The EYE of the beholder: which way do your dolls eyes face?

There are much more realistic shots available if you pose the eyes to an angle, but when they're just hanging out I like my dolls to be able to look me in the eyes, so to speak. A humanoid figure that appears to avoid eye contact just bothers me somehow.

 

Straight ahead mostly, but once in a while, if I'm making a story, I may move the eyes briefly to a side glance for fun.

 

Mine are looking up, but slightly to the side... couldn't tell you why.

 

my boy kinda have small eyes and it looks a bit weird when i pose them to look on the sides or up or down (mostly up or down)

 

All of my dolls have their eyes looking off center, generally to the side, sometimes a bit up as well. I think it makes them look more natural when I phoograph more than one doll together, because they seem to be looking at and interacting with one another. And in general I think dolls who look straight forward can look a little more "creepy", like a blank stare, than if you position their eyes slightly to one side or the other. It doesn't really bother me in terms of creepiness, I think side-glancing eyes make them look more lively, but comments from my non-doll friends seem to indicate that they find straight-ahead eyes more creepy. I also find that when I'm positioning eyes looking to the side I don't have as many problems with them looking cross-eyed or wall-eyed.

So... yes, I prefer side-glancing eye placement.

ETA: It also means that my dolls look at both me and the camera from a more flattering 3/4 face angle, rather than straight on! I just keep thinking of reasons why I position eyes that way... XD;;;

 

i put mine to the center but a little upwards too for a realistic look (even though they are pupiless and it doesnt make much of a difference lol)

however once i get my human dolls (who will have realistic eyes) im going to probably position them to the sides. when i look through my favorite dolly pictures ALOT of them have dolls looking off to the side. i just think it makes them seem more real and have more personality.

edit: i realise my post doesnt make much sense. i think eyes off to the side look more realistic than dead center. when i said "i put mine to the center but a little upwards too for a realistic look" i meant the * up a little bit* part makes them seem more real than just dead center if that helps any lol

 

Me too. Photos usually look much more expressive when it appears as if the doll is consciously looking at something, rather than just straight forward. But otherwise, when the camera's away, he looks forwards, just because it looks more relaxed and neutral. Having said that, I'm really bad at placing eyes, so usually he just looks crooked XD

 

I like having her eyes center, but I try to push them slightly up so that there isn't white above the iris. She isn't looking up, though.

 

My little ones have eyes looking to the right or left as it makes them look more mischievous.

 

I think I'd choose nearly all of the options in the poll, since I have a big variety between my guys. I'd say that most of my guys are looking slightly up and that none of them are looking exactly dead-centre since I find that gives them slightly too much of a dead/doll-like look. I generally put my guys either a few millimeters to the left of centre or right over to the side depending on their characters: for the most part the sneaky or mischevious characters glance to the side, while the more confident/direct of my guys look almost straight ahead. Both positions work well in photography, but you can get some good effects with either postion and I really like the group effect it gives when all my dolls are assembled for group-shots, since it gives more life to the group rather than just having a bunch of dolls all identically staring at the camera and feeling rather devoid of personality that way.

 

same, word for word hehe
[edit: no vote in the poll... most of my dolls have them in the center, but voting "center" makes me feel like i'm implying that they're positioned in the dead doll center positioning i see everywhere]

(although regarding the poll, a doll with its eyes positioned looking down would look horrible o_O)

 

yup. thats pretty much what i'd do too
but Aiden seems to be looking at me from whatever angle i look at him so i dont really need to move them. its kinda scary XD

 

Two of my boys have their eyes facing forward, centered. But with my third I have them off to the right and slightly up. For me I guess it depends on the personality of the doll, or what looks best on them.

 

I've got two dolls whose eyes are positioned almost*center... One looks a little up, and the other looks a little to the right. But only a little.
The other two boys look off to their right (left when you're looking at them).
Makes them look contemplative. ono

 

Center, just a touch up. I'm usually looking for the snarky look.

 

For me it really depends on the character more than anything, but sometimes I have that odd eye socket that forces me to put the eye in the center unless I bevel XD A majority of my dolls also have it centered but a tiny bit up to give maybe a mm or two of white (aka show a tiny bit of the sclera) below the iris ^^

 

I didn't vote, because they're all slightly different. ALL of them are slightly up, though. Most are also glancing to the side. Dead center looks really dead and doll-like to me, they're SO much better and more expressive looking if the eyes are at least positioned up a little. I don't mind if they're centered, angled up slightly - but if the pupil is centered vertically? They look dead to me, in a really ugly way.

It's one of the reasons I've never been interested in dolls with eyes that can't be changed. There are lots of non-bjd's around with inset eyes now, but every one I've seen has been badly positioned in a blank straight-ahead stare. I can't tell you how much I'd love to cut every Liv doll's head open and fix their crappy eye placement.

 

My boys all look straight ahead. I love when other people's dolls look away or up or down or whichever direction, but I never really feel that looks right to me on my own dolls. XD So they look straight. ((Plus, the puki and the lil guy are the only ones who's eyes I can easily access. >>; ))