Why don't most dolls have a smile?

For the most part, when a person is relaxed, they aren't smiling, people who try to smile all the time have to strain themselves to do so and it eventually looks fake, it's why i hate "smile for the camera" pictures . . . it always looks fake to me. A neutral face can show all kinds of subtlety of emotion and would be more natural looking to me.

 

Dunno, my dolls smile. ^^

 

Smiles are just not versatile enough. And Teysa's Right. Smiles are not your faces default expression.

Plus smiling isn't cool. ^_^.

 

I think the lack of expression makes it more possible for dolls to smile/frown/glare/ look silly. It all depends on the position of their faces.

If a doll had a definite smile (kind of like Beryl's frown) that actually looked happy all the time, I don't think I'd be too happy with that doll. Mostly because it'd be hard to pull off some other emotions without that creepy "Night of the Living Dummy" or whatever type of look to them. It'd be hard to take pictures of them looking serious/dreamy/mean/in thought/angry/mysterious etc. My El smiles but at certain angles he's frowning.

 

interestingly, with the original antique Kathe Kruse dolls (fabulous childlike cloth dolls) she very deliberatly made the dolls to have a neutral expression and not smile. When questioned she explained that a neutral face allowed the childs immagination to determine what the doll was feeling, happy or sad. I think the same can be said of bjds, when the expression is neutral the owner or viewer can make their own interpretation.

 

A neutral expression, I feel, is most comfortable and possibly most frequent too. There's no hiding behind it either. Smile too much and people being to wonder one person is able to be constantly happy. Frown too much and you get accused of being a miserable sod lol. Neutral is best IMO.

Also, depending of the angling of the head, a doll can look as if they are smiling or frowning.

See, neutral is win win

 

I don't know but my sister prefers when dolls have a sort of frown on thier face.
She says "I like them when they're sad, so that i can make them happy"
Now when we look on Xiangs face, he looks like he has a sort of smirk then what he did when she first got him^^

 

Depending on the angle of mine, he looks like he's smiling and sometimes he looks really pissed lol..

 

I think the lack of expression is good, especially if your doll(s) have a story and you would like to photograph them. If you have a doll with a permanent smile it may be hard to express other emotions. Posing the dolls correctly will help convey any emotion you choose regardless of an expression-less face.

 

I think I like the idea of smiles more than the reality, but I am taken aback by the extremely grumpy, like I love the work of the sculptor who works for Dollstown, Torre, but most of her dolls look really crabby.
From a purely practical artistic perspective, the face is much more graceful with a serene look. As soon as the face goes into a smiley position, it starts to fold and wrinkle up.
With some "blanker" molds you can create a smile, as you can see from my avatar my Four Sisters girl Hyacinth is smiling.
To add to what Kez said I believe the original idea for that came from the Waldorf philosophy.

 

I'm as much drawn to the expression of the dolls as the dolls themselves, but that's probably because my dolls represent characters that I am very attached to and have had for a very long time. If a character is a happy personality then the doll is going to be a bit more smiley - just because I can see more of the 'spark' of the character in the doll. Likewise I like to see expressions if the character is grumpy or bashful. Or any of the other Seven Dwarfs. (That was funnier in my head.)

I like the hint of the expression to be there just so that I can really 'see' the character in the doll. It gives that little bit more personality.

The neutral expression does give more versatility in creating expressions, but I think the little hint of an expression gives the doll an 'air' of personality all the time, rather than just when being deliberately posed to get that particular mood.

 

In my opinion, the non-expressive dolls are easier to work with in photography (and sometimes the most expressive, if that makes sense). Turning their heads in different ways and shooting from different angles can often give the illusion that they are smiling or frowning.

Moreover, if you really want the doll to smile, you can have the faceup reflect that. A mold with a built-in smile is probably a little more difficult to work with if you don't want them to smile. At least, that's my thoughts on it.

 

It could depend on the face up. 83 My Yuu is known and the 'happy' yuu just because his face up makes him look like he's smiling. ^_^;

 

I think it usually depends on faceups, but I do want a pukipuki cupid over other pukis because he's smiling.

 

All of my dolls have smiles. I find it a lovely challenge to photograph them. I can understand the neutral expression, though, since it can convey many things. But it's hard for a neutral expression to be truly happy.

I want smiling dolls. There's already enough sadness in the world. I don't want my dolls to be part of it.

 

I really love smiley dolls, especially on boys. For me, a happy, bubbly, full of life personality is probably the most attractive thing ever on a man, so I want that in a male doll. I honestly wish more sculptors made happy dolls, since finding smiley boys that don't have "cocky-jerk type" all over their face is sadly uncommon, with girls having the apposing problem, you can't find cocky-jerk type girls easily either.

Though, a creative face-up goes a long way.

 

I've noticed that most molds have a face that can be shifted in angle to get an expression. I always see most of them with a "Mona Lisa" smile.

 

hmm.. I kinda love the inexpressiveness as you put it.. because they never seem to have one expression, as you said it depends on the angle from which you take a picture. If he had a smile on his face he would always smile, no matter from which angle you take your picture..

 

This.

And this.

It opens the doors for photographic possibilities rather than limiting.

And hey, to address something the OP said... A small smile, or even a frown is still an expression. :< It doesn't mean there is a "lack of emotion." In fact, I see a neutral expression as having more emotion than a happy smile, in some cases. It's more "real," more like something you would see on a person walking down the street. More subtle, maybe, but full of ways you can interpret it.

People aren't smiling all of the time, anyway. That would hurt your face. >>

 

I think that dolls with smiles don't look very natural, because they have feelings too, so they have
different moods. Beeing happy always- it's nice, but living with a smile on your face forever...it is strange
enough.