Would you rather commission a faceup, or do it yourself?

Commission, I have very shaky hands and I'm not really good with a brush.

 

Commission for me

I do have supplies and I do have a spare head I like to do face-ups on but I don't really enjoy looking at my own art work, I like making it but if I stare at it too long I start picking out tiny flaws and it drives me crazy

ETA: My best advice for choosing a face up artist if you end up going down that road is to find someone whose general style matches what look you are going for, if you are worried ask for step by step photos and provide lots of refrences

 

I would rather do it myself,even though I'm not the best at it. It's just fun for me to watch a doll's face come to life while I'm painting. I got a default face up one time and I wasn't 100% pleased with it. However,I have seen some beautiful commissioned faceups that I wish I could do or have done. It's tempting.

 

Commission. In my dinky apartment I have no place suitable for a work area to even attempt faceupping. :p

ETA: Nearly a decade later and I STILL have no place to do a faceup! I want to learn, but arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrgh.

 

It depends on the doll and what I want for them. I have a few around here I want to do myself, but I've sent out several to have work done (or bought ones with face-ups by people I like).

 

Commission! I'm no master artist, and after spending hundreds of dollars on a doll the last thing I want is for their face to look bad in every photo.

ETA 12.2019 Years later, I’ve learned to paint and my answer to this question would be the total opposite! I do my own faceups and I honestly don’t think I’d have survived as long as I have in this hobby if I hadn’t started, because waiting on a doll and then having to turn right around and send them out again was too much. It’s much easier when I want a new look for a doll to be able to make it happen on my own.

 

Commission, always. I am absolute crap at anything art-related and I have a lovely friend who does lovely work so I commission her to do it. :3

 

I want to have an experience with both. I want to have a professional looking faceup but I also want to try and do one for myself because it would be fun and a great bonding experience

 

Do it myself. I have a few dolls that I already bought with a face up, but the rest has never seen a professional artist so far.
The biggest reason for this is probably that I simply do not like to ship the heads around once I got new dolls. But it's also a lot of fun to paint them myself, bring my characters to life, and see if I improve over time or not.
If I'm sure I can't do a face up the way I want it to come out, I will definitely go and find an artist who can do a better job than me though.

 

Commission. I really can't stand my own paint work, so I'm choosing someone who's work I admire to do it for me. Still, I've recently decided to pick up the paintbrush again and start practicing. ' Don't think I'll be painting my own dolls soon, but in ten years time... who knows?

 

Commision. There are some artists that I like and can make the face up I want. If I did it myself it would turn out in a disaster xD

 

I enjoy doing face-ups, but only for those of my dolls who have a 'fluid' appearance and personality. If I've settled on something for a doll, I prefer to send them to an artist

 

I usually prefer commission because I want very specific faceups on my dolls...and I know I couldn't do it. However, my grail doll will end up being painted by me afterall, which is okay...because I've already put so much personal work into him. T_T I hope he comes out alright.

 

I do my own. My dolls are very specific to their characters, and I wouldn't be satisfied with another artist's take on my character. No matter how talented they are, they can't see inside my head to get it perfect. I'm SO picky, I'd feel bad for an artist commissioned to work on my dolls. lol

 

I would like to do it myself, but I've only practiced a few times. I have commissioned others in the past before, but my biggest worry is how well they seal the head in the end. I've had one commission chip after a month...I was not very happy xP.

I think I'm also more comfortable knowing I'm the one handling the head and what not.

 

I commission. I have tried doing my own and they just don't come out. I rather someone who's much better at it do it for me.

 

Commission; my forte' isn't painting. I'm better with crafting.

 

Paint them myself... I myself am an artist and it really helps me bond with my dolls if I can paint them myself... I have a small joy if my doll's face-up gets chipped because I get to practice it again and again and it makes me a little better each time... ^.^ I am always scared of having my dolls in other people's hands especially if I don't know them personally or am familiar with their work... while my work isn't always the way I want it, the joy of these dolls is that, they can be redone over and over....

(of course recently I've been a little put out because my airbrush died on me so when I finally get my Black Tortoise Junshi from Loongsoul his awesome dragony self will just be blank for a while until I can fix my airbrush... or break down and just pastel the heck out of him lol!!)

 

My first doll has a face up, I did that on purpose to see how it actually looks in real life. My second doll came with a blank face and I did a face up with colour pencils which wasn't too bad for a start. I am planning to learn face up with various materials but also commission some face ups from artists whose work I admire. So I want a bit of both.

 

I love doing faceups so I do all of mine (and local people's) dolls myself.

 

Commission, please! I am too perfectionistic to do it myself, and I would rather spend the time having the doll not with me, than redoing faceups and not being content in the end. =S

 

Only commissions, doing faceup is so hard for me, I absolute zero at painting.

 

It kinda depends on the character for me - my MiniFee girl, Nyne, has only ever had faceups by me, and I absolutely love them, and I'd never stop doing them myself. Same with my PukiPuki Porridge (who now that I think about it really needs a re-do!). Nyne is one of my most played with dolls, and she is also the most changeable character. I like that if she decides she wants a different look, I can wipe her and give her another one. I've done all her tattoos myself, and while they're not perfect, I'm still happy with them. I've also got an SD girl who I do the faceup on, and I'm still playing with hers, I re-do it every few months if I can. I haven't found the right one quite yet, so I keep trying. Her character isn't quite fully developed, which I think is why I haven't ever found a faceup I really liked for her. It's a learning curve I think. However, with a boy doll I am planning, I am considering commissioning a faceup artist. He's going to be a PukiFee, and while I'm happy doing my pukipuki's face over and over again, I'm not sure I'll be able to realise what I want for my little guy. Nyne, who I do the most faceups on, generally gets pretty bright faceups, and Porridge is usually nothing more than winged liner, red lips, and her beauty mark - my faceups always look like makeup. Which I'm perfectly happy with, but since my own faceup style won't suit my little boy, I'll get someone else to do it. A friend of mine who usually does her own faceups got me to do one for her because the character of doll didn't suit her style of faceup. I think if it's a faceup which you think you can do, style wise, it is a lot of fun to do yourself, and it means if you change your mind about the character, you still have all the bits and pieces to re-do it, where as you'd have to commission someone again to change it if you didn't want to paint it.

 

Totally not brave enough to do it myself, so commission all the way XD.

 

Commission. I can't draw straight lines without rulers.

 

I got both of my dolls with face-ups, but once they need a re-do, I plan on doing it myself. I'm already pretty artistic, I know what I want (very simple non-fantasy face-ups with very specific colors), and I'm scared out of my mind to send one of my dolls' heads somewhere to be done.

Plus, it'll be like a bonding thing. I already gave my boy tattoos, and I enjoyed that very much.

 

I do all of mine myself - I can't get good at it without practice! (That and as a naturally paranoid person - I'd be so afraid of losing things in the post...)
I've noticed my results tend to depend on whether or not I've got a clear idea of what I want before I start - there's a couple that I need to redo because of this

 

Commission!!!!!!! I paint....a lot...but I still don't have the confidence to do a face-up myself. Maybe down the line.....and I can't deny I've thought about it. Especially fantasy face-ups. But when it comes down to it I don't want to shell out for materials and MSC. (The shipping for MSC is ridiculous.) I'd rather use a face-up artist I love for now. Who knows....maybe you'll see a doll of mine with a face-up by me in the future. The far future.

 

Unless the doll comes home with a face-up I like enough to leave on them, I do my own. I have more fun doing them myself, even though I know I could hire someone, even a couple of local people so no shipping away needed, that would give GORGEOUS results compared to my 'ok' attempts.

 

I really don't have the skill to do them myself, so any I need done will have to be by someone else. Maybe at some time I will try one, but for now it's commissions for my dolls.

 

So far, I have always done it myself if I have a blank head (I usually get company faceups, but some dolls come blank because companies don't offer faceups, OR I don't like the faceups they offer).

I think if I have a specific look in mind, it's just easier to try to achieve it myself, rather than hoping another person will get it the way I want.

Also, I don't really like sending heads off to someone.

And, I'd need to hunt up an artist who would do the style I wanted, and that changes by doll... and often the artists are busy or don't like certain sculpts or don't want to repeat themselves, or something that might make it difficult for me to get exactly what I want.

 

I have always ordered my dolls with the default faceup until my latest one - Paratissi and I just did her faceup and body blushing myself, and I must say it was an awesome experience. It's not perfect, and a professional could have done it better. But I had a blast doing it and watching videos and learning. She is really special to me now that I spent so much time on her. I can't wait to do another faceup!! I will still order some with faceups and/or commission. I'm going to continue doing faceups myself too. Experience it all!! Plus I was so scared to restring my doll and now with Paratiisi I learned how to do that too, and it's not that bad.

 

Do it myself. For one, it's fun and I find most of their character comes out as I'm doing their face, rather than having a set idea I could send to someone. The other thing is being broke. No, I'm not that great of an artist, but I can do enough to make them decent and I can see definite improvememnt since my first face-up which is good enough for me to keep doing it. I would like to commission a face-up for one doll I have planned because I know I don't have anywhere near the skills to try it myself, but I also don't have anywhere near the money to get the doll or any idea who I would commission for said face-up.

 

I'm about to do my very first faceup as soon as my can of MSC arrives. I do art and I would be nervous about telling another artist about my vision. What I want is in my head and it would be so much easier for me to do it myself. I'm not nervous about using the pencils and pastels and stuff actually drawing on the faceup. (My favorite thing to draw is faces!) What I'm nervous about is spraying the MSC. How much is too little or too much?? That might take practice.

 

I wouldnt know where to start so would have to pay smeone to do it for me. One day I would like to do my own though.

 

I don't trust people enough to send my long-awaited heads off for commission work. I am no great artist, but I won't improve if I don't practice. I like practicing on my own heads and trawling the forums for new techniques. It's so much more satisfying to produce your own work, even if it is mediocre in comparison to some.

 

I prefer to do my own. It makes them more mine.
I'm certainly not professional, but they get better every time.
Plus, if I had one commissioned and decided down the road I wanted it changed I would see it as a waste of someone else's time when I undid all of their work.

 

I'd rather commission. Because make-up/face-up isn't something that comes naturally to me, I don't have the right eye for it, if that makes sense. I know what I like, but for some reason, I can't always execute it. I think it would be fun to try my own though.

 

I prefer a commission. I'm not talented artistically. It is hard though to find well known artists with an available spot for a face up. I still have my SD13 Megu's faceup by Tasha (Illness-Illusion). It looks just as great when it was first done. I keep my dolls stored in boxes.

 

I disagree. If I did my own face-up and it turned out mediocre I wouldn't have any satisfaction, just annoyance at the fact it didn't turn out as perfect as I wanted it to. I prefer to have exactly what I want not some lame attempt by myself. (And trust me, my face-up would be really lame )

 

I'd rather do it myself just because I like tinkering around with my dolls, in all areas really. Results are usually pleasing enough even to my own critical eye.
Also this way I can wipe and redo whenever I want and change whatever I please, and not have to worry about dings or scratches and ruining a possibly very fragile and expensive layer of paint. I don't trust the world enough to be sending out a doll head. Too many horror stories.

 

i would commission, because i also have shaky hands and i dont know how to do faceup.

 

Normally I'm lazy and just get the company default but if I had a blank doll or old faceup I would go with commission. I can't even put makeup on myself haha! I have no skill or materials to be able to do a decent job. I'd rather just spend the money to get it done right.

 

This is kind of hard for me because I've only tried to commission a face-up once and it completely blew up in my face (I never received the doll's head back), but I personally can't draw and I have tried doing custom face-ups before and they came out awful. I think I'd probably still try and commission someone, but I'd probably try and bring the doll in person or ask to see as they work on it :/ As to not end up having a bad experience again.

 

Wow - that is scary! I haven't had the nerve to do either yet.

 

I prefer to do a make-up by myself, because I am not always like a firm make-up.

 

I prefer to commission right now, as I am still working on my face-up skills and any face-up I do would not be permanent. I get more satisfaction out of completing a doll's look than doing it myself right now ^_^

 

I would prefer to commission a face up, but am too scared to send off the head! So I get the dolls blank and do my own face ups. So far they are good, but just not 'special' like a commissioned one. I know there are honest face up artists, but I'm too chicken!

 

Try looking in your area for face up artists. That way you can literally hand over the head without having to mail it or send it far away. That helped me the first time I sent a head away.

 

I definitely am one of those who prefer to ship out doll heads to those awesomely talented face-up artists out there. I know that the mail carries with it some risk, but it's the only way for me to attain the face-ups that I envision for my dolls. I have tried doing my own face-ups but was never really satisfied with how they turned out. Maybe if I practiced over and over and over again, I could possibly get it right, but that takes too much time which I don't have. I lucked out on a couple of my dolls because I found them on the marketplace and they already had custom face-ups which I loved. I sent two other doll heads to two different customizers within the last 6 month period and they both came back safe and sound and just as perfect as I hoped.

 

Oh I don't even trust myself to do a simple face up. Panda face even. So I for sure ask others I trust to do work for me. Luckily I have 2 I go to whenever I need a face up or any work done of the artist nature.

 

I would go with Commission~
I'd probably cry if I mucked it up xD

 

I do face-ups myself since the hands-on crafty aspect is what I love most about this hobby. I know I'm not the best out there but I don't think I'm bad, either, and I'd like to think that I get better each time. I just like it being my own work instead of somebody else's. There's only one person I would love to do a face-up for me but his starting price is $1000USD. XD

 

I do make-up and tattoos myself, I feel gooв then I can do something with my own hands. Besides, It's the best way to to convey the character of a doll.

 

I'm more comfortable letting someone else do it mainly because I know they're more familiar with the tools used than I am. I'm a pen and paper sort of girl, my grasp on paints and pastels isn't superb and I have very unsteady, large hands for my gender which leads me to be clumsy in fine detail work outside of aforementioned pen and paper. I have tried giving a faceup to an extra faceplate my Puki came with and it didn't turn out so great.

 

I'd rather commission someone else because if I were to have the option of doing whatever I wanted I wouldn't know what to do and then I'd stress out over it. :c

 

Up to now my dolls' makeups are all done by talented others, but I also would like to try it myself someday. Apprently not until I get those skills. lol

 

I've been practicing faceups for a few years now, and at this point I feel very confident in my ability to paint faceups that not only prperly convey my character's expressions\vibes, but also just... look good. (To me, anyway.) But for a very long time, I was not happy enough with my faceups to paint my own dolls, so I commissioned faceups for some of my older dolls. But at the moment, I only have three dolls\floating heads that I haven't painted myself. (Although, because I'm still improving with time, I'm going to be re-doing several of my doll's faceups now that it's beginning to get warm again.)

So at this point, I'd rather paint my own. ^ - ^

 

The only reason I don't do it myself is that I don't have a safe/proper work area and proper mask.
I have asthma, so I don't like to take chances. So I pay for faceups.

Maybe if I get more serious about the hobby, I'll dedicate some time to make a proper area, and get the proper tools and materials to do face-ups.