Faceups Faceup Commissioning vs DIY

I don't have the figures to back up what I'm saying, but I think make-up commissions are still common. Some people don't like doing faceups, or they don't feel like they can do it. Not everybody is a faceup artist, like not everybody is a painter. I also feel like there is a lot of faceups artists taking commissions around the world. Maybe I'm biased because as a faceup artist myself I follow a lot of fellow faceup artists.
You may not like all the faceup artists you found, and maybe you will enjoy painting faceups yourself. Or maybe not. Try and you will see!

 

on instagram. I used to follow #bjdfaceup for instance. Now I only follow people whose work I like.

 

There are plenty of good face up artists hre on DoA, but they advertise in the marketplace and it looks like you don't have acess to that yet, so perhaps that is why you are having trouple finding any?

In either case, comissions are quite common. I don't have the numbers either, but I suspect they are slightly more common than doing it yourself in the hobby over all. But it may depend on where you look. DoA tend to be very DIY-oriented with the slower pace of a dedicated BJD forum (compared to all-purpose, mass trafic places) encouraging people to take the time to learn new skills and giving solid advice when helping beginners. It steers you somewhat away from the instant gratifications and the "just pay someone to do it" mentality you find in some other circles. So I suspect that making your own face ups may be slightly more common here and perhaps more talked about because of that.

Best of luck finding the right artist!

 

Basicly, it's for any transaction where goods, services or money changes hands. In other words, any transaction that requires a bit of trust and where there is a risk of loss if things go wrong. The whole post count thing, applying manually for access etc. is all aobut that. It helps to ensure that (or at least increase the chances of) only actual hobby people getting there. It's often said that DoA is supposed to be a BJD-focused discussion forum with a marketplace attaced, not the other way around.

 

Neither option is better or worse, it's just down to preference! It's a highly customisable hobby so people will get there through many different roads.

Personally, I've always done my own because of cheaper cost for multiple dolls, less waiting time and because I want to do the whole customisation myself. Tbh, I'd also be terrified the head gets lost in the mail *knock on wood* But it can just as well cost less and take less time to get the faceup you love when commissioning! It's like when buying dolls, when you find an artist whose work you love it might be hard to be satisfied with anything else.

If you feel like you want to try doing faceups in the long run, you can also get another cheaper head just for practice

 

Yeah I think personally I'm a little too anxious about the faceups looking the way I want them to to try. So every one of my dolls I either commissioned myself to be done or came with a faceup I enjoyed enough to keep. A couple things I do to make sure it goes well is finding clear faceup image references, having a firm grasp on what personality the doll has, and knowing what I like and don't like. Then I highly recommend looking around on instagram and if you're looking for a specific style (natural, anime, gothic, etc. etc.) feel free to ask in here for specific faceup artist recommendations. I choose ones that seem to do a style frequently that lines up with what I want.

 

Ok, first, I'm the one who will be alright to stick to the company faceup unless it's strongly out of the character in my head or it's unavailable.

Company faceup is the cheapest choice to get decent quality faceup for your doll. I did calculate and compare before and most of the time it still win over DIY when you included material cost. (I only have a few dolls, and don't think it will go anywhere over 10 in next five years, FYI)

If the company faceup isn't an option, then my second most prefer is to get my faceup done by someone who have a good reputation to be on schedule and have an art style that I'm ok with (Doesn't have to be the best out there, I'm value the trustworthiness more)

Unless I strongly want to become a bjd faceup artist in the future, I'm not going to try DIY whole faceup from nothing. (That's only my opinion though). Knowing basic about it is helpful and I've tried to learnt that, doing it myself... No

 

I’ve done both, and I’m lucky to have worked with some very talented artists when I was comissioning, but over time I found it harder to send my dolls away for long periods of time so I learned to paint myself. I think having seen a variety of other people’s work up close helped me with that process, though, so your mileage may vary.

 

I do not have the skills to do face ups. While I like to paint, I can't paint fine details that face ups require. So I commission people. I believe I found them in the marketplace or by asking friends for recommendations. I have one person I really like so I tend to commission them for all my face ups.

 

I'm thankful that Maskcat's company faceups are gorgeous and exactly the kind of faceup I would commission so I don't need to think about either option for the time being. I'll likely commission someone from DOA when/if I'll ever need to buy a blank doll from another company.

I can paint traditionally to a decent degree, and I have no idea how much skill transfers over to face-ups, but I simply can't be bothered to learn and doing miniature work stresses my eyes a lot even with glasses (I get headaches).

 

I got the company face up for my first doll. I saw advice somewhere that if its your first doll and there was a face up you like, then to get it. It puts less pressure on you to learn face ups fast (as you would with a blank doll) and having at least one doll with a nice face up already will let you enjoy the hobby more. I will be painting the rest of my dolls so I try to practice as much as I can...whenever the weather lets me. But in the meantime I can still dress up and take pictures of my doll since he already has a beautiful face up I adore!

 

As many have already said it’s very much a matter of personal preference and there’s nothing wrong with any of the options. This whole hobby is about personalising the dolls so go for whatever suits you best.

I have a couple of dolls with company faceups, the rest are either still blank or have faceups I’ve done myself.
So far I’ve never commissioned a faceup purely because the artists I like the most are so highly sought after they’re way out of my league and when they do open up for commissions the forms scare me. I’m not very good filling out forms, never have been, and am afraid of doing something wrong.

For me the customisation was a big part of what attracted me to the BJD world in the first place especially the faceups which is why I learned to do my own…….and redo them…..and redo them again as my ideas evolve over time.
Doing your own is a huge, frustrating learning curve, and can initially be quite costly until you gather the materials you feel give you the results you’re after but it does allow you more creative freedom in the end especially as tastes change over the years.

 

Agreeing that while doing faceups is a huuuuge investment at first once you have the supplies, you’ll virtually never use them up—except watercolour pencils. I’ve used up a black watercolour pencil already doing extensive tattooing.

 

I'd bet you've already received your doll by now, but in case you're still thinking on it or for future threadgoers trying to make the same decision, I've gotten company faceups, commissioned, and done my own. Here's what I'd consider for each:

Company Faceup:

• Do you like the standard faceup? If there's small things you'd want to tweak, is that company amenable? (Try looking around the forums and seeing if others have gotten a firm yes/no. If not, a polite email is always worth a shot!)
• Do you have other ideas on what you'd want the faceup to be that are very much not the company's faceup?
• Are you willing to wait a little extra longer before receiving the doll?
• Do you want body blushing? If the company does it, that's less doll for you to either ship out again or to paint yourself.
  
• Is removing and replacing the doll's head a concern for you? I've found that usually, commissions involve just shipping the head (unless you're getting body blushing and such, too), and while I've done faceups with the head still on the doll, it's kind of unwieldy. With a company faceup, you don't have to worry about that.
  
• The company faceups I have are pretty hardy; I haven't worried about redoing any of them, so that's nice.

Commission:

• Do you have an artist in mind? Check out doll profiles here, or doll owners on other social media to see where they get their faceups done for ideas.
• Does what you want match your budget? Don't forget shipping costs, especially for full dolls.
• Does what you want require supplies you wouldn't use often? If you're only getting a couple dolls, or a certain faceup requires materials you wouldn't use again, it may be more economical to go this route. Pastels, paints, brushes, PPE, and sealant add up fast, and take up space!
• Are you willing to ship the doll/its head out? Note that you may need to get a faceup protector for the return route, too.
  
• You do have to communicate your idea coherently, or be willing to accept artistic liberties. References can go a long way!

DIY:

• Are you going to do faceups, blushing, etc on multiple dolls? I personally started doing my own faceups when I realized my collection wasn't just gonna be three, one with a company faceup!
• Are you willing to take the time, use the right materials, and build your skills? You don't have to be an artistic prodigy to get a good faceup (I wouldn't say I'm an artist but I think my own faceups turn out all right), but patience and practice are key. At the very least, take the time to get your PPE set up right before using spray sealant! NO SKIPPING THE PPE. (It's not that hard but it's crucial.)
• What's your climate looking like, if you want to use spray sealants? They can be finicky, and you'll want to get an idea of when you can do faceups.
• What space will you use for storing supplies and for doing faceups?
  
• My DIY faceups aren't as hardy as the company or commissioned faceups I have, but I don't feel as nervous about the idea of touching them up or even wiping them.

 

If you have any motivation and already own the supplies giving it a go yourself isn't a bad idea - however, it isn't exactly easy, especially if you don't have art backround (and even then, it's a medium of it's own so it requires it's own skillset). So if you have the money I think comissioning someone is a great idea!
I'm currently working on my own dolls' faceups and even with some experience and art backround it's so annoying (at least for me personally). I wish I had the money at the moment to commission someone!

Edit: To be fair, doing faceups can be a lot of fun too, an very satisfying when you finally get it right. Definetely worth trying!

 

There is a list on here somewhere of several reputable face up artists. Like you, I worried about messing up my first few dolls. Are you on Instagram? @_ducmon_ is excellent, also @Pauliannedolls, @Angeltoast, @theugliestwife are a few good ones on Instagram.