1. It has come to the attention of forum staff that Dollshe Craft has ceased communications with dealers and customers, has failed to provide promised refunds for the excessive waits, and now has wait times surpassing 5 years in some cases. Forum staff are also concerned as there are claims being put forth that Dollshe plans to close down their doll making company. Due to the instability of the company, the lack of communication, the lack of promised refunds, and the wait times now surpassing 5 years, we strongly urge members to research the current state of this company very carefully and thoroughly before deciding to place an order. For more information please see the Dollshe waiting room. Do not assume this cannot happen to you or that your order will be different.
    Dismiss Notice
  2. Dollshe Craft and all dolls created by Dollshe, including any dolls created under his new or future companies, including Club Coco BJD are now banned from Den of Angels. Dollshe and the sculptor may not advertise his products on this forum. Sales may not be discussed, no news threads may be posted regarding new releases. This ban does not impact any dolls by Dollshe ordered by November 8, 2023. Any dolls ordered after November 8, 2023, regardless of the date the sculpt was released, are banned from this forum as are any dolls released under his new or future companies including but not limited to Club Coco BJD. This ban does not apply to other company dolls cast by Dollshe as part of a casting agreement between him and the actual sculpt or company and those dolls may still be discussed on the forum. Please come to Ask the Moderators if you have any questions.
    Dismiss Notice
Severe ongoing issues and concerns with Dollshe Dollshe Ban

How many faceups ...

Nov 21, 2011

    1. Hi everyone, I was just wondering how many faceups did it take you until you were happy with your work? (well at least happy with it as I know there's always room for improving your art :lol:)

      I'm thinking of getting one of my favourite sculpts and I have the perfect idea for his faceup ... but I haven't even done one yet *_*
       
      #1 FrozenRose, Nov 21, 2011
    2. My first answer: I'll let you know!

      I have done a few faceups I am really happy with (like the one in my Avatar) but it doesn't seem to be a progression of getting better and better. I improved a lot between my first and second round of face-ups but it so seems hit-or-miss depending on the day. I have gotten better but I don't get enough practice, so some times I can paint and sometimes I can't. >__<
       
      #2 idrisfynn, Nov 21, 2011
    3. Uhm, it took a while.
      Some people are natural talents when it comes to faceups and others never get the hang of it. But most people know how to improve and improve and practice a lot.
      I am happy with my faceups now (I started over a year ago) but every now and then I look at one and think "what on earth did I just make?"
       
      #3 Snow, Nov 21, 2011
    4. I still struggle. Especially with eyebrows and those fine lines for eyelid creases which I want to do SO badly but can't. And inevitably I end up with some accident, a streak of another color pastel, crooked eyebrows, a dot of paint that ends up sealed and by then I don't want to do it all over.

      So anyway, I'm still unsatisfied! I have done a few that I'm very proud of though so I can look at them and be happy, but some I would rather have someone with more skill re-do! LOL! I reckon it's not copying if I ask a face-up artist to re-do MY face-up :)

      But I haven't done that so far! I'm too cheap! But Lazy may eventually win!
       
      #4 Chehime, Nov 21, 2011
    5. XD I did that this year.

      It's taken me hundreds. Literally. I do mine, almost all of them, and they've all been redone at least once, most of them more than once (way more), plus all the dolls I've owned and sold, all my roommates dolls (also on their second or third version of one of my faceups) and some dolls here and there for an odd commission when I can/feel like it. I've been doing them for close to 3 years and I have only been happy with them for maybe the last year. But I feel like there's improvement all the time, so I'm always wanting to redo what I've done or uh, get new heads to work on.

      I'm someone who believes that when it comes to most things things there will always be room to improve. So I have to keep at it and see if the next faceup is going to be better than the last.
       
      #5 VampireAngel13, Nov 21, 2011
    6. do any of you have an art background? I've been drawing and painting for years and I wondered if it might come in handy with faceups - would be really interesting to hear from people who have gone from painting on a flat canvas to a sculpted head :)
       
      #6 FrozenRose, Nov 21, 2011
    7. I draw and paint and I went to school for painting...and I can't do a face-up to save my life. I think that's because my style just isn't very realisitic, so I have a hard time painting the sorts of eyebrows and things I like. I like my blushing abilities, but I can't make two even eyebrows to save my life.
       
      #7 bagofspiders, Nov 21, 2011
    8. I used to sketch/draw/ink my work and I mostly used it for fashion design and illustration but after going to a fashion design school I fell away from it and am quite out of practice. I think that accounts for my on and off ability to work on face-ups.
       
      #8 idrisfynn, Nov 21, 2011
    9. I do. I have a BFA emphasis in Graphic Design (cause I have to pay bills somehow) but I took more fine arts classes than GD.

      Outside of work, I do mostly illustration (comic book stuff lol), traditional painting with mixed media, and screentoning/coloring with photoshop and other computer programs. And whatever else I feel like doing.

      It helped me IMO. there's a lot you'll already know, from knowing and mixing colors, and how to use different mediums that you don't have to learn from scratch, but technique is very different. I don't draw or paint the same way I do faceups, I couldn't, it's not possible with the styles I work in. I still had to relearn things and practice different ways of working on heads until I had a faceup style I am not only comfortable with but like.
       
      #9 VampireAngel13, Nov 21, 2011
    10. I took to face-ups pretty quickly, but I think, like most artists, that urge to constantly improve never makes me 100% happy with them lol

      In college, my secondary degree was in applied studio arts with a painting concentration and I've worked on the side as a portrait artist and illustrator for years now so...yup! I have a background in art :) I also happen to have taken several classes in theater make-up, (my primary degree was in dance/performing arts), which I think is also a huge help when it comes to face-ups
       
      #10 arrowchild, Nov 21, 2011
    11. For years I made porcelain art and antique reproduction dolls, so I have had lots of experience painting doll faces, however, china paint is very different from pastels and acrylic paint. It's almost like I had to start all over again until I learned to work with the new medium. I've still only done girl dolls. I'm happy with the ones I've done, but always think I could do better. I've ordered some boy heads and they will be my next challenge. What I love about these dolls is that I can always wipe off what I've done and start over. Have to say, though, that I go through a lot of MSC until I get them right. I plan to repaint some of my early efforts next year as I think I can improve them.
       
      #11 linakauno, Nov 21, 2011
    12. I was comfortable with my face-ups after.... 7 or 8? Mostly I did them for me and a friend. Looking through the forum here really helped me find the styles and techniques I am comfortable working with.
      I was an Art Major in college, and I did art before that, so it wasn't an entirely bizzare step for me to do my own face-ups, just a matter of getting used to the materials and working on a 3-D surface.
      I'm pretty happy with my face-ups now. I even had a commission thread for awhile, and none of my customers ever had any complaint. (I had to close it down due to personal junk going on in my life)
       
      #12 Miss_Pygmalion, Nov 21, 2011
    13. I can usually manage to be happy with the faceups I do. But I know that they are by far not perfect. :P I will consistently look at them and go "oh, this would be better, that part could be better, this one eyelash hair is painted weird, that lip line is crooked," but I generally leave them as they are until they get damaged or something, because if I re-did a faceup every time one thing like that bothered me, all my dolls would have no faceup! :XD:

      And I, while I love to play with paint and paint things, I am not that great of a painter... I had one painting class in college...I think I got a B-...Because my abstract stuff was great. My realistic stuff sucked way bad. :P And then I like, really, really suck at drawing and sketching. :P But my major was graphic design, so I didn't really have a lot of physical art training at all - all my stuff was on the computer.

      With faceups though, I think I took to it pretty quickly, because rather than painting or drawing on a canvas or paper, the face was already there. I was just building upon the preexisting foundation of the mold. :) That, and I just think it's freakin' fun!! My friends and family always tell me how great my faceups are (and the people who have commissioned me love what I did for them), even though I still think I'm just mediocre. So for me, I feel like I will never have the 100% perfect faceup, ever - every single faceup that I do will have something great about it, while on the other hand, every single one will also have something that I feel is wrong with it. :)

      But all that's just cause to keep painting more faceups! :XD:
       
      #13 AirimirOfGondor, Nov 21, 2011
    14. I've been doing faceups for years. Many, many, many of them. I'll let you know if I'm ever satisfied.
       
      #14 cheshiretiffy, Nov 22, 2011
    15. I've only done two so far, but I already know that I'll never really be happy with any of them. I don't have a "background" in art persay, but I do draw and paint on my own, even if I haven't had a formal class since high school. I'm not happy with anything I do, whether it is visual or written. That holds true for faceups.
       
      #15 Haiiro, Nov 22, 2011
    16. It took me three tries before I hit my stride with face-ups. I've had years of practice with art that involves painting tiny details and line work, which helped me. I'm also lucky enough to be blessed with a steady hand, which really helped XD

      That's not to say I don't occasionally look at a face-up I've just finished and go "...meh", but on the whole I'm satisfied with my work. Always striving for better, though! There is always room for growth in art.
       
      #16 kirika, Nov 22, 2011
    17. I just ever came to the point of the "that should be ok for now"-feeling. It sometimes happened that I took out my doll I did my first face-up on and thought I had to rub it off right away. Now I am quite happy with it again until I come across it again in a weird creative mood and just have to redo it. ^^
       
      #17 Laoky, Nov 22, 2011
    18. You mean total? I'm always sure there's something about each that I could do better next time, and always improving my work.
      Per doll?
      My record for a doll is FOURTEEN tries, start to nearly finished, doing the same faceup over and over trying to get it right. Each try takes about an hour, so do the math... Yeah. I was dancing about and Yosemite Sam swearing. Used a whole can of MSC, but she came out looking nice.
       
      #18 Rosslyn, Nov 22, 2011
    19. I went to art school but it doesn't really translate to face-ups. I bought a practice head and practiced then just jumped in. I've accidentally gotten a few commissions but I don't advertise, although they have been good practice. The only way to get good at face-ups is do face-ups. People with make-up skills may have it better.

      The only thing I can say for for having experience in art is that I had prior experience with the materials. I knew what to buy and what to look for and any advice I needed I got from reading the forum.
       
      #19 Chehime, Nov 22, 2011
    20. I can't even begin to guess how many Amir and Loki have been through, and they will get more. I'm really happy with what they have now, but when they start to chip or rub off, I start over. I've been doing faceups for almost 4 years now.
       
      #20 CloakedSchemer, Nov 23, 2011