Sad Doll Faces

I think one of the best known is Customhouse St Mina. There are two versions, "sad face" and "smiling." I have the smiling version, so I can't post a picture, but you should find them by searching on DoA and Google. They were also featured in the movie 'Dollmaster.'

 

Beats me - I'm just rejoicing that more smily sculpts are available these days so I don't have to perpetully find faceup artists who can make miserable or grumpy sculpts look as cheerful and smiley as possible (and who understand that I don't want expressive eyebrows slanting down toward the nose in a constant frown or up toward the middle of the forehead in a permanent worried expression)....

Teddy

 

For me, when I choose more sad expressions for sculpts I obtain—it's distinctly for OCs that tend to be more often than not perpetually sad, morose, or solemn of mood in their personality. I do the same with angry, smirking, gently smiling, or thoughtful sculpts—it's always based on the character's overall personality.

As of yet I don't have a lot of photos of my more solemn crew members, but a couple specific sculpts I have with this particular feature are: Dragon Shell doll Snake (who can shift between being angry or sad depending on the angle), Rosen Garden Lovis (who has this rather forlorn, brooding air to him), and, to a degree, Impldoll Bernice (from most angles she appears more angry than sad, but when her face is aimed downwards, she can look rather melancholic).

As for whether or not that perpetual sorrowed mood affects me emotionally in some way—not really. Since my bjds are very tied into the OCs they're shelled as, that expression is just most fitting for that character. I think I'd be more alarmed if the OC shelled as Rosen Garden Lovis had a more smiley and cheerful expression instead

 

I like faces with expressions, but I feel like they're really committed. I prefer the ambiguity of neutral sculpts, and think that in most cases, the faceup can really make the doll. I did have a Dollshe Arsene once, and his expression tends to be sad, but it can be drawn less upset.

That aside! I think a pretty infamous sad sculpt is Ringdoll Mona, pictured here from ringdoll's website:


I... really don't like this sculpt. It makes me feel miserable and I can't imagine having that in my house. I mean, to each their own, I guess.

 

Idk, I think dolls with a neutral sort of resting bitch face are a lot more common than sad ones, but maybe that’s just… my cabinet. Art is an outlet, and not everybody is happy all the time. I’ve had dolls with sad brows, with visible wounds and a general air of melancholy because there’s something cathartic about photographing a character that’s a bit of a lost soul. Also a doll that’s emotionally expressive is often very impressive on film.

I don’t think of it as doing mean things to characters. I think of it as ‘how cool is this faceup.’

 

That's the first 'sad' BJD I came across and the one that's stuck in my mind most. When I first saw it I did wonder who this would appeal to and then it came to me that someone might find it very cathartic or bring out a desire to comfort etc. I think it's a sculpt that could be quite helpful or appealing to some people in that regard. It might be because it comes to me that there could be a 'healing' aspect to the sculpt, it's never bothered me like it seems to do with a lot of people and I feel I could understand why someone might buy it (though understand why most people wouldn't want it). Personally I admire the sculpt for being very well done in capturing such a strong emotion perfectly, it's very powerful

 

I love sculpts with strong expressions. To me, bland sculpts are simply... bland. And just because a sculpt has an expression does not mean that it is locked into a certain emotion.
I have had my Ringdoll Mona express sadness, of course, but also fear, questioning, and a reaction to chopping onions
She also could look as if she's just about to sneeze. Any intensity of emotion really.
The last rose of summer by Nadine, on Flickr

I also have little Luts Tiny Delf Louis with the open mouth. So far I've had him eating, yawning, singing, yelling, orating, surprised, and appalled. But mostly, he's just adorable.
#I Wish by Nadine, on Flickr

I have neutral sculpts too, but I actually find them less versatile than the expressive ones.

 

I think I've seen sad achieved more with face ups, especially with the eyebrow shape/angle. My Elrond I picked for his melancholic look and wanted painted that way because his life is just...really tragic when you stop and think about it. He has more perseverance than anyone I've known in real life.

 

While the expression is not as intense as some sculpts, Doll Leave's Lan has a down turned mouth and an eyebrow ridge that is very slated towards the outer corners of the eyes. She looks sad or like someone in lost in thought which fits the version of the character my Lan is shelled as too a T.

Galaxy Amalthea lost in thought:
Amalthea wonders by M, on Flickr

 

I'm definitely guilty of having a few mopey dolls! My saddest is probably My Giddeous Project Baughn.


To me the appeal is just that I like extreme expressions of any kind. I also have smiling dolls, glowering dolls, apprehensive dolls, sly dolls. I like extreme expressions, and if I dig even further I think I like expressive dolls because I'm a cartoonist and character designer.

But also I think there's a lot of woobie effect going on.

 

I think I prefer most of my dolls to have neutral or very slightly smiling sculpt, but sometimes, a character just really needs one of those extreme sculpts! Opposite end of the spectrum, but I never liked the sculpts with huge toothy smiles at all. And then, my character Nate came along, and he's always got this huge cheesy grin, laughing at something or other, and I shelled him in an Angel of Dream Mu Yanzi--the smiliest sculpt I've ever seen, with even his bottom teeth showing! And it's perfect. So while I'd mostly agree that I don't like extremely sad/angry sculpts, I'm not going to rule out the possibility of wanting one some day.

 

I definitely like a lot of “sad” sculpts, but to me the mood tends to read more as wistful or melacholy rather than openly sobbing as the Ringdoll example up there. Most expressions I see don’t tend to be too extreme, so the posing and decor tends to influence mood more than the sculpt, even if they are distinctly frowning upset. It’s the same the other way around, a doll with a smile could be joyful, mischievous, stressed…

As someone who mostly uses pre-existing characters that’s probably a bigger aspect of how I end up seeing sculpts as well. Some people aren’t very good at smiling, but it doesn’t mean they’re unhappy.

 

@0bsequi0us , I love your Baughn, great shot!

I forgot to mention, I started a "Sad Dolls" group on flickr a while back. Managed to get a few members but I'd love to see more contributions.
Please by Nadine, on Flickr

 

@CloakedSchemer I agree, I don't always like toothy grinning dolls either.

I think there is a prevalence of neutral doll faces so that face up artists can make them into whatever they want. There are also the extreme expressions because people want them and if you can change heads easily, your doll can have many expressions via different heads/face plates.

I think I like the neutral best because it doesn't look like a horror movie doll. I could see some of those extreme expression dolls coming to life and terrorizing me/the movie going audience. That said, it certainly takes a lot of artistic effort/talent/work to sculpt such expressions!

 

Oliver can look sad orr pouty depending on the angle you see him from.

20210723_154225 by Kit Lioncourt, on Flickr

 

I'm generally not a fan of sad looking dolls, or face-ups with "worried" eyebrows. I'm trying to escape feelings of depression not be continually reminded of them! But I do own a few that look sad from some angles. My first MSD is a Dream Valley Rosa whose downturned mouth and half closed eyes can make her look sad, but her expression usually looks more disapproving or "I am not impressed" to me. Soom's Juchy has a company face-up with those worried eyebrows that make her look continually anxious. Blank, mine looks curious or awed.

 

I just found this thread, and as you may know, @Vindalootoo, I too have a Littlefee Shiwoo. Seeing Wiishu's sad faceplate has me wanting to get one for Ichi-chan. He has a sleeping faceplate (that I plan on having faceupped this year, hopefully ) and it would be kind of cool to have another waking expression for him as well. Or maybe a guilty expression faceplate as well. Ideas, ideas...thanks for them!

Ethan, my Luts/CP El has a pretty serious expression. I'm not sure if it qualifies as sad, per se, but I think it works for his Victorian spiritualist personality.


20211202_014926 by Ryuichi Sakuma, on Flickr

Spoiler: Manfred,

20210304_194734 by Ryuichi Sakuma, on Flickr

OTOH, has a definite sad face. Or maybe unsatisfied with the world in general. I don't know. I love his expression, but his faceup needs to be Gothed up and made a bit more dour in order to better fit with his personality.

Hn, I never really realized that I have what could be considered "sad" faced/faceupped dolls. Thanks for creating this thread, it really has given me ideas!

Ryu

 

I have two 'sad' dolls, painted to look that way, and each time it was mostly because I thought it'd be a fun challenge. My dz Benjamin already came with a pretty strong expression anyway, and trying to give it a grumpy expression wasn't working. But I had fun turning that head into a crying mess, and that was the entire thought process

My other sad doll started with a more neutral expression (she's a luts honey delf Pudding(warning for gore)) but again the appeal was in turning her into something different.

I don't think there are that many actually sad dolls out there? Some companies do give their faceup eyebrows that create a melancholy look, but I think 'neutral' expressions are more common. At least, they are from what I've seen, but it's a large ebough hobbies, so everyone experiences it a bit differently