The First Face-up Commission You Ordered?

I'm not quite nervous when I commission people... if nothing because I'm a faceup artist myself, as is my best friend with whom I work together. Most faceup artists I know of, even practically unknown ones, are usually pretty good with communicating and offer stellar services. Sometimes I need a break from our usual style and like to send the occasional doll out to get painted by someone else ~

 

I was nervous the first time and every time I had to send out one of my dolls. The first time was a great experience but after having some problems with one commission a few years later, I decided to learn how to do face ups myself and I haven't sent anyone out again.

 

I started out doing my own faceups, but for my first "expensive" doll, I wanted her to be perfectly flawless and didn't feel I could do her justice. I sent her off to a popular artist at the time and had her home again in about two weeks. I was so nervous! I was scared to death that my doll would disappear in the mail or get damaged. I asked for the artist's real name, address, email, phone number, emergency contacts....and she gave me everything I asked for. She sent progress pix after every layer. She even sent free little gifts with the head when she returned home. I was very pleased.

After that, I mostly did my own faceups again. I let a friend do one for me, but I wasn't worried about that.

Now, for the first time in about 5 years, two of my dolls are getting commissioned faceups again. I've been nervous again, even though the artist has amazing reviews over many years, and no drama. I knew my boys would look great, but I just missed having them here. They should be headed back home today, and their completed pix look great. I got replies within hours of messaging the artist, and when I needed something changed on one of the faceups, it was done immediately.

Regardless of how professional your artist is, it's still easy to be nervous and anxious. Just make sure to read feedback, research for any problem transactions, look up plenty of examples, and even ask a few people who have commissioned them if they were happy. Make sure you have a real name and contact info, just to be safe. Another tip my most recent commissioned artist gave me was that if you are concerned about the head being stolen and sold, keep the headcap at home. A head is almost worthless without the headcap, and there would be little temptation to steal the head without it. The artist doesn't need it to do a faceup, unless they're also painting or modding it.

I've had great results from faceup artists, but I still prefer to do my own. If I get another head that I feel I can't do justice or need another artist's perspective on, I wouldn't hesitate to send one out again.

 

I've had one doll done by someone other than myself, and I was more worried about mishaps due to the postal service than anything else. @_@ The above tip about the headcap is really useful though, good idea!

 

I've only once commissioned someone for a faceup, and not only was it someone I knew personally, I actually lived with her for a year and a half, and got into the hobby during the time I lived with her. So, naturally, I trusted her completely with the head, and everything passed directly between us so the postal system didn't get involved at all. (I normally do my own faceups, but had become frustrated on that one, so since I could afford it and she needed a little extra money, it was a perfect situation!)

More recently, I adopted an older doll from the marketplace, who had some existing mods that, while lovely, were something I knew I would need to have reversed, and also knew I didn't have the skill to reverse on my own. I sought out a modder in the marketplace here, contacted a couple of them, and selected one to do work on the head. My main source of anxiety during that time was the postal system, moreso than the modder (who had great feedback and a long track record); fortunately, I didn't miss the head much while she had it, as I discovered the body was in rough shape and was simultaneously restoring that while she worked on the head, so I barely noticed its absence! I also found the whole experience quite good, and was pleased with her work, so when I adopted another boy with some mods to be reversed, I set things up with the exact same modder without a second thought!

I think a good experience can definitely help ease any anxiety the next time, particularly if you work with the same person more than once. Which is not to say that something couldn't go wrong, even with the best people in this hobby (we're all only human, after all), but it does help to have things go well the first time.

 

I was definitely nervous since I had never sent my doll away. I was scared of the head being damaged more than anything. I wasn't so nervous about if I would like the face-up or not because I was familiar with the artists work and could already visualize what it would look like. Sure enough, the end result was almost exactly as a pictured and I was very very pleased! There was excellent communication. I did commission someone else last year, very pleased with the face-up as well! I will definitely commission those artists or others again .

 

I was definitely nervous. I found an artist that lives in the same country as I do so there was less chance of it getting lost in the mail. I also insured the head both ways just in case. Both times I've done faceup commissions, everything has gone so well, with lots of communication and photos. Though I'll for sure keep the same artist in the future because I know she is trustworthy! (and I really love her work!)

 

When looking for someone to do a faceup for my dolly, it was really important for me that they be in the same country (USA), just because I didn't want to deal with international mail services and such. So I guess my major concern was with the mail system and possibly losing my doll. That said, I've found someone to do the faceup and am not nervous at all. I thought about doing the faceup myself but there were a couple things I had to think about if I went that route. For one, I've never done a faceup before and seeing as how this is my first dolly, I want her to actually look pretty! Number two, I would have to buy a lot of the materials and equipment since I don't have that kind of stuff laying around (I have since bought a respirator for another project). And lastly and most important is that I have two little ones in the house and I don't want to expose them to the chemicals - I'd have to work out in the garage to get decent ventilation. That and finding time to actually work on such a project is mostly nonexistent - unless I want to work on it in the middle of the night while both kids are asleep (baby boy still wakes up to be fed anyway) and since I'd be out in the garage, the husband would have to listen for the kids and who knows how that will go. BUT someday, someday I would love to try my hand at doing my own faceup.

 

I'm nervous each time I send my heads overseas. Lots of countries do not scan tracking and I am always afraid they will be lost or go missing. I pay extra for quicker shipping as I feel there is less time that way for things to go wrong....

 

I was very nervous the first time I got a blank bjd that needed a faceup. I researched local artists for ages until I found one not too far away (same country) as I refuse to send them overseas no matter how good the artist. There's just too much that could go wrong. I was so happy when I realized the one who's style I preferred was from the UK.
Now I feel more comfortable and I know I will send more heads away for faceups without freaking out. You just have to find the one artist perfect for you

 

I feel you. I've been practicing on doing faceups but there's certain styles that we all do. So when I find someone who does a certain style that I'm looking for, I would commission them. I would ask if they accepted commissions and if they did, I would definitely ask them to do my head's faceup. It's nerve wracking tho because whenever I send my doll's head away I feel like something's gonna happen. But luckily nothing happened so far and all the artists I have commissioned are very nice and they keep sending me progress photos. i think they are very nice to do that even when I dont ask them to. I find it truly lovely when my head gets back to me and they're perfect. So yeah, it makes you nervous but at the end of the day if you really love their service it's all worth it.

 

Hi taintedrose! This question is a great one for me to answer because I love having a diverse collection with lots of different artists represented and rarely use the same one twice. That's a lot of commissioning!

I really don't get nervous about sending heads out unless it's to another country and the artist's native tongue is not English (which I've still done multiple times). Even with my first doll, I wasn't really bothered for some reason. I trust the artists here on DoA and choose ones who have good reputations. Read feedback!

I've never ended up with a face-up I didn't like. Sometimes it wasn't exactly what I had in mind, but artists interpret things differently and they can't read my mind. With some I have sent reference photos or collages. Honestly though, I have found the more free reign I give to an artist, the happier I typically am with the result. For me, it's a matter of making absolutely sure the artist's style goes hand-in-hand with what general kind of look I want for that particular doll.

Levels of communication have varied. Some have been absolutely amazing, keeping in constant contact, asking me questions for clarification, showing me progress pics, etc. And I've actually had a few who never sent me approval photos, never told me they were complete, and the dolls showed up completely unexpectedly far after I anticipated having them home. I'm not going to call out names here, but I repeat: please read all artist feedback carefully! If many customers have mentioned long wait times and poor communication, it's time to ask yourself if you love the artist's work enough to deal with a similar situation, because it will happen to you.

Even though I've had a few commissioning mishaps, it has never put me off from trying again. And honestly, all the great experiences outweigh the less-than-awesome ones (and even then, I still got an amazing face-up out of it, even if other aspects of the transaction were lacking).

Overall, I saw it's completely natural to be nervous! Just 1) do your research about the artist you're looking into and 2) be sure that their overall style is something you will be happy with, even if they're not able to follow your specifications 100%.

 

I'm glad I found this thread as I am sending some of my girls off to get face ups done and I am quite nervous about it. The artist has impeccable feedback and I know I shouldn't be so worried, but I am. I keep procrastinating a bit in going to the post office (there has been so many other things going on as well which hasn't helped.) Its been paid for a while now, but I am still just so nervous! This thread is definitely helping though.

 

I have a good friend who is AMAZING at face ups, so usually she's my go to. However, my boy Antal needed to have color matching done and got his face up done by Shadow. I was pretty nervous, but her views were good and the pictures of her work great, so I trusted her. I think just doing your homework will help you feel better. It is intimidating to send away resin, but... I think if the person is reputable, it's worth it. I /loved/ the work Shadow did on him and she was very clear and good at communication. The resin match is spot on now, and he's got the beautiful face that I wanted. I would definitely consider using her again.

 

I never could face sending heads out to be face-upped - until I had back-ups :p. I sent my dreaming LLT Roderich to be face-upped when I had received my open-eyed version. If disaster struck and he got lost in the mail, at least my boy wouldn't be headless. I did the same thing with my DZ Scarecrow Hal - I got a spare head and sent that out. I know, it's decadent, but I love my boys so much, I need to know that I have a spare head in case something happens...

I normally do my face-ups myself, but my Gawains... I wanted to give them something special. They both went to the same artist. She is really good and it was a flawless experience. It's just the mail that makes me nervous, not the artist!

 

I was never really nervous to send my dolls off for faceups since I did a lot of research beforehand. I knew I wanted to use someone in the same country to reduce the likelihood of a shipping mishap. The hardest part was deciding what artist might better be suited for the style I wanted. The first head I sent off to be painted turned out really well. I loved it when I got it back, but after a year or so I fell out of love with it and decided that I wanted him to look more intense. I purchased a secondhand doll that had an AngelToast faceup and it was amazing. I sent my extra faceplate off to her for the doll I had gotten done previously, and it was perfection when I received it back. Since then, AT it my go-to faceup artist. I never hesitate sending anything to her, and she nails it every time.

 

I have almost zero talent at faceups (gave it a shot but...no) so I needed to commission someone. Found a person I loved on the site and got ready to send it to her only to discover she lived about three blocks from my parents! I got to drive the head over in person and see where she was going to keep him and see her work area. She was really sweet and even showed me all the different eyelashes she had and let me choose right there. When I got my boy back he was perfect. He had been one based on one of my husband's characters and he is really picky about the dolls.

Next time I had a doll head to do I sent it back to her because I was so impressed with her work but this time the eyebrows ended up off center. She not only fixed them she did a fantastic job. He did have to be shipped back as I couldn't get up to see her before she left for a vacation and she packed him really well. Next faceup I am getting will also be from her, I am a total fan. I understand the concerns though. I still want to make sure no heads get broken in the mail and that the artist isn't going to rob me or anything. Thats why since I like her work I don't think I am likely to order from anyone else. Once I found someone I trusted and someone who takes care of my dolls my confidence went up.