Unconventional face-ups: to do, or not to do?

I don't have a story, but I have to say that the face-up in the picture is absolutely beautiful! It's the eyebrows that I'm loving!
My DC Isabel has a slightly unusual face-up, and it does make her hard to photograph, but what she does do, she does excellently. I guess you just have to go with what they have and love it, even if it lacks a little flexibility xD

 

Ho-boy! That body! The pain of finding clothes is so real it's almost physical! I guess it depends how much you love his face. Is it enough that you could stand him being a bachelor all his life? The dark, horror-ish photos would be astounding, but he probably wont be in to comedy..

 

You could always get him without a faceup and get one done that is like that one but more toned down....

Teddy

 

I know exactly how you feel!! It was love at first sight for me with Loong Soul Ghost Lin.

I find him hauntingly beautiful and I love his look and faceup and all but for the life of me I don't know what I'm supposed to be doing with that tattoo on his face considering my boys are mostly your average human beings. I agree with you that some aspects of face up like blood would be weird in certain scenarios unless you can come up with reasons (or excuses!) for it, like him being too excited to say "I do" that he has to literally bite himself hard to stop himself from screaming out YES! in a wedding lmao. But of course, sometimes it just doesn't work, like having a full fantasy faceup for a character who's just supposed to be your typical (human) boy-next-door, unless again, excuses (maybe he just happen to be cosplaying?? lmao)

As for me, if I'm getting the default faceup and I do not like a certain part of it, I'd usually ask to have that part removed if the company accepts requests. But I like Ghost Lin's face up and overall look enough that I'm willing to close one eye and just get him with the full face up. It probably helps that I'm having some changes and overhaul to my harem dolly plan now so I'll figure what to do with the tattoo in due time (or find a reason/excuse for it lolol). I guess in the end, it depends on how much you really like and can accept the face up for the character you're planning to make.

Good luck with your decision making! Lethe's face up is amazing, I wish I could do eyebrows like that!

 

Honestly, I love a good Weird face-up. I own a Ringdoll Mona - you know, the frightening crying sculpt? - and that's a step forward from a faceup (which could always be redone) and honestly I love the variety it lends to my doll shelf. Certainly, a blander face is more versatile, but I'd pick emotional depth and intensity over versatility any day. If you love it, you love it - and you'll love it even if he's then only suitable for Weird Blood Situations!

 

If it's possible and doesn't cost too much I would probably go for two heads, with one regular and one special face-up.
Some people actually have more than one head if the character calls for it (and some have OE and sleeping), so why not two heads with different face-ups?

 

As Ara said two heads can be just as useful if you're stuck on a particular aspect of a face up. I have a bunch of extra heads for some of my dolls just for that reason. I own a doll with a particularly difficult-to-photograph-in-certain-situations sculpt/face up too (he's a RingDoll Norman Dark 2.0: RingDoll ). I utterly adore him, but it just means I need to get a little more creative when photographing him.

 

Omg I love that sculpt I've been eyeing her for a good minute, like I can just imagine all the goofy crying sadness photoshoots it brings. Like I wish I could find more sculpts with her emotional depth and detail.

 

Go with the unconventional faceup if you ask me! If it feels right for the character and you like it then why not? I've done some unconventional faceups in my time and have ended up liking the dolls character more for it. And they are just faceups in the end, if you do ever get sick of the look or decide it's no longer suitable for your doll you can always get it changed!

 

Great idea!

The Lethe faceup is gorgeous. But maybe it's the blood your not sure about? You could ask the company to leave the blood off like Galileo suggested and then use water color to paint on the blood when the head arrives. If you don't seal what you've added you can wipe the blood off with water when you tire of the blood and keep the base face up in place.

 

First,it's a beautiful faceup
I think this particular one wouldn't be so limiting,maybe you can erase the blood with photoshop? Usually I prefer "neutral" face-ups,but this one is so gorgeous!!

 

The waist of a tiny, and the hips of a SD!

 

I don't currently have a doll with a very unconventional faceup, but I have in the past. I had a Dollshe Bernard who had three faceplate--one sleeping, two open eyed, and the character was very into burlesque and theater at night but worked a normal job during the day, so I had one faceplate with a very natural look and another with heavy Vaudeville style makeup.

I had another doll in the past who alternated between masculine, feminine and ust plain weird in character, and I always felt like I should have bought multiple heads for that doll, but the head I had was no longer available, so it never happened.

I think in the future if I get another doll who does need drastically different looks at different times, I might do that. I may even consider it with my next girl--she's very rocker/vampire/goth, but also a college student, so maybe I'll get her two heads so she can be casual or all out ready for a dark creepy party.

 

Do you guys have any dolls with unconventional face-ups that you're very happy you have?

Only a couple of my dolls have faceups, but here's my most conventional unconventional faceups: I guess the only "unconventional" part is her left eyebrow

Spoiler: Pip

Here's another completed faceup. He's has what was supposed to be a port-wine stain birthmark (The Grand Budapest Hotel made an impact, OK), but I think he accidentally turned into my cat. Unlike my cat, he will not be named Muffin Man.

Spoiler: "Dolos"

Here's the character that "Pip" was supposed to be, but the dyeing didn't work for Pip. She's not faceupped, but she probably fits the bill for "unconventional," either way. She's a character inspired by a friend I had in college who suffered two lectures of Chemistry back-to-back with me:

Spoiler: "Prometheus"

.

The final doll also doesn't have a faceup, but it will be a continuation of the rock detail that makes up the mod on her face. She's Kore, the goddess of vegetation and growth from Greek Myth. Because she lives part of the year underground, she's a bit inspired by that bean sprout experiment everyone does in grade school where you grow one plant in the dark and one in the light and the one in the dark produces less chlorophyll and is therefore washed out, so she'll have pink/red eyes and a washed-out complexion:

Spoiler: "Kore"

All my other dolls look very different from their original sculpt (I can't stop myself from modding!), but I'm not sure I would consider the unconventional aspect of their appearance a "faceup."

Or do you have ones that you wish had a more normalized face-up?

I don't wish any of my dolls were more conventionally attractive or had more "normal" faceups. There are fashion magazines for that!

Here's my most "normal" faceup, which I also don't regret:

Spoiler: Juliet

Anyway, I say go for it if you want a less conventional faceup--If you regret it, you an always wipe it and try again--although I personally love Lethe's aesthetic.

 

The doll that's on his way to me right now is going to have an unconventional faceup! He's a selkie (a mythical creature that's part seal), so I'm hoping to get a faceup that's still realistic but with a fantasy twist. I want some mixes of greys and white, some pink accents, dark great freckles... He also has a fairly large scar over one of his eyes, so that'll add some character too. Hopefully it'll turn out well when it's all done!

 

As soon as I saw his smile back when he was still a prototype I knew he'd be mine. I'm not normally one for teeth, but his grin is so deranged that I just couldn't help myself. He even stands right next to my bed so in the mornings the first thing I see is him grinning at me. It's strangely comforting. He spends most of his time lurking in dark corners and trying to hide from my mad scientist.

 

I fell in love with a Pipos Cheshire Cat that belongs to a friend, I saw it at a doll meet, it had the usual cheerful standard company faceup. I wanted one so badly! However, at the time, the company was not offering that faceup, it was doing a "Dark, Mysterious" theme, and was only selling it as a full set with an elaborate purple and black faceup with lots of stitched up scarring. I did not like it, but I wanted the doll so badly I ordered it anyway. I thought I would just wipe the face as soon as I got it, and give him something more conventional, but when he arrived, his crazed manic grin melted my heart, and slowly I fell in love with that wild, creepy little face, four years latter he is still wearing his bloody, scarred stitched up face and all. I guess I just got used to him, and that is just how he is supposed to look to me.

 

Once I had crush on an artist face up head but I didn't manage to grab it .. I can't recall on which website I saw that. Now 3 years passed I still remember what the face up looks like

 

to do!!!

 

Oh yes, very much so.

My Iplehouse SID Stella, Scarlet, is horribly bleak; looks dead inside, and the messy eye makeup can't hide the pain and exhaustion. Her body? Covered in nasty scrapes, bruises and cuts.

I wouldn't have her any other way. She represent what is easily the worst point in that character's life, as well the most evocative -- a fighter with all of her strength for the world to see. That she's survived this long says it all.

Basically what I'm trying to say is: it all depends on the story and/or concept you're trying to present. A doll like the one you're interested in is unlikely to convey consistent happiness; rather that's desirable or not is up to you.