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

I would rather commission, since it is cheaper than buying all the supplies needed. It is also more likely to be done right the first time with a good artist.

 

I've got supplies so I do my own face ups but I need to keep on practicing since I'm never happy with them. I've seriously thought about commission but the cost is stopping me and the fact that I'm quite picky with what I want I don't even know myself

 

I would rather 'commission'... but that's because I know from experience that my favourite company (Soom) allows you to send them doll heads and pay them for default face-ups. I did this when I bought a blank Amber head from the marketplace. I agonised for ages over whether to attempt a similar face-up myself, or whether to try to find someone willing to mimic her default face-up. Luckily, I thought to contact Soom, and now my girl has her default face-up, which I adore.

I plan to do the same thing if my dolls ever need their face-ups redone, as well =3

 

I did my own from the start because I had very strong ideas for what I wanted, and even now I'm not sure it'd be easy to find someone who could faithfully reproduce it. It's not so much details or colors, but the character of the dolls.

And . . . now that I've done them for years, I refuse to pay someone who can't paint better than I can. Which puts me in the 50-60+ range easily. And since I've already invested all the cost in supplies, it's definitely more expensive at this point to commission <_<

It was a rough road getting to where I could paint tolerably, but it has been something that I enjoyed in the past. (Lately it feels more like work, and I've become more critical of my work, but I've already made the investment.)

 

Myself. I'm not the best doll artist on the planet but it's my doll and I prefer to be the one doing that. I've thought about it, but in the end I just wouldn't I don't think. One of the reasons I am beginning to like BJD's though is because I don't have to paint the inner eyes to get a doll the way I want it. Doll painting can be tricky regardless but usually the rest is a lot easier for me. I like just being able to pop in eyes when I finish.

 

I'd *love* to do a faceup but I simply don't have the talent, so it's best left to others who do! I can sew a bit and can knit anything and it's better that I stick to these activities.

 

I would rather commission.
I have some practice when it comes to faceups, and I even find it fun to do, now and then - getting to plan how you want the final look, choosing the color palette... But in the end, I don't have much patience to really practice and get better at it, and it's hard for me to be satisfied with the result. It's better to put my dolls under the care of people who are better than me at it.

 

DIY. I've taken a class at DollA-Kon on faceupping but I haven't gotten a doll big enough that I could really try anything out. I got a Ruby Red Honee-B, and she's 9cm and I was way too scared to even THINK about painting her tiny face! I did a couple faceups for a friend though...

 

I always do everything on my own and I will continue doing it when I get more dolls. For me the thing that makes this hobby so fun (besides actually owning the dolls of course) is the process of getting a blank doll, sanding, painting and doing everything to make him or her look like I want them to. I have always liked to do things on my own and I guess that's my main reason for sticking to the decision to not ask anyone else to work on my dolls.

 

I´m not so good at creativ doings, so I´ve let done all my face ups.

 

I'm hoping to start learning to do faceups on a test head. I don't want to have to send off my doll to be painted, so learning to do it myself is not only less expensive, but safer for me.

 

I make my faceups myself. : > I'm not near to professional or even great, it's just that my dolls don't really need any flashy make ups or anything over amaizing. They are supposed to look just normal and make-up-less. xD And it is good way to me improve my skills and I feel that I have become better to do face ups over these five years. : D

 

Well for me i always commission a face-up because i'm useless at it myself . I tried it once on a hujoo, and it was a complete disaster.

 

I'd rather commission a faceup. I've attempted doing it myself in the past, but I'm no good at it, really. I generally hate my own work, and when I have an ugly doll that I painted myself, I usually grow to hate it after a while. I'd rather have a pretty doll done by someone else.

 

I prefer to commission. I love collecting artwork and sending heads out to various artists is a good way to do that! ^^ There are so many amazing face-up artists that really leave me speechless as well. I'd be 'shamed of myself if I didn't commission them! I do applaud those that do their own face-ups though. It's fantastic to see artists expressing their work through their own dolls.

 

I really enjoy doing the faceups myself. I went ahead and purchased all the materials because for me it seemed more cost effective than commissioning several faceups. I admit I'm not the best at it, but how am I supposed to become really good at it if I let someone else paint my dolls?

 

I would much rather do my own faceup. I consider myself to be artistic, so the idea of creating a faceup on my own was very appealing. I wouldn't feel satisfied if I didn't create one myself. I have the freedom to do anything. When I sit down with a blank head in front of me, I imagine all of the possibilities.
I did end up buying my first doll with the company faceup, but took it off when I built up the courage to try my hand at it. My first few weren't good, and now I consider the faceups I do passable. I plan to keep working at it until I'm proficient and even beyond that.

 

I would rather do the face up myself. I have a lot of trouble trusting people, especially after reading some of the horror stories about people stealing heads. It's just a big no, no for me. I would hate to lose something I spent so much money on

 

Maybe while I am not that good with faceups yet, I'll comission it but once I've practiced, OF COURSE I'll do it myself. Be saving money too hehehe

 

I prefer to do my own face-ups. I love sitting there and painting the face, or brushing on the chalk pastels. I love how it looks after when I do a good job and I become to proud of myself. I also think it's a great bonding experience with the dolls and a wonderful outlet. Besides, my supplies will do face-ups for all my dolls so many times over, why would I pay money to have it done? Of course, there are exceptions to my rule. I'd get a doll with the company face-up if I like how the company does them, or if I just fall in love with the face-up the company does for that particular doll. I also have no problem with people getting the dolls face-ups commissioned, I just personally prefer doing it myself.

 

I like to do my own face-ups, for me it's part of the fun of having a bjd: customizing. I really like to blush my doll and even if I am not really good at it, it make feel good and I have fun doing it.

 

I would love to get a really nice faceup commissioned. I have never done a faceup on a BJD before, but I have on other dolls. However, I am not sure if I could part with my doll for that long and her headless body would make me sad, lol. So I am not really sure. I guess I would rather I do it myself, but if I couldn't get what I was hoping for I would send her off.

 

As of right now, I will be commissioning for faceups. I am new to the hobby, but I want my dolls to be painted nicely and look nice.

However, I do have a practice head for when the day comes that I practice my own faceups. If I manage to get well enough with practice, I will paint my own dolls. But until then, I am sticking with commissions.

 

In theory I'd rather do it myself, but in reality my free time and desire to paint (not to mention the right weather) don't always occur concurrently, and then the doll in question will probably go faceless for years (I have a head in my closet that I've been meaning to get to for three years now!).

So in reality I'd rather comission someone to do it (or buy with the default), because I seem to value my time more than my money these days.

 

I do them myself. I'm quite confident in how well my faceups come out (after years of practice lol), besides this is just a different canvas.

 

While there are a couple of face-up artists that I adore the work of, I will always be one to do my own face-ups. Half the reason I keep buying new dolls is so that I can paint them! It's just so much fun to see a doll come to life (so to speak) right in front of you. Plus, I do believe that I would wind up getting frustrated with having to send out my any of my boys for up to weeks at a time, when I could spend a few hours and have it done myself.

 

Rather doing commission than doing it myself. I might get a huge mistake and fail for her

 

I think that doing the face up is one of the best parts of the hobby and adds a touch of personal custom to my doll so I do prefer doing it myself

 

I've always done my own faceups, but I've always had a lot of the supplies on-hand since I've been an artist since wayyy before I got into dolls. I can understand why many people commission faceups, and there are some great artists out there! But I've always felt like, for me, doing my own faceup was the way to go, because it makes the doll really 'mine'. Even if I did decide to commission someone, I would constantly feel like I wouldn't be able to tell them just what I wanted and it'd be too much trouble for me and them to get it just right. lol

I was also really happy when I realized doing faceups on BJDs helped me improve at painting on 3D surfaces in general (of course) because it was really one of my weak points before I got into the hobby. :>

 

I try my hand at it from time to time, as I would really like to become good at it, but usually end up sending them off anyway. I just ain't that good at it xD I am more interested in having my dolls look professional, clean and nice than to insist I do it myself when I know I am less than so-so on it.

 

I have purchased the supplies but have never attempted it. I even took Volks faceup class at a Dolpa a few years ago with hopes of learning to do this myself. I really would like to do this and if it didn't work out I could always send the doll to a faceup artist like I did with the Volks School head and body I had purchased for that class.

Oh, and even though it wasn't asked I would have to say that I have been commissioning faceups lately rather than getting the default company faceups I had done on my dolls when I first began collecting BJDs. Does cost more but I love how beautiful they become when a professional artist does them per your specs. I also tend to stick with certain faceup artists and have had them do multiple dolls for me as I love their style. One in particular does fantastic air brushing but I think I'd just stick with paints and chalk myself. Now I just may start looking for a head to paint.

 

I have chose to do mine my self, I hardly have the money to buy a doll let alone a custom face, but I could buy supplies piece by piece until I had everything. I have dabbled in painting Mini's for years so it wasnt a huge stretch to paint a dolls face for me. I just needed the info on the do's and dont's and it was fairly straight forward. Working with the pastels has been wonderful and I even get to use some of my mini painting supplies as the sealer I use is fantastic for face-ups. This way if I'm not happy with it I can just re-do it and if I mess it up... well its my fault and no one else.

 

Hands down, I'll do it myself. And guess what? My faceups skills are mediocre at best, but I don't care. I think commissioning them is not only quite stressful and tedious, but weirdly overpriced, and then I've heard of so many scams of 'artists' keeping people's doll heads. No thank you, I think my dolls are beautiful in all their bozo-the-hooker glory and shine through the cheap supplies I use on them.

 

If I really like the company faceup I'll order it. But otherwise I'll like to do it myself because it saves money and is fun to do. I suck at eyebrows but the fun part is learning tricks to make it better.

 

I try to do everything myself. Partly to save money, but mostly because I prefer being able to fix things myself should I accidentally mess them up. I play with my dolls a lot, so I just like to know that I can always re-do a faceup.

 

Same here. I do them myself because I'm super cheap but I also do like doing them myself. I really like to do something special and unique with my dolls and I can control everything about them doing them myself. And the process is enjoyable to me. I learn something new each time. I have one doll that came already done and I really don't like her as much as my other ones because there's a sense of pride with my other ones that I painted myself that I don't have with her. I guess it's kind of a bonding experience to do it myself.

 

I'd like to try doing my own face-ups.. I've done customs on some off-topic dolls and had some success with those. But for now, I just get the default face-up until I get the courage to buy and attempt using MSC. I have pretty much everything else being an ex-art student. ._.;

 

Although I know some very talented faceup artists, I really don't feel I'm ever going to get exactly what I want from a commissioned faceup. I'm currently learning the art of the faceup so that I can paint the faces perfectly to my vision. Stay tuned!

 

Like many of us, I would love to be able to do just what I dream but considering the amazing face ups created by all the talented artists here, I think I will carry on asking them.

 

Commission; visual arts have never been my strong point.

 

When I buy a doll on the market place I try to buy blank dolls. One of the first things I do if the doll is not blank is wipe the face up. Part of the bonding process to me is to paint the face. My girls have unique personalities with unique back grounds and designs. I can't really call her mine unless I did the face up myself.

 

If I wasn't getting company face up, then I'd commission for sure. I had really good luck with my first commission so I'm more inclined to do it again. I'd be too frustrated trying to do a good face up on my own, or never be satisfied with it. I guess part of the fun for people who do their own face ups is to keep doing them, but that doesn't appeal to me. I do want to try doing a face up, but not on any of my established dolls; maybe just a blank random head or something.

 

Personally I usually do it myself. It makes bonding with them easier and for some dolls that get handled a lot (IE, the Puki), It just makes sense for me to be able to do their faceups as needed. The only exception is the faceup my friend did on my SD13 Elena. Since she did it, I've never wiped it. I do need to get some MSC and gently clean her face and re-seal it, though. Her nose is rubbing off XD.

 

I've never hired anyone to do a faceup -- I have some dolls I got second hand that came with faceups that I liked so I kept them or perhaps altered them only slightly. When I get blank heads or need to redo a faceup, I'm the one that ends up doing it. I don't particularly want to ship dolls (or in this case their heads) unless I absolutely have to.

 

I like this attitude - it's very can-do. I also happen to agree with it: I do my own face-ups as it's a crucial part of the bonding experience for me (and I can re-do them as often and as many times as I like, since I have the materials at hand and readily accessible whenever). I'm pretty sure that when one of my dolls needs re-stringing I'll just go all-out and seam-sand and body blush too (well, since the parts are all laid out and separate, that's the best time). I'm a half-decent artist at least, this much I know from friends and so on, but I really like pushing myself in new directions, and pastels on a sculptural surface (such as resin) will always be a new and welcome challenge to me.

 

To save money I actually bought supplies and attempted to do my own faceups as I have four blank faces. I would rather commission artists however as there are a few I like. Most of them it's difficult to secure a spot for commission as well. But after so many failed attempts I'm starting to think I should have just sent them out. I feel like I wasted money on the supplies that could have gone to a faceup.

 

I prefer to give to the good master.
But, I have one head on which it will be possible to train as wants most to try.
And there is one character whom I with the person would order at once as he is pleasant to me such with what it drew in firm.


>< awful translator

 

Normally, I do my own faceups (and have progressively gotten better and better at it). I was lucky enough, when I started in this hobby, to be living with someone who, though she started at the same time as me, really had a knack for faceups thanks to her art degree, and helped me get a lot of the basics down. In return, I did hire her to do a faceup on a MNM head that was frustrating me (and since that head's no longer paired to a doll, I will likely never wipe her faceup from it).

I do my own because it's easier for me to find a way to bring out the character in the faceup than to attempt to put it into words for someone else. Not all of them are perfect (I'm working toward redoing some of the older ones), but they have my character in them, and that's more important to me than a perfect faceup; in those weaker attempts, too, are the work toward the stronger faceups I'm doing now, that I wouldn't be doing at all if I hadn't started with those weaker ones. And even if I'm overall happy with my last three faceups? I can still do better, and can still push myself further, as long as I keep doing my own. It's a skill I want, that I would never have developed had I sent every head out for a faceup.

 

I do my own, and it was one of the things I liked about the hobby when I started. To be honest I dont think Ive ever even had a thought of sending a doll for a face-up. I guess since I am so involved in the art hobby the thought of letting someone else paint a doll never really occured to me

 

I'd love to do my own, but I think I'll be practising on a Hujoo for a while before that happens. I may send my next doll away for a face-up, although the idea of handing something so precious to a distant stranger is terrifying! So far my dolls have had factory face-ups.

 

I would much rather commission one because I know myself. I know no matter how good a job I do at it all I will see when I look at it is the flaws. I am that way with most everything I do. Plus I really do not think even with practice I would ever be good enough that I would want to keep whatever faceup I did on a doll.

 

I commission. I will probably continue to do so since all of the dolls I own have commissioned face-ups or company ones. I did go as far as buying pricey pastels, brushes, and a practice head so that I can do my own at some point. But because my crew have a sort of uniform professional look to them now - I can't see myself painting any of the new dolls I'm getting anytime soon.

 

I do it myself. Mostly because I cant find local face-up artists who are open for commissions. They're closed most the time. But if i were give the chance, I would commission a face up to keep me from repainting my doll almost every month. Im afraid that it might hasten his aging process.

 

Sending my doll's head away... I dont know if we could be apart so long!

 

So far both my dolls still have their company faceups but I don't intend for it to stay that way.
I'd love to try painting them myself but it would take too long for them to be up to the quality I would want.
I'd much rather snoop around and find a faceup artist that would be worth commissioning.
Even if it takes a while to get a slot it would be well worth it in my opinion. :3

 

I commission, but purely for the reason that I am really bad at painting faces. Not that I haven't tried, I have ^^; Painting their faces is really not my forte, making of clothing and creating stories about them is.
I probably would get more with company faceups, since some are really pretty, though it would involve me having to respray them so I don't risk contact with MSC >< I would have to ensure that I don't mess that up, some sealants are picky layering over MSC ^^;

 

I would rather do it myself. I have seen several face up artists who do a really stunning job at it, but it wouldn't feel as personal to me. The only reason why I would send one out to do it was if I just could not do what I wanted to do. But I would rather work at it and do it myself.

That is why my cheshire still doesn't have face up yet. I'm waiting until I have the supplies and room to do it myself. And warmer weather.

 

I've never done a face up before, and would be too nervous to do one on my girl when she arrives. I would much rather buy a v. cheap SD head and then practice face-ups on it, then when I improve, do one on my girl. However if I found a face-up artist in the UK that I REALLY liked, I might commission them!

 

I decided that part of my artistic expression and fun in this hobby will be doing my own face-ups. I am an artist anyway, so I figured it would be fun for me to try. I did my first face-up not too long ago and I was pleased with it for a first try. I now know what to change for next time and what I can improve on so I'll just grow from here From now on I am going to do all my doll's face-ups. That being said, if there is a particular look I'm going for and I just can't seem to get it right myself, I would consider commissioning.

 

I don't feel like the doll is truly "mine" if I don't do the face up/body blushing myself. It's all part of the bonding process. Plus I also feel I get to know the doll better from assembling it and painting it. It's almost like a ritual I suppose.