How did you handle sending your doll on a face up commission for the first time ?

I had sent a head to France (I'm in the US). The waiting was hard, but I knew the artist's style and wasn't worried. I had two other dolls at the time, and they got lots of attention. I did get nervous over shipping, because things can happen. But when I got her back, I was floored by how amazing she looked. As long as you and the seller communicate and you aren't afraid to speak up if something isn't to your liking, your head shouldn't be a disappointment ♥ Good luck!

 

I am from Canada and have sent 4 blank heads to a fabulous artist in the USA. Her commission form is excellent and she even allows you to attach pictures of a style that you would like. Note; she does not do copying. She has her own wonderful style and asks you about the personality that you ascribe to the doll so that she can get a sense of the expression that you are looking for in the finished product. All of the heads were very different. I sent a Peakswoods FOC Vampire boy, a FOC Dandy Keith and a FOC Tristan. I also sent a Maskcat Margo. All turned out as I wanted them as were described to her. She is AngelToast Asthetics.

 

Personally it may be good to compromise with yourself. I'm sure that keeping within Europe could help reduce your costs and anxieties, and in my opinion, there are marvelous artists everywhere. Even particular styles are not so much limited to regions. That's the magic of the internet is that artists all over the world can take inspiration from far away places and each other so if you continue looking you may find someone nearby who does the kind of work you are looking for.
As for myself, I have painted my own dolls the whole time. I have only one experience sending off for work by someone else (it was because they offered me this to trade for something I had, which was not really that helpful but I was feeling indulgent I guess). Anyway, I don't have anything encouraging to say about my own experience there, but, I can say:
Know how to pack your dolls safely, insure them if possible. Know the risks and don't push your comfort too much. Be up to date and send to places that seem reasonable to you only, because global situations can vary a lot.
Be flexible with your expectations. If you want something done 100% within your control you have to learn to do it yourself. To invite an artist to create your vision for you is a collaborative effort. So in this way, openness is key. Artists want the customer happy and they also want to be happy enough creating, so feel excited if you can to see how inviting the artist to paint your doll for you can change your perspective in a positive way.
Otherwise, be patient, commissions can often take a few months because of things like shipping times, work load, and weather conditions.
I think having a relaxed attitude, honoring your own anxieties to a reasonable extent and doing a little research on whatever artist you choose to avoid predictable mishaps is key. Sure, sometimes an artist might do obviously lazy work or have a really misleading portfolio but I think this is probably the minority and not something to be expected.

 

I am also nervous about sending my dolls off in the mail, so I've learned to do a pretty good face - up myself! But I would like to have a real artist do some of my dolls. I hope it's okay to ask a related question on this subject here - are the professionally done face-ups done by private doll artists as durable as face-ups from the big doll companies? My favorite thing about factory face-ups is how durable they are! Even with three coats of MrSuperClear my face-ups never last long. once I put about 5 or 6 coats over my face-up on a favorite doll and it ended up cracking and peeling off a year later! The doll was fine but now I never put more than 3 coats on at the end!

 

I sent my Dollfie Dream to face-up artist overseas. If I remember right I think the artist was in Thailand (from US). I usually did my own amateur face ups and been fine with them... But this doll had the factory makeup, and I had stupidly gotten pigment transfer right on the center of the face from touching to my dark shirt She was perfect and I ruined her... An anime style face was something I didn't think I could execute, so it was the perfect opportunity to send a head to a face-up artist for the first time.

Right now if I check the artist's page you can see hundreds of face-ups she did. If there were so many back then I definitely wouldn't have had any nerves at all going into it, but that wasn't the case yet. However, all the examples were consistent and perfect, and she had just completed a face-up that looked really similar to what I wanted, so I took the leap. I decided to not put too much expectations on the artist and mainly told her the most important details to me - the shape and color of the brows (to which I pointed to an example of a face-up she had done) and basic expression I was going for. Along with telling her what I didn't want (lashes installed). She asked me a few questions along with some of her suggestions for the other details of the face and I answered back. And that was it, full payment sent and mailed off!

I had chosen to put faith in my artist and be happy with whatever I had gotten, but she actually reached out with some in progress photos anyway, to make sure I liked what she was doing. I didn't have to ask for any corrections but it was nice that she gave me an option before finalizing the important details of the face. She was home in under a month I could not be happier with the result! I 100% recommend sending your head to an artist!! unless you just want to enjoy the process of creating it

Although I never did face-ups for others I have done art commissions in the past. And I think one thing that's important is for anything that you have a clear vision for, you need to communicate that most clearly, especially with images because sometimes two people can have a different idea of something expressed with only words. You also need to be able to give the artist room to breathe and do their thing, which means accepting that there may be some differences from your imagination to the final product. Remember that you sent your head to the artist because you trust their skills, so you also have to trust their judgement and design choices Make sure to thoroughly study the portfolio to make sure your aesthetics are aligned with theirs, make sure the feedback is good, and you'll definitely get a result that you can fall in love with!

 

I have recently sent one of my blank heads off to a face-up artist in Korea. I was really worried that the head might get damaged during shipping or that I wouldn’t like the end result, but I was worried for nothing! I made sure to send the head off in a sturdy box, so it arrived safely, and the artist’s work ended up being just what I was hoping for! Now I’m less scared to send off my other heads to artists in other countries.

 

I have sent a body to Poland before (I am in the USA) to get a custom garment made.
As for face ups, due to my own anxiety, I only send heads within the country (or continent) I live in. I am very lucky to live where sending Angeltoast my heads is not a big cost.

I would recommend finding an artist within France or in the EU. Make sure they have a portfolio, make sure they send progress photos, make sure you like their style, and see if they have positive reviews. The shipping from France to the USA and back will be nearly as much as the faceup possibly after you add enough bubble wrap to protect the head.

As for being anxious about sending it off, I did feel that way with my first head but after I saw how easy it was, I got over it. Artists like Angeltoast really put you at ease. She has a good form to fill out, she sends progress photos, she lets you know when she has received the head and when she has shipped it back to you. Finding an artist whose style you like and whose communications fit your needs is what's important for sending off heads for faceups.

 

@CheshireCat so weirdly enough, I have never found a company Faceup to be Durable at all! It's surely dependant on what companies you have had the faceups from, so bear that in mind that I'm referring to more old-type painting... I see a lot of very elaborate and dimensional defaults these days but that used to be pretty unheard of. I assume those are on par with artists' airbrush faceups. Additionally I find airbrush faceups and traditional sealant faceups have different durability. The ones I have done with citadel for example I thought were the most Durable and I could keep them on my dolls with normal use for 5+ years with no damage, whereas I've worn off spots of a company Faceup in one year.

 

The first time I sent a head out, I've been the hobby for almost two years, got a fairly expensive doll and I knew my crappy skills couldn't do her justice, so I picked an artist who, at the time, was fairly well known and I'd interacted with on a different forum quite a bit, so I knew she was good at staying active and in touch. That made me feel comfortable enough to ask for her to paint my doll. Overall, she was very kind, listened to what I wanted, took interest in my character, gave me several ways to contact her, and even took some funny photos of my head with her dolls while she had it there! (that was more of a friend thing than professional artist thing.)

When I got the doll back....I actually didn't like her that much. It was pretty disappointing because I dreamed of that doll being perfect, and she wasn't. I didn't like the lips. Everything else was great! The lips were...off. Lined too far outside the natural lip line. I never said anything and just accepted her as she was, but it always bugged me. I ended up wiping the faceup a couple of years later. That being said, now that I have more experience in the hobby, I feel like it was my fault. Looking through the artist's profile, that's how she did made up lips, but I had mostly only looked at her natural faceups. I should have done more research and realized that was just her style, my doll wasn't messed up. It just wasn't what I expected. And secondly, if it bothered me that much, I should have said something when she sent the progress photos. (I won't be naming this artist because first of all, she did nothing wrong, she did excellent work with fast turn around time, great communication and made it fun. Secondly, I'm not sure if she's even in the hobby anymore, much less taking commissions. This was more than a decade ago.)

So my advice to first timers:
-Research! Look at the artist's previous work. Look especially at the type of faceup you want. You might like their natural style but not makeup style. Look at faceups similar to what you want to be sure you like their style.
-More research! Be sure your artist is reputable, and request more than one way to stay in contact. Websites can disappear, accounts can be locked, phones can be cut off, so have a back up way to reach them. Check the turn around time and be sure it's acceptable for you.
-Use proper shipping methods. Get tracking and insure your head, just in case anything goes wrong. It's unlikely that it will, but on that off chance, at least you won't be left with nothing.
-Check and see if your artist offers progress pics or redos. If they do, and you don't like something, tell them. They can't know something is wrong if you don't tell them.

And for coping while they're gone? It's basically the same as waiting on a doll to arrive. Get excited about them! Make plans. Buy or make them things if they need it. Work on their character if you're into that kind of thing. Plan out what kind of photoshoots you'll want to do with your pretty doll.

 

Not a problem! I had work done by Nina's Dolls.

 

I sent more than 10 heads to artists away from my city. I can give some suggestions.
Get a hard face mask for your doll and pack him/her in bubble wraps, paid for the quickest mail service you can afford.
And then wait patiently.
For the artists, only thing we can do is research. They may be showing everything well on Instagram but hold lots of heads unfinished. Try to find out feedback of previous commissioning and see their punctuality and communication skills.
Some artists may be good at using your reference pictures and do exactly what you want. Some artists are more used to do what they want.
I am quite easy going, if the head come back as not the style I like. Clean it and find another face up.
My collection is now going to one or two artists I trust for face up only. Her style suit my dreams and usually I let her do it quite freely.

 

AlisonVonderland , Thanks for your insights! I had hoped that professional face ups would always be especially durable! They're expensive! I think I'll try using a different sealant on my own face ups - perhaps try the one you use!

 

I had sent my dolls for my first faceup commission only a few months back and it had been a rocky experience to say the least.

It should have been easy: send money, ship the heads, and the artist returns them with results that make me happy.

But instead, the trouble first began when the sturdy box I put my doll heads in had to be disposed by the shipping carrier over the likelihood of the package getting rejected at the border (I'm Canadian, shipping to the US) because the box had the faces of Chinese actors. Then I had to explain the doll heads were in fact, manufactured in South Korea as I've indicated on the form, and also no, they wouldn't have "Made in South Korea" labels anywhere. The shipping carrier offered to print such a sticker for me but the entire experience felt so absurd to me given I used to run a small business pre-tariffs that frequently shipped to the US without trouble.

Then came the waiting game and how I should have asked about the artist's turnaround time before shipping them. It was a two months' wait -- which is entirely fair -- but I didn't prepare myself enough for being separated from my only two dolls.

Next came the headache with the artist who only started working on my doll heads well past two months. They gave no communication about delays, didn't read my instructions so they did the first faceup in a way I specifically requested not to do, and often forgot to deliver promised updates on time. I felt so drained from having to repeatedly keep them accountable to their work -- all the while, this person remained increasingly active across multiple social media platforms. While I do not condone bullying of any kind, it is rather telling that they were vocally frustrated by critics of their active commissions.

By the time my dolls were finished and sent back to me, I was not pleased with how expensive the shipping fee was for the size of the non-priority USPS package (I did not question it in good faith when I paid for it). I also got slapped with expensive duty taxes. Suffice to say, I will not be doing any business across the border in the foreseeable future.

Lastly, when the doll heads arrived, I felt very disappointed when I realize the artist's style -- though gorgeous on stylized dolls -- is a poor match for my sculpts that lean towards realism. I should have asked for photos of the faceups in daylight, but the artist only worked rushed during the late night hours of 1 or 2 am in dim lighting (we're in the same time zone) and I was too tired to fuss at that point. Adding to what @CloakedSchemer said about researching the artist and how one artist's natural style can look very different from their makeup style, also consider if the artist has painted sculpts similar to the one(s) you want to get done. Thankfully, my dolls' faceups eventually grew on me, but I will still consider getting them new ones in the future.

Apologies for the long rant, but this is the honest recount of my first faceup experience. I had a similar case with a wig artist who also left me on read for days at a time. I learned that patience and being charitable got me nowhere -- that I have to be firm about expectations from the get-go, and even hand out ultimatums as last resort. Moving forward, I will only commission artists who have a proper business page, can demonstrate good communication skills, and who will value my time.

 

I’ve also recently had to send a doll head out for a commissioned faceup for the first time too and I was a bag of nerves the whole time.
Normally I do my own faceups but this particular older doll developed a problem when I removed the one he had when I got him from his previous owner. It was nice but not my style. For some reason after the initial clean there were shiny white patches on the head which I first thought were due to sealant residue but after further attempts at removing they would not go away. In all the years I’ve done this I’ve never had that happen. They were smooth, shiny and symmetrically placed on the head. I was upset but tried to give him a faceup anyway thinking I could just cover them but it wasn’t that easy. That’s when I knew I had two choices, rehome him which I didn’t want to do as he’s an old sculpt I love or commission someone.

After a few months of going back and forth with my decision one of the artists whose work I like opened their books. I looked at their page, studied the forms (which scare the bejesus out of my ND brain) and in a panic contacted them explaining the situation. They looked at the photos I sent, explained that they’d seen the problem before which was a kind of surface bleaching that occasionally happens in older dolls and agreed very kindly to help.

Once the details were sorted, forms filled out, etc I wrapped and packaged the head and sent it off to the US from the UK. Thankfully he got there safe and sound. Waiting time was a few months as they do commissions that involve modifications and sanding last (makes sense) but eventually I got the email I’d been waiting for with the first picture check up of how the work was progressing. He looked amazing, a few features were discussed and that helped calm my nerves a bit. The next update I got was the finished result which I was delighted with then the wait as he made his way home. To be honest I think that was the most nerve wracking part especially given everything that was going on with tariffs and the postal mayhem they’ve caused but he came home just fine.

Was it worth it? Although it cost more than the doll is worth I’d say yes in this case. He needed damage repaired and covered which I could never have done myself, I know my limits. The faceup is beautifully done, such skilled and delicate work!

Would I recommend it? Depends, there are a lot of factors to consider (especially just now with the instability of the whole tariff situation and various other world events) and I really would suggest researching the artists whose work fits your style as thoroughly as you can. Look at their commission forms, check to see how much influence you can have on the work to be done as not every faceup artist allows much more than basic pointers. For me that was a difficult thing to deal with as being an artist myself I’m incredibly fussy about how I want my dolls to look. If you cannot relinquish control then commissioning a faceup probably isn’t for you!
There’s also cost to take into account, the best faceup artists are in high demand and their services do not come cheap nor should they especially if that is their livelihood. Costs should be clearly laid out on their website or commission page. Remember you are unlikely to recoup that money if you sell the doll later as the chances of your taste also being someone else’s are very slim….are you ok with that?

Would I do it again? I doubt it but never say never! It was a constant worry even though he was in good hands, my anxiety was through the roof the whole time. It was exciting, it was a new experience, I was delighted with the results however my nervous personality found it stressful all the same.

I can see why other people do it all the time when you get such wonderful results though.

 

Very helpful thread! I am also getting ready to send a few of my dolls for a faceup for the first time. I finally know what look I want for them.

Choosing the artist/s isn't easy though! I'm in Europe too, and am thinking of sending them to an European artist.

 

I'm not here to give advice, just wanted to say I am in this boat as well. One of my favorite sculpts came to me without a faceup and it was so hard to find an artist in my region who did the style of makeup I liked. I sent my doll away for Dollsphere to de yellow and allow one of their artists to take care of him. Still in the waiting period (1 month so far), but some days I miss him more than others.