do anything your heart desires exactly how you in vision it and you have the freedom to do anything you want. I just love the idea of learning and practicing and wiping and retrying till my doll reflects the personality the sculpts spirit.

 

Lord no!! Just NO!

I tried and failed so hard I ended up selling the doll. (I was likely made fun of anyway behind my back but that's another story.) I would never try it again. I can't. Looks easy but hard as heck!

 

I've done two so far, luckily I got a doll second hand that didn't have a face up so I just dove right in. Poor guy needed eyebrows something fierce so I figured something was better than nothing!
Since then I've been really excited about doing them, they really are a lot of fun and super addicting.