Thought I could squeeze in a few things before college stuff is due. Lord knows what prompted this, but I've decided to make my own BJD. I'm still in high school and I haven't bothered to get a part time job, so my cash flow is tight; buying brand name dolls is out of the question. Sculpey is more in my price range. I've held a BJD probably once in my life, for a few minutes at a friend's house, so my knowledge of them is limited. I'll have to work from photographs online. Likely, I'll make a few mistakes; I'd appreciate any corrections or tips. Here's my tenative sketch, done in ink, of the doll I'd like to create: I've already decided against those eyes, however. I'm making them more slender. She's around 17" on paper. I'll be building a tinfoil armature later, along with the beginnings of her head. Very exciting! Here's hoping for the best!
I love the concept sketch, looks a lot like Souldoll Clara. As for the schematics, I think the torso is a bit short, also, in the profile view, I think maybe you might want to place the head a little further forward on the neck.
Yes her torso is too short... and on the side view, I think she is a bit too thick, a little slimmer would be better
Also, if my the sockets are about 1 1/4cm long and a little over 1 cm wide, what mm eye would someone recommend?
To measure for what size eyes, you measure from one corner of one eye to the other in mm. That's the size you need. I tend to prefer one size smaller, though.
Took me seven heads to get anything I liked...but now I'm getting better faster. Don't worry^^ Yep. Might wanna be careful if there are thin pieces though. I baked a dragon head last night at the normal time & temp, but a horn and ear were browned because they were thin.
A good way to sculpt something without worrying about mashing parts is to make an aluminum foil core and build the clay on it. Also, if you mount the head on a thick metal bar and mount that bar in a block of wood, you can sculpt without holding it in your hand.
Trying this one more time! Excuse the bad photo quality. The clay's so white, my camera can't focus on it. Head, upper torso unattached: Some lovely tinfoil: Profile of the head: I'm keeping the head open until I do the inital painting coat. Then, I'm going to be putting in the eyes permanently and sealing off the cap with a hole large enough to adjust elastic with a thin wire. Speaking of eyes: They're acrylic 18 mm, light hazel. I painted them with a mixture of acrylic varnish and liquid watercolor, so they're very red. Actual red eyes were too expensive! If all ends well, I should have a pretty swell Ifrit doll in a few weeks. Loves me some fire demons! PS Does anyone have a diagram for how the torso joints work? I ended up sawing my original torso in half, as you can see in the pictures, so I might as well joint him while I'm at it.
It went from a she to a he?!! He's very lovely :] I don't have any pictures of the torso, but I'm sure someone will be able to help you. I can't wait to see him finished!!!
Haha, I'm very fickle, I can't help it! But I'm glad people like him so far, thank you. I actually sliced off his ears and his neck yesterday (again with the fickleness) because I want to bring out his ears more and the neck dried off center. More work, yay!
Does this help any? http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v321/yukamina/torso.jpg I made a little tutorial on bdjs, but I'm a kind scared to post it here, 'cause there are people here with much more skill and know-how than me
I keep hesitating on making the torso for mine... I don't know why I'm so scared, I'm liking how the head has turned out... *needs to do ears for that still, actually...* ... Guess I should go look up swimmer reference... it'll be interesting to try to make a more mature male body...
That helps a lot, Yukamina! It's very simple and easy to understand. All the other tutorials make it look difficult for some reason - the fact most of them are in Japanese doesn't help either. I think you should post your tutorial regardless of your fear; the more tutorials, the better! I suggest you invest in a male anatomy book, Akamar. They're fantastic for understanding the muscle systems and the body as a whole. I had a few sitting around since I'm an aspiring illustrator and they've come in very handy.
