Thoughts on removing artist faceups?

I don't see why you'd feel awkwrd - That says exactly what happened.

The artist didn't do the original faceup for you, with your requirements in mind. The person they did that for sold the doll on andif you, as the current owner, want to modify how the doll looks, well that's just part of the customisable nature of these dolls. That faceup as it was originally, has had it's moment and now it's been enhanced or modified for th enjoyment of the current owner.

Art is subjective, an artist should know that. What is right for one won't be right for another. By their nature thes dollls get restyled, wiped and repainted, modded. There should be no expectation by any faceup artist that their work will remain intact or unchanged for ever more when their chosesn field is known for it's bias towards customisation.

Teddy

 

If the face-up of the dorrie I bought does not match my characters, I do not hesitate to have them wiped off when sending their heads for face-up commissions. I had this situation on three of them: one brand new where I made a rookie mistake of ordering the head with face-up thinking that it is the same as the official pic but was different because the one on the website was just a one-off; and the other two are second hands that came with face-ups from previous owners.

 

If it's a company faceup, I don't really mind it, but I've definitely skipped buying heads with an artist's faceup that I've seen second hand
I always end up feeling bad, because what if someone really wants that artist's work? They're also usually priced higher, and since they usually don't suit the characters I have for the doll, it's not worth it to me to pay more for a head with a faceup I'm just going to remove than I would for a blank one.

I do like when artists offer to do that in listings! It's definitely made me consider some listings more, even if/though I ultimately decide a different sculpt suits a character better.

 

I always feel awkward when I feel like I have a long complicated answer to a prompt like this but once again I'm gonna chime in anyway

Main answer: nobody should feel bad about customizing their dolls, for most of us I think that's the whole point.
Buy what you want and then do what makes you happy with it. Sometimes I think the hobby has just become really weird form all of these personal choices feeling exposed and examined in the online social sphere.

Other personal notes: From my own artistic perspective... I've worked over a long time to master face-ups and I personally think I make great work. (I am not trying to drum up business because I am not in business) I am ultimately happiest with repainting my own dolls not for having "full control" or needing the bonding experience (because although I love repainting them I also find it really stressful), it's just that my work is how I want my dolls to look and nobody else's is the same. But I've started to feel really weird the last year or two, because everyone seems to keep wiping the work on anything I sell, when in years before there were some people who really enjoyed collecting my work or appreciating using it for their characters. Coupled with my own appreciation for other artist's work when it enters my collection (and it will be on second hand dolls that I will someday repaint when I do have the energy) I just feel a little alienated, like I am capable of liking the creativity of others for what it is more than anyone likes mine.

I type out that anecdote to drive home that even for hyper sensitive lonely people like myself, at least speaking for myself, I still think everyone should do what they want with their dolls! It's really nice if you see as the artist, that your old work finds new appreciation, but you quickly learn in this hobby that it's also just extremely disposable and that's the fact of life.

As for modifying other artist's work... I admit only with great shame that I have done it. I really really don't like to. I guess this is a matter of respect. And I don't feel comfortable with changing it much at all... because I feel that inevitably it creates a visual misrepresentation of their work and my own work, but for a working artist I feel like that could affect their business. I mean, I doubt it will when i do because I'm a reclusive wallflower nobody, but I wouldn't want to cause harm. I have a lovely faceup on a second hand doll that was painted by a pretty popular artist, but I find it totally flat for me in real life, and so I dusted pearl ex over the top as the bare minimum... I also would like it much more with the lips glossed which I haven't done yet. I just feel guilty. I would love to repaint them instead but I have kept it because I can love it for the character for a while and because I am so so so low on spoons.

 

Definitely just depends on the circumstances. If it’s a sculpt I’ve been wanting for a long time and have had difficulty getting ahold of and wanted a different face up, I think I would. But I feel like most sculpts for sale with artist face ups have the risk in mind already that the face up could be removed either way, so it shouldn’t be something to feel guilty over.

 

I have bought a sculpt and removed the artists faceup; it was a sculpt that is no longer being made and I had wanted it for a long time. It came with a unique faceup, body blushing and hand blushing but I only kept the hand blushing as a reminder of the old face up.

 

I'd rather buy a blank doll so I don't have to potentially feel guilty over wiping a faceup, especially if it's a doll that's easy to find! When it's a hard-to-find rare doll though? I say anything goes.

 

Usually, it doesn't bother me. There was one time when I sold a doll because she had an artist faceup I couldn't bring myself to wipe, even though she didn't fit my vision for the doll, but that was because she was a very popular doll and it would have significantly lowered her value. I wasn't feeling all that attached to her anyway because I was too scared of damaging her to play with her. Selling her was the best option for multiple reasons.

But most of the time, I'll wipe them. I think I'd consider myself somewhere in the middle as far as faceup skills--pretty far past beginner, and I have taken commissions from people I know, but I'm not on the same level as artists charging $150+ for their work. I might not be as skilled as the work I'm wiping, but it will make the doll feel like my own and I will enjoy them more. And likewise, if I sell a doll with my faceup and the new owner wipes it, I don't feel bad at all about it. This hobby is all about customizing, your doll should feel like they're yours!

 

I say don’t feel guilty or hesitant, if the faceup doesn’t fit the character then do one yourself if you want to! Sometimes it can totally expand your love for a doll when you make them look just how you imagine them to look like, commission or not, I say that a doll should look how you want it to.

 

I'll pass up a secondhand doll if they're charging for the face up. I'm not in a mood to haggle and I don't wanna buy something I'm just gonna wipe off. I can't bond unless I did the face up

 

For one doll, I did not consider it for long, especially after I got her in person. I'm glad I like it because the sculptor did the face up. She has never said if she's retired, but I think she hasn't made a doll in over 6 years.

For another doll, I want to wipe it because it's a factory face-up and not the best colors for her. But, I'm still not sure if I'll keep her.

 

Me too - I'm usually not interested in the facup, I'm buying for the sculpt. I get that they might to get back some of the money they put into the doll, but charging for the faceup must reduce their potential buyer base to just the ones ho like and would want to keep that faceup. Just because they chose to spend out on that artist and that faceup doesn't mean the net owner would.

Teddy

 

Unless it's a face-up I find dreadful, I'd keep the artist face-up. Sometimes the face-up is what attracted me and made me want to buy the doll/doll head.

A few years ago I did remove an artist face-up, because the doll and sculpt were more important to me. Also, this artist didn't mind face-ups being removed if a doll was sold on to a new owner.

 

I tend to keep whatever face-up the doll comes with, because I am lazy and don't want to repaint if I don't have to. Plus I'm not very good at doing them right now! I think I've had to wipe 2 artist face-ups, but that was because these were older, second-hand dolls and the face-ups had been damaged (chipping, etc). I hated to do it because they were very nicely done, but damage is damage.

There was a doll that was rare at the time (Bluefairy Tiny Fairy Lin) that I really liked the company default face-up, but I had a chance to pick one up that a Polish artist (Shaiel, IIRC) had done. She doesn't fit in at all with most of my other Bluefairy dolls, but when I saw the doll in person, the artist's face-up was so utterly charming that I just couldn't wipe it. I don't know if she's still around, but if shipping overseas wasn't so expensive, I would commission something from her, her style was so unique. Years later, I did find another Lin with the company default face-up that I liked.

 

I see this sort of question in a lot of niche hobbies - altering a thing that might have a specific kind of value due to whatever detail. Taking in a vintage dress, altering a lolita dress to fit a specific body, updating a house from a specific era that has details from when it was originally built, cutting up a vintage quilt to make something new, etc.

I think unless that item has a true historical value and needs to be preserved for future generations, no. Don't mess with it. But in a grand majority of cases those items need to be in the collections of a museum for a professional conservationist to look after.

Otherwise? If it's yours, do what you want. There's this idea that we have to hold onto the value of a thing in case we want to sell it later, or god forbid you upset the greater hobby community because you did a thing that made you happy with the item that you purchased. The community doesn't own it, you do. I'm not going to say I wouldn't be sad to see a face up from a particular artist wiped, but maybe you can't get that doll again because it's rare but you want to keep the sculpt. The reason doesn't really matter at the end of the day - you should be able to do what you want with your dolls.

 

When I send my doll to an artist, usually the same one, I describe how I want that face up be so unless I really don't like at all I won't remove it.

 

It depends. I purchased a doll specifically because it had an Angeltoast face-up: she's a Fairyland Minifee Chloe, which feels a bit eponymous for this doll + artist face-up combo. So I specifically wanted it.
For most other dolls, if it's a highly desired face-up artist, especially one who no longer offers commissions, I won't buy the doll. I try hard to avoid limited release dolls (getting harder these days), because I just can't bring myself to alter/remove something that could be highly desired by someone else.
Company face-ups, however, are wiped without a second thought.

 

Painting a doll's face is a way for me to connect with her, so I prefer shopping for blank faces. If I buy second hand, sometimes I have to take the faceup off, although it's better than the one I paint. I have an exact image of my future doll in my head and try to translate it into reality. Sometimes it doesn't happen right away. But I take the connection as a journey.

 

I’m right here with this same issue. Recently bought a secondhand head that I was searching for a while, it has a face up by the previous owner (the seller). They even said they don’t mind what I do with the face up. Face up is absolutely not what I want for that sculpt, but at the same time the it’s gorgeous, great piece of art. I love it although I don’t need it. I know I will wipe it at some point but meanwhile I want to enjoy it to the fullest, take as many photos as I can. Play with it. You know “squeeze the lemon before you throw it”. Would be nice to hear from you all what would you do or what had you done to enjoy a face up that ultimately will go.

 

I usually ordered the doll in the first place because I loved the artist face up. Plus I am no artist so I am not removing nothing. The only way my dollies will end up with a non artist creator faceup is if I mess up the original somehow or the doll came blank because the artist refused to do me a faceup.