To OC or not to OC- the woe of an artist

This has been moved into General Discussion as there really isn't a "debate" here. Many collectors use the dolls to shell original characters and although DoA for the most part discourages discussing character, there is enough emphasis on the doll itself in this thread.

Once an original character is shelled in another artist's work - the doll, then it becomes less original in my mind. I have found that when I have tried to use a doll to shell an OC then the OC becomes....less mine and more something else. A conglomeration, if you will.

 

But don't misunderstand my hesitation as negative. HUGE gains can be made in moving an OC forward by shelling him. I've used 2D artists to the same end and it's been very successful in getting a better handle on how my OC is imagined by others.

I am currently writing a novel based upon an inspired OC and kittytoes helped bring him to resin life. *points to icon* Shelling this boy went a long way towards helping me concretize the character and there is an immense amount of satisfaction to be found in having this character sitting next to my computer when I'm working....

 

1. How did you finally decide to make your BJD into your OC if you have done so?
Not finally, but initially. The sole reason I got into BJDs, was to shell the OCs from the texts I write. I used to make my own dolls, but customizing a BJD is much less hassle, and the results are as good or better, for my purposes.

2. Did you have any fears during the process?
The only fear was that the doll, being a work of another artist (sculptor) may dictate his/her own character. But so far, my artistic vision always overpowers the company's.

3.What purpose do your dollified characters serve?
I see them as 3D illustrations, and photograph them for inspiration. Looking at them and contemplating them helps me write. There were couple of instances when I liked a doll, bought it, and modified the story to accommodate the new minor character - but this is more of an exception, my story is pretty much set.

4. How do you discern between/deal with your characters' two different forms?
My characters are just that, literary characters. The dolls are just that, resin dolls who look like them. I don't see my Soom Sabik Elf, named Yaret as the actual Yaret. Actual Yaret exists in the story, the doll exists in the physical world.

5. And finally, have you ever actually completed a cast of characters to your liking? And what kind of gratification have you gotten from it?
My cast is mostly complete, I'd say 80%. I get an enormous sense of gratification from this fact. On one hand, it's a rather well put together, consistently styled doll collection. On the other - it's simply fun to play with!

 

KianiOhaku - before I joined the doll community, I too thought that resinating OCs is a unique idea. But in my experience, MOST doll owners do exactly that, so, yeah, we are all in the same boat here.

 

1. How did you finally decide to make your BJD into your OC if you have done so?
I've always felt a need to have physical representations of my characters. This is really odd, but I can't "see" faces in my head. At all. When I read, I can see settings, props, bodies...but the faces are always a blur. Even thinking about friends and loved ones, I usually cannot see their faces in my mind. I see a written name, hear a voice, see a body, but the faces are blocked out. I NEED physical representations of characters to even know what they look like. More often than not, while a character might be fully developed, I don't actually "see" him until I find a doll and just "feel" that it's the character.

2. Did you have any fears during the process? (i.e everybody not being to scale, facial features not being correct, the possibility of having to mod, etc etc)
Scale is an issue to me, but as long as it's somewhat close, I can accept it. I'd rather somebody be a few cm too tall or short than not have them at all. Though if a short character was 70cm and a tall character was 45cm, that would bother me.
I think as long as a sculpt feels right to me, it can be modded or painted to fit. I don't see exact details, but I know some things they require, like maybe a big nose or Asian features or something.

3.What purpose do your dollified characters serve?
It's the only way I can ever "see" my character. I also like to dress them, play with them, take pictures. A doll without a character would be pointless to me, personally. My dolls and RP go hand in hand. All of my artsy stuff goes together, I don't separate it, I don't see a reason to.

4. How do you discern between/ deal with your characters' two different forms?
My other form is written roleplay, so this is not an issue. Sometimes, I'll think "If you were real, you'd look like THIS person" so I sort of mix the real person and doll together for the character, but as I said before in my head, it makes little difference if they look like the doll or a human.

5. And finally, have you ever actually completed a cast of characters to your liking? And what kind of gratification have you gotten from it?
I'm pretty close atm. I have 4 more adults to bring home, then they can start having kids, but the kids aren't applicable in rp yet. It feels really good to me to have a group near done!

 

1. How did you finally decide to make your BJD into your OC if you have done so?

It wasn't a 'finally' decision really. I was looking for my first BJD, and didn't really know what I wanted to start with. I stumbled upon the DZ site and suddenly saw one of my OC's on the page. It was too perfect, from the smirky 'I'm awesome and you know it' face to the way the face-up was painted. I ordered him a few months later when the money came it and now that's the goal of my group. I'm resinating my OC's, or at least the ones I'm most attached too.

2. Did you have any fears during the process? (i.e everybody not being to scale, facial features not being correct, the possibility of having to mod, etc etc)

I don't call those 'fears' exactly... But concerns, yes. But I figure if I can't do it there are modders on the forum who can and who I can send the doll too if I can't or won't try something. I've already dyed/painted a doll purple to create the character I wanted, I'm not too scared of trying anything.

3.What purpose do your dollified characters serve? (i.e inspiration, just simply having them there as drawing/ description reference , or maybe even 3D representations of events in their world/relationships)

They're nice 3-D representations of exactly how they look in the world in which myself and my sister/bestfriend created them. I'll be dolling her characters too (with her permission, as she's afraid of dolls) and it will be nice to have them, reacting their stories with visuals and eventually sharing them with other people.

4. How do you discern between/ deal with your characters' two different forms? ( for instance, you draw them but then you also want to take pictures/ make photostories with your doll versions of them. Does it ever become confusing to keep track of the different forms or have you found a way to blend them seamlessly with both medias?)

Mine are actually only conceptualized in words, so it's not too hard to keep it fluid. I plan on taking the stories of the characters and translating them into photos once I have enough of the cast together to do so. Until then it's mostly just photo shoots for fun, to enjoy playing with these beautiful art pieces that look so much like my characters.

5. And finally, have you ever actually completed a cast of characters to your liking? And what kind of gratification have you gotten from it?

I'm not done yet no, but I have four of my own characters, and the cast, as it exists now, pleases me. I can reach out and touch what has been, for more than a decade, just an image in my head and words on a screen and that makes me happy.

 

I have original characters from a work of fiction that I've been working on for years. I don't think I could ever put them into doll form. I would like too, but to me, dolls seem like their own people, and my characters seem like their own people inhabiting a completely different world than the one in my house. So I don't know. It seems like a great idea to me, but one I can't seem to do.

 

I started by wanting to buy a doll and in the process of buying the particular doll that I wanted, I made the offhand remark that "Oh, he reminds me of Kurenai." And that stuck and so when he arrived he was named Kurenai, after a very dearly loved RP character. He didn't really look like Kurenai at first and it didn't bother me, but as I grew more comfortable with the hobby, I decided he needed to be changed up and actually be Kurenai. It's taken 6 years, multiple repaints, a lot of eyes, and couple of complete reshellings, but the current doll I have of Kurenai is perfect.

I like the challenge of putting together a doll that fits my mental image of my characters. I didn't have any fears about it affecting them as I view my dolls very much as 3D fanart completely independent of their existence in my mind and as they are written. It's the literary characters that are the real versions. The dolls are just really cool to have around and photograph.

 

This is brilliant! Couldn't formulate it any better: dolls are a form of FANART, our own fanart to our own written work. Thanks, Kim.

 

1. How did you finally decide to make your BJD into your OC if you have done so?
I actually started this hobby for an opportunity to shell OC characters and pre-existing characters (my favorite videogame/comic characters) both. It took a while to find the perfect sculpts/sizes/etc but well worth it. I am a writer, and have written several published stories. When it comes to visualizing my characters I find that I'm inclined to think of them as like a high-end animated character in my imagination. However, I'm a HORRIBLE artist :P I can't draw my way out of a box. I can't even draw a box! So being able to create my characters as DOLLS was perfect for me! I also came from a long history of cosplaying, so the idea of creating scale costumes/props really appealed to me ^^

2. Did you have any fears during the process? (i.e everybody not being to scale, facial features not being correct, the possibility of having to mod, etc etc)
I thought that by making my OC's into dolls it would make them less literarily legitimate. I have plenty of my own prejudices against things like fanart, fanfiction, and anime, and I didn't want my stories to start falling into this category.

3.What purpose do your dollified characters serve? (i.e inspiration, just simply having them there as drawing/ description reference , or maybe even 3D representations of events in their world/relationships)
To have my characters in solid resin form helped in many ways. I set them up on my desk when I sit down to write. This keeps me writing because the character is literally staring at me, willing me to continue O.O Additionally, if I shell my characters properly, it helps me constrain their characters, keep them focused and reminds me about limitations/benefits of their costumes. For example, I was writing about a character in a desert landscape. Having the doll there reminded me that she has a cape that she used to shield herself from the sun. It also reminded me that she has really pale eyes, so unlike her dark-eyed comrades, the sun hurt her eyes more than others. Small details like that keep my imagination in check, but also gives serves as a reference point that I can just glance at for immediate inspiration.


4. How do you discern between/ deal with your characters' two different forms? ( for instance, you draw them but then you also want to take pictures/ make photostories with your doll versions of them. Does it ever become confusing to keep track of the different forms or have you found a way to blend them seamlessly with both medias?)
I find that my written characters take on characteristics of my dolls that I prefer. I wrote a story about three elves, and I used Minifees to shell them, so I started imagining these elves as being much shorter than the humans in this world (unlike the common Tolkien trope of elves being very tall and lean.) This combination makes me imagine them as flesh-and-blood versions of their doll forms, so a nice combination of the two

5. And finally, have you ever actually completed a cast of characters to your liking? And what kind of gratification have you gotten from it?
Yes! I have successfully shelled three different sets of characters from three different stories. It took me two tries for one of them X_X but once I found the perfect shell it's been very satisfying. Recently I have found dolls that is so beautiful and inspiring (like Twigling's Ingenue, or Soom Rosettes) that I start writing a story just for the doll. It's a beautiful relationship that my creative writing has with my doll hobby. And honestly, it's helped justify the cost of the hobby as well -_-;; since it keeps up my enthusiasm and creativity to continue writing.

 

1. How did you finally decide to make your BJD into your OC if you have done so?
Well, all of my dolls have actually been impulse buys so I didn't plan a character for them before I got them. The character came after I looked at them and held them in my hands.

2. Did you have any fears during the process? (i.e everybody not being to scale, facial features not being correct, the possibility of having to mod, etc etc)
I do get worried that my dolls that are part of the same story won't look good next to each other. So I keep that in mind when choosing a doll but I sort of justify it all by saying people can look very different also. But I wouldn't put an iplehouse and lets say a volks with each other. The aesthetics are just waaay too different.

3.What purpose do your dollified characters serve? (i.e inspiration, just simply having them there as drawing/ description reference , or maybe even 3D representations of events in their world/relationships)
The purpose is to express the world in my mind. And I honestly believe, this applies to everyone whether they are aware of it or not. To me, the characters my dolls each serve represent a small portion of my personality and mind. Caroline is my pushy side, Midong is my quiet side, and Mila is my sweet side all amplified. I don't think it's possible for anyone to have a doll they honestly cannot stand the personality of. But the stories my dolls have are just little fantasy worlds I hold in my heart.

4. How do you discern between/ deal with your characters' two different forms? (for instance, you draw them but then you also want to take pictures/ make photostories with your doll versions of them. Does it ever become confusing to keep track of the different forms or have you found a way to blend them seamlessly with both medias?)
Honestly, it's really hard to photograph the story my dolls have. I haven't written it down, but I do have it all down in my head. The fact that i'm missing half of my cast makes it very difficult. It is very confusing and a bit irritating that I can't portray them accurately yet.

5. And finally, have you ever actually completed a cast of characters to your liking? And what kind of gratification have you gotten from it?
I haven't actually completed my cast yet but once I do, I'm planning on making photostories like crazy. That'll be my gratification I suppose. ^^

 

This.

I've never been completely comfortable making doll versions of the characters I write about. I've tried a few times and, for a while, attempted to write about a pair of my doll characters, but it just doesn't seem to work well for me.

 

1. How did you finally decide to make your BJD into your OC if you have done so?

I've been writing a series of connected short stories (which will eventually be combined into one book) for quite a long time, so it just seemed natural to finally "shell" my OC literary characters into doll form. When I first got into BJD's, I simply purchased a couple of "finished" dolls in traditional collector mode, and that soon bored me. I soon switched to buying blank dolls I could customize to represent my OC's, and thus really found the perfect way for me to enjoy the hobby.

2. Did you have any fears during the process? (i.e everybody not being to scale, facial features not being correct, the possibility of having to mod, etc etc)

No, no fears. I am picky about what sculpts I'll buy, though, and I like to stick to the same size / scale and stylistic look, since they all inhabit the same "universe", so to speak. I do re-home dolls from time to time (usually because I find a doll that better works for my OC, or because I've consolidated or re-written characters, and thus find that the doll no longer works for me).

3. What purpose do your dollified characters serve? (i.e inspiration, just simply having them there as drawing/ description reference , or maybe even 3D representations of events in their world/relationships).

They serve as muses and inspiration for my writing, and art. It's fun to see my OC's in 3-D doll form. And since I am an artist, I enjoy painting and customizing them myself, so as to make them better match my visions of my OC's (and thus they become a further reflection of my art).

4. How do you discern between/ deal with your characters' two different forms? ( for instance, you draw them but then you also want to take pictures/ make photostories with your doll versions of them. Does it ever become confusing to keep track of the different forms or have you found a way to blend them seamlessly with both medias?)

I don't really do photo stories with my dolls, although I do take photos of my dolls with specific themes in mind that reflect their characters, or a mood or feeling. No, it's never confusing to keep track of their different forms, they blend rather well together. Sometimes seeing the way the dolls "interact" with each other has helped me in designing my characters and writing my stories.

5. And finally, have you ever actually completed a cast of characters to your liking? And what kind of gratification have you gotten from it?

I've been tinkering for a few years trying to get just the right mix for my doll crew / OC's. It's getting much closer to what I originally envisioned for the group. It's fun and quite enjoyable to put together. And I don't feel any regrets when I sell a doll who no longer works out for me. I simply consolidate, or find a more appropriate "shell" for that character.

 

1. How did you finally decide to make your BJD into your OC if you have done so?
- I decided on it from moment one when I discovered BJDs. I couldnt imagine buying a doll just to play with it. It had to have a meaning. Making them a dolliefied OC gave them a importance rather than just object of adoration on my shelf.

2. Did you have any fears during the process? (i.e everybody not being to scale, facial features not being correct, the possibility of having to mod, etc etc)
- Mostly the fear of the doll not fitting the character of the doll, due to wrong facial features, scale, and that they would look wrong with the image I had in mind concerning wig, eyes, face-up, clothing... but so far, only one character havent fit on first try, and I keep trying till I find the perfect doll.

3.What purpose do your dollified characters serve? (i.e inspiration, just simply having them there as drawing/ description reference , or maybe even 3D representations of events in their world/relationships)
- They are a 3D format of my characters, so I dont have to draw and write everytime I want to see them live. Now I can play with the dolls too, use them as reference when I draw, or find inspiration as they interact with eachother when I play with them.

4. How do you discern between/ deal with your characters' two different forms? ( for instance, you draw them but then you also want to take pictures/ make photostories with your doll versions of them. Does it ever become confusing to keep track of the different forms or have you found a way to blend them seamlessly with both medias?)
-I draw a lot less than I used to, since I can now play with their doll forms. Now I wanna photograph instead. And when I wanna draw, I can take a picture of them and draw over to use as reference for poses. It makes it easier when I can blend them like this. The dolls are pretty accurate, and wont bend in unnatural poses like they tend to on paper. XD

5. And finally, have you ever actually completed a cast of characters to your liking? And what kind of gratification have you gotten from it?
- The main 5 have been completed, and I feel very happy. Im glad they are finally here with me, and I can enjoy them in a new way.

 

I'll share my experience of failing to successfully shell OCs. I'm a RPer/artist/storyteller, so naturally I wanted to make doll-forms of my OCs. My first doll was meant to be a shell of a very established OC who is practically my alter ego, that I created many years ago and have been drawing and telling stories about for a long time. I found and bought a sculpt that seemed to fit with his appearance, and tried to get him into the right appearance.

It took almost a year of trying, frustration and finally burnout, to realize that it wasn't going to work for several reasons:
Firstly, no doll shell will never match my OC exactly as I envision him/her to look, short of actually sculpting my own doll. It can get close, but it will never be perfect, therefore I will always be disappointed when I look at the doll.

Secondly -- and this is probably just me! -- I get "continuity disconnect". My OCs exist in their own universe in my imagination, seemingly independent of me (even though I created them). But the dolls exist in my world, so they must have some sort of relationship to me. Somehow, I can't reconcile the independent universe in my head with my own existence, so I don't see why my OC has any business having an existence in my world. (Yeah, I'm probably the only person here that has this problem. )

Third and most importantly, trying to fit my vibrant, vital, almost independent OC into a limited, fixed physical form diminishes his character significantly. The doll shell is like a downgrade -- I mean, he's now a doll and completely dependent on me! My OCs will not stoop to such a degradation, and indeed that character refused to inhabit that sculpt I bought.

I must say, this realization was very liberating, and took away a lot of my frustration with the hobby and my personal goals in it. And I'm sure my OCs are happily living in my imagination, and glad that I'm not forcing them into my world!

At the same time as I was struggling with my OC, I was also buying sculpts that just caught my fancy, and then creating characters around them. Those dolls are way more successful and keep their characters better, and this is the way I'm running my BJD hobby alongside my imagination. I still created original characters and a world for these dolls, but the OCs were more suited to their doll-forms, and had a continuity that made sense to me (and involved me in a roundabout way). So they are quite different from my imaginary OCs -- but that suits them, suits me, and everyone has a happy existence.


I think all my rambling answered Question #3 and #4... So no, I can't shell my imaginary/storytelling OCs, but I certainly have dolls that have their own personalities, backgrounds and happy lives in my house! ^_^

 

1. How did you finally decide to make your BJD into your OC if you have done so?
I got into the hobby specifically TO shell my OCs (and my hubby's OCs when they share a story line with mine) into a physical form. I wanted to create physical forms of them that I could handle, sew for, pose, photograph. I find that having a physical form for them helps me to write them when I'm stuck, and it has also helped several of them evolve from not to well thought out 'bare bones' characters to fully fleshed out characters that now fit so much better than my original forms of them did. Having physical shells to them also helps me to draw them better, and keep the drawings more consistent, even with my ever changing style.

2. Did you have any fears during the process? (i.e everybody not being to scale, facial features not being correct, the possibility of having to mod, etc etc)
Nope. None. I find the closest sculpts I can to the characters, in the same scale, then mod as needed to make them fit. For ONE cast I wound up 'upgrading' to a different scale from the original doll bought for one character to a larger size because I simply could NOT find a fitting male body for one character in the story in a smaller scale. The original doll I bought for the character has since morphed into the elfen version of herself that I play on WoW with the hubby.

3.What purpose do your dollified characters serve? (i.e inspiration, just simply having them there as drawing/ description reference , or maybe even 3D representations of events in their world/relationships)
Everything. they help me better write the characters. They help me keep more consistent when drawing them. They help me flesh out those who aren't fully formed yet, making them grown and evolve into what I wanted them to be, but struggled with before. They help me to design for them so they're not always in the same style of clothing whenever I draw them. And when I start completing casts, they'll be used to do photo stories that will double as story boards and references for written works, as well as (in the case of one cast) a planned web comic.

4. How do you discern between/ deal with your characters' two different forms? ( for instance, you draw them but then you also want to take pictures/ make photostories with your doll versions of them. Does it ever become confusing to keep track of the different forms or have you found a way to blend them seamlessly with both medias?)
Not an issue. They're all them. They're all the characters, the same characters. There's no difference between the written, drawn, and doll forms. The ONLY time there's a difference is when a doll has a 'pen pal' because in those letter photo stories, the dolls know they're dolls of their characters, because I think the letters are more fun that way...what with dolls complaining that they don't have the right hair or eyes or face-up yet...or that their mods aren't finished, so they're not themselves yet.

5. And finally, have you ever actually completed a cast of characters to your liking? And what kind of gratification have you gotten from it?
Nope. Still working on it. I jump from project to project a lot, so individual dolls move from being worked on, to waiting for their turn to come around again a LOT. But every time any of them come a step closer to being complete, I love it. I get the same thrill I do when finishing a drawn piece, or a new chapter of their story. That I'm one step closer to sharing their whole story with whoever is interested in them.