How long do you need for a faceup?

first off, i don’t think someone can take too long or short of time. if you like the outcome, then you did well and the time taken doesn’t matter. we all work at our own pace, and that’s normal!

usually i take a few hours. i’m pretty new to faceups, and i have been speeding up. for instance, my first faceup took a day or two or redoing over and over again. her current one i think took maybe... 2-3 hours? hard to tell. i don’t notice the time passing much because i find faceups fun.

 

That's one of those, "How long is a piece of string?" questions - it depends on too many factors for there to be a set answer. How many times do you need to wipe a mistake and redo it, are you a "quick" worker or a "slow" worker, do you work continuously on it or come back to it every so often, if you come back to it, do you clear up and put everything away in between, is is one of those jobs that goes right first time, or one that needs constant wiping and redoing of layers, what's the weather/humidity level like in your area.. etc. etc. etc.

Teddy

 

I wonder about this too! I definitely feel like I take way too long. My fastest are around 8 hours and my longest is up to probably around 18 (I did the eyebrows twice and went through a lot of trouble trying to remove and airbrush over the first set). That one isn't even finished. I tend to be very ambitious and think I'll try to finish it in one day of work but I never can. It's always at least a whole weekend task, so I try to keep a desk set up for painting. I realized that taking everything out or putting it back took 30-45 minutes itself!

 

Only once in my lifetime (so far) I had an art teacher telling me I was working too fast. I was a bit shocked to say the least, I've never had that said to anyone afterward or even before then. It is an interesting conversation to have, but I don't believe there's a "you're taking too long/short" answer when it comes to artwork, because nobody has the same workflow. At least from being in art courses all my life, all my fellow classmates would all finish at different lengths of time -- although projects did have a specific date they were due. Real life also gets in the way, so I don't feel like there's a right answer if any, it just depends on the artist.

I usually finish face ups and body blushing in a single day, varying by doll/size and amount of work I want to have done; working a few hours at a time, with very short breaks. However, if it were other types of art work (painting on canvas), I would probably take a lot longer (like days if not weeks), face ups and body blushing just go faster for me. I don't believe there is a reason to feel like you need to time yourself, unless you are working for others and have mutually agreed on a limited time frame. But that's just how I feel. I don't think I take too long, but I don't mind if I do, or vice versa. I don't take commissions and I'm never really in a hurry to finish. (:

 

For me, it entirely depends on what I’m dealing with...a simple face-up, a full body rendering, or something in between. For a face-up, I set up and work throughout the day with breaks for msc drying, detail planning, and personal needs. I don’t rush myself, but I do my level best to make sure it’s completed by the end of the day. For bigger projects (see the photo below) it can take me up to an entire month. The most important thing is to take the amount of time that is right for your comfort and artistic sensibilities. Nothing else matters.

 

I used to complete a basic face up or body blush in a day, but right now a toddler by my side means 2, max 2.5 hours uninterrupted at anything while she naps. So it might take me 2-3 days depending on detail level. When I did a body blush, mani/pedi and tattoos on a large doll last year, I was working on it for almost two weeks.

(Soon enough children will be old enough to do their own art nearby while I do mine, but in the meantime I’m considering getting a company faceup for my next doll ... painting fine hairs is frustrating enough without feeling like the clock is ticking down and I really need to keep this hobby from feeling like a chore!)

 

When I first started I was able to get a commission in the morning via post, and in the evening it was already packed up again and finished. Granted, the stuff did look like one would expect from such a fast turnaround time
But that was 10 years ago. Nowadays...I would say that if I truly sit down every day and work several hours, it probably takes me a week to do a full face-up. I basically would start late noon, work until late at night and then let everything dry until the next day. Seal early in the day, so I can work again late noon. Rinse and repeat for several days.

I do work slowly, but I also work very detailed nowadays. Even heads where I don't have to wipe and redo things often take a long time. Hundreds of little eyebrow hairs or skin texture just needs time
I also want to give everything enough time to dry in between as well, which extends the time it needs to finish a face-up, even if it's not time actively spent painting.

Too long or too short honestly is difficult to say.
I always felt like I was putting in the right amount of time, no matter how long or short. My works looked clearly finished to me. Nowadays when I look at these photos, I see face-ups that are at my current "this is 50% done" state. Far from being finished AT ALL. But even if someone back then would have told me to put in some more time, I would have not known what they want me to do anymore.
You realize with time that just finished is not enough. In reality the basic stuff can be done in a couple hours, and then the last 10% can take up soooo much more time. But these last 10% truly make the difference between good work and great work.

 

For a basic faceup, maybe 1-2 hours. I work fast and I probably don’t let sealant dry as long as I should, but they’re my own dolls so I can always fix them if they chip or get messed up. The longest I ever took was 8 hours doing a face up and blushing and tattoos. I kept messing up and redoing stuff but he turned out great!

 

I 100% agree with everyone discussing that there's no right or wrong!

That being said, I appreciate seeing other people's estimates so I'll share my experience so far as well....

I just started doing face ups, and have some practice from painting other kinds of doll faces. My first two official BJD face-ups went something like this:
1. Stare at the blank faces - a couple of weeks
2. Spray sealant and let sit - 30 min
3. First painting session + post-paint sealant coat - 6-8 hours
4. Wait a few days to see if I like it - a few days
5. Second paint session to add details that I realized I wanted - 3-4 hours

This was two simultaneous dolls at once, which gives me a better official "rate" of time-per-face, but it honestly wouldn't have been much shorter if I had only been doing one. In each painting session my speed increased on the second doll face because I had gotten more in the zone.

For a while I figured painting session time would reduce over time as I get better...
But then I realized that as I get better, I may actually put more care into specific details and increasing my skill in some of the impressive techniques I've seen out in the wild!

Therefore my estimate for now is ~ 9-12 hours active time, over the course of 3-4 weeks.

 

Since I'm new to faceups I've been practicing on a floating head recently. It took me about a day and a half to finish. I found that winging a faceup makes me take longer because I pause a lot more to figure out my next step. If I go off of reference pictures it's much faster as I have something to go off of. And like many others here have said there is no amount of time that's right or wrong, work at your own pace.

 

It depends on the lvl of Detail and materials you use. I finished my anime style makeup in 2 hours. Without waiting time for sealant. However one time I did a realistic faceup it took me 4 Hours. I don't own an airbrush so everything I do is acrylics, pastels and colored pencils. I do have an airbrush for cake decorating but I am kinda scared to use it because it takes a lot of precision

 

I need 3-4 days for a basic face-up.
day 1 - spray 2 layers of sealant and let it properly dry (depends on the sealant and the doll. Sometimes I need to check if everything is ok: the sealant film can peel off)
day 2 - basic shades (3-4 layers) and let it properly dry
day 3 - details (eyebrows, lashes...3-4 layers) and final layers of sealant, let it properly dry.
day 4 - add gloss and eyelashes
I work only in the morning, max. half a day. So, it total ~10 hours.

 

I have such terrible luck when it comes to face-ups. Without fail, the second I get serious about working on one, I will have days and days of rainy gloomy weather which makes it impossible to get outside and spray on the sealant. So length of time for me is highly dependent on how merciful the sky gods are feeling.

 

My experience has only been with off-topic dolls for me but it is over a few days. If I am very honest I could say weeks but that is because I put them down for a while in between.

I really don't think there is a right a wrong. I think it comes down to your satisfaction with the final product and the scope or detail of your face-up.

 

I'm such a wimp about the outdoors. I live in CA and have acclimated such that anything below ~65F/18C has got me shivering.

That being said, in order to do any sort of dedicated crafting, it's meant that I and my husband set up a nice little alcove by a window, and whenever we need to do something with fumes, we open the window up all the way, set a fan blowing from behind toward the window, and run an air purifier.

Something to consider if you find yourself always stopped in your tracks! I think a lot of my success with art has been a result of some investments/space reallocations to enable my work

 

My most recent faceup took me a few hours to complete, but I'm still super new and it was a pretty simple one. The doll on my profile picture is the faceup I did. If you include the drying time/fixative drying time and modding I did, it took me about two days. I modded her eyes wider and took them up to over her lid line.

 

I'm generally a rather fast artist, even when it comes to traditional material. I've never spent more than an hour on a faceup, but then again I like simpler faceups with little details.

 

Great question!
My average time for faceup is about 3-4 days and I can do only one head at a time. The longest I complete faceup was a week (one of my boy really picky LOL). So for the 4 days process, I spend first day for two layers of sealant, let dry for two hours each layers of the sealant. I do this because I have so many accidents with sealant that I have to sit or find other things to do while waiting. Then, base color apply on doll head (took me about 3-4 hours on this), seal and wait for another two hours. Then start on base color for eyes, lips and eyebrows and continue to build color until I cannot do it any more, then seal. Repeat. I spend a lot of time on eyebrows, at lease 2-3 hours until I get it right. Before last layer of sealant, I add details/color for depth and check overall look. Here is Memphis, he is the most recent faceup I have completed.

Beauty pose! by Lucid Walker, on Flickr

 

It depends on the person. For me if I rush I tend to stress and don't enjoy the process. I enjoy doing faceups when I do a little bit a day. (One or two layers) That way I can really tell the difference between each layer and notice imperfections that I didn't see the previous day. Taking my time improves the quality of the faceup instead of rushing it.