First doll w/ or w/o a face-up?

I ordered my first doll with a faceup because of two reasons: I was clueless on how to do it myself (mostly, I was scared of messing it up and as a newbie, I probably would) and also I really liked how he looked with his default one. I don't regret doing it but since he was my first doll, his face up wore off pretty quickly and I had to redo it myself. First two tries weren't so bad but they didn't look right. I got it right on the third try and he still has that one, and I think it suits him better than the company default. So, I guess it depends on what you're after.

 

I don't have my first doll yet *sigh* blame Iple moving to a new place thing... But I'll order her with face up because of two reasons:
1.- It fits almost perfectly to my character, I'll just ask them to put some freckles on and that's it
2.- If I wanted to make a face-up by myself, I would need to spend like $45 ONLY for the ZM seleant... plus like other $20 in pastels, acrylics, brushes & stuff... So in the end it'd be more expensive-and less professional- if I do it. But I don't deny that in the future my future dolls will have a face up done by me :3. And I think it is not about ''oh, maybe I'll do it wrong'' or ''But this is prettier'' no, it is just about questioning -Do this house face up is what I want for my character?- And if the answer isn't <yes> then u should do it yourself, or commision an artist (:

 

It's up to your comfort level. Some people want to be very hands-on. They enjoy trying things out even right away. It's easier to get a first doll with a faceup because you don't have all the materials ready to go, usually. It also means you can play with the doll right out of the box. But that faceup might not be what you want, in which case commissioning an artist or doing it yourself are your options.

Lots of people have practice heads. They are more comfortable that way. I don't do it that way because if I get a good result on the practice head, then the good faceup is on the wrong head! And if you do a faceup correctly, you can just wipe it and try again, so I'd rather just keep trying on the actual head.

In short, if you like to do hands-on things like arts and crafts, then getting a blank doll and trying your own faceups (or having your SO do them) is a good choice. If you'd rather just take the doll out of the box and play with him or her the first day, getting a doll with a faceup is better. If you don't have faceup materials already, it's not a real cost saving to order the doll blank.

 

My first doll was a Luts full package and the face up was included in it. My second doll was ordered with a company face up as well. I just wasn't comfortable in trying it myself -and I really dislike working with spray sealants- I personally find that amusing since I'm currently working as an artist. -and the dolls themselves were paid with money I got from doing commissions-

 

My first doll did have the faceup from the company, yes. This was mainly because the company faceup already fit the character, and admittedly I was a little afraid to jump in with a blank, nude, eyeless, and hairless doll at first! However, Amser will probably be faceupped by yours truly.

 

I bought my doll (first and only) on the market place and she already came with the company face up. I think it's better for the first doll to already have a face up because they look nicer that way and you don't have to wait so long to take nice pictures.

 

I had my first with a faceup, just because it was easier for me. I was planning to learn doing faceups, but without practice I didn't want to risk it :p
In the end I ended up ruining his company faceup and I had to redo it myself
Ever since I have done my own faceups on my dolls ^^ The only exceptions are two limiteds that I took with faceup, just because the company makes them very gorgeous ^^

 

I got my first doll without a faceup. LW's defaults are super cute but it wouldn't fit my dollie's character. Besides, I wasn't going to let all these new art supplies go to waste!! >w<

As I said in another thread, for me it's all about the art. I think it came out really well >w<

 

I don't actually have a doll yet, but I'd probably buy the standard company faceup, mainly because I'm not a good artist at all, but also since BJDs are expensive anyway the cost wouldn't make much of a difference to me, unless it costs like $50 or something.

 

My first hundred came with face ups as was so new to the hobby had no idea who to trust with my doll or even a head to do the work. Once I saw other people's work felt more at ease to trust them with head and eventually whole bodies. But the factory face ups were just easier to except.

 

I haven't gotten my dolls yet, but I plan to get them with face-ups. I won't have the supplies around to give them face-ups, and don't even necessarily trust my skills and that area, but don't want a naked-faced doll. I know eventually I'll get into doing my own face-ups, but right off the bat, I'll take them all "dolled up" and ready to go.

 

My doll (BBB Espree) was offered with faceup for an extra $10, or without. After thinking it over, I decided to get the faceup because a) I wanted to see how the company would do it and b) I wanted to feel she was "finished" or at least not unfinished when I took her out of the box. Due to the low cost, I didn't have high hopes at all and figured I would probably have to re-do her faceup but I thought I would take the chance.

Well, I was very surprised and pleased. Her faceup was beautiful---subtle, just the way I would have requested it, and expertly done. I was also very happy with her "random" eyes---I expected default blue or brown but instead got a beautiful lavender pair which I immediately decided to keep.

So there are my reasons, and how it turned out. In other words, a happy ending YMMV

 

I think you did very well!!! way better than anything I could ever do ^^

 

My first doll is on the way and I am getting her with a faceup. Personally, I suck at drawing and art and just assumed that I'd probably be terrible at doing doll makeup as well so it'd be better to get a professional to do it for me =)

 

I ordered my first two (and hopefully only) dolls.
I got one fullset with sleeping face with face up, so all facedup X3
The other I got with face up on his open eyed face but no faceup on his sleeping face to practice on.
I'm good with art and especially at details but if I ruin their open eyed faces they're "ruined for good" in my books XD

 

My first doll was without because I wanted to try my hand at faceups I'm glad I did, I really love doing faceups and it sort of sparked my interest in faceups having to do one for my first doll.

 

The two dolls I had I got with faceups, I don't have the guts to do it myself after I spent all that money... I am creative so I shouldn't have so much of a problem but its having all the right tools and things. Worries me that in the past I have seem bad faceups and fear thats what I would end up doing to my doll lol

 

I had the same question when I was ordering my first doll.
I ordered mine with faceup because the idea of doing it myself terrified me.
i've done the basics on my friends doll heads, i enjoy doing the eyes and lashes
i'm just to terrified to do the face up's on any of my own soon to come dolls. maybe someday.

 

I had my heart set on a very specific doll when I first came into the hobby. I snooped around at all the different types available (keep in mind that there was much less selection then, as well as less affordable pricing options) and just happened to fall in love with a limited edition Volks doll, SD13 Kohya. He was just so noble looking, and I loved the beaky lip. I went about saving for one, and almost a year later, bought a limited edition fullset (minus the glasses and wig, but with the face-up still in tact).

As soon as I had enough time away from homework, I wiped his face-up and painted my own.

Phir went from this:



To this:



Cringe worthy, yes. Some would definitely say I destroyed my doll, his value, etc. In a way, that was probably most utterly correct. But, at the same time, especially because I was young and had limited income (and therefore could not buy new eyes, wigs, clothes, etc, often), painting my doll was a great way to 'bond' with him. He really felt like my own after that first face-up. They eventually got a bit better (going to this, next, and then this) whenever I did them, so, even from an improvement stand-point, if you're artistically inclined to paint and want to get better (or an aspiring face-up artist) you do need to start somewhere. Why not start with your first doll?

It also depends on the person, though. There are some individuals who, even after of eight years of hobbying, would rather collect dolls with the face-ups done by others, and see them more valuable in that way. There's nothing wrong with that either; in the end, a doll owner should do with their dolls that which gives these dolls value and meaning to them. Face-ups often play a HUGE part in how a person sees a doll. But the process of how that face-up got there isn't always important.