Inspiration for a Character?

My first doll's character was an RP character of mine from years ago that just seemed to stay with me. Her personality was already (mostly) developed before I had even thought about getting the doll, but her physical appearance was not. I knew she had blue eyes, but I wasn't exactly sure of the shade. I decided on blond hair about a month after having the doll, but I'm still trying to decide on the exact color and style.

I had only one RP character, so for all my future incoming dolls I'll have to make up their story/personality/appearance as I go. It may take a while for some of them, but I'm sure it will be a fun experience.

 

I don't really have a set method for deciding on a doll's character, I just go with whatever feels right but sometimes an obsession for something can trigger the need to buy a doll as a sort of resin tribute; recently I've been thinking about making Lucretia Borgia so that put me on the lookout for dolls that are very beautiful and feminine but with more mature faces - I've settled on a Limhwa Half Elf or a Supia Rosy after very extensive "research" i.e. spending hours on doll sites rather than working - but then, when I was looking at all the stunning Limhwas and Supias I fell totally in love with their tan versions so now I want a tanned girl as well even though I don't have a character for one...yet. It's weird how inspiration hits, like with the original dark resin EID Kamau, I saw him and fell instantly for the doll and later decided he just had to be Em'ma-O (a Japanese King of Hell, Buddhist I think) but I missed out on him and now his tan version is released I will buy him but Em'ma-O doesn't fit the tan version even though it's the same damn sculpt! With wheedling from my sister I decided to make him the sixth member of Avenged Sevenfold because he has this cool, "L.A." metal scene look about him. I think we're going to share him.

 

How did you develop your doll's character...did you try different wigs/eyes, did you role play or write about them, did you simply wake up and notice "oh, this doll would be perfect as ___"

I'm not even sure how it comes about exactly, but some sculpts click for a character and some do not. As for looks, I do mockups for wigs and eye colours before they come home. XD

 

I think I meet the dolls halfway.
My Zaoll Muse is a versatile mold but with the faceup I gave her she looks an older teenager so that gave me something to work with. Trying out different eyes and wigs helped a lot, and now I'm not sure If I chose her clothes to fir her personality or if her presonality fits her clothes. It's not something that happened overnight for me.
Not that a doll's character is set in stone, it's fine to change them at any point if they're not working out for you.

I'm currently waiting for a doll and I've been trying to come up with some idea of what he'll be like but once I see him in person I'll have a better idea.

 

i developed my first boy`s chater on the go( if i could say that),but now i have pre-made chatters ready for my dolls ^-^

 

I'm basing my doll family off of a pre-existing idea. Those characters already have personalities. So, it's more like finding a doll to fit the mold of what I have in mind.

 

Sometimes I get a doll and then come up with a character. Sometimes I come up with a character and then I get a doll that fits it. Sometimes I see a doll and make up a character so that I can justify purchasing him/her. It all depends.

 

Orophen and Lamalass were initial RP character created for a Wonderland RP but have since been reworked. Their story Ties in with Kamiki and Cadence who were created for Orophen and Lamalass's plot but have never been RPed.

My upcomming doll is based on Chobits! ^^ So she's a bit of a fanfic character OC and she has also been roleplayed

 

In my opinion this is not a weird question at all. For me and my way of enjoying this hobby it is an as "simple" as "complicated" very important one. The first BJD I got was supposed to reflect a resin version of myself because when I saw her I felt we were kind of alike. If that had been finally the case, thinking of "the three dimensions of the character" would have been truly easy, theoretically, but even before she arrived home I found a wig which made me change my mind for lifetime. Since then I thought about my BJD as a manganime title member.

Right next, I immediately thought about the rest of the for me main characters in One Piece, the manga and anime I love which came to my head, and went back to where I thought I had seen unconsciously my resin vision of the Mugiwara pirates. And I was right. Most of my BJD belong to that Eiichiro Oda's title since then to nowadays and for so on. So my task about working on their details (Such as personalities, stories, wigs, eyes, clothes, shoes,...) has been, many times, respecting their original features and finding the most accurate stuff for everyone.

Among my resin crew, I have two own creation characters (Three if we count their resin pet) and, said that I love writing (It is something I love doing everyday), they appeared so clearly in my imagination while words came out that even before I stopped typing they already had even their names. Besides, and about role playing, I have played with almost all of my BJD.

What I honestly think is inspiration may be laying down within the most unexpected. It is just a matter of realizing where is our own one.

 

I form vague ideas about characters prior to buying, flesh them out while waiting, then when they get home I look at them and we discuss it together (or rather I chat it out with myself ). I always keep a couple of extra things around so we can try a couple of looks. And we go from there until at last I am inspired as to their attitude and background. It happens very organically for me but I have to do it this way, whenever I come up with the character before getting the doll in my hands it's always rejected when I try to apply it to them...

 

Hmmm well for my start, Ariana kind of was developed a little earlier once I knew what I wanted her to look like but her name came to me once i got her. Then it's like..the rest came along as I see them or need them. In a weird way, if it's a doll I feel I "simply must have" their characters begins to form in how they fit with my storyline ^^ But if character develops before the doll, then I have to wait for the right doll.

 

Well, for my first doll, I didn't have a character set for her. As I waited for her arrival I started to think of her personality, what she would look like. EVERYTHING! But it was hard, 'cause I didn't have her. So I would go back and forth on things. I did come across a name that I liked a lot, Citlali. And awesome name in my opinion. Means Star in Aztec. So, I decided that I would call her that! No matter what, that would be her name! And I think it suits her great! Now, when she did arrive, it was awesome! Right as I was waking up, there's a knock at the door. And it was her! I opened her up, and she was amazing! I knew before she came she wasn't got to keep her blond wig, nor her blue eyes. Lol. I knew I wanted her to have brown hair and that was it. But after having her for a few days, it all came to me! Her whole story, it came to me like nothing. Lol. I knew who she was, I knew who all the characters were gonna be. Everything was set! I tried to dye her blond wig how i wanted her hair to look, but that busted. Haha. But I was lucky and found a brown a red wig! I had to have it! And I bought it! That has been her permanent wig ever since! And I think I just wanted her to have purple eyes, just because. And they work amazingly together! And she was created, and she is awesome! 8D
Now, when it came to my second doll, it was actually quite random. As I waited for Citlali, I came across Crobidoll! Once I saw Ys B I fell in love! He was going to be my definite next doll! No doubt about that one! And as I looked at him everyday, I thought about how I would make him look. And I just came up with, Red hair, with a pink and green eye. Completely random, completely. Lol. And it actually works! It looks great on him. I already knew who Tsuki was gonna be before I got him. He was easy to get together. And I think the more I think about characters/stories and the more I wait, it's gonna be easy. I just need to work on giving them a set style. XDD

 

I usually have a character in mind before I purchase a doll. But sometimes I end up with the doll and the character doesn't fit so I try different wigs, eyes, outfits until it clicks. I also love animation and have started working on a story with five main characters and I have two of the five dolls on their way to me. Unfortunately they are two that their looks and names haven't been completely formed yet, so I am having to find things that I hope will just click.

 

My girl is supposed to arrive soon but she already has a story, she's to be based on my 2D anthro character Ginger Snap

 

Well the one I plan on buying fits into the general criteria I have for a character of mine. Elcia; who came into being and has developed over the years as I've used the name as an online alias.
And I've come to really like her and when I saw the Fairyland Soo Dark Elf head, I thought it was perfect to give her actual material shape. So I'm making the plans to create her and once she arrives she'll probably develop further or in completely new directions, which will be fine too.

 

It was a "oh this doll would be perfect as ______!" thing. The doll I have now and both the dolls I have planned are based on established characters. I can't really get into the prospect of wanting a doll if it doesn't already match a character I've previously created/grown to love, actually. However--having the doll does make me tweak the character a bit. I ended up making Max's character a tad more flamboyant and prissy because of his delicate-looking sculpt.

 

I have been looking at pictures in the galleries and I have to say that some of you are amazing artists..whether it be the dolls, the clothing, the photos or the props. The photos and photostories are some of the most amazing I have EVER seen!!!

So I was wondering how do you come up with characters for your dolls?

 

Well, that really depends on the person. I fall into the camp that bases dolls on original characters from her own writings. A couple of dolls have come along and created characters for me, but the vast majority represent somebody who already existed in my head. (It's gettin' crowded in here!) This is a really common way.

But also really common is the folks who get the doll home and let him/her build a character. They play around with wigs, eyes, clothes, etc., until they get a sense of what character fits the doll.

Other people make character dolls, basing them on anime, game, book, TV show etc characters.

And other people still don't make characters at all. Their creativity is inspired in other ways, say by an interest in fashion or historical costuming or something like that.

 

Hi, susan67!

Well, that's a loaded question with many answers.

Some people have preconceived characters planned, like characters from a book, movie, TV show, their own universe(s), anime, manga, and even someone they know. The DIM mini-me heads allow people to take a favorite celebrity or character and have a sculpt done of him or her, then make the character of choice. Like those who got the Johnny Depp head made him into different characters Depp has played in the past.

Some people see a doll and have a connection with it. Sometimes a character comes to them immediately and sometimes there is no character for it. But the doll speaks to the person, wanting to come live with him/her.

Some people see the beauty (or other aspects) of the doll first and the character comes later.

Sometimes a person wants a specific body type or resin colour or gender and that's how they start looking for a character's shell.

The face sculpt may look British Victorian or Asian or fey and that can be a deciding factor.

A part of my own collection consists of dolls representing specific anime/manga characters. The rest fall under an umbrella I call the Malachite Labyrinth, a Celtic/Japanese yôkai kingdom. Basically that's where any doll who is not part of the anime/manga group of dolls land.

Those dolls usually don't have character or name in mind when I first purchase them. While I'm waiting for them, they may tell me their name, or not. They may or may not tell me where they fall into the hierarchy. Some are STILL deciding where exactly they belong in the kingdom. Sometimes a doll I initially thought was one thing turns around and says he/she is something else. It's happened more than once. I've learned to let the doll talk to me, not try to 'force' a doll into a role.

I always say, "Listen to your dolls, and eventually they will tell you."

 

Just throw your creativity out there and I'm sure whatever you do will be well received.