Faceups Practice faceups on resin or plastic heads?

If you clean it thoroughly, there's no reason that you can't repaint a head multiple times. However, if you don't feel like using your 'keeper' doll, you can buy resin practice heads for $20 and under on eBay, at some dealers (like Alice's, for example) and even here on the MP.

 

Along with Alice's Collections, Clover Singing also sells cheap practise heads too (look in the 'other BJD brands' section). I think its best to practise with the same texture material as your fine work so you get the feel for it

 

Yup, I picked up an old head from someone on a Facebook group for $15. It's obviously had several faceups before I started on it, but taking them off with isopropyl alcohol is pretty easy. I'm just practicing on that.

 

Polyurethane is plastic.

 

If you use proper materials, you won’t hurt the head. My first doll has probably had more than 20 faceups and he’s still perfectly fine! Even though you use the same materials on vinyl or plastic heads, the texture is different. I think it’s best to learn on what you’ll be planning to collect.

 

I'm not a face up artist by any stretch of the imagination, but I got into these dolls to customize them myself. I enjoy painting, I've painted most of my life now and I love customizing most of my toys whether they are resin or any other type of plastic. I find it a lot easier to paint on larger heads, regardless of the type of plastic. I do find it a little bit of a pain in the gut to paint on tinier heads, but that's not dependent on the material just the size, because I have terrible shaky hands. Having said that, painting on soft vinyl is a lot different than painting on hard plastics (including resin); I find it easier to blend pastel on hard plastics than on soft vinyl (sometimes), but painting with actual paint is pretty similar on both. If you want to practice painting resin heads, there are legitimate companies that sell practice heads under $30, on Alice Collections or other legitimate dealers. (:

 

Since I am on the same boat as yours I'd rather practice on resin in that way you will get familiar with the canvas and stick with the water based materials.

 

So I dont consider myself a faceup artist, just a hobbyist c: and I've painted my fair share of monster high dolls for fun c: I guess those are what I had to practice on before I did my first resin faceup. I painted my Soom Petit Gem Leepy and it was definitely different from the vinyl heads I'm used to c: I wish I had known about the practice head idea but transitioning from vinyl to resin wasnt crazy. The texture is very different but similar methods apply c: I cant wait to see the faceups you make though! I love when people share what they are working on

 

I started doll repaint with cheap Monster High dolls I think it was a good way to learn to use the material correctly! Then I did a Pullip custom and only after that I started repainting resin bjds!
I was too scared to start directly with the really expensive dolls

 

So I’ve gotten into collecting dolls, now I’m tempted to make wigs and maybe eyes for them. I would LOVE to make some really good ones. I want a hobby I will love. And bjd seems to be it

 

I would use plastic dolls as a starter. I really fear messing up an expensive head. They're much cheaper and perfect to start doll re-painting.

 

I feel like a practice head or old doll head would be a great thing to experiment on!
Alice's collections always seems to have a few in stock at a cheap price.

I have only tried face ups on a resin head and a Monster High doll I got from a thrift store. Maybe its a scale thing (MH is tiny!) but I found it much more difficult to work with the MH doll. You have to draw/paint the eyes yourself and the surface texture is pretty different (vinyl vs resin). I probably will not do a MH doll again

 

I practice on old beaten up soft vinyl heads, some that I wouldn't display. But I started on plastic regular ol' kids doll heads!

Don't forget the matte sealer! Makes seeing details much easier in my opinion.

 

Does anyone know of any good acrylic paint alternatives to use on monster high dolls and bjds?

 

Gouache. It's water soluble, so if you make a mistake you can take a damp paper towel and wipe it off without disturbing the sealant.

 

I've been betting good results with Gansai Tambi watercolours. It's a Japanese brand and has a high level of pigmentation, so with a low amount of water, I'm finding it quite a good match to acrylic. It gives me the ability to be able to clean it off if I make a mistake without stripping of sealant or underlayers. The only thing to be careful with is that it can reactivate with water so like @lynxie said, it needs to be well sealed. I tend to do fine line work with it at the end to avoid smudging/ reactivating issues.
Of course, any high quality watercolour with a good amount of pigmentation is likely to do the job so you don't have to be stuck to brand i'm using!

 

This is not true, as I’m sure others have pointed out. If you thoroughly remove the faceup and all of the residue, there is no difference between a head that’s never been painted and a head that’s been painted a hundred times. I regularly repaint dolls I’ve already painted because I want them to look a little better, and it makes no difference.