I'm a beginner to DoA, The Joint and BJD's in general... I would like to create my own bjd, as I do not have the money to buy one.. I made a reference sheet for making my own, http://goldenfennec.deviantart.com/#/d5482oi Very similar looking to a Pipos Bao I don't know what it's name will be yet, and I feel a bit too afraid to start, scared off by making mistakes.. I printed out the ref sheet at the size that I want my doll, but I do not know where to go from there.. What would be the next place to start? What should I make first? Do I really need to carve everything out of Styrofoam, first? I have found many useful tutorials, but I don't know where to start :dead Thank you in advance!
First of all... accept that you will make mistakes. Just say to yourself right now, "I am gonna screw some parts of this up royally! My first attempts may be laughably terrible, and I may spend hours or days on experimenting in ways that don't work." But ya know what? That time you spend screwing up is not wasted, because you'll be learning - how to manipulate your tools, new techniques, how to see mistakes, and how to fix them. Building experience is just as important as finishing a project the way you want it to. And judging by your sketch, you've already got some good artistic skills, which gives you a bit of a head start. Don't be afraid to experiment, and to not have it come out perfect the first time. There are two main ways folks tend to start - either modelling the entire body in a rough form, usually over a core of some kind (this may be styrofoam, cloth filled with sand, aluminum foil, balled up masking tape, straws, or other materials) or doing the parts individually. Personally I think doing the whole body roughly gives you a better overall idea of proportion and keeps from having parts too "mismatched." But it's really a stylistic/personal choice; you can always try both ways and see which you like best. Check out some of the projects in progress to see how various people started theirs - you may find there's a way that you like the results of better than others.
Haha, yeah, I'm guaranteed to make mistakes for sure XD But I'm still really excited about this project! I think I'll model the whole body in aluminum foil, thank you for your help! Also, thank you for saying that I have artistic skills
You don't technically HAVE to make a core out of styrofoam or something else; you have to make the parts hollow after casting anyway either by doing a 3 piece mold or drilling so the hollow sculpt you make will be pretty much useless once you get to casting (so don't try to perfect your core too much... I spent a lot of time trying to get my doll perfectly even and nice on the inside before i knew this lol). However, sculpting a hollow body helps tremendously for two reasons: One, it saves a lot of clay and provides support while you're sculpting and two, it allows you to test string before you cast so that you can see how the joints work, balance everything and adjust the range of motion to your liking.
I haven't managed to finish anything yet... I'm still learning and working on my first doll too, But one thing i have figured out (having little income to use for dolls) If at all possible use materials that are Re-usable such as Plasticine (oil based sulfur free clay) or Modeling Wax for you sculpting. or when you make mistakes you'll have to buy more clay. that will save you money and you won't have to put the project up till you can get more supplies. Its something I wish I had done. If you already have a preference or if your really drawn to paper clay or something you should use that, but for practice Re-usable is a good thing. Good Luck and Happy Sculpting
