Where do you get your ideas?

Normally the mold tells you something. Am I a happy character? am I happy but inside sad? am I complex in someway? It can be a good way to start with coming up with some questions as you would if you were writing a book.

 

Good photos from company or artist is what makes me want the doll. But once they arrive they can tell me either close to what I was planning or a whole other idea.
My best example is Eddie. He was going to tell stories with Zoey my Pukifee girl, but what kind was unclear. Then I saw the Target Our Generation diner and it all became quite clear. I have done more in the three years with Eddie then the previous seven years with others. I knew I wanted to tell stories, but I never thought it would be like these.

So be patient, the right one will open the door soon I am betting.

 

We've all had lean periods in our hobby. Different things work for different people.
I recommend starting here on DoA and looking at face ups for your sculpts. Photograph your bare dolls' faces at different angles with different lighting. Photos will reveal different aspects of your dolls. Organize your supplies, set them out for use and just experiment on your bjds with temporary face ups.
It's like writer's block - don't stare at a blank page, write! Write anything, even if you discard your efforts later.
And be patient with yourself.

 

When I find myself in a rut and don't know what to do with my dolls, I like watching BJD-related videos on YouTube, like unboxing videos, tutorials, meetup vlogs, etc. I especially like lookbook-style videos, where a collector just models a few outfits on one of their dolls, usually with some kind of seasonal theme. It's fun to see how other people style their dolls' wardrobes.

Plus, I find lookbook vids lack that weird type of "pressure" that can sometimes come with faceup and tutorial videos. Does anyone else get that? Like, you watch a video for a really gorgeous faceup or something and go, "Oh geez, this looks so hard I'm not sure I should even try right now..." It ends up de-motivating me instead!

On a different note, if you're someone who does a LOT of faceups or handmade doll clothing, especially for commissions or selling, you might just need to step away for a bit. Go out and do anything not doll-related and take your mind off your BJD work. Really, this is good for any art-related job as well. Breaktime is important!

 

For me it starts out by looking at the sculpt and from there I start getting ideas. I like to look at the company's photos to get some inspiration. Listening to music and watching movies really helps build my dolls story. I like to watch other people's BJD videos as well. Buying clothes, wigs ect helps also! I hope this helps!

 

I like making a mock-up of the face (I usually draw it myself, but I know some people just take a photo of a blank face and work from that), making a bunch of copies, and just drawing whatever comes to mind. Don't worry about a certain theme at first, that will come as you start finding what works best on the face.

 

I buy dolls based on if they call to me. Usually, they're shelling OCs of mine, so they need to fit. Sometimes, I fall in love with a sculpt and build a character around them. Either way, I've found I need to be in love with a character to love a doll. I've sold some of the most beautiful dolls because I couldn't bond to the character and couldn't really see that doll as anything other than that character. Sometimes a new faceup or new outfit can really revive my interest in a doll, but sometimes, I feel it's time to let a few go and use the money to buy something new.

 

For me it all involves me having preexisting characters in one way, shape or form. Whether it is my own OCs, the ones based off animated series characters, or an anthropomorphized catgirl version of my cat, I tend to have some preexisting character template to work off of.

For my OCs, most of them were pretty concrete ideas before I developed them into bjds. Some, however, are a unique amalgamation of some fleeting details combined with inspiration I received from the sculpt chosen to represent them. I let that sculpt speak to me in those cases, and derive a complete character from that.

Do you have any existing character concepts you've developed floating around that could be translated into your bjds, or maybe a character (or characters) from favorite books, TV shows, cartoons, video games, or anime that fits any of the sculpts you have? That might help you spark some inspiration to use towards what direction you want to go in with your crew.

 

I mostly get inspiration from music. Characters, stories, worlds, etc. Trance, chillstep, goa, techno, epic and Jean Michell Jarre.

 

I usually use my comic ideas to my dolls. I have only one doll right now, but eventually I will have more dolls with my comic and novel ideas.

 

I tend gather a huge list of things I like and then slap a genre to them. I then randomly pick two and combine them. I.e, horror and comedy. I will then look at their face ups and clothes. If the face up doesn't fit, i then change it. So it can be a murderous (horror) clown(comedy). The sutfit will be bright and happy then ill go in and ruff it up. If it's expensive outfit though, it's not happening.

I also recommend going through abstract art and portraits as well as Instagram artist with unique styles. take inspiration form that. Youtubing Halloween makeup tutorial also does a good job for inspiration and NYX face awards contestants.

 

Pinterest is my main inspo lol. I set up a board and slowly add ideas that I want to associate with them

 

I usually look at other people beautiful photos and get inspiration