When do you prefer to think of a character?

No that's not weird ;0; that's what I do.

It's kind of impossible for me to do it the other way around... because even if I don't have an idea for the doll, once I see it an idea just rapidly starts spinning out in my head *^*

 

Before getting the doll. I would search high and low to find the perfect doll for the character i made but i think that his/her character might change upon arrival. Hope not~ ^^:

 

i tried making the characters after the dolls arrived and it just didn't work out, so from now on, i'm basing dolls upon characters, not the other way around. besides, i find it easier to pick the dolls i need

 

I don't own a doll yet, but I always had the idea of the personality i want for my first bjd, so that's what i used to choose a sculpt. I had an idea of her story too and one day while i was in my way to work her completely story developed in my head.
It's not that original but it has all the elements I love, and it also includes other characters, that can become future dolls too (I'm looking for a right sculpt for one of them right now xD)

So I guess I like to define a character first, then choose a doll . It also makes the waiting (I'm in the saving stage) more exciting

 

generally I get the doll to suit a character in mind, only twi9ce has this not been the case, one was my vampire Yder, who was the extra head of a doll I badly wanted. It was a year later when that doll suddenly stood up and told me who he was!

the second is beside me right now, a Tender Too I got recently with a Tender Bee-A, I wanted the Bee A, and as they were being sold as a set I decided to keep them together, and get both, but he is refusing to tell me who he is...I am beginning to suspect he is a dragonling.....or a siamese cat

 

I need to know before I get the doll. I need to know their names, backgrounds, basic personality traits and why they are the way they are. Likes, dislikes, hobbies, concept, etc..

But their actual personal quirks and individual life doesn't seem to blossom fully until after the doll is in my hands and dressed and all. I only have the one doll though, so maybe my future dolls (which I have all planned out to a T ^_~ ) will be much quicker to settle in. Well, then again maybe not. I do have them planned out well, but again, there's no accounting for personal flair.

One in particular though will be kind of spontaneous... I have it's character planned out pretty well, as an identity-crisis hermaphrodite with multiple personalities juggled with a love of acting/cosplay and fragmented memories of past lives. That one's going to have so many various 'versions' and issues, I'd rather figure them out one at a time once I have them ^^; . In particular, they're going to have 'color-themed' personalities, so I can take my sweet time with it like... The first personality I develop could be based on 'red', so I'd get a red-haired wig, red eyes, some red clothes, a red faceup, and once that's all pieced together I can figure out the personality for 'red'. And then once I'd like to move on, I can do the same for 'blue', or do something entirely different if I want. Fun stuff!

So there's perks to both methods =3 . I hate being too unsure of stuff, so I have to lay out all the solid groundwork beforehand, but the hands-on nitty gritty can be really spontaneous and fuuun! It's exciting piecing together a doll's 'final form' X3 .

ai

 

It really depends....
Also, has to go with my mood!
Perfect timing is important

 

Usually I start thinking of a rough idea of the character before he/she arrived, and when he/she has arrived, I fill in the little details and such.

 

The characters of my dolls up till now have always been waiting for them before they got home to me.

Sometimes the character is even there before I even see/ order the doll.

 

I prefer to develope the character after I get the doll. I'm into this hobby for the dolls, not to give a character I have a body (actually I have decided that I won't ever be giving any of my writing characters a doll body, keeping my hobbies seperate), so I want to make sure I'm buying a dol that I love, not just one that fits a character. Also, I'll never have to worry about recieving a doll and finding it to be "not right" for the character. Just my way of doing it.

 

That's not weird at all- I choose dolls that I want to buy based on what character jumps out at me when I look at them. I usually come up with a rough character type based on the doll I want and then I flesh it out with a name and more detail once I've gotten the doll in my hands.

 

Though I have a whole list of pre-existing OCs to pick from that I could have put into doll form, but instead all my dolls' characters have been created for the doll after I decided I was buying it. I think I'm too picky about my OCs and that prevented me from being able to doll a character that was already in existence.

 

How about a "both" option? I'll come up with things ahead of time, but they often change or develop extensively after I've painted them.

 

after I got my first doll, i realized i need a character...So, i created it after i learned to make some clothes for her. I thought in the end, i need to create a character so, i can be easier to create clothes for her (like human with characters, we choose cloth that matches our character...so, i can't dress up my doll with 'zero-blank' character)...

but i don't create character and search for doll...usually, i purchase doll(s) i like then create a character that suits her...

 

I choose which dolls I like and then create their characters while I'm mulling on whether to actually buy them or not. And then hone and elaborate on that characterization while waiting for them to come home, so that by the time they finally arrive I just need to pick the right eyes and wig, and then voila! -- that's them as I pictured in my head.

 

Well, with my first doll.. The goal was just to get the doll.
But from now on, I'll be thinking of a character outline, then searching for a doll and tuning the character up a little for that mold.
Then once I get the doll and play with it for a while, I'll fine tune it more. ^^;

 

when I started buying dolls, I bought them because I loved their face/body. I've sold some of the dolls I bought because after a while they were just pretty faces, and I didn't know what to do with them besides taking photos of their lovely faces.
When I realized I should give them a personality/character, it all changed. Since then I've never sold another doll because now they have a story. They belong to a world I've created and I can make stories with them. I'm loving my dolls more than ever

 

I always come up with the characters in advance... around 10 - 15 years in advance, in general I've had my guys a long time in one form or another, and bringing them home as dolls is a fantastic extension to how they've existed up until now.

 

Sometimes I have a pretty rough idea of what he or she will be when I buy the doll, but his/her personality will always develop later, after he/she is at home. I never think up character beforehand...it doesn't work for me.. My dolls have there own way of telling who they are or will be.

 

The personality of my first doll will reveal itself when she comes. I pick dolls that I like the sculpt of without a particular character in mind, and let their character form once they are with me.

Phil.