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

1. How did you finally decide to make your BJD into your OC if you have done so?
I don't really understand why you wouldn't want dolls of your original characters. That was the whole point of getting into the hobby for me! Even if it weren't, I'd be turning the dolls into OCs. It's hard for me to have an image of a person in front of me and not assign some general personality to him or her, if not a full-blown backstory and relationships. *.*

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. I was totally excited.

3.What purpose do your dollified characters serve?/4. How do you discern between/ deal with your characters' two different forms?
They're just...my characters. I think of them no differently than the characters on the written page.

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, to a degree. My wife and I have four main characters we use in our writing: I play Ash, she plays his boyfriend Chris; she plays Ash's sister Grace and I play Grace's boyfriend Landau. We made dolls of all 4 characters. We're working on slowly purchasing our secondary role play characters too, but we're not as driven to buy them.

 

Definitely, keep trying and persevering! Don't let the disconnect between imaginary OC and physical doll daunt you. Yes, it is a lot of work, but I can imagine that it would be very rewarding to have an accurate physical form of your OC. It so happened that I wasn't willing to invest in my dolls like that, so I took the easy road - and probably justified my laziness.

 

I actually have bought my dolls to be my OC's. I understand that it does in a sense limit how I can have them look, seeing as the sculpts already exist and I have to shop around for the 'right' one, but BJD's are so customizable that I don't find it to be a problem. A swipe of sandpaper here and a dash of paint there, and my OCs really come to life. In fact, I just finished painting my Topaz's face today to become Everley, one of my older characters

 

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

I haven't shelled my OCs yet-- I keep needing to do other things with the money! But I have made extensive lists of characters I would love to shell, both from my original writing and a Roleplaying Game character I got very attached to. Well-- I named an event head after a character I enjoy writing about, but he's not yet the end product... so, more on that as I continue answering questions, I guess.


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)

Moz' current self is in scale with my current all-MSD family, but he's definitely NOT his finished self, and I held off on buying him a body when I realized that I'd need to reshell his character. The head had a certain attitude that made me think of him, but had completely the wrong features, and so he's been a placeholder.

Luckily, there's a gorgeous sculpt that suits him perfectly, when the time comes to reshell, and luckily, that sculpt is in-scale with sculpts that perfectly suit other characters from his universe. Unluckily, they're all HUGE compared to my current collection, and very expensive.


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)


I named Moz-the-severed-head after the character because of my love for the character (Moz, by the way, began life as a sort of a fan-character and developed a completely new life in a brand new universe of his own-- well, two brand new universes, actually), and I did have some hopes and dreams of doing photostories based on his adventures (in all three 'verses), but mostly it was because I just adored him. It wasn't like I could buy a doll or action figure of him as it was, but I could make a doll into him, slow as the process has been.


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?)

Well, when I draw Moz, he looks nothing like his doll self, because his current sculpt is not accurate to his features (it's hard to explain how, in spite of looking nothing like 'himself', I somehow knew it was him-- I expect that when I reshell him into a big guy, the current Moz will become his child self...), but since I mostly write about him instead of drawing him, it's less of a problem for me than it would be for someone whose work is more visually oriented.

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?

Not yet! But I look forward to it!

 

It might be a bit late to jump in on this, but it sounded too familiar to ignore

1. How did you finally decide to make your BJD into your OC if you have done so?
I researched BJDs for almost 2 years, never really knowing where to go (I'm on a limited budget so I didn't want to just get any pretty doll - there are so many I just couldn't decide on one without further criteria). Then I saw a certain sculpt and BAM! Hello my OC! ... so yeah. That was when I knew where to go. From that point on I started looking specifically for dolls that fit the OCs from that story, and am working on bringing them home now.

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)
Not at all. If the features aren't right, I keep looking. If a body doesn't match, I get the head and find a body that fits the bill a little better (frankendolling my way towards another OC just now). I'm not scared of modding, haven't done it with the big kids yet (only off-topic 1/6 vinyls) but the thought intrigues / inspires rather than intimidates 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)
I'm hoping to be able to turn parts of that story into photostories. Right now they're mostly a focus, that story has been around for the larger part of my life, forever changing and being re-written ... they're an inspiration to sort it out, and also a way of helping me decide which dolls to get (and, more importantly, which ones to rule out )

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 it a bit fiddly to "translate" written parts of the story to photostory scripts as the two are so very different; some scenes will definitely have to be re-written from scratch, and I probably won't be able to turn the entire story into photostories. That doesn't really bother me though.

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 wish I'm still at the very beginning, one is here already, two more on their way(s) right now. I can't even begin to imagine what it will feel like to actually have them all home.

 

1. How did you finally decide to make your BJD into your OC if you have done so?
My dolls are separate from my OCs. I like my OCs to be fluid and not trapped in a representative doll and visa versa.

That said, I am often attracted to dolls that look a bit like my OCs. Sometimes I will let them channel my OCs a bit, like actors. My dolls usually are actor-types anyway, so I can put them in historical clothes if I feel like, or otherwise cosplay them a bit... I like keeping things open. And creating new characters is really appealing to me.

There are a couple of dolls I'm looking for, for specific reasons... so it's rather like trying to shell an OC.

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)
See... that's what I don't want to deal with! It could be a good thing because I'd only try and buy certain dolls, but bad if I kept going and buying dolls only because they looked like my OC. I don't want either, really. I prefer to just buy dolls I like, for whatever reason.

With dolls I'm looking for for specific reasons... I worry that they might not work with the dolls they are meant to interact with. Or that they aren't going to look like what I have in mind once I have them home.


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)
Since I usually don't do this, I really can't say. But with doll characters in general, I guess it's inspirational. I just have cool stories for them and it makes having the doll all that much more fun (and good for bonding, etc.).

I'm an artist, but for some reason, I don't get inspired so much artistically/visually by my dolls. More, I just like looking at them and taking photos.

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?)
See, that's what I don't want to deal with. I want my characters to be free to change around in fiction--get scars or dye their hair or whatever, and I want my dolls to go their own way as dolls--if there's a cool wig or outfit or style that looks good on them, etc. I don't want character issues to get in the way of all that.

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 got little groups that I really enjoy... five (CP) elves that hang out together as family and friends and partners, I have a pair of half-brothers plus a lover for one and hope to get a friend for the other, and a group of 4 anthro tinies who hang out together. Plus lots of pairs...

As art inspiration, it's always good to be able to change things about in the artwork and not stick slavishly to your reference--so it shouldn't be a problem if your doll doesn't match exactly. ... but as I said, strangely enough, I don't use my dolls that way. I think it's because I really need a lot of highly detailed, realistic reference and the dolls are nice, but not THAT helpful in that respect. BUT, I think I may make an effort and see if I can try and use them in my art at some point.

 

(sorry! Forgot I'd replied to this before, guess it was an oldie-but-a-goodie being resurrected!)

 

1. How did you finally decide to make your BJD into your OC if you have done so?
I had an OC that I thought about making a doll for, but was not seriously considering it. When my doll arrived in the mail it looked so much like him, even had the same eye color, I just felt like I had been searching for him this entire time and finally found him.

2. Did you have any fears during the process? No, because I didnt see him coming. When I did get him he was the perfect highth and expression. I might have wanted him with fangs, but sometimes fangs can get annoying and repetitive.

3.What purpose do your dollified characters serve? Well my first one was a character from a novel I wrote. When I got the doll I was just surprised that it was him. I decided that my second doll would be another character from the same story because that just made since to me. She arrived and is perfect, just like Bartlebee was. I was not expecting her to bring out aspects of the character I merely had not thought about before. The dolls really helped me flesh out my characters are real people. My dolls since those two have been created as I received them. I know I want dolls name Samael, Valec and Mephistopheles. Those names come with a lot of characterization themselves. I will wait to receive my doll before the name will come to me. I know like my other dolls it will just fit.

4. How do you discern between/ deal with your characters' two different forms? Thats a good question! It's difficult. I have my novel Bartlebee, who lives in London in his own manor with his own collection of servants and lots and lots of riches. But my doll Bartlebee lives with me on a ranch and has to share his clothes and owns no furniture! I feel like he came out of the book and is visiting me almost. He's a permanent guest in my house at the moment. Having him with me makes me ask him questions that normally would not occur to me. While writing the book he was snobby and aristocratic, but when I owned him IRL I found he has a love for cheap, trashy romance and things like fandom and anime. I can see him listening to rock and roll music and watching Teen Mom or Honey Booboo where as before he was snooty about his tastes. I bet he keeps them a secret though. And Cosset was such a victim before I got her IRL. She was mournful and quiet and pitiful, but since I got her she has shown me her haughty and proud side. She loves attention and feels gorgeous. She will brag and steal the show all the time, drawing the focus of every photo with how pretty she is. I wrote her character originally to blend into the background and be the silent beauty, but she's much more of a gorgeous diva then I ever imagined.

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 decided that each doll I get I will incorporate into my novel in some way. I have six now, only two of which were written originally for the novel. Delsin, Cecil and Lolita are all guests at Bartlebee's house at different parties he's hosted and I love what they have added to the story. Having a doll for a physical inspiration for a character is very helpful. Like basing a character off of a real person, you see things that you did not occur to you right away. I do have several other characters I want to make dolls for. Oliver, my orphan boy whom Bartlebee loves with all his heart and saves his demonic soul. Valec, the fallen angel of violence and passion is my next big project. I will receive Oliver's sculpt some time next week, I already have his eyes and wig. I don't have any idea what he's going to wear. Unlike my other dolls except Cosset he has a very specific style. Lots of cute shirts and shorts with little shoes, not boots. All I own is boots. And I need socks for him. I have a doll right now that I do not have a name for and I am still figuring out who he is. I think he is Samael, the fallen angel of Fraud and Success. The name doesnt sit right with me, but I'm a scholar and can find another name for the same angel. Did you know that the demon Lucifer is given a million different names, but each one is actually a different demon or angel from Paradise Lost or the Bible? I've spent the last 10 years seriously studying theology. I studied it in college, but did not major in it because I could not imagine what I could do with such a major. I'm not religious myself.
I love having little dolls of my characters that I hold dear. I don't think I would like a doll that looks like another persons character as much as I love my own. I wanted BJD so that I could customize them and make them look how I wanted, not to make them look like something or someone else. I do really admire the dolls that look JUST LIKE character or person though.

 

I know it's long, and probably disjointed because I jumped around a lot, but keep in mind I could have kept going!! FOREVER! So really it's short.

1. How did you finally decide to make your BJD into your OC if you have done so?
The only reason I got into dolls was to "shell" OCs. I dabbled in customizing action figures (thank you Wizard magazine) but kind of stalled out when I couldn't make my MOC because nothing looked like him. Dolls were the next (very expensive) step, and they worked out a hell of lot better!

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)
Not exactly...I have noticed after several years in the community that not everyone starts off with their most important character first. It's a lot of "See doll, like doll, realize doll could be an OC, buy doll, search for "main" OC for months, years or whatever". I got my hardest out of the way first. While I was looking for him, I got discouraged because I didn't find anything close...but almost 5 years after buying him he's still perfect and nothing else would work. Since I draw my OC's I had a definite idea of what they look like, and in all honestly, I haven't really had to "settle" for any of them.

I pay attention to scale best I can (Mature minis have no place in my group unless they're Fairies or Demons ((meaning they're tiny)) or in my "Mini" group, which is just two so far...), and I think I've done really well so far with 60cm being about 6ft, and 70cm being super tall freaks XD and so on...but it's not going to be perfect. As far as features go...my most important characters vs their dolls are amazing. They're so close to how they "should" look I've had strangers look at my pre-doll drawings and agree that the molds are "them." I still look at my Kara Klum's eye shape and am thrilled with how exact it is with my art (I swear Dollmore looked at my drawings before they made him XDD). Migidoll Ryu could have been a perfect mini-me of David. I think it would be harder today, with what's out there. There's so much more, which should give a larger variety but somehow just makes a large number of dolls out there start to look the same to me...I seem to be gravitating toward older sculpts now...

This might be a little far off, but a lot of people pick actors or other celebrities to represent their characters, or at least for the "if my book/comic/whatever became a movie" game. I'm not sure it's that much different. Personally I've never seen another living person who could "be" any of my characters, not perfectly. Not really close even (voices, yes. Looks, no). I've had much greater success finding them in dolls.

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. I don't think anything has helped me develop my characters more (and some of them were way developed to begin with) than having them in front of me. Having to figure out how to do "real" hair and eyes and faces and outfits...it's hard, and it's great! I have used one of my Kara Klums several times as an art model (he does pretty much everything I need him too so I only ever use the one XD). Even just looking at them sitting next to each other has helped a lot. Some of my characters I knew nothing about became much more 3D on paper after I had them in 3D for real, sitting next to another doll I suddenly had better ideas of their relationships with each other. I realized by having him as a doll that one of my OC's just isn't important to me anymore. I sold the doll and have stopped trying to give him a larger part in the story.

They also help to get me over art block. Any kind of block sucks...not doing anything for days, weeks, longer...it's awful. I can get around it by switching up mediums - drawing in pen instead of pencil - or changing sketchbooks for a different layout, but working on dolls is awesome. I can't draw the next page in my comic? I grab a doll and redo a faceup, or make a new wig or start the dreading cleaning-reblushing process....a few days of that and I'm seriously ready to start drawing again, and I don't feel unproductive.

Now, looking at the other side of character vs doll, and seeing the doll side, I cannot "bond" with dolls who aren't my characters. I've tried, it does not work. I have tried to own dolls who had no set look or personality and they're just...dolls. I get frustrated with the lack of direction and purpose and they sit around and collect dust until I give up and sell them. Being my OC's gives me an instant connection to them, a place to start and a goal. It's forced me to try things I never would have thought to try, like making wigs, modding and even faceups! Putting a face on a doll was something I really had to work at, it's much different than a b/w drawing of a person from one view. When I work so hard to make a doll look the way I want and actually succeed (woo!!) I want to share, so my photography skills have improved too. They improved from non-existent XD but it's still improvement!!

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?)
There is no difference to me. There isn't a different "form" there's just my character(s). The fact that there would be is such a foreign concept that I had to keep re-reading this before it made sense XD
But I guess it's the same to people as having several dolls representing one character?? I get a lot of crap for that, and for whatever reason, I don't get it - it makes as much sense to me as looking at different photos of people as they grow up. Things change, and things stay the same....you're the same person, but you're also not. Dolls, drawings....it's the same. I'm at a point now where the dolls are part of my art. They're all intertwined together...It just makes sense. Maybe it's just me, but I don't see any difference in a character taking form in a doll as a painting or drawing vs a sculpture vs writing. Why does it have to be different? Characters are all concepts anyway, ideas....the only place they're really real is inside the creators mind. Once they're on paper (or in cyberspace somewhere) and other people are looking and reading they're already changing and becoming something else, because everyone perceives things differently and no two people will see a character the same way.

Another thing I don't get is having a character "trapped" in a doll, resistant to change. My dolls change all the time O.o, from faceups, to wigs to clothing for different time periods that they exist... I have always thought of them as as fluid as a human. I mean, people change all the time, but even with drastic plastic surgery they're still stuck in the same body. And if a character did go through drastic plastic surgery, get out the sandpaper and epoxy!

On dolls, hair is an easy fix. Scars can be made out of non-permanent materials...tattoos are easily added and removed. Features can be changed in an afternoon. Hybrid everything! Still not happy? Dye it!! The whole doll can be sold and an entire new one bought in it's place! That's way easier than real-life. I don't see my OC's trapped in doll form at all. If anything I feel like they're that much closer to being a tangible thing...like they're a little more "real" because I can touch them and constantly rework them to my liking.

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 love what I have. If I didn't I wouldn't own them, and they'd go up for sale. As for gratification...I'm proud of my dolls. I look at each one, customized (mostly by me) to look like my OCs that I created, and yeah, it's gratifying. Unless they're not working out. Then it's off to the sales thread they go....


Something else I feel worth mentioning...I noticed in this thread a few people who felt the character was less theirs because it's in a "shell" created by someone else. Elsewhere in this hobby I have encountered similar opinions, people who get upset because those of us who customize dolls aren't really "artists" it's the sculptor who's the artist. This is true, the sculptor is obviously an artists...and an amazing one. I can't make dolls! But thinking in broader terms...look at some of the really amazing photoshoots for magazines like Vogue. How many people who came together to take a human being, paint them up (makeup artists), do their hair (hair stylists), the sets and clothes (designers - omg I totally heard that in Tim Gunn's voice!! D: ), directors, photographers....more than that that I don't know about. The models in those shoots were not created from scratch for the specific vision of the artists - they were chosen. Someone searched countless faces until they found one they liked to use in that vision. A "character" was created for that shoot. They don't get or need credit for the model, but they sure as hell get it for the rest. ...and then realize that doll owners do it all (or at least a lot of it) themselves. Just saying.

 

1. How did you finally decide to make your BJD into your OC if you have done so?
My interest in BJDs stems from my inability to accurately draw my OCs. I know exactly what they should look like in my head, I just can't get the pictures from my head onto paper. But it seems much easier to find sculpts that look exactly how the characters look in my head.

2. Did you have any fears during the process?
My only fear is that... I have four main characters and a few side characters that I have developed to the point where their physical appearance does not change at all in the space they occupy in my head. I have found perfect sculpts for all of them except one of the main characters, and am saving up to purchase them, but I'm beginning to worry that I might not be able to find a sculpt for the last one.

3.What purpose do your dollified characters serve?
I can pose them and use them to tell visual stories about my OCs that I could never draw on my own.

4. How do you discern between/deal with your characters' two different forms?
In the same way I discern between the characters that are in my head and the characters I draw on paper. The physical form is a physical representation of the character in my head.

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 have only just gotten into the hobby. My cast of characters is nowhere near complete, but I'm already getting a great deal of gratification from it by planning scenes to take pictures of when I finally have the full cast of characters assembled.

 

1. How did you finally decide to make your BJD into your OC if you have done so?
I actually created most of my (doll-related) OCs for their doll versions. In the couple of cases where I had a character before I knew which doll they would be, I already planned to eventually buy a doll for them so they could interact with my other characters in doll form.

I have not bought dolls to represent characters from any of my other writings, and I don't have any urges to. My doll hobby has its own fictional story to draw characters from.

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 buy all my dolls in the same size from the same company with the company face-ups specifically to avoid issues like scales, proportions and styles not matching. I've never seen a collection of dolls from different companies (or in different sizes, or with original face-ups not all by the same artist) who would satisfy my personal OCD about things matching.

Mod-wise, I'm not intimidated by doing mods. I've adjusted multiple default face-ups (changing eyeshadow colours, adding freckles, reducing blush, etc), and sculpted and cast a few different fantasy add-ons my characters need.

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)
Inspiration, mainly. They're a useful way for me to visualise my characters and map out specific scenes/interactions between characters. Designing all their outfits and props also helps me develop them in more and more detail.

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?)
Because my characters are designed around their doll forms, everything meshes seamlessly. Pictures or photos of my characters are also pictures or photos of my dolls.

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 continually growing. I'm at 20+ characters at the moment, and there's no sign that it's going to stop growing anytime soon. So I can't really answer this last question

 

1. How did you finally decide to make your BJD into your OC if you have done so?
It was actually what drew me into the hobby! I had looked at dolls a few times over the years, but only really wanted one if I could make it resemble my favorite of my OCs, an elf-ish character, and could never find a doll that sufficiently resembled him to pull it off. It was my roommate at the time, who knew what the character looked like from my own drawings, who found the sculpt that pulled me into the hobby. My main doll family is characters from that story, now; I eventually would like to do another family of characters of one of my other stories, as well (now that I've found a doll to fit one of them).


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)
Not fears, exactly, more like concerns? I had to mod Gabriel (the first one) just slightly, and I'm starting to want to adjust that family to be more in scale with each other (meaning shorter bodies for a couple, taller for others). I've had a terrible time with wigs, too, and had to mod those, as most of the characters have unusually colored hair. But none of these things are fears, just difficulties with transcribing an existing character to a new medium.


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)
Just something fun to have, really! Sort of like having an action figure or sculpture of a favorite character from a movie or series, now I have "figures" of each of the main characters of my world.


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 have any problems with this; I don't really do much with photostories, though, so it may be different if I did.


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?
Oh, there's far too many characters in each cast for me to ever "complete" any of them! It means I'll never run out of dolls to buy, though! (At least the non-OC family is a finite group.)

 

Here is some advice: it can still be your OC, but he can be in an entirely different story -- or an AU of sorts. All of my dolls who are part of big stories (sans Amelie, my CH Ange Ai Hani) do not go by the original story they were born into. This not only allows them to grow into the sculpt, but it also gives me a chance to develop them in a new environment. And it certainly adds to the fun of collecting!

My most recent example? I have a littlefee Rolly boy on the way (he'll be here tomorrow, as of my writing this) who will act as the third dolly incarnation of one of my beloved OCs, Orian. My first one was based on the original concept for my OC, but it didn't work out -- plus he wasn't a sculpt for me, so I sold him away. The second one was a much younger version of him, so I put him in a story completely different than his original, a spooky story set in an insane asylum. Now, several years later, I've decided to reshell him even younger -- and with this version comes an entirely new story about a boy with monsters under his bed. Each version breathes life into the OC anew.

Now I will answer your questions:

1. How did you finally decide to make your BJD into your OC if you have done so?
All my dolls are OCs for the most part, so I'll assume you're asking how I decided to make a BJD into an already existing OC.
I have to say, I don't know. It's definitely part of the fun, and it helps me rediscover my OCs who have already lived their stories a hundred times over.

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)
Yes, but the way I see it is, if you don't click with a doll then the doll was sent to you by the universe for another purpose, and the doll meant to be your OC simply hasn't introduced itself to you yet. Whenever I buy a doll that ends up not fitting with my OC, I consider myself the middleman -- the doll had to come to me first in order for his correct owner to find him. So I don't feel bad about selling them away and starting over.
As far as modding goes... Yes! I'm terrified. I have two dolls and one planned that will need tattooing and I'm too chicken to actually do it, especially since I can't easily replace their parts if I somehow mess them up. On my littler ones, it hasn't been a HUGE problem... I had to dye my CH Hani to a very warm peach because she was too pale/yellowed to be her nationality and I didn't want to replace her with a different doll because I loved her too much, and I have plans to heavily mod a faceplate that isn't easily replaceable in the future. But that is part of the hobby for me. I like getting my hands dirty to make my dolls truly mine.

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 act as accessories to my stories, in a sense. Muses? Resin-made Memories? I'm not sure. Some of my OCs are from RPs long past who I love dearly but can never write again in the same sense, so I wait for the opportune doll to introduce itself to me and I resurrect my old imaginary friend to play host inside it. I give my OC a new story, so it stimulates my creativity, and it serves as a way for me to spend my artistic energy doing something other than my art/animation jobs.
A couple of them also act as a sort of BFF charm for me and my best friend/roommie, who also collects. Some of our OCs are tied together in various stories and projects, so it's nice to have a visual representation of them with us. Of course, I don't get them to be BFF charms! (How expensive! Hahaha) But it's one of the things my dolls become over time. I don't know. My dolls are so many things to me. My dolls are me, and any chance I get to give one of my OCs -- one of those me-fragments -- a resin shell, I do it.

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?)
My art style never matches my dolls, so I don't worry about that. As long as some of the iconic things about them is present -- Amelie has unmanageable curls a la Hermione Granger, Inu has a devil-may-care smirk that reaches his eyes, Tsume is freckled head to toe -- that's all that matters in terms of various visual forms. It's kind of like when we see a character in our head a certain way while reading a book... and the actors don't match that. All that needs to match is the spirit, the style, to make it that character.
As far as stories go, it's like I said: their original stories are fixed points in my brain, locked away, unchanging. Their resin versions have new stories that allows them the freedom to become something more and something different than who they were originally. It makes doll-hunting a little easier, so I don't have to wait for an elf version of a doll with my character's features or a wig that has the exact cut my character wears in her original story.

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!
I've been in the hobby for several years, but it took me a while to develop a collecting style. And I collect dolls slowly -- 1, I need to find a doll for my OC, and 2, I need to save for it.
but I have cast the roles for my favorite cast of characters (I have a few, haha!) and I'm fairly pleased with the dolls I'll be adding to said cast in 2014. I've got one that doesn't quite fit, but he's got another story so I decided to keep him as is and buy an aged-up version of him to fit into this specific cast. I have another for a different story I want to age up, too... one day. For now, I like him as is.

Point is, don't be afraid of ruining your OCs. Think of them as copies. Mental .doc files, where one is saved to a disc and safe, and the other is open to editing as you go along. The worst that can happen is you don't like the direction he's going in or you don't bond with him, and you sell him off -- you can always make another copy from the original later!

 

didn't realize I'd replied already ... please ignore

 

I haven't yet, though I have a few ideas. One of my characters in particular, a boy called Koji, would make an adorable Pukifee PongPong (no particular resemblance other than Koji being very happy most of the time. Some of my oc's, Squid, Willow and Rika, who were created FOR dolls then never shelled, were going to be Minifee Shushu, IslandDoll Dove, and Resinsoul Yao respectively. I never thought about the character becoming less mine, but I have worried that they wouldn't cooperate and be the character I want them to be.