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

My first doll is with the person who is generously sewing him a costume (it's barter, I'm doing something for her in return) and I just bought another on Marketplace. The first one has the company faceup but I desperately want to do the faceup on the second. It sounds so fun! I have this ridiculous conviction that I can learn to do skintones! And the more I can do for myself, the more I can customize to what I want...I hope. We'll see how it goes in real life.

 

Back in the day, before my second doll arrived, I paid the company (Buddydoll) to give him a custom face-up. I sent what I thought were very specific pictures and notes about what I would like.

When my doll arrived, I Hated the face-up. It was incredibly disappointing because I knew their face-up was technically good, but I thought it made my doll look like a daft, passionless, boring person who needed to tweeze his eyebrows.

So I altered that face-up, clumsily, yet to my personal satisfaction at the time.

And thus, my answer to this question must be: I'm too much of a control freak to prefer commissions.

 

I have a Bachelor of Fine arts degree so I want it to help pay for itself a little haha as in, I do my own face-ups!

I adore some of the gorgeous faceups I see out there but I can't see sending a head away for a face-up, both from stress of mailing it to all the cost involved. So while I do my own face ups to save money, it is also a pride thing as an artist. I like being able to tell people "I painted the face".

That said I DO have a Dollshe Ru who I bought secondhand with the factory face up, which I liked so I kept it. She still has it to this day (lasted since 2006!) but eventually I will have to re-do it as it is fading over time.

 

I would go for commission, I don't think I have the nerves at the moment to paint my own and besides I'd be supporting an artist.

 

I have done face-ups. I am fairly good at it, but it's really hard for me to be satisfied with my own work. Half the time, I would rather have someone else do it because I am not as critical of other people's work.

 

My dolls faces are the way they came to me. If I decide to change them, I would like to try it myself. I am practicing airbrush right now but not ready to try a face up, soon, hopefully!

 

I can't even draw a stick figure, so there's no chance I'm ever touching my dolls' faces.

 

I sent one out for painting and decided I thought I would like to try, I have been painting ever sense. Someone noted that choosing an artist that most matches what you want is a very good suggestion. No one sees things the same and we paint to what we see. I like the natural looks and lots of light layers in pastels others prefer the look of acrylic paints. It's all in what you like but I encourage anyone wanting to try painting to try. you can check out some of my work any time at http://www.fireflies-and-blossoms.com/index.html
Charlene

 

I think I would eventually try to do my own face-ups, but as I've just been in the hobby and waiting on my first doll, I've ordered him with a default face-up from the company. If I do get other dolls, I might either commission somone who's style I like or try it myself.

 

I prefer to commission. I have a very clear idea of what I want for my dolls' faceups. I'm not satisfied with faceups that don't match the impression I envision for them. It's easier for me to pay someone else who has demonstrated they have the ability to deliver what I want. I'm very particular when I chose an artist for exactly that reason. I just don't think I could reliably paint the faceups I want for my dolls.

 

It's always cooler to try out new stuff on your own

 

I do it myself, since i rely on the faceup to get to know the doll and their first faceup is very important tome, it sets the character and everything. My attachment to the doll is less about them being "a character in a story i created" but more as "a blank void with infinite possibilities lying within", the moment i feel there's no longer anything for me to explore, i'm never hesitant to sell them....

 

I would do it myself if only I was good at it. Haha^^;; I am not... So commission it is!

 

Commission the best artist that is available….I am not artistic. I WISH!!

 

I prefer to get commissioned work for my MSDs since they're my first dolls, the SDs however I like to paint myself. I'm not very good at it but I think I get their characters across well. I don't like sending doll heads in the post or taking the chance they might not come out how I want them too.

 

I like doing them myself *v*)/ I love doing face-ups and trying out new things >A<)/ I really want to paint some "fantasy-themed" face-ups lately OvO

 

I like to do the face-ups myself. ^^ Even though I am not the best at it, I know I'll be better as time and more face-ups pass by. When it comes to my dolls, I just think they feel more mine when they have face-up (and clothes as well) made by me.

 

A year ago or so I would probably go with commissioning someone else since there's a LOT of people who can do a lot better than I can. Plus, back then I didn't know how to/didn't feel confident enough in my skills to do faceups on my own dolls. I think even now there are people I would like to commission faceups from (like Caroline of Viridian House!), but after working on my faceup business for a year+ and finally doing my own doll's faceup, I can confidently say that for the most part I would like to do my own.

 

I'm a control freak, so I have to do it myself...however, there is a lady here, I am bananas for, blacktauna wigs, her style is insane, I want to commission her for her wigs..
Maybe if I met an artist here I admitted just as deeply, I would commission them as well...maybe...

 

Before last year I always hire an artist to help me, then I felt sick to wait for them( more than three moths!)
and sometimes I spent amount of money , but the face up were not what I wanted, so I tried to do it myself.
at the end I found that I could do it! So, I won't ask for the commission again.