Would you ever pay a LOT of money for a face up?

I don't know that I would personally. It isn't that I don't think there are face up artists out there who do wonderful work and deserve to get that kind of money, I have seen some really beautiful work. It is just that I really enjoy the customization of doing the face ups on my own dolls. It helps me bond with them and really feel like they belong to me. I may not be that great at it or get it right the first time (or even the second time) but I would still rather do it for myself. I also feel more confident handling my dolls because I do their face ups than I would if I had spent $100+ on their faces. I would constantly be worried about scratching or otherwise damaging the expensive face-up. If I some how damage a face up that I have done all I have lost is a little time and a bit of supplies. I do have a couple of dolls who have company face ups and I worry over them more. I can't help it. They also don't feel quite as mine. I know it sounds silly but they don't.

 

This deppend of the hand Xd

normal 50
custom 70
out this world 100-150

 

I paint my own faceups, which is probably just as well since all my dolls have gone through a few faceups before landing on a style that works. However, if I was in the situation where I wasn't satisfied with my own faceups, then I'd definitely comission them. As for how much I would be willing to pay, it depends on a few things - how well the artist can follow your specifications, how much overall skill they have, what materials they use, how well the faceups tend to hold up with time, as well as nitpicky things like how well they communicate and how fast their turn around is. Expensive, to me, would be faceups that are $70+, but if I was convinced that the artist could deliver exactly what I wanted without waiting for more than a month, then I'd be willing to pay up to $100.

 

It depends on the doll. If it's a doll I'm head-over-heals for, wouldn't think about selling and have a solid idea of what I want? Maybe.

It depends on the artist. Don't get me wrong! I've seen some amazing artists who are right to charge $100+ for their skills. I've also seen some artists who need to practice more before going that high. I have a few favorite artists I keep going back to because their artistic skills and customer service are awesome.

It also depends on the stuff going on in your life. The economy has impacted everybody. I might be willing to spend $100, but if I have no job or make little money I get picky. Very picky. I want the most bang for my buck.

 

YES! Even though I often do my own faceups... as an artist, I really appreciate other people's work/skills.
Some of the faceups I've seen are so amazing. It's worth it if you admire the artist's work enough.

 

It depends how much is considered a lot of money. With my Harin, Aimee, her face-up is SOO important to me. It's absolutely gorgeous, I love it, but it's starting to get really old looking, and some of the MSC has come off her nose area. But, I need to find someone who can replicate her lips, because they are my favorite part, and if it has to cost me a lot to do so, so be it. Face-ups take a lot of skill and there's no reason why artists shouldn't be charging what they feel they should make on them.​

 

I either do my own or take them as ordered, but I'd be willing to spend the money. I believe it's in 20,000en/30,000en price range to get an FCS faceup redone, and if that becomes necessary on my FCS boy that's what I'll pay. If you don't get what you want out of the deal, any amount of money is wasted. In the case of independent faceup artists, I'd have to be awfully sure of reliability and quality, but I'd spend over $100 for an excellent faceup. Considering the time and materials spent that doesn't seem unreasonable to me.

 

Hmm, as already pointed out, it depends on what one considers is a LOT, and also whether one would include shipping costs in that price. And appreciation and understanding for the hobby and artists seem likely to increase as well, the more faceups one sees..


I think Paprika expressed it well..

..and then there's just how inclined one would be to remove or change a faceup that was done for a lot of money..


I have done no own faceups so am at the mercy of faceup artists, and a LOT of money to me (currently at least) is around $100, including shipping. But I'd rather have a blank face and bide my time for an artist/feel I feel is right, than try a bunch of different ones that feel wrong. And perhaps keep piling that money too

So should I want such a faceup, chances are once it is done, I'd keep that head as is for quite some time. Heck, perhaps I'd even want a slightly similar head/faceup as backup, just in case the one I adore is ruined somehow.

 

I suppose I am middle of the line. So far, I have only paid for one face-up, and it was $65 not including shipping (ended up being around $85 when all was said and done). The results were beautiful. I certainly wouldn't want something of less quality than this on one of my dolls should I commission anyone again.

It also depends on the doll itself. I am much more inclined to spend a lot of money of a face-up (say $140, not including shipping), if the doll is something like an expensive Volks limited.

But my main reason for not really wanted a more expensive face-up is because most of these artists are from different countries, and EMS shipping both ways ends up being a lot!

 

I probably would never spend over $50 on a faceup. I only have one doll currently, so I haven't shopped around a whole lot for faceup artists, and for my one doll, the modders ability to dye her head was more important to me. I think she only charged me $15 for the faceup, and for me it's good enough. I've seen some beautiful faceups, but never any that were so amazing I thought I absolutely had to have that artist create my dolls face no matter what the price.

 

You're talking about Poppy, aren't you? I second this infinity times.

I second this, too.

 

I definitely have a budget when it comes to faceups. It depends on the doll and the current going rates though. I prefer to use someone more reasonably priced and less experienced. In my mind it gives artists a chance to grow and practice. There is no way you can control totally what the faceup looks like anyway, so I make sure I pick someone with a style and give them room to be creative, as that is how they can do their best often.

I do not care if my artist uses MSC or Testors Model Masters, or expensive brands of pastels. As long as nothing is damaging to the doll. So why pay for more expensive materials when I do not care?

Also, faceups do become damaged at some point, unless you never touch your doll. If I had a super expensive faceup I would worry to much and never take her out and play with her. I would not enjoy the hobby as much. There is a balance though, as I do not want to play with a doll with a bad faceup. I just am careful about who I choose, and if it is cheap and I do not like it, then I get someone else to change it!

 

There are some things I just can't do well when it comes to face-ups so I'm willing to pay for others to do it for me. I'm not sure where exactly I'd put my price point. There's some work I'd pay more for, but generally I don't have the budget for it. I've had some really beautiful work done for a very moderate price, though.

 

80-150 will probably be my limit on a face up unless they add cute designs or the work is VERY detailed and added amazing paint to her face then I can see going a bit above the price

 

I started doing my own faceups because I couldn't afford the more expensive faceups. I'm also paranoid about my doll's head getting lost/broken in the mail. However, if I wasn't paranoid and had the funds I would definately pay to have my doll's heads done by someone like SDink, poppy, rabiruna, or someone like that.

 

i would say yes cus the face is the most important part of a doll=D

 

Absolutely! Faceup work done well is priceless, in my opinion. It's not easy to do a good faceup and it's definitely not an area where my talents lie, so I will definitely pay quite a bit to have one done by an artist whose work I adore.

If an owner does their own faceups and enjoys doing it and is happy with the results, I think that is great. But for me, it's not something I'm very good at and not something I enjoy doing, so I am definitely willing to shell out some significant sums to get my dolls faceups that I love.

 

Do you know what? I'm so numbed to the concept of 'expensive' in this hobby that pretty much anything goes. If I see an absolutely stunning artist (like some of the ridiculously detailed and realistic tattoos I've seen in galleries) and they're charging a lot then that's fair enough. If I think the work is worth the money then I'll go for it, if not I'd look for something a bit cheaper. If it's something I really want I'm generally happy to save up and pay, since my other hobby is writing, which is free

 

I think it depends on the quality or how much I wanted that certain look for the doll. There are some doll face-ups I drool over and wouldn't mind paying for the talent and work that goes into it. I'd probably draw the line at a double-digit price tag, though.

 

Seems like a stupid question, but would you? Or does it depend on how the face up looks?

It definitely depends on how the faceup looks - for a lot of money, I'd expect top notch quality. I only have one doll though that I'd ever consider commissioning a faceup for, and the artist I'd love to have a faceup from is overseas....and I'm not willing to risk my doll's head by shipping him overseas. So this is just the theory...but if SDink ever happened to spend some time in Hungary I'd be on her doorstep begging her to paint my doll, and I'd be willing to pay...a lot of money

Would you ever attempt to do a face up yourself?

Yes, I basically do my own dolls' faceups now, and I'm pretty satisfied with them lately. So I don't really feel the need of seeking out faceup artists though I'm definitely inspired by many of them.

What's your price limit for face ups?

$150-200...but only in that one theoretical situation. Otherwise I'll just do my own faceups the way I want - for free^^