How-tos, tutorials and the business end

My belief is that once something is out on the marketplace or in public view, there's no keeping it under wraps. There may be techniques that are secret and special to each individual, but the idea and the basics are going to be out there for everyone to see and be inspired by. If you want to share something you've learnt or come up with, I think it's entirely your right to.

There will only be problems if someone buys an article of clothing, take it apart, and then release a tutorial on how to make it. Even then, it's dodgy and unethical but I'm not sure anyone can prove anything or have something done.

As for face-ups, I followed several tutorials diligently and took note of several tips from people like Helene and Hooli and watched live face-up tutorials that went from start to finish with many, many good tips that I never thought about (Healdria and mk13)...but I can honestly say I could never replicate their process exactly and will probably never reach the level of professional and artistic capability that they have. I've had to do some things my own way in comparison to theirs as well because it just works out better that way for me. I think that's an example of how you can learn from someone else, but a lot of times, you will end up developing your own way of doing things when it comes to art.

In the end, if you're good, you'll be good enough to continue your business in the face of tutorials and people learning to do it on their own.

 

Wow, I'm on the fence. If I think up what I think is a very unique idea, and research and can't find something like it, I might want to hold on to it for awhile and see if I can get paid for it simply for the sake of money and making a living.

On the tutorial side I've posted elsewhere my missteps in doll making to help other people out. I hope to put some more wisdom on my web site too. It pays off when people tell me that I've helped them find the right doll

 

I feel like posting a tutorial isn't really detracting from the business of professionals on a large scale. There may be a few owners who've always sent out for faceups or commissioned clothing, that see a tutorial and go "oh... you know, maybe I should try that myself". But really, I think the majority of people looking at tutorials are those who would be going the DIY route anyway, but are just looking to improve their skill level. Many of those customizers/seamstresses wouldn't have been a customer of the professionals in the first place.

Either way, a tutorial does not automatically make one skilled in the craft. Most people will still have to practice a lot before achieving the skill level of a professional. The tutorials may give people some tips and tricks they didn't have before, but I don't think it actively creates competition. I think for the most part it just creates a more skilled set of DIYers, who would be doing their own customizing and sewing with or without those tutorials.

For me... I love looking at faceup tutorials to pick up new tips and tricks, but I'd still be practicing on my own without them. I love doing faceups, and would be painting my own dolls regardless of my own skill level. Even with the tutorials, I'll admit to picking up ideas from others. That's how I learned to put down a pastel "base" before drawing eyebrow hairs in wc pencil, by looking at other faceups and going "ooooh... so that's how they get them to look more natural". I'm not copying someone else's entire faceup, or even imitating their individual artistic style. But I will pick up techniques by looking at other finished products and experimenting to figure out how they might have gotten that effect. My faceups are still uniquely me, but it's just one way to learn. In the end, I may have even come up with a completely different technique than the original artist, for all I know. I'll even do the same thing by looking at makeup on humans. I'm not sure if others would consider that "stealing", but I don't think it is. I feel like I'm still putting in the legwork and doing my own experimentation, as well as combining that technique with my own artistic style.

However, looking at sewing tutorials is interesting, but it doesn't make me feel more inclined to sew. I've learned I have pretty much zero skill in sewing small enough for doll-scale, and I don't enjoy it enough to work on that skill... so I pretty much purchase all of my doll clothing. I'd rather just pay a professional for their time and effort in that department.

 

While it's true this could potentially deture some business but many people don't find themselves skilled enough to do them. Or they may not have the time, patience, or passion to do them. I have seen many tutorials on DOA and other places. I still plan on having other people do my face-ups, ear mods, and other cutomizations, because I simply lack the skill.

Only two things have a seen tutorials on that I would actually do. One, is hot glue sueding, and the other adding a a magnet for something like wing attackment. Of course in order to do those I have to learn to restring which if I can't do that I'll could add glue and magnets but need someone to put them back together o0.

Some people may just use the tutorials to learn more about the hobby, about how things are done and what exactly is going on when they send their dolly out. At least thats what I've done.

 

I am currently writing a tutorial on my method for making urethane/resin eyes. To my knowledge it will be one of the few, if not the only English tutorial, and one that I wish I had when I was starting out.

I figure that making resin eyes is so time consuming, wasteful and expensive that not a lot of people will have the dedication necessary to go through with making eyes, much less making a business from it. At least, that's my selfish prediction :p

 

I have a faceup biz here, but I don't find tutorials at all threatening! In fact sometimes random newbies contact me wanting to know how to paint, and I'm relieved to point them to tutorials because it'd take hours for me to explain it all and I'm also not sure I could explain "how" I do it! I've told people what materials I use, and the occasional pointer, but after that it's all practice!

I used to take commissions for mods but I've also posted tutorials for them (jointing solid torsos, taming oldskin Volks SD10 legs and such). I eventually found doing mods on commission intimidating. I am one of those soft shite (lol) sensitive types who is terrified of power tools for one thing! XD I can (in the throes of inspiration) chop my own doll in half and carve it up... but being nervous while using scary motorized tools on someone else's expensive doll piece is another matter, and it's absolutely messy and I don't have a great place to have that kind of mess around on a constant basis. Resin dust is quite nasty, mask and all!

All in all, I find the 'guild secrecy' unnecessary. I taught myself to paint because it was something I was interested in doing. I didn't start out great (and am still not great!! D-: )
but the point is I wanted to do it and enjoyed doing it. Eventually I got to the point where I wanted to do commissions for people, and for the most part I still enjoy it very much. Tutorials will not make everyone want to paint. They might enjoy knowing something about it on an abstract level, and/or even dabble in it themselves, but only the most dedicated and/or naturally talented will become really good at it.

ETA: I consider the tutorials I've done something I've contributed to the community, to kind of say 'thank you for having me'. I know I am very grateful for tutorials I've read... they're inspiring, and that's always a good thing!

Raven

 

I coulda sworn that I already replied!

If it weren't for generous souls like Ragdoll, I never would've learned to sew a proper crotch!

 

Just because you post a tutorial on how you do something, it doesn't mean that anybody else out there is actually able to do it.

People who try your tutorial, botch things hopelessly, & realize they can't do that job after all: They're still going to pay money to have it done.

People who ARE able to do that job well: These are DIY people, so you probably wouldn't get their money anyway. If they didn't learn this technique from you, they'd've looked it up elsewhere on the internet.

People who discover that they CAN do the job, but get a different result from the ones shown in the tutorial: They probably wouldn't have given you their money either, because even though they're following your instruction, their style's too different from yours. I've followed eyebrow-tutorials from several different magazines, and got results that were very very different from the ones they showed (for good or for ill ^^). Everybody has different techniques & approaches, so there are almost as many tutorials as there are artists.

 

This.

You can't make a tutorial that replaces the years an artist spends honing their craft.

 

there is a big gap from when a person uses a tutorial to when they become skilled enough to rely only on themselves or start being competition.

I've seen people who know everything there possibly is to know about faceups......but can't produce a remotely decent one. They know about the technique and all, they just lack the natural ability.

I know alot about sewing...but I can't make decent clothes for my dolls to save my life.

Besides, if the person is exceptionally good, they shouldn't have to worry. Can anyone say "Invisible Hand?" Go read up on some Adam Smith (my hero!) and you'll see.

 

I offer face-ups myself, and I've learned quite a few tricks thanks to tutorials. (Pastel application, lips, lip-lines!) But by no means could I actually paint anything of that caliber, of the artists who made those tutorials, when I first struggled! I remember wondering just how they could get the lines just so. It's taken me a few years to feel comfortable enough to offer my services, and even then, I still have a lot of room to improve! I'm still in awe of some of these Japanese artists, and I'm going to continue practicing, and hope that I can get to that skill level at some point.

Tutorials definitely help people start out, but real skill takes quite a bit of time to develop. I've looked at plenty of sewing tutorials. I know what materials I should use, how to set it up - but I'd much prefer buying someone's far superior article of clothing. My crooked, frayed attempts, and my fear of my sewing machine generally allow me to depend on the wonderful skills and talents of this community. (And I love how we can all support each other, and share our talents!)

 

I happen to like tutorials, just for general reading, and because I am simply too curious for my own good and love finding out how things are done, even if I'll never try it myself. I also find a lot of ideas and tecniques that I can apply to other projects, little bits and pieces that spark ideas for something completely different...
And really, a lot of tutorials are more like a basic recipie, no two "cooks" will make it up the same.

Also, if people actually knew how much work went into some of these things, maybe there would be less snarky comments about pricing from "armchair experts" who think they could do the same thing...

 

I think it depends on the subject in question...

Face ups, for example... Its like with nail art. There are billions of tutorials for nail art. And anyone can buy the supplies. But its less hassle, more enjoyable and in the long run: less expensive, to hire a professional to do it.

Various artists also tend to have their own styles. So while one person may be capable of doing a face up, they may still opt to go with the work of a reputable face up artist known for the style they're looking for.

Same with clothing, crocheting, ect. Anyone can learn to do it. But some do it better than others... And again: Less time, hassle and sometimes money involved in buying pre-made or commission clothing.

Now... If it were taking a 100% unique and original product, reverse engineering it and then releasing it to the customer base in order to steal or undermine the original creator (who may or may not be intending or in the process of patenting or copyrighting the work) is pretty deplorable.

In the end, your question kind of comes across as though asking if giving classes on sewing can potentially destroy the lively hood of clothing companies or professional designers.

 

To my mind, the main thing is the ratio of originality in the original to commonality in your tutorial. As some people have said, there should be subtleties to your own work that are your own. They generally have no place in a tutorial.
I also feel like if someone has something really innovative or distinctive, especially in a highly competitive market, it might be a bit unethical to distribute the means to produce the same thing. That's when you really have to ask yourself (and maybe the original producer) whether or not you're stepping on someone's toes. Someone mentioned the Fer in a previous post. Love it or not, it's a very distinctive set of clothing. I sure would be upset if someone pulled a Fer apart and posted the pattern, or a step-by-step tutorial on how to make a very very similar outfit...but there was a discussion a while back about how to create similar ruffles on fabric that I felt was within the boundary of good taste, since it could be used in many different ways.

(snipped)

I'm really saddened to hear this. Pants are not something people have proprietary rights over, and I find it disgusting that there are people out there who would be rude to someone for posting a tutorial on creating something so basic.

Now if you'd posted something disappointingly similar to someone's well-known capri-length cargo pants with chains and suspenders pattern that they've been selling pants from for two years, that might be different...

 

I agree with this! I have posted patterns here and on other forums because I know that pattern making can be tricky and not particularly interesting for some.

Reading pattern books, pattern making at uni and my own 'have a goes' have got me to this point - and I think most doll related crafts/arts stem from other crafts/arts. What I know about human pattern making translates to dolls - so honestly if someone was keen there would be other ways of finding out how to do something other then a doll forum. Hmm... I'm not sure that makes sense

I have a shop, don't sell much, but the jeans that I sell are made from the same jeans pattern that I share so lol!

 

Second this. There are those of us who'll read/watch tutorials just for fun. I'll probably never be able to do a proper face-up, but I'd love to watch somebody else do one.

 

Honestly, I'm one of those people that would always be doing it myself. Sure, I'll buy factory faceups sometimes-but when it comes time to redo them, I was always going to be doing it. For me, the tutorials are the reason I've shown progress as fast as I have, going from my first faceup that looked like it was in gloppy paint (note to newbies: read tutorials BEFORE trying it for yourself, and seeing how it turns out without help) and now, something that I would actually show to the public. Even without the tutorials I wouldn't be sending my dolls out, I'd just be at a skill level way lower than what I'm at now.

 

As a person who has done my own face up and likes to do it. I don't mind tutorial, in fact it helped me realize how many layers of MSC I should use. Also with the airbrush, I didn't know how to use mine and tutorial helped. Though I have used these things before with custom toys, but for BJD I didn't know.

I still would get a face-up done by another artist, since some artist I like the things they do.

 

Maybe its just me...but have you not fouind while doing face-ups that taste is relative (relevant?) I mean I have seen some lovely face-ups customized in colors I would never dream of using. I am a more natural sweet face innocent look type but there are others who use cyan and fushia? It looks perfectly normal on the faces they do, but if I were to do it I would think it wouldn't look right? Am I making sense?
I really want to get an airbrush eventually as I like to paint other things too, but the more I am doing on the tiny dolls, and soon my hujoo and larges size bjd I have on layaway, I feel I am learning each step of the way.

 

I definitely don't think you should feel bad! This really struck me, since I make a lot of pants. There are always going to be people who want to make their own things, but others who would rather buy. There are even things that I'm totally capable of making that I buy instead (including pants). I spent a lot on a doll coat that my friends keep saying I could have made and I could have, but the style is so distinctive to that seller I would rather have given her the business than try to make my own (plus I'm 100% sure it wouldn't have been as good!).

I actually posted a tutorial myself on exactly how I do the zipper fly on the pants that I sell. I didn't consider that it might hurt my business in the slightest; it's what I consider to be the most difficult step for people who are learning and I wanted to share. I'm not going to post my pattern and I'd be pretty scandalized if someone rubbed off my pattern and posted a copy, but if someone makes their own and posts it, that's great!