Thoughts on removing artist faceups?

I have no qualms about removing someone else's faceup, no matter how good and professional it is. If doing the faceup yourself is a good way to bond with the doll, why hold back? Besides, you'll learn from doing make-up.
The only case in which I wouldn't buy a head with the idea of removing the faceup is if it had been done by a deceased artist. But, of course, I'd have to know that this artist is no longer alive.

 

I don't really hesitate on it if it does not fit my vision for the doll. If it helps you bond, and you're not enjoying the faceup, there really is no loss. It's better to lose a faceup that is highly skilled but not your idea for the doll than to keep it forever when you don't like it.

 

It took me a while to gather the courage to remove an artist faceup but I was glad I did it in the end. It's been someone else's choice on someone else's character and they're letting go of the doll/head so ¯⁠\⁠_⁠(⁠ツ⁠)⁠_⁠/⁠¯ Likewise, I would not mind someone removing faceups I've done on the dolls I've sold, sometimes I even offer to do a fresh paint job in the listing if the previous face is what's holding a buyer back.

 

If the current faceup doesn’t match my vision for the doll, I have no problem wiping it down, whether it’s a factory default or artist faceup. However, I have only wiped mine down to send them to other artists, because even though I like doing faceups myself my skill level is nowhere near where it needs to be to achieve the result I want.

to practice doing faceups I’ve bought a few cheap heads that I don’t particularly care about, and I send the dolls I really care about away to people far more skilled than myself.

 

I understand your hesitation. There’s no real answer to this as what it boils down to is that you have to think about whether or not going ahead will leave an element of guilt in the back of your mind that could sour your bond with the doll instead of strengthen it. Only you can know that.

Personally I almost always wipe any faceup whether it’s company or previous owner however I tend to avoid buying dolls with faceups by well known and respected artists for the very reason you mention. That work took someone hours to do and as an artist (in general terms) myself I kind of feel it’d be like walking into an art gallery or museum and taking some paint remover to a painting before drawing Hello Kitty on the canvas with a sharpie! That’s purely my way of thinking though and not dissing anyone who has no qualms about faceup removal.

I think perhaps one way of thinking about it could be “is the basic sculpt/doll readily available even if that means waiting for limited pre-orders if it’s by an independent artist?”
If the answer is yes then perhaps wait or look around to get a blank or owner faceupped one.
If the answer is no then buying and wiping may well be your only option so go ahead.

At the end of the day it’s your choice as once it’s in your possession it’s your doll!

 

Been there. Brought a limited edition head with a great artist face up, paid a lot. But the face up was so unlike something I'd like to see on that doll, so I wiped it out the very day I received the head. The problem is my own skills are not that impressive and for past six months I've been trying to pluck up the courage to paint the poor doll. What I'm trying to say is that while it's not a very good idea to have a doll with a face up you don't like, you should be sure that you'll just wipe the doll's face and set to work on a new one. Otherwise there's a risk to get stuck with a blank doll. Just an opinion

 

Another option to consider, if you love the current faceup and heads are readily available, to buy a second head to practice on.
I don't mind having duplicates of face molds so, I have done this to preserve company face-ups and have a second with an aritist's faceup.

 

I normally will keep the faceup for a little while until the doll shows what kind of character it wants to be, then I wipe it and redo the faceup the way it wants to be, if that makes sense. I normally don't start with a character in mind but let the doll speak to me. Sometimes it's hard because the faceup is beautiful, so I take some photos of it, then wipe it and redo it. After all, it is your doll now.

 

I have no problem with it - I'm getting the dolls for me so I want it to mathc my vision for it, if the existing faceup (no matter the "quality" or who it's by) works for my plans oft that scultp, then it says, ig not i wipe it and paint it myself or committion another artist to do it the way I want it.

Teddy

 

I’ve been on both sides, where I removed an artist faceup and regretted it, and where I removed an artist faceup and was very happy with the result. It’s definitely something that I give a lot of thought to since I can’t undo taking off the faceup. I love doing my dolls faceups but I know that I’m not the best at it and as a result, I’ll end up redoing the faceup a couple times. Sometimes I might just send the doll to another (or the same) artist instead. I have a mix of artist done and personally done face up’s in my collection, and I’m very happy with the variety.

 

I had professional faceups on almost all of my crew two years ago, but they were done by someone who treated me terribly. I won’t dredge up ancient history, but this person called me every name in the book, and evicted me unduly from a community I moderated, and I felt awful looking at their work on my dolls knowing how they’d treated me.

I wiped something to the effect of 20 professional faceups. I think it would’ve been around twenty. Just had a wiping spree. I did 3 heads every weekend. My faceups are not equivalent quality—I don’t have their experience with painting faceups, nor did I go to art school. But they’re more accurate to the characters and they’re good enough for me. I’m actually proud of how much all my dolls are mine now.

So my take? Who cares who did the faceup? Who cares how good it is? If you buy a doll and you want to change how they look, and you’re okay with how your amateur faceup is gonna look, I say do it, it’s freeing.

 

I tend to avoid buying heads with recently-done artist faceups for this reason. My skillset is nowhere close to where I feel confident in my ability to create my vision and I know from experience that a bad faceup inhibits my bonding with the doll. Luckily for me, if I'm going to buy secondhand, I tend to prefer very old dolls that usually have faded faceups to match their age. It's easy to wipe and ship them out when I know it's been several years since they were last painted.

I do have a couple of cheap, damaged practice heads to work on improving my skills. Until I reach a point where I'm confident in my abilities, I vastly prefer commissioning someone else.

All of that said, if you buy it, it's your doll. It's up to you if you want to wipe it and redo it, heavily mod it into unrecognizable oblivion, or draw on it in straight Sharpie. Just remember to use proper PPE for the sake of your lungs.

 

It depends. If the face-up was done by an artist that is otherwise not commission-able as part of a special release then I would not wipe it. I simply wouldn't buy the head/doll if it did not suit me.

If it was simply a face-up the previous owner had done or commissioned then I wouldn't feel bad at all. The work was done for their enjoyment, now it will be for mine.

 

I always paint my own faceups, so I have wiped some existing faceups from secondhand dolls. For me it depends on a few variables:

1. How rare is the sculpt? If the doll is still available new, or it's common on the secondhand market, I will not buy a secondhand head with an exceptional artist faceup. Another collector may be thrilled with that faceup and relieved that they don't have to wait for it or risk sending the head away to be painted. If I couldn't paint my own dolls, I know I'd be really excited to buy a head that already had a gorgeous faceup, so I try not to take that opportunity away from other collectors. And when the head isn't particularly hard to come by, I know I will have another opportunity to buy a blank one or one with a more basic/amateur faceup. However if the doll is rare and I've been searching for a while, I would buy it regardless of the faceup and wipe it.

2. Is the faceup artist's work rare or hard to obtain? If I know the artist is no longer in the hobby or difficult to get a commission slot from, I would be extremely hesitant to wipe their work. If the artist is still active in the hobby and selling dolls they painted, or open/accessible for commission, I'd feel more OK about wiping it since other collectors can still get the artist's work that way.

3. Is the cost of the faceup clearly added to the doll's price? If I know the typical value of the head, and the seller has obviously tacked on the price of a valuable faceup, I probably wouldn't buy it unless the head was really hard to find. I mean... why pay extra for something I'm literally going to erase from existence?!

4. Does the seller specifically ask the new owner not to wipe it? This isn't common, but I have seen listings along the lines of, "This faceup was painted by xyz famous artist and is very special, so I prefer a buyer who will not remove it." Everyone is welcome to their own opinions about faceups, but I think it would be totally rude to buy this doll and then wipe it.

In general I of course agree that one should do whatever they want with their dolls, and that includes buying. So while I don't think it's "wrong" to buy a doll and wipe its faceup, I do think it's nice to give someone else the opportunity to enjoy it!

 

I'm curious what people's thoughts are about just modifying a popular artist's face up. As an example, one of my dolls has a gorgeous face up, but I would like to make the eyebrows thicker. Or like maybe I wanted to add a birthmark or something?

Then later, if someone asked who did the face up, it might be awkward or offend the artist, if you gave them credit (what if they hate what you did to their face up) or if you did not give them credit.

I guess I could say "face up by xyz, modified by me" but it would still feel awkward.



@Ara (I hope I am replying to you correctly here. I was told to edit, and do not make multiple posts.) What you said really made a lot of sense to me and I think the best thing is for me to not modify the brows, and if I did, I would no longer credit the artist at all, because like you said, it could lead to more problems. Also that was funny what you said, turn them into "two censor bars!"

 

I have no qualms about removing a faceup if it isn’t what I want. I’ve removed artist faceups and old default faceups that I’m sure other people would hesitate to take off. I just think if it’s my doll I should be able to have it look the way I envision.

 

I was in that position a couple times as the artist, and tbh I hated nothing more than the person crediting me without mentioning they had modified it. As soon as you start drawing on top of my work, it pretty much ceases to be my work.
A finished face-up is part of my portfolio/like advertisement for my skill level at the point I painted it. If you modify it, it is not a truthful representation anymore, and might even potentially turn people off from commissioning me.

I'd argue though there is some layers to that. Adding a small birthmark or some shimmer, no big deal. But overpainting eyebrows and lashes is, because it is not only the hardest thing to do and how you gauge how good an artist is (and someone you want to commission), it's also often something that is like an artist's trademark. If someone turns my eyebrows with a million fine hairs into two black censor bars, I really don't wanna be held responsible for that

So either, do a full credit (originally painted by X, modified by me in this and that way) or just don't credit anymore (unless specifically asked). Just don't credit someone for something they didn't actually do.

 

Interesting question! I can't say it bothers me to do, but I also won't spend a lot extra on dolls because of the faceups so I haven't bought many with professional faceups in the end. If it's not what I want though, it goes.

I know I'm probably not that talented by some people's standards, but the fun of dolls for me is doing the faceups and the sewing... so it doesn't make sense to Not do it, y'know?