Discussion The Joint: BJD-making discussion

So I DID pick up a couple different packs of modelling plastelina the other day, and just started playing with them.
First result is in. 'Jolly King' is WAY too soft to sculpt with. But it's cheap, and probably what I'll use for filling molds.
I also bought a pack of Prima, which only comes in "medium" firmness, that I need to try out.
I need to look in my craft supplies. I THINK I have some other stuff around that was annoyingly firm for what I'd originally bought it for, but I have no idea if it's sulfur-free (important for if casting with silicone)

EDIT: After I wrote this, I broke out the Prima and started playing with it. It's better, but still not quite as stiff as I think I'd prefer. I comes in a big 2lb block, so i just started shaving away until I had a rough SD-sized head. I'll post it here if I keep going on it.

EDIT#2: I found the clay in my craft stash. It's a dirt cheap Micheal's brand called Craft Smart. It doesn't say so on the package, but the online info says it IS Sulfur-free. And for some reason, the White is firmer than the grey (I have 2 colors of the stuff, don't remember why lol). Now that I know it's okay for molding, I think this one in particular will be very nice for sculpting.

 

Hey, first post here! Here’s the blue print for the doll I’m starting! She’s a lil grasshopper hybrid lady named Nella The blue print is pretty inaccurate in some areas for how ill make the actual doll (which I guess almost defeats the point of a blue print? But oh well), like the legs being so thin and such on the drawing, I’m sure they’ll need to be modified a lot for her to be able to support herself. It’s enough for me to be able to start her though. This will be my first time sculpting a doll, so hoping it goes ok! So excited

I actually had started a torso the other day and made a chest piece I really liked, but somehow what I started came out incredibly small. Going to go off the blue print more, and sketch out an in scale front facing view (I drew it totally out of scale to begin with, not sure why I thought that was a good idea lol) so I can restrart today.

Nella’s blueprint by Isabelle8y, on Flickr

 

This isn't really modification, but that's the closest I could come??

In the next academic year, I hope to sculpt, cast, string, paint, and outfit my very own ball jointed doll. At this point, I have next to no experience. I'm a multimedia artist but I've done next to nothing with clay, let alone resin. So, this project journal will document my experiences and experiments as I teach myself everything I need to know, and eventually make this happen! I'm going to be learning through tutorials, any resources I can get my hands on, and (primarily) trial and error. Buckle up, my friends, this will be a long and crazy journey.

WHERE I AM SO FAR...

I've made three finished dolls, none of them would be considered on topic. But hey! They're a first step to eventually making a real, genuine, on-topic doll!


These babies are very crude. They're pipe cleaners and clay. The redhead in the polkadots actually has a padded wool body, but I couldn't make it work as well as I wanted it to, so I abandoned that idea for Walter and the pink haired girl.

Tonight, I started sculpting a new doll. This one actually has a clay body, with pipe cleaners and tin foil as a frame.



They're still crude as heck, but a step closer to what I want. Baby steps, am I right?

 

Thank you! I sculpt very slowly, and I really hope someday I can work faster.

 

How fun! Good for you....and I really like Walter.

 

Hello everyone! I just found this thread. I have been working on my doll for some time now, actually she is completed But I just recently started sharing steps from her creative progress I plan to prepare more timelapses of her sculpting process. She was sculpted digitally in ZBrush.

Since I found this thread I went through all pages and loved all your beautiful creations

Margaret Creative Process by Muri Muri (Aridea), on Flickr

Margaret Creative Process by Muri Muri (Aridea), on Flickr

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=2123205664625093

 

@bella8y She's so unique! Not only the grasshopper body, but the other little details you've included, too. She's going to look cool

@Diaphanouelle On-topic or not, they're cute little dolls

@Aridea I love her little face! This is a dumb question but...is that a screenshot from ZBrush? Or is that after you had her printed?

 

@Zardi Thank you for your question! These are 3D renders (the body shot and hand timelapse) ^^ For presentation purposes I export decimated sculpts from ZBrush to Blender and render them there using a 3-point light setup!

 

Very ambitious! I like the drawing. I look forward to seeing your progress. I'm still intimidated about making a normal body!

We all started somewhere. Are you using super sculpey white? I started with that too, but it was a bit too.... dry? crumbly? for me. I then found the flesh colored and it works a lot better for me. Keep it up!

She's beautiful and so are your drawings of her. You must be very gifted with zbrush. I can't wait to see what else you do

 

Its been so long since I've visited The Joint (mostly because the last time i tried to go there my antivirus wouldn't let me) I was actually on The Joint years before I even knew DoA Existed! I'm so excited for the merge, and to be able to post about doll ideas and progress again. I was never able to finish my old doll designs years ago, but I have a lot of hope to be able to finish my current one-- a 1/12th scale doll suited for dollhouses!

Maybe once the merge is complete, I'll start my own thread for them, but for now I just want to share in the excitement and see what everyone else is up to. So far, everyone's stuff looks AMAZING!!! I can't wait to see more!!!!!

WHOA, im really in love with the winged head!!! Im such a sucker for "eyeless" designs, though technically that has more eyes than the average doll. Absolutely beautiful!

 

Hi people!
I hope you are all nice.
I have something to share, talking about plasticine... I have find a way to bypass that hideous polystyrene cutting for core making for stoneclay/paperclay sculpt. I made plasticine core, than I have made bariere with plaster and medical gauze (idea was like dressing when you brake hand for instance), Third stage is sculpting with La Doll in mine case. I made photos for you on my flickr like little tutorial because I was not sure how to do it here. I hope somebody will find this idea useful.
Link



@Aridea I am very curious did you sculpt every part alone, or did you make first sculpture of whole doll like figure and cut it out. In manual way there are two of that approaches.
I am experimenting also digitaly last days in Zbrush and I am thinking about process. It is interesting that out there is so many doll making tutorials but so few about digital making.

 

Well.... I finally gesso'd my doll head and apparently I've put it to thick because it was sticky, so I've been waiting the 1-2 weeks I've read will make it firm up.... D'Oh! Oh well, it's jut a learning process. I'll post pictures when I can. If this doesn't work I may put either sawdust on it and sand, or baby powder... but hopefully it will dry.

 

I soooo wish we had our forum to ask these questions, but I'll go ahead and dump them here, and hope that someone who knows the answers will see them.

I will soon be ready to contact Haru casting about making my head. (I still have to buff one of the cheeks and clean up the inside of the head, which looks weird and lumpy.) From Haru's website, it looks like the minimum order is 10, but that can be any combo of colors. So my questions:

1. How can I prove to Haru casting that this is my own creation? I sculpted the head in Sculptris and got it 3D printed, then made further changes to it by hand. I don't have a ton of progress pictures other than what I've posted in this thread, and I'm concerned that they aren't obvious enough proof that I created the head. Or maybe this isn't the big issue I think it's going to be?

2. I am primarily doing this so that I can have the head in resin for myself, but I figure I might as well sell off the extras. I want the head in tan, and will likely keep at least 2 copies, but what about the other 8? I thought it might make sense to get 5 in tan and 5 in some sort of natural skin so that the head is as body-compatible as possible, but I don't know if this is a good mix. Maybe it would be worthwhile to get a few in a darker tone to try luring some of those collectors that like darker dolls and have a hard time finding them?

3. I know Haru offers colored resin samples for sale, but does anyone know of a comparison chart that shows which other companies' resin each color matches?

4. Related to #1, once the head is cast, I would like her to be declared on-topic and even advertise the extras for sale here rather than just try to attract attention on Etsy or IG. I assume I would have to prove that the head was truly designed by me. How high is the burden of proof here? How hard was it to get your own heads or full dolls declared on-topic?

 

@Zardi I can only answer question 1, hope you don't mind.
Do you have any older/backup files, showing your progress? You could take a few screenshots of those and make a flickr album or pdf file, with a compilation of those images, as well as pics from your 3d print + your manual modifications. I suppose those should be enough for both Haru and a future evaluation by the mods.

 

Zardi depending on the sculpt type if you have a bit of proof and it looks unique enough it should be ok!

 

Thank you both I do have photos on Flickr of previous versions of the head, both screenshots and 3D prints, so I went ahead and assembled them into an album. I would assume Haru Casting has an account on DoA (I think most companies seem to?), so I think I will direct them to my posts here too when the time comes. I'll make sure I take pictures of my interior modifications as well.

 

Oh gimme a second I actually have a photo of the resin chips from haru

Though the best thing to do is to ask haru for his resin samples. He’ll send you whatever colors you ask for as long as he has those chips and you’ll just have to pay for shipping.

Edit:

So the dollshe fresh tone I got from haru didnt actually match my dollshe fresh venitu head but I've also heard that dollshe might have changed their fresh skin tone at some point in recent years so that might be part of it. The photo is unedited but the lighting is night time room lighting.
Nothing I got matches pale tan though. Uhh I dont think I have any other tans to compare to. And here's a photo I got of my collection. Also unedited but the lighting again isnt the best so it makes it look like goohwa through roderich matches ish to venitu when venitu is fresh with the others are white skin.

I hope this helps. I'd take new photos but I stored the resin chips close by the heater (oops) so I dont know how it's yellowed compared to when I got the chips.

 

*Delurks*
Say, I wanted to get what will probably be a Haru-casted body for a LLT WS head at some point and was wondering which of their colors matched best.

 

@Zardi when I applied for on-topicness of my head, I showed them the photos from my WIP thread on The Joint, and answered the few questions they had (about where I had it cast, and my plans for it). It took a couple of weeks, as I recall. If you show them some of the pics you've shown us here in this thread, I think that ought to be enough to show it was your work.

Regarding resin color, do you have some bodies in mind that your head will fit on? Maybe offer colors that match your potential bodies. Some in normal skin for sure! I had all 10 of mine done in light tan (at Weiju) and now I kind of regret it.

Also @Diaphanouelle your little dolls are adorable!

 

Hey actually, technical question for everyone:
I'm using zbrush for my sculpt and I'm having a bit of trouble trying to figure out the following:

1. How to make the insides look good?? I tried with the create shell feature but it just echos what the outside looks like so its kinda ugly weh
2. How to get the headcap to fit onto the head?? Like a ridge or something to make sure the headcap doesn't shake around or whatever

Edit:
I finally went and got mod permission to post about this project! I got permission from mr cho to work on a venitu sculpt and make a vampire version. He comes with a mouth plate so I can swap between teeth, teeth and tongue, and clenched teeth versions.

So additional questions:

1. Doing zbrush subtract seems to keep creating holes in my model?? that makes the model invalid?? Has anyone else come across this issue/figured out how to get around it? I've been hollowing my models out in mesh mixer instead as an alternative but the process is super laggy ;-;
2. In general: has anyone ever done mouth plates or face plates before?? I'm not too terribly sure how they fit together/should lock together. The way I have it set up right now would need a bit of putty and it's kind of like how eyes fit into the eyewells

Progress so far:

 

Thanks! Based on the picture, that middle tan looks good for what I want to match, but I'm thinking that most of the extra heads need to be either their Volks normal or pinky normal in order to match a variety of companies.

Thank you! It's good to hear that the process wasn't too difficult. I'm not sure what bodies my head will fit on, to be honest. It fits well and has good mobility on a RS Rong neck, but prior to modding the body, it looked really bobble-headed. I have a Lumedoll body and Minifees I could try it on, but that's about all I've got access to as far as slim minis go. Measurement wise, it should fit on most slim mini bodies, but I have no idea what would happen to the head mobility. It's got a pretty good tilt range right now.

So I'm torn between getting a really generic normal skin to appeal to as wide a market as possible, and maybe, hopefully, sell a few of the heads...or springing for a few darker tans to try to appeal to people who don't have as many heads to choose from, but knowing that there are even fewer body choices to match.

I can't imagine making these choices for a full doll without getting preorders from people first. What a huge monetary commitment

What cool project! I don't use ZBrush. Sculptris doesn't allow hollowing at all, so I used 3D Builder to hollow the head. It was super easy to do, but not very smooth, so now I'm working on smoothing the inside of the printed head by hand (both sanding and adding small amounts of apoxie).

I can maybe help with the headcap? I used 3D Builder to create a little rod on the cap side of the head, and a matching hole on the face side of the head that the rod can be inserted into. It's enough friction to keep the cap on the head or to allow the cap to be rotated out of the way so I can fiddle with the eyes. From what I've seen of ZBrush, I would think you can do something similar there.

 

I've been working on a head for a doll of Penguin from Gotham. (just for me, I won't be selling any so there shouldn't be a problem)

Spoiler

Spoiler

I'm having trouble with the eyes because something went wrong with the symmetry at some point so the eye sockets are slightly uneven. If one eye looks good then the other ends up a giant blob. I'm pretty proud of it so far though. This is only the second thing I've 3d modeled and the first using the actual sculpting tool instead of adjusting the mesh manually.

 

@ToriaCrux If you are using Sculptris, there is a symmetry option that you can toggle to prevent that. I would assume ZBrush has the same setting.

 

I had symmetry on but it got messed up somehow and I didn't notice until it was too late. I don't know if I did something wrong or if it's a problem with Maya.

 

Ok so I hav started sculpting my first bjd! I have sculpted a face once before but never finished... will be interesting to see how this turns out.
He is very small, I’m not really trying to stick to a specific size range, but he’ll most likely be close to mature mini. Right now the head is probably 3- 4ish inches around. I am excited! I hav never sculpted a body before but I have a sketch of the main parts and I’m looking at lots of references. I just hope I figure out a good method for channel inserts. Maybe Saran Wrap?
Here’s a vid of him! LV on Instagram: “Tiny head, tiny man! Smol person is being created! First time working with LaDoll paper clay. Introductions will be made once his head…”

 

@dragolivia Looking good so far!

 

@dragolivia - he's looking great! His mouth is so detailed despite being so small.

Here's some of my progress. This is my second Ladoll head sculpt (Ladoll premier clay sculpted over an aluminum foil armature), and I have concluded that I love the clay but my tools are TERRIBLE. I'm trying to sculpt smoothly with nothing but a fingernail cleaner and a little pick-ended tool and a pin! (silly me) I will get some better tools as soon as possible.

Anyway, this head is meant to be the same size as my original Bimong Dandelion head (7") and to fit on the Dollstown Elf body.

It's pretty rough at the moment, but I can see a bit of personality.

Her working name is "Bakhita" after St. Josephine Bakhita.

Bakhita WIP by StellaMarigoldArt, on Flickr

Spoiler: Profile

Bakhita WIP by StellaMarigoldArt, on Flickr

 

I'm kind of ashamed to post this here, but I started the attempt at making a head weeks ago, and got him back out today.
Other than some mods on BJD heads I haven't done any sculpting at all since college D: so I don't really know what I'm doing. I'd say in total I've worked on him for about an hour? I made a "base" then let it dry (for like a month lol) then today I pretty much covered all the work I'd done under more flesh... This is where I am *cringe*



I've been calling him Lump. XD
I'm letting him dry again. My fingernails are too long...I think I need to cut them all off, I keep gouging him. Also I squish him while I'm working on him...which is why he gets to dry now. He's so crooked lol poor Lump.
I'm really pretty happy with him! But then I look here and cry lol you guys are so good.

 

@VampireAngel13 - you have to start somewhere! I like where his facial structure is going (nice long nose!).

And I completely agree about the fingernails. Mine are not even that long but dang, I kept scratching my poor girl's face. It was driving me crazy!

What kind of clay are you using? I bought two different kinds of LaDoll and some Creative Paperclay, and the Premier/Premium Ladoll is very nice. It looks a bit creamy when wet, but dries to a bright white (unlike the paperclay, which stays a pale beige).

I forgot that Ladoll shrinks when it dries, so that head above, which was supposed to be roughly the same size as a Bimong Dandelion 7" ended up being a bit small. Oops!

I'll either re-do the whole thing or try to fix it later when I have her body.

 

@StellaMarigold Thanks! He looks a lot better now. I couldn't leave it alone XD
I'm using Creative Paperclay. I bought it ages ago intending to sculpt, and then I never did, til now. It hasn't shrunk too much I don't think? The original terrible start I had seemed to be roughly the same size. Or I'm totally wrong! Right now he's about the size as a lot of my 70cm heads....which is about what I want. So I guess if he's smaller when he's dry I'll find out ha ha

Ugh, my fingernails aren't that long either but it's so annoying. Then I get the clay under them and I'm not thrilled with that either XD

Here's where he is now



I have to force my self to leave it alone.

 

He's improved so much!

And yes, maybe the paperclay doesn't shrink as much! Or maybe because he's bigger it isn't as noticeable.

Clay under fingernails ick! But it is one of the sacrifices we make for art, right? Haha

 

Hi! I normally don't talk here, but I've got a question so I hope it's OK to ask here! Is there a way to make a rough duplicate/copy of an unfinished headsculpt in clay? There's a pretty drastic change I'm looking to do to my sculpt, but I'm not sure how it'll turn out. So I'd like to work on a duplicate and keep the original in case it doesn't work out.

 

You can make a silicon or plaster mold of it, then you can use it to make copies out of resin or plaster (in this case, you'll have to make it on silicon).

 

Lol true! Sacrifices! XD

Well I don't think he's shrunk too much....and if he did it's a good thing because if he was much larger he'd need an 80cm body XD I'm hoping for Dollshe Classic size as that's what I like best. He's not totally dry though, so there might be more shrinking to come? And then I added more clay to him last night. His head is still really uneven. I'm afraid to cut him open. I don't want to break him D:

Paper clay is weird to work with. It sands really easy but doesn't seem to carve that well? Or it's me and my crappy tools XD I've probably ruined them modding resin and Milliput. I have no idea how to make the neck hole. I probably should have done that already....

yesterday's work



I didn't do much. Just sanded him and filled out his eyes and nose and evened out his lower lip. His brow and cheekbones are uneven. So is his upper lip. I might go with it. I'd prefer he smile anyway. After looking at some reference photos I'm pretty sure I know what I want to do next to fix him in his face....it's the actual Ball-jointed doll part that's scaring me XD

 

thanks~! =)

 

@Treasure That is where I am at. I have my current head sculpt, but I want to make him some 'brother' sculpts that basically look mostly the same, but with a few differences. Since I don't think I'm skilled enough to replicate the whole thing, I'll probably have to perfect the original sculpt first and then make some copies to edit.

@VampireAngel13 I had trouble with paperclay too (you're right, sandpaper works great, but carving/etc not so much). I think it's because the clay has a lot of large particulate pieces in it, so it tends to flake off/come off in chunks. I swapped to stoneclay LaDoll, which has a much finer consistency, and I love it. >_> It's a tad pricier though.
And I was really scared to cut my boy open too, I was terrified that something would shatter. But, I basically poked a hole in the bottom of his head and used forceps to pick out all the tin foil, then used an exacto blade to saw a line to take off his headcap. >_> I still haven't actually worked on his neck socket much...
(What I did was, after I had a gaping hole for his neck, I stuck a ball of clay at the bottom, and plastic-wrapped a neck piece, then squished the head down onto the neck to make a suuuuper-rudimentary socket. Which I will definitely refine at some point, I swear! )

But it's been a while since I last posted in here! I think my boy's coming along OK these days.

https://www.flickr.com/gp/64301220@N04/5z3uN0
https://www.flickr.com/gp/64301220@N04/w70N49
https://www.flickr.com/gp/64301220@N04/13s49c

 

Hello everyone. Just wanted to stop by and kind of share a head I'm working on for my collection, and maybe get some advice? He's made from paperclay, and I've been carving/dremeling details in for several weeks now. However, his features are still uneven looking. The right side of his face is all wrong. I'm wondering if I should keep trying to improve the symmetry, while risking messing it all up, or if I should move on to primer after I finish his last few details (ears, sanding, smoothing, and neck hole)? Really, any advice, even criticism, would be appreciated.

Spoiler: More Pics!

​

 

I think he's coming along great! I've been loving his progress!

Yeah that's the problem, the paper clay comes off in chunks. So did you use the stone clay over the paper clay? Or did you have to start over.... because, nope lol I'll deal with the paper clay!

Lol I was totally planning on doing that to make the neck hole XD I figure I can be sure he'll fit the body I want him to that way! Hopefully anyway. I was also going to use an xacto to open the back of the head...I'm not sure how I'll get my foil out though. I think I packed it too tight. We'll see I guess, if I get that far XD HIs head is really uneven too, so I keep having to add more clay. Maybe I should open it and work on it in pieces. Or sand him down more. I have no idea.

I reworked his mouth and face last night, but I think I made his upper lip too short. Sigh.

 

@VampireAngel13 Thank you, I've been enjoying seeing your progress on your guy too!

And after I swapped, I just squished the stoneclay on top. I did score the surface up a little though, since I had already sprayed some primer on him. If I remember right though, when I uncovered the paperclay (I had sanded off some of the primer), the stoneclay did stick to it pretty OK as long as they were slightly wet.

I got stuck when his headcap was still on, I kept feeling like I couldn't do anything else on him, so after I had it off I felt like I had more options. And I had my tin foil packed pretty tight too (next time, I'll go wayyyy looser), so it took me forever to pick it all out of his head. But I got there eventually. :P

@BenEMcD I think he looks awesome! People aren't 100% symmetrical, so he looks very normal to my eye. I can see that one brow/eyelid is slightly higher than the other, so you could try to bring it down a little.
But other than that, his cheeks, cheekbones, and temples all look very even to me, so I don't personally think you need to completely re-do anything. I even think you could embrace the uneven eyes, and make it look like he's purposefully cocking one eyebrow up.

 

X3
It sort of sounds like you and I are on the same page! Or possibly we're in the same boat? I have no idea! But I also feel a little on the stuck side. It's the eyes, I need that foil gone and them beveled out so I can work on them. I can't do much as it is now. On the other hand I'm very afraid he'll crumble without that foil inside as support....which is why I wanted to get as much done on the face as I can before I have no choice but to move on.

I may buy some stone clay. I have to wet him anyway to stick the paper to paper so it shouldn't be much different? Hopefully? I really feel like I need carving ability...so that might be the way to go! Or I'll ruin him and have to start over anyway so I'll just use the LaDoll XD

I don't feel like I'm near the primer stage yet, but I was wondering about that....it's just spray paint primer? Or is there a certain kind?

EDIT: I bought the LaDoll. We'll see how it goes! I should get it Saturday, and it's supposed to rain from now til the end of time so I'll have plenty of time to work on the Lump.

Here he is again just because



He looks a little less narrow as I flesh out his face. His brow is crooked now. At least it's not uneven anymore.

 

@VampireAngel13 Lol I was going to offer to send you a little bit of my LaDoll to test out if you wanted, but you beat me to it! I think he may look less thin (and maybe have more structural integrity?) if you fill out his cheeks a bit - I thought my guy would look too cheek-y when I added more, but once I did, I found it didn't look as strange as I thought it might (also I could've always sanded some down if I didn't like it).

For primer, I know a lot of people use Mr. Surfacer. I wanted to get that, as it's fancy - they have different fine-ness levels (higher grit), but Volks USA seems to always be sold out, and also it's very pricey (like, $9 for a 750ml can, with the usual $15-ish for ground shipping) so I couldn't justify it. So I just use Rustoleum Painter's Touch primer spray paint, which I got at a Home Depot for under $5 for about the same amount. It is very glossy, but seems to even out the surface of things very nicely once you get to 3 or 4 coats.

 

I see a lot of people mentioning symmetry on their sculpts and I hope this helps!

If you hold your sculpt up to a mirror, a lot of “imperfections” and assymtrical details will jump out at you because you’re seeing it fresh for the first time again. Mirroring your paintings and drawings will have the same effect.

Also from my art instructor, a lot of academic artists will recommend nailing the profile on your sculpt first since that’ll give you all the depth cues for your sculpt. Rather than from the front which will flatten out all your shapes and forms

 

Aw, that's so sweet
But yeah I jumped the gun. It will get here just in time for me to spend all weekend working on him!
Yeah that's what I'd started doing (it's hard to tell in pics but it looks very different to me now lol). He still needs a little more flesh around the mouth especially. Also the jaw. I was afraid to make him too wide, but then I made him too narrow! I'll probably be nitpicking him forever. The mouth is especially important to me. I would prefer an open mouth and a smile, but that didn't happen....maybe I can still make it work. Or I'll save that for Lump version two. XD

Holy god Volks USA D: The prices of their stuff doesn't shock me, but that shipping is why I never order from them. I can't pay more for shipping a thing than the thing itself. Luckily I do have a home depot nearby! Thanks!!

 

@VampireAngel13 Being nitpicky is hard! It's a struggle in non-doll stuff for me as well. :P

 

Omg for real. The reason I hate all my artwork and it takes me a million years to do an illustration for work! Once the actual drawing is done I turn it into a vector and go nuts zooming in and fixing all the little crap no one can even see XD

ugh.

Among pro artists in the social medias I'm on this is going around "Finished is better than Perfect."
I need to repeat that to myself a hundred times a day.
And it still never works.

 

Hey, you’ve got a base a good start. No sculpt looks brilliant after the first layer, it’s more about what you build now. If you just keep making adjustments, you’ll get to where you want to be in the end. My first sculpts were so bad I binned them - they certainly never got as far as a shareable photo! Just keep all the pics, you’ll be really impressed at how things progress as you work.

Wow, I’m so late to reading the threads... but progress already! He looks a lot better. ^-^

I really need to take your advice. Later on, I’ll post a picture of all my “in progress” heads. I really want to cast some, but I just keep tweaking them and they never make it into the moulding stage because the hassle of moulding & casting means I try to get too “perfect” before I want to risk it all. *sigh*

 

I'm the same way, I have so many dolls almost ready to be finished but I keep wanting to change this or that, the hands, feet aren't good enough, tweak the head before casting, then I decide the joints should be redone again! But "Finished is better than Perfect." that is such good advice and so true, for all that work if it never gets cast it's all for nothing. I'm going to finish a doll and move on from it.

 

FB reminded me I've been slowly working on my girl for a year now, it's nowhere near finished except the head is near complete. I still need to make the parts fit better. Since I'm making two faceplates and I want them both to fit the same headback.. it's been a challenge since they definitely don't want to fit. XD

I just bought silicone and resins (+ pigments) to try out casting at least the head that's more complete. :3 Don't mind the artsy photo lol.

 

Aw, so cute and little! I’m struggling to fit one faceplate to a head black let alone two! Look forward to seeing some casts.

 

For symetry I some times take photo of my work, put it in photoshop as separate layer, mirror and play with transparency. It helps to see what is off. When you see what is off you can decide what is to stay and what is to go.

 

Thank you!! I think he does too. I'm further along now, but I haven't uploaded any of the photos, so not much to post yet. I added more to his jaw, evened him out more (carved nostrils XD), parted his lips, added more to the back of his head, started making a "neck" so there is somewhere to carve a hole. My plan currently is to let him dry for a few days, then sand his head even and finally cut it open D:

Oh do!! I want to see them! And it's good advice (not technically mine, I saw it on the interwebs). I try to remember that especially at work.

Exactly! If it's done you have the finished thing to look at and say you've done it! if you never finish what have you got? I need to follow this advice more. SO many unfinished drawings D:

Also I've been thinking a lot of doll companies, and their first sculpts vs their current sculpts. The next head\doll is where you can improve on the first....so if the first isn't perfect the next one can be? Also something I'm trying to live by lol
It's hard.

They're so cute! I can't even imagine making face plates and head backs D:
amazing job!

 

i haven't posted here is some time so i thought i would share my progress on Orchid again!
i decided that since he is so tiny it would make everyone's life easier if i had him also come with a sculpted wig lol
this is my first go at it so it's pretty rough for now



(for those seeing him for the first time he is 1/12/dollhouse scale)

i don't want to spam but if your interested there is more pose pictures on my tumblr

 

I saw his pics on Tumblr this morning! I adore him so much. :3

 

He’s amazing! Beautiful and natural. Love the sculpted hair.

 

thanks guys!

EriChanHime thanks for letting me know what you think of the hair i wasn't sure my self ^^;;;

 

Lol it so is hard! That's exactly what I keep telling myself, other companies first dolls had flaws too and then improved. There does come a point where you must accept a doll for what it is so you can move on and progress, not become bogged down. Hard sculpture is such a villain, it allows you to rework endlessly if you let yourself. I also make plush and with that there's no reworking allowed, once it's made it's made.

@du-hast He is sooo cute! I love the sculpted hair too, doing that on one of my dolls as well, it's so useful for such a tiny doll.

 

@du-hast - his face and body have such graceful lines! I like the sculpted hair, too.

"Finished is better than perfect" is good advice, and another one that my brother mentioned to be (since I get caught up in details and feel frustrated with my work) is "Strive for PROGRESS, not PERFECTION." Perfection isn't achievable - but progress is! Just keep trying to do a little better, and a little better.

Also, seeing lots of defects in your work often means that you are a better "mental" artist than your skill level currently allows - you can improve your skill, but it is less easy to improve how you "see" things! So if you keep practicing, eventually your skill level will get closer to matching your internal vision.

 

So I am having some issues and I thought I might ask for some advice from you guys...

I have my head to a point where I'm trying to fit him onto a body, and I actually did it! He fits and works well on the Dollshe Classic (which is what I was going for)...but because I had to add to the back of his neck, his head is a weird shape now. So I really need to build his head back up. But I've already cut it open.

So, do you think it would work to seal him back up, add more clay to his head to make it bigger in back, then cut the head back open?? I don't know how else to do it and still make the headback line up with the head....

I took pictures with my phone but I posted them on instagram (link in sig if anyone is interested in seeing)

He's not near done, he needs ears and I haven't really resolved his eyes yet. They're uneven and I both need to bevel them more and be careful not to do it too much (I'm afraid the clay will break)....I have no idea. But on the whole I'm ok with where he is. I mean, I actually had him on a body with eyes and a wig and he's not terrible!

 

From what I've seen on your instagram, you'll definetly need to close your head again to add clay. It will be easier to add it evenly to the whole piece and work on his ears this way. Maybe you could leave it closed untill he's ready for molding?

 

yeah I think this is the only way I can fix him... SIGH
I don't want to leave him closed, I need to work on the inside too, especially with the eyes. (Though I did manage to get them mostly evened out this weekend! It was just like modding an existing BJD XD ) I kind of feel like I messed up his headback when I cut him open the first time anyway and didn't know how to fix it. Maybe this second time will be better.

I've also decided to add a little more to his jaw and chin. I guess I can do all that while he's closed up again. I guess these are the trials of sculpting lol