Faceup progress diary!

Since I've just started doing DD faceups, I thought I'd make a thread here to log my progress. It's taking a lot of self restraint not to just commission a professional right now, haha. My victim is my 2nd girl, an original Mirai head I bought off Mandarake. She's asymmetrical and has really deep eye sculpting which makes painting difficult. A lot of newer DD heads look flatter, somehow? But I love her angular, old school anime head. 

First attempt is pretty bad...

 

Second attempt isn't amazing but I feel like my line control is getting better. I don't really like the shape of her lashes and I tried to do a kind of mock open-mouth thing by adding depth which didn't work out. I'll try again next time! 

 

Edited September 7, 2023 by plasticyears

They look good, especially as you are just starting out!

I really like your first attempt. I wish I could try sometime.

What do you mean the second attempt isn't amazing? That is INCREDIBLE. I could probably never do something like this on my first and second try. Please keep going; I NEED to see more of your work.

12 hours ago, TasiaChiba said:

They look good, especially as you are just starting out!

Thank you! I have done a few BJD faceups, but I'm a beginner there also and haven't done any in over a year 😬

 

12 hours ago, Testament said:

I really like your first attempt. I wish I could try sometime.

Is there anything stopping you from doing it? 💕

 

9 hours ago, CherryPi said:

What do you mean the second attempt isn't amazing? That is INCREDIBLE. I could probably never do something like this on my first and second try. Please keep going; I NEED to see more of your work.

Ahhh thank you so much 🥰 !! Trust me, there was a lot of scrubbing things out with a wet cloth and redoing them lol. And up close it's a lot more grainy. Thank you for being so encouraging, I will definitely keep trying to improve! 

6 hours ago, plasticyears said:

Is there anything stopping you from doing it? 💕

 

Basically lack of knowledge...

56 minutes ago, Testament said:

Basically lack of knowledge...

If you ever want to give it a go and talk to another newbie about it, do feel free to message me 😄 it seems quite daunting but can be fun if you really want to try it. 

7 hours ago, plasticyears said:

Thank you! I have done a few BJD faceups, but I'm a beginner there also and haven't done any in over a year 😬

Oh, that's awesome!  As long as you're having fun doing them~  But these already look pretty good!

Third attempt here we go~ I see improvements but it's taking a lot of willpower not to just give up and send my heads to professionals. Atm one of my biggest struggles is lumpy paint...I've tried both thinner and water but maybe I'll try a mix of both. idk how people get their layers of paint so smooth! If you have any tips please share~ 

 

Edited December 21, 2021 by plasticyears
fixed image

2 hours ago, plasticyears said:

Atm one of my biggest struggles is lumpy paint...I've tried both thinner and water but maybe I'll try a mix of both. idk how people get their layers of paint so smooth! If you have any tips please share~

I'm pretty sure the key is multiple very thin layers!  All of the artists I've seen work with many layers of paint, building it up slowly from a semi-transparent colour to a fully opaque one.  You may also want to look at the paint you're using, as it may be holding you back from getting a smoothly thinned paint.  If you prefer to use a very highly pigmented, opaque paint over multiple layers, you could try switching to an airbrush paint or the Volks ZM brand paints, as they're basically pre-thinned just like airbrush paints.

But overall your brushwork is solid, and I love the eye shape you've given her!  You can really tell you've improved just in these three faceups alone.

You're doing amazing! I'm in awe at your improvement and progress over three faceups! 

I also recommend the previous poster's suggestions. Don't give up, you've got this!

On 4/19/2021 at 7:22 PM, OccultBeast said:

I'm pretty sure the key is multiple very thin layers!  All of the artists I've seen work with many layers of paint, building it up slowly from a semi-transparent colour to a fully opaque one.  You may also want to look at the paint you're using, as it may be holding you back from getting a smoothly thinned paint.  If you prefer to use a very highly pigmented, opaque paint over multiple layers, you could try switching to an airbrush paint or the Volks ZM brand paints, as they're basically pre-thinned just like airbrush paints.

But overall your brushwork is solid, and I love the eye shape you've given her!  You can really tell you've improved just in these three faceups alone.

thank you so much! yes, I think I'm definitely going to take your advice and search for some new paints. it never hurts to try new things! 

 

4 hours ago, AzDoll123 said:

You're doing amazing! I'm in awe at your improvement and progress over three faceups! 

I also recommend the previous poster's suggestions. Don't give up, you've got this!

thanks for the encouragement! I'll keep at it! 

Amazing work you’re doing there.

I paint resin garage kits which I feel are far simpler compared to a doll face that requires a lot of fine details in the right places. Your brush work is spot on and the shading looks great.