Would you rather commission a faceup, or do it yourself?

It really depends on what look I'm going for with a doll and what I plan on doing with them. I primarily collect vinyl dolls like Dollfie Dream, whose factory faceups are borderline bulletproof and don't use MSC at all, so for most of my character concepts all I need to do is find a factory faceup that's similar enough to what I want, and then I can wipe what I don't want, then add a layer of MSC and add the blush or extra details it's missing before sealing once more as a topcoat. Anime faceups require some really fine brushwork to look good, and I just don't have that skill, so this is a great shortcut.

I HAVE done a couple of faceups all the way through from blank to complete, but these were special cases that didn't need fine brushwork...a cartoony face done entirely in acrylic for my Obitsu 40 for example, and a faceup/body blush combo for my Whale Tower Rafayeh that really just required me to dab a few different colors of acrylic on with a dry brush to highlight the sculpt details and give her a weathered look. Simple stuff, I can do no problem, and if this is a doll I plan on taking with me for photos or companionship, a simple paint job is a must so I can touch it up again if something happens.

If I want a more intricate artistic look for a doll's face that I can't achieve myself, though, or really like a specific artist's style, I'll spring for a commission instead. But I really don't go for that unless I've vetted the artist carefully and really considered it, since if something happens it's not usually something I can fix. I usually only want fancy faces on harder to find sculpts, too, so I have to make sure the artist won't take too long and that they're reliable. But I've had good experiences so far, so I'll continue to do this.

 

I'm extremely paranoid, even when I have no right to be. An increasing number of my dolls have turned up broken, and I had to go to war with a 'trustworthy' vendor via my bank over an outfit that never left China after being marked 'shipped' for half a year. In the same year that we all figured out we were being scammed by JPopDolls.

Part of me fears that the doll I send out for a faceup will be the one that gets lost for good in the post. So... I've commissioned one faceup in fifteen years, and the rest either come with the dolls, or I do them myself. I've never paid for a company faceup on a new doll, save for a Dollfie Dream fullset, where you can't opt out. It adds too much cost, and is rarely what I want. As much as I would like to pay more talented people with expensive materials to paint them for me, it takes all of my budget just to get the dolls themselves.

That said, now that I have vinyl dolls, I will need to sleuth out some good-and-affordable faceup artists who also mod, because I can't seem to sand eyesockets smooth on my own, or open them without problems. Not to mention how easily vinyl stains compared with resin. It still makes me nervous. But I'm sure I'll get to painting them too, someday. Budget demands it. Also, when a faceup goes well, it can be satisfying. There's always a sense of accomplishment in bringing them to life yourself.

 

Theoretically I would love to do my own faceups; however, I'm not to the level I want yet and my energy and attention span can be abysmal lol. I have been thinking about faceup commissions and trying to research people's styles to see if I find something I like cause I'm a bit picky since all of my dolls are shells for very personal characters.

 

I used to do my own faceups and enjoyed it well enough. However, sewing is more my thing, and now that I’ve experienced the ease of commissioning a faceup artist- who does a far better job than I could right now! -I’m never going back unless it’s not in my budget! Frees me up to focus on the part I like best.

(The shipping is a bit stressful, but the only artist I’ve worked with so far is very trustworthy, so any hiccups would be USPS’ fault rather than hers.)

 

I personally prefer to do faceups myself - my budget is already very slim, I simply do not have the money to commission someone atm. However, I can certainly see myself commissioning someone in the future! I've seen some very talented artists who can do far more than I could ever hope to do!

 

I prefer to do faceups myself, mostly because I find it to be fun, but also because I'm terrified of shelling out for an artist faceup and having it get scratched up with no way to fix it. I usually redo my dolls' faceups every few years to update them with my improved faceup skills, so I honestly have no fear of scratching a DIY faceup because it's easy enough for me to wipe it and do it all over for fun.

I do own one doll with an artist faceup that I purchased secondhand solely because I loved the faceup, but that will probably be the only non-DIY faceup I will ever own. I just love doing them myself too much to pay someone else to do it for me!

 

I would love to be able to do my own face ups, but honestly, those skills continue to elude me. Commissioning someone would be fantastic, and I would love to be able to do it, but my budget never seems to stretch far enough. Also, to add to that, sometimes when I look at a BJD listing, it is the stock face up provided by the company that helps to make the doll for me.

 

I’m working on one at the moment, so it remains to be seen! Now the eyebrows are ok I need to redo the blusher and hope I can get the lashes in

 

I usually face-up my dolls myself, it s really fun for me and I like it a lot. But I would love, in future, to order one or two face-ups from professional, like PaulianeDolls or Rakeru Sensei, to have couple perfect dolls

 

As of right now, it’s commission for me. I do plan on buying some second hand heads to practice on, as I would love to do my own eventually. Once I get to a point where I feel like I could do the dolls justice, I will start doing my own!

 

I always love the art other people do over my own, and faceups are no exception. That said, because I can do mediocre faceups myself, I find it hard to justify spending the money to commission a faceup. But if I had the money, I would LOVE to commission more faceups. I always love the results and it's so much less stressful on me for whatever reason. Also, in trying to do my own, I suffer from shaky hands, fatigue, and other things that mean I rarely can do them so it takes a long time to get anything completed.

 

I would love to be able to do my own face ups, but I would never be happy with my own abilities and the kind of skill I am after is something that would take years to hone. I’m also really bad about losing motivation really quickly if I feel like it’s not going well. I came across a face up artist whose style I really like. They can be pricey, and it takes a few months from sending off the head to getting it back, but in the end at least it’s done and done well. I don’t have a massive collection of dolls so my hope is that I can save up and get the ones who need painting all done in the next year or two.

 

Definitely commission. i'm such a perfectionist it's painful.

 

I paint my own dolls. It began with saving money -- at first I didn't know any faceup artists in my country (the BJD community is quite small) and I didn't like the idea of shipping my dolls overseas every time I wanted a faceup. So I decided to invest in learning first.

Now the main reason is creative control. A faceup artist can't read my mind, no matter how good they are or what rapport we have. I prefer to have a doll with my amateur faceup that resembles my inner vision of the doll, instead of a gorgeous professional faceup that I'm disappointed with because I spent all this money/time getting it done but it doesn't resemble my vision.

And I discovered that painting faceups is fun! I enjoy improving my skills and then repainting my dolls - it's been great to see my dolls's faces look more like how I imagine them.

That said, I'm open to ordering company faceups, or keeping a faceup that came with a secondhand doll -- and I've done both. If it's beautiful and suits the character, it stays, no matter who painted it.