OT/General Pre-Creation [BEGINNER QUESTIONS]

I think having a good plan is quite important, as you can work out a lot of elements in your plans (if you know how) before you ever open your first pack of clay. It gives you a guide as far as proportion and sizing goes, and helps you distill your ideas into a solid form. Without a good plan, it's easy to end up with a doll that's not proportional, or with some elements that are off in such a way that it's hard to change (legs/arms/torso/neck/etc. too short/long is a common issue), or just really has no direction and is thus hard to work on because you have no solid goal you're working towards. Of course, your plan doesn't -have- to be a drawing. It can be a bunch of photos of a real person who you want to sculpt, or even a miniature, low-detail sculpture that you want to size up and refine, but the original little one works to help you see the proportion/style/etc.

There's a neat little tutorial here which talks about making your plan and has some examples. I would definitely recommend making your own rather than working from someone else's... and also treating your first attempts as practice to learn how to work with your materials and to gain the skills you'll need to make your "real" doll. First dolls are usually a bit wonky.

My dolls end up looking a lot like my plans. Usually something will end up being tweaked, like I may change exactly where a joint is, or lengthen/shorten a limb (I work in 3D on the computer mainly, so this is a lot easier than with clay) but I make a really solid plan or work from good references. I think it saves a lot of time, knowing where I'm going with a doll. Because there's a universe of possibilities and styles and jointing systems, and being able to eliminate 99% of that and just work with a more narrow focus helps me a lot to actually move forward with my work, rather than being paralyzed by all the options.

 

I might not be a good example, because I don't do anything the way tutorials tell us to . In my case, I hardly draw blueprints, and when I do, I merely use them to get an idea of what kind of body type I'm going for. Then, I just toss them aside and don't look at them anymore. But, I've got to say, I sculpt the doll as a whole and then cut her apart when she needs to be baked. That's why I don't have issues with proportions.

I do agree with HystericalParoxysm that it is important to have a solid plan (either by drawing, or by collecting pictures). If you don't, it's easy to get stuck somewhere down the road. Making dolls is a long process and you'll still want to know what your initial goal was when you're a few months in.

As you are a beginner, I do advice you to draw a blueprint first. It helps you get an idea of what you need to take into account when sculpting a doll. Blue prints can also be used by figuring out what type of joints you'd like for your doll and they're an easy way to spot if your design might have some issues.

 

I usually do all my planning in my head then just pick up lumps of clay and start sculpting parts. Sometimes i sketch out my ideas but i'm so indecisive i always end up changing things. Blue prints are awesome but in my case they aren't really worth a damn cause my sculpts never look like my drawings. Try experimenting to discover what works for you.

 

I draw blue prints. For my current project, I made about 6 drawings. I don't expect my doll to turn out just like the sketches, though. The sketches help me determine general shape, proportions and where I want to make the joints. I don't even try to sketch faces before sculpting them, though.