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

I do all my Face Ups myself.
I did the Face Ups on my Twins so i only painted 6 Heads and now i've got a Face Up request ...
This makes me really happy!
The reasons why i do it by myself are simple:

- I only use my Money to buy Materials for Myself
- I can improve from Head to Head and Skincolor to Skincolor
- I'm bad to explain my thoughts to others so for me its easier

I love to see my improvements!
It makes me really happy.
And it feels greate if someone see your Doll and ask who the Face Up did and you can proudly say that you do it by yourself

 

I'm actually getting together supplies to do a faceup for my first doll I think I prefer the idea of doing it myself because I'm such a stickler with details and a little bit of a control freak. However, it also just seems extremely fun to learn! I'm an artsy fartsy kind of person so it really just fits into the other hobbies and skills that I have.

 

I would really love to do my doll's face-up but I live in tiny apartment with poor ventilation so I couldn't really use msc or anything to seal

 

I would have to do it myself. Even if it looks a bit iffy at first, the great thing about these dolls is that you can wipe it and try again. If you go slowly and do a lot of research, you can typically churn out something half-decent in a few tries. I have no issues with those who choose commissions, but for me I really need to do it myself to be happy with it and bond. Even if I were to commission, I know that it would be impossible for me to convey everything I want to a commissioner and make it look right to me.

 

I totally agree with you, Allavii!

I would do it myself. I've done both: In the beginning I made them myself, but I was quite bad. Then I commissioned five face-ups from two artists, but I had lots of problems with bonding as none of them looked quite as I imagined the characters to look like. Now I make them all by myself again and even though I'm nowhere near to a professional level, I've gotten a lot better, and I'm very happy with my skills and the faces I can make my dolls nowadays.

 

I know commissioned ones are better. But for me in case I want to restart the character, at least I have the supplies. So I'd rather do them myself.

 

I've never sent a head out for a faceup. I have a couple of dolls that have factory faceups, because I thought they were appealing/fit the character I was shelling. But most of my dolls have aesthetics by me. It's partly because I'm stubborn. I feel like I ought to paint my own dolls. The other part is, I'm scared if I send them out to someone, they'll get lost in the mail. It probably sounds ridiculous. People mail out their doll heads all the time. But I'm paranoid!

 

I plan on commissioning a faceup, mainly because of lack of experience and an unsuitable environment. My dorm isn't ideal for doing faceups (and i don't really have the time to do one) and even though you can protect yourself from the carcinogenic properties of msc, I'd rather not risk exposing my roommates to even a sliver of a chance. I think I'll wait until I graduate and meanwhile develop other skills, such as sewing and knitting, and then use those skills to save up for slightly safer faceup materials like an air brush and liquid sealant (which i heard is less toxic than msc). For now my dolls can have a lovely faceup from talented artists

 

I'm way too much of a perfectionist to let someone else do it for me. I don't trust anyone else to get it right the way I want to. x)

 

All the dolls I have bought have come with company faceups. I do have two event dolls which don't have faceups and I have been meaning to do their faceups myself. I still haven't had the gourage to try it though. But I'd rather try to learn how to do it myself than commission someone to do it. That is because I would be terrified that something bad would happen. I am mostly afraid that the post office would lose or damage the doll/head.

 

Im not that bad when it comes to drawing and painting, but Im hesitant about doing the face up of my doll myself. Maybe I will find more courage in the future. It would be very nice to be able to do it myself

 

I'm not confident enough in my painting skills to do faceups myself. Plus I really like the look of realism for my dolls and my skills just aren't there yet. I don't mind sending a doll out for a faceup, I'd much rather have someone more experienced paint my doll than me.

 

My intentions are to do faceups by myself in the end. I am too nervous to do it on BJD dolls though, so I am doing a lot of practice on my MH dollies. I think about 10 faceups more and then I will have the courage to do it >_<

 

Commissions for me right now, though I don't have any blank heads at the moment (thank God). I paint well, but faces have always been my Achilles heel. I'm also loath to do a ton of work on a face, then screw it up or not like the result and have to start over again. I simply do not have the patience.

 

I LOVE a lot of faceup artists out there, but I guess my experience with drawing and painting gives me this irresistible urge to do all the faceups myself. We'll see how that works out...

 

I have 8 full dolls and one floating head. I have painted five of them myself. The others have wonderful professional faceups that they came with. My first doll has been repainted 8 times, he is sort of my practice head. I have been painting for more than 30 years, and feel comfortable doing them myself.

 

Commission. I can't even paint my fingernails without getting paint where it's not supposed to go, let alone attempt something difficult like symmetry.

 

I do all my face up because the dolls are already super expensive and I always try to save money somewhere.

 

I would commission a face up. I have shaky hands for a variety of reasons and I just wouldn't be able to paint a face up on a doll

 

I want to do it myself because I don't trust another artist to get it just right... and it would feel less meaningful then. At least, if I do it, I get to enjoy my hardwork! The only exception is one of my dolls who came with a custom face-up when she was bought second hand.
Also, I can't for the life of me find any face-up artists, especially ones I like.

 

If I had the time, I'd definitely try to practice face-ups and get to a point where I can be satisfied with my own work. Most of the dolls I'm planning to get have pretty standard looks so it doesn't matter how they get their face-up. But commissioning someone else is great too because you can support other artists!

 

I personally would prefer to just have my dolls painted by someone else. I do not have an artist's touch at all, and a lot of my characters are pretty involved when it comes to patterns and whatnot on the face, because they're fantasy creatures. Plus I kind of have high expectations for them, and I definitely couldn't meet my own standards. But there are plenty of fantastic artists out there that would be able to do them justice, so I'll stick with those.

 

I would rather commission a faceup, hands down... But going forward I'm probably going to be doing my own faceups for the most part. There are a few reasons, but the biggest one is price. I've been accumulating faceup materials for a while, but just made a big purchase to improve my supplies (around $75 to a new brush, satin gloss, mungyo pastels, and several colors of golden fluid acrylic paint) and even though it's a lot of money, it's still cheaper than the $100-$125 I'd have to pay from my favorite faceup artists. Plus, the supplies I've purchased will allow me to give several dolls faceups without paying anything further and I don't have to stress out about shipping them anywhere.

Aesthetically, I really prefer other people's faceups, but my goal is to make my style like the styles I prefer so that hopefully some day I won't have any reservations left about doing my own.

 

I view commissions as a "treat yourself" thing. If I'm feel particularly fancy I'll opt for commissioning someone, otherwise I just do the faceups myself

 

My first major in college was illustration and I focused on traditional art, so I have quite a bit of experience with drawing and painting. It's been a long time since I did either of those things but I want to use this hobby as a creative outlet. For that reason, I intend to do my own faceups. I admire the work of many faceup artists and while I would love to own pieces of their work, I want the satisfaction of my dolls being customized by my own hand. However, I will commission someone if it doesn't end up being as fun as I'm expecting

 

I've tried painting doll faces before, or repainting features on my vinyl dolls. Yikes! I'm a good painter, but something about those tiny 3D surfaces is just beyond impossible for me, even on a doll with a fairly massive head like an American Girl doll. I'd definitely rather someone else paint faceups for me, anything I come up with would look pretty ham-fisted and my dolls don't deserve that. I'll just sew them clothing, I can do that and have the result look pretty decent.

 

As of now, I would commission it. I haven't tried doing any faceup before, and would definitly need to practice a bit. And, with sealants being toxic and a pet at home, I'm slightly hesitant to try it there (´▽｀、)

 

I'd really love to be able to do my own faceup! I bought a lot of makeup stuff and all and I tried hard on doing what was in my mind ... but I've failed miserably. Now, I'm afraid to even think about redoing one, so my girl's face is still blank and I've got so much pride I'm unable to hire someone to make it right.

 

I'd love to start doing my own face ups but I don't want to start investing in new art supplies just for that (when I'd likely not be doing many anyway). So I'm happy to just order my dolls with company face ups.

 

Despite repeated practice, on top of just knowing my own history in art classes as far as painting abilities, I have not even come close to a satisfactory result. It would be much more convenient to do the faceups I envision, but it's not going to happen.

So I hire out faceups now, and I have not been disappointed yet! Some people are so gifted in painting, and I am now okay with the fact that I am not one of them! Hopefully before long I will find my "thing" that I can contribute to the community.

This hobby has taught me one lesson over and over: I'm now happy to put a few extra dollars directly into the pocket of an independent artist in exchange for real high-quality work.

 

Do it myself or buy a doll with a faceup already done. I doubt I'll ever commission a faceup although there are a few artists I really love and I might consider them.
I can't really stand the thought of receiving a doll and then having to send the head away... worrying about the head being in transit and having a headless body laying around... idk it just feels inconvenient to me.

 

When I first got my doll, he came with the company face-up. It looks great even after a few years, but it doesn't fit the character I want for him anymore? So, someday I want to get a practice head and try it out myself. Then whenever I get another doll, I can do it myself.
I don't think I would commission because I'm scared of sending the head to someone and getting lost :'D

 

I would send it to someone else with more experience than me. I know that I would not be able to create what I had in mind, thus it would be better for someone with more ability than me to do it. I also like never have time, so the doll would just sit around with a face up that I didn't like forever.

 

I prefer doing them myself. There are a lot of very talented artists out there, and I really admire and appreciate the work they do. But nobody knows my characters as personally as I do.

For me, there's two specific aspects to my reasoning for this. First, I have the idea of what I want for my characters specifically, and I'd have a hard time trying to have that translated by somebody else. Plus, Most of mine are based on characters I'm developing for a graphic novel very much still a work in progress, and so it's a very personal thing for me.

Two, I'm trying to improve my skills and regain confidence in my artwork again, something which comes from doing the work myself. Over the past few years I've been facing a personal artistic crisis, feeling completely burnt out and not confident in what I do. I'm a graphic design student, and it's had an impact on my skill and classwork. Also, doing faceups is kind of therapeutic for me (when I'm not completely having a bad day and messing up horribly anyways), and personal projects are especially important to me at this moment.

Maybe someday I will commission somebody for a specific look for a character that's separate from my current project, but for now, I'd like to work on their development myself

 

I commission artists.

There are multiple reasons I do so but the primary reasoning behind it is that my only artistic skills require a camera and lenses. I'm sure I could learn to do a faceup if I wanted to but the amount of time it would take to get to a level of where I could do my own dolls to a satisfying level would be longer than I'm willing to put in. After all, it took years before I considered myself a decent photographer... and I still maybe know 25% of what there is to know (and that's being generous to myself).

So I'll continue to leave making my dolls pretty to other people and I'll stick to taking the pretty photos afterwards xD

 

Commission. Even IF I was fantastic at face ups(I did one and received many compliments on it) I couldn't keep it. I'm too conscious of my own mistakes. Even if it's one eyelash that's longer than the other, if I'M the one that did it, I have to try and fix it. but if it's someone else that did it, small differences like that I love.

 

I really like the company default faceups so I buy the dolls with the faceup, but if I ever have a doll without, I would definitely commission someone to do it for me. I don't have the space or equipment to do it myself and even drawing stick figures is a challenge for me

 

Oh, I'd definitely commission another artist. I'm very picky about what I want and not at all confident in my ability to make anything like it happen, so paying for a commission from someone with the artistic talent is a must for me. Even if it doesn't turn out exactly the way I want it, overall it'd look much better than if I tried to do it myself.

 

I would prefer to do it myself. I feel like the more hands-on I am with a doll, the more I bond with it. So many of my story details come out of nowhere when I'm working on a doll, like little quirks or birthmarks that add to the story, and I would miss all that if someone else did the faceup for me. When I get a doll, I'm only 40-60% sure of who they are and I need that time with them to figure them out.

 

Commission. I tried to do it myself but not success, and I found it is very troublesome to put Mr. Super Clear on dolls in my living area.

 

I would love to do it myself! I haven't yet and intend to get a practice head at some point but 'do it myself' all the way even if it takes a ton of practice before its perfect!...or just buy as the company sent faceup hehe...

 

If I was talented I would rather do it myself cause I can make it exactly how I want. But I am awful with painting so I don't think I'd be good at face-ups. So I always pay someone else to do it.

 

I am used to send them for somebody else to do. However, now I started to practice by myself. It's hard to receive the dolls after several months and then send it away again for half a month...And it's a lot of fun to create own character by putting face up because nobody knows the idea of mine better than myself.

 

It would be nice to ever be talented enough to do a faceup!
I think I'll always commission them, mostly because I wouldn't want the cost/bother of keeping faceup materials on hand.

 

Do it myself. I don't have a doll yet, I plan on having her with factory makeup and then adding to it. From the pictures I have already seen of her makeup it makes her look almost exactly how I envisioned her in my head. I just need to add some extra bits for her to look perfect! ^w^

 

If it is a cartoon/anime face doll and it's not really rare I will do it myself.

 

I do my own face ups but I am by no means professional. I am still learning and I would love to get better at it. I have some dolls with professional face ups and I can only hope to be that good one day.

 

If its a doll I handle a lot, I like to do my own faceups. That way, if it wears down, I can fix it myself or just re-do it. I do like to commission dolls as well, but I save that for dolls that will be more for display and photography, the ones I wont handle as much. I have a few people on my list that I hope to get a faceup by in the future.

 

I would love to be able to do my own, but as my painting skills are not the best nor do I have a steady hand, I would have to commission someone to do them for me.

 

I prefer commission in my deep heart but the problem is the cost. So it end up i need to do it by myself (T T)

 

I would rather commission someone opposed to doing it myself. I feel like I could do a good job, but on dolls this expensive good isn't enough. Plus I know my abilities and wouldn't be able to capture what I envision. I have a lot of respect for those who do face ups on dolls

 

If I had any talent or drive, I would do it my self, but I'd rather pay someone else who knows what they're doing. Thank you, Faceup artists!!

 

I like to do face-ups myself,their okay. If I want a certain look for my doll then I would commission someone to do it.

 

i think i'd rather do it myself, i never tried it tho

 

it depends, if i really like a certain faceup i might chooses commission but i still prefer doing it on my own..

 

I usually buy dolls without faceup and does them myself but as I started to work and even started part-time studies, I can hardly find time to do faceup. I've recently turned to commission for help and it was really great! Love it. I'm already looking out for another artist for my new doll.

 

I would have to send my unpainted doll away for a face-up as I can only paint walls! lol.... My Enchanted BJD arrived as a blank and I sent her away to North Carolina for a most beautiful face-up! I was very nervous while she was in transit, but she arrived back home safely. I am in western Canada and North Carolina is very far from me! I envy all the fine doll artists out there and wish I could paint like them.

 

I prefer commission the faceup. My artistic skills are really bad. I´ve always admired people who have that artistic vein.

 

Since I'm new to the hobby I prefer to commission for now. I don't have all the material and I'm too scared to screw up, aside my skills I'm not sure about…

But in a near future I think I will order a old head and try some things on it to give me an idea. Meanwhile, I'll commission some artist - and there are so, so many great artists I want to commission !

 

I got into this hobby wanting to customize dolls with little outside help when I can, so I definitely lean towards doing them myself. I'm also a pretty impatient person generally, so I'm not sure I could stand to send out my doll's head for a while to get done when it probably already took a significantly long time just getting to me to begin with. I can also be pretty fickle, so in case I change my mind about the doll, I think I'd rather wipe and redo it myself then send it out again.