Aesthetics Faceup progress (Three faceups ago, to now)

Wow!! I can definitely see a big improvement after you got more practice. My favorite area is the lips, they look so much more soft and realistic than the first faceup and they really stand out in showing your technique.

Also, I love your style of doing eyebrows. I've done probably 10 faceups and I still can't get the hang of gorgeous wispy brows like that. Are they acrylic? Great work.

 

I use the same materials, so I guess I just need to keep honing my hand Tiny details can be so hard to get right. Anyway, if I had to critique your recent faceup in any way, I think the lines around the eyes ended up a little blurry, maybe your pencil wasn't so sharp during some layers? But it doesn't take away from the faceup in my opinion, I think it looks really good and you ought to be proud of your improvement! I'm excited to see other faceups by you!

 

You are on the right track!!! I see big improvements!!! To my eye, and I am new at this, but, I think there are just too many eyelashes!!! That is just me!!! I would like to see 2 lashes coming out of the same space, just like upside down v's. Shorter towards the tear duct and longer as they move away from the duct.

 

I truly hope that I didn't hurt your feelings. That was never, ever my intent!!!

 

Those eyebrows are gorgeous! You should be really be proud of your hard work! I love strong eyebrows on any doll, no matter the gender. I think you're doing great!

 

Definitely a huge improvement! You chose great colors, and I love the soft lips. The one thing this faceup has in common with the previous one that I think could still use improvement is the position of the eyebrows. They are too high- you can especially tell in the photo of the head turned to the side. Eyebrows are usually on the brow bone, which is the part of the forehead that sticks out the most. On the side few photo, you can see that the eyebrows you painted are slightly above the eyebrow bone. It gives the impression that she is raising her eyebrows in surprise.

As far as technique goes, I think you've got the hang of things. The eyebrow hairs in particular are really good! The only place that looks a little sloppy is the eyelid crease, which is admittedly super hard to do with pencils. Though it kinda looks like you used paint for that, in which case it just takes practice to get the lines nice and tidy.

That's good improvement after only a couple faceups. And you will only get better from here! :3

 

I use the connect the dot system. I locate the brow bone. Put 3 or 4 dots along the brow bone, then connect the dots. I do that with both brows. I examine the head with the brows connected holding the head looking in a mirror. Right side up and upside down. The mirror will quickly tell you if the brow placement is correct on each eye.

 

The eyebrows look great and I like the lips too It looks like some of your pastels have gotten smudged around the face, I often have trouble with that myself and find it useful to wear white cotton gloves and get a putty eraser to clean up before sealing. Well done on your progress! ^^

 

It's way better than my faceups so far lol. One thing I noticed, which I have the same problem with, is having a heavy hand with the eyelid crease lines. When I get all my doll supplies back in August, I'm gonna try using watered down paint so it's not so heavy or thick. Does anyone have suggestions for making the crease lines more delicate?

 

I use Nitrile gloves by Mr. Clean. They are disposable. There are 40 gloves in a box. Very inexpensive. I get them at Lowe's, Home Depot or Big Lots.

 

I don't exactly have experience with faceups, but my suggestion would be to use colors other then black?
Like a dark brown, or even a plum or red color?
Depending on the desired look of course.
Also @Antimonia your faceups have improved fantastically, and I am also absolutely in love with how the eyebrows turned out!
Please keep up the great work!

 

I got mine in the pharmacy, they were near the first aid stuff. I have two pairs and I just wash them on a delicate wash if they get dirty.

 

i can surly see your improvement!=D
Maybe sharpen your pencil more when you draw the eyebrow.....?or try to use arcrylic + brush?
Really like the way you color her mouth!

 

Hello! What wonderful improvement you've done! I can't believe the amount of technical improvement in just a few faceups, keep going and you'll master it in no time if you keep up this level of jumping up in quality!

If I were to give a critique, I think my main two would be a)the lower eyelashes, they're drawn on absolutely lovely, but I think you're going to want to bring them up into the lower lid a bit more. As it is right now it looks like a bit of a blank space there. Remember on real human eyes the lashes go up and into the "wet" skin of our lower lids, they don't start under them. The second critique involves some smearing of the pastels.

https://image.ibb.co/hSpaCk/faceup.jpg

You're going to want to get a kneaded eraser, roll it up into a sharp point, and clean up those spaces a bit where the pastel "overhangs".

Other than that I just have to say I am very honestly impressed! What a great job you've done, you should be very proud!

 

@Antimonia Aww, you're so sweet! Keep up the absolutely wonderful improvement! The biggest thing I think that will help is just obsessively watching tutorials on Youtube and getting a feel not so much for the different finished products, but more the "process" of how different artists work both in general and to achieve specific effects, that will give you an idea on how you can mix-n-match to ultimately find your own unique stype.. Getting a cheap practice head is probably a great idea too, I have a damaged Chloe head that I got for super cheap on a broken parts and junk BJD facebook group, you might want to join called "BJD Saviours". It's awesome to just have a cheap head that you can just faceup and wipe constantly without worrying at all!

And yes, a kneaded eraser is an absolute godsend. You can get them fairly cheap too, but it will likely become one of the most used items in your toolbox! It really is indisposable for making your faceups look clean and crisp.

 

@Antimonia You're very welcome! It's a great place to pick up inexpensive pieces to try your hand at faceups, modding, and other things that you want to practice before moving on to an expensive doll!