Scared to face up an expensive doll?

I wasn't nervous because I used products that were safe for resin and the worst case scenario would be "it looks... not good" and I'd have to redo it.

If you're very nervous about painting your own dolls; send them to a faceup artist instead. I love to have artists paint my dolls.

 

Practice makes perfect, and what Doll-Mage said, if you use safe supplies, the only thing that could happen is that it doesn't look great. Doing face ups can be really fun too.
Best of luck!

 

hello! If you want a useful advice, just make sure to SEAL RIGHT YOUR DOLL before trying anything on it,
and once you've done that, don't be afraid to work on it
mistakes lead to learning new things!!! and just remember: being artistic is one of the main reasons of this hobby
so the most important thing is that you enjoy what you do!

 

Hi there nekkous,

I was a bit nervous at first but also very excited to give it a whirl. I was satisfied with my first effort and went on to do about 10 more faceups on various dolls. I was mostly happy with my work but decided to have a faceup artist paint one of my dolls in 2013 and I decided that was the way I wanted to go from then on. Andrea of Angel Toast is much better at realizing my vision than I am. Also, I had had enough of fooling around with sealants which are very toxic, I do hope you are very careful when you use them. Best of luck, as everyone has said the worst that can happen is that you will want to do it over. With practice you will only get better and better.

 

I went for it. As long as you seal the face well before applying any faceup you should be good. If you mess up you can redo it.
Expensive or not, if you are careful you shouldn't ruin it.

 

I, too, was afraid of doing my own bjd face ups. But after enjoying this hobby for years, I finally painted my first face up just recently...and on a limited Doll Chateau Carol. My painting isn't perfect, but I feel more confident and satisfied with doing it myself because 1.) I overcame my fear and 2.) I'm not as worried now about playing with my doll or damaging its face up because I know I can repair or redo it if necessary.

Although I plan to stick with painting my own face ups and hopefully improving my skills, I will admit that going the "do it yourself" route might depend on how much you like or are comfortable with doing similar kinds of projects and/or art in general. For example, I also paint miniatures for a tabletop game, and before that I customized My Little Ponies. I also draw. So, for me, doing face ups for dolls was kind of just a variation on a theme.

I think it comes down to what you enjoy most, whether that be accomplishing a project yourself or obtaining the opportunity to enjoy the work of another artist.

Here's a photo of my first face up adventure with Carol...now dubbed "Cupid" because of all the pink!

 

I wasn't nervous, in fact, I never owned a practice head and just dove right in with painting my first doll. I've had him almost 9 years, and I can't even begin to tell you how many different faceups he's had! He's definitely had improvement over time, no doubt!

 

I was super confident and super terrible lol but it worked out because I made sure to get the right materials first.

 

I have yet to try it. I am a little nervous, but there are a lot of great resources and information out there. I am sure it will be just fine as long as I get things sealed correctly. If it was permanent, I am sure I would feel a lot worse.

 

I was nervous at first, but I've done faceups on two of my limited dolls and both experiences have been good! Patience with sealing the head is really important as others have mentioned so you know you are able to wipe it if you want to change it later.

 

I wasn't nervous with painting--faceups to me seem inherently impermanent--I knew I was using easily removeable materials, and even if something wasn't easily removed, buffing it off with superfine sandpaper or Magic Eraser isn't tough.

However, modding more expensive dolls makes me nervous.

You wouldn't believe how slowly I went when carving an open mouth mod on my Arsene!

Even though working on an expensive doll can make me nervous, I say go for it! You will never enjoy a doll more than if you do all you want to it--now my Arsene's teeth are my favorite part of all my BJDs. I even carved/sculpted tiny canines, which are adorable!

 

@nekkous

I'm glad you want to try--I really think the customization of these dolls is what makes them unique from other dolls and between eachother!

You'll do fine--just keep telling yourself that even if you mess up the faceup, it can easily be removed and fixed.

 

You know @nekkous, the first time I did a faceup on my first doll I was really nervous, but I did it anyways!

Every time I look at my first faceup ever, I enjoy the imperfections that give my doll character. If I were to take a picture of my first faceup (Resin Soul Feng), with the last one I completed (IOS Infernale), the practice of about 4 years is very apparent.

My advice to you is don't be afraid to keep trying, and know that practice and patience makes perfect.

 

Don't be put off by the time spent wokring on it, that's when all of your learning happens! It may seem like a long haul but you'll feel so good when you've finished a face-up and it looks perfect

 

*just paints all over her LE sold out one of only 100 Carol's* bwhahahaha.

To be honest, worst case scenario you either have to do a special faceup to cover stains, or you dye or sand the doll. Not the end of the world. If you seal the blank doll first it shouldn't stain AS badly but still might. Freckles are my solution ahahah. freckles for everyone to cover smears and stains!

but yeah, i'm terrible when it comes to just grabbing the doll and starting to draw on it. Sometimes this bites me in the butt, other times it works out great. Thankfully Resin isn't nearly as porus as some materials i've painted on (2d printed nylon omg.. every.. single... brush stroke... soaks in.. forever. )

My advice is just doooo it. You can always fix mistakes later. It's actually pretty hard to irreperably ruin a doll if you're just using chalk pastal, watercolour pencils and acrylic paint.