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

Jan 5, 2010

?
  1. Center

  2. To the left

  3. To the right

  4. Looking up

  5. Looking down

Multiple votes are allowed.
Results are only viewable after voting.
    1. My doll's eyes are facing the center but with a bit of an upward tilt to give him that perpetual "glare of doom". :D
       
    2. well, I usually have her eyes to the right *it's soo cute!* but then I get impatient with the putty, so she's mostly facing the eyes straight ahead. And for some reason, I feel that her eyes are starting to hurt if I keep them unaligned for too long!
       
    3. Most of mine are slightly side-glancing, usually to the right. That just looks more realistic to me than having them looking straight ahead, and it seems to photograph better.
       
    4. I just mess with them until they look right to me, so really, it depends on the doll. ^_^;; Though I adjust them for pictures sometimes, Sage tends to have his eyes centered, while Yoru's are usually directed up a little to give him a kind of half-lidded look.
       
    5. Most of them are centered, but one of my girls is looking to her left at the moment.

      I don't like fiddling with them much. Getting them positioned right is a pain D:
       
    6. In general I must say all my dolls look on the front except one of my girl who look up
      I dont really know why its like that, it was automatic, I already tried putting them looking right and left but its annoy me more than something else. I love theyr creepy look when they look deep in your eyes :P
       
    7. Most of mine, except my tinies and Roda, glance off to the side. I've tried positioning their eyes forward but they always end up looking blank. (I guess my tinies and Roda can get away with it because their eyes are so big it doesn't really matter.) My Rosy I tried to angle her's center but looking up for a mean look. She ended up looking so stoned I couldn't keep her that way and keep a straight face at the same time. XD
       
    8. I put the eyes slightly to the right or left. It takes a bit to get the positioning right, but it does make them look mischievous or like they're planning something fun. My sister says they look better when they're centered. xD;
       
    9. I always set mine in the center, naturally slightly raised. I like my dolls to follow me around the room. I get really bothered when they are just blank, like they're dead.
       
    10. I have issue with the eyes, sometimes one gets crooked to one side on accident, but for the most part I like a straight on stare. I'm sure once I get some of my other guys home, with less 'confrontational' personalities, some will have other eye placements, but for now the two I have are confident, bold, and in one's case slightly abrasive, personalities, so anything other than an eye-to-eye straight stare would be weird. If I want it to look like they're looking sideways, I just adjust my camera angle, one has pupil-less eyes so you can't tell, and the other has such narrow eyes it doesn't matter! XD
       
    11. ^This. It really depends on the character. If all dolls had their eyes in the same position, I think it looks boring... as if they all have the same personality.

      EDIT: Btw.. I'm such a geek. Every time I read this 'eye of the beholder' line, I always get a picture of the D&D monster in my head.
       
    12. it depends on the eyeball how easy it is too move around, and on how big the eyes of my dolls are. if they are bigger I might have them face up, if they have tiny eyes I like to face them center.
       
    13. I keep changing them once in while , usually its center or sides.
       
    14. Center...but only because I like to keep things simple.
      Looking sideways does look nice, but it takes a bit more time and care to position the head so that they're looking in the way you want them to and still look natural, like they're giving you a coy glance or something. Also, looking sideways is nice when you have long and narrow eyes...but if you have big roundish eyes with very little whites showing, it's not very obvious...
       
    15. Off to the side definitely, without a doubt. Looking straight on just looks weird to me.
      Some look left, some look right, some look slightly up and left, some slightly up and right. Depends on the doll, their character, the faceup... but rarely do I do straight on anymore.
      I used to do straight on when I first got into dolls when I didn't know much about them though!
       
    16. I like my dolls eyes to be just slightly off centre, so they can keep a gaze ahead but also look like they are slightly looking to left or right.

      I also show a bit of the white at the bottom of the eyehole, as I feel it adds a bit of realism, also makes them look like they are giving everyone evil stares xD
       
    17. For me it depends on the mold, the character, and how the eyes fit in the head or look in general. Some higher domed eyes don't do side glances as well so they have to be more or less centered, and some dolls with smaller eye holes dont allow much variation in positioning either.

      I tend to like upward side glances or slightly off center looks because it gives them a more lifelike expression, where the dead center stare gives them that "dead doll look" that really creeps me out.

      all i know is i'm a pain with eye positioning. I'll notice if one eye is just a touch off, and it bothers me. a lot. So i'm always in my dolls heads poking at their eyes to get them just right XD
       
    18. I have two dolls that gaze to their left. I hate how they can't look me in the eye when I play with them--it is so distracting. Likewise they are a pain to pose since I have to display the left side of their face if I want to see their eyes at all. And they can't ever be looking directly at a prop, always at an angle. Especially if I shoot with other dolls, this limitation really dominates the composition since I have to work around it. Always center-set eyes for me.

      Looking up and down is ok, but I also prefer a "challenging gaze" as mentioned by a few others. So this is why I avoid these as well.

      Yeah, I suppose center has the "dead doll stare" problem but to me the cure is worse than the disease. I can understand how some would want a doll doing something different, but I think a direct gaze implies honesty and I like that. I tilt the whole head slightly and use body language if I want to add whimsy and innocence; the eyes' "tracking effect" does the rest.

      Centered eyes are "boring", but the most versatile compromise, which is why they are popular, judging from the poll. Kind of like how the "neutral expression" dominates faceups rather than full-on smiles or frowns.
       
    19. Usually, my doll's eyes are positioned so that it looks like they're looking a bit up/down.
       
    20. It depends on the pose I have them in. I have all of my dolls on display in small groups, and some dolls are posed in profile. So these dolls glance to the side at you, while the ones who face forward have their eyes centered. One of my dolls [Volks Williams] looks best in profile, so he is always glancing to the side.