#realistic faceup

[saturnsoiree]

૮꒰ྀི ◞ ⸝⸝⸝ ◟ ꒱ྀི১𓏸⠀ 💭   ! ㅅ_ㅅ      ☆̲⠀⠀ઇઉ ⠀ׅ⠀꧔ ׁ

Walt, no longer with me.

Lieselotte on a Rosen Lied 1/4 body (1/3 scale limbs)

[calochortus]

Iplehouse fid Harace by Ali MacTavish-Riach Via Flickr: I adopted an Iplehouse fid Harace from a fellow DoA member and eventually got around to redoing her faceup. The faceup she had was lovely but just not to my taste. I've wanted an Iplehouse bjd for years and am utterly delighted to have been given the opportunity to finally own one.

[daftpatience]

astarion's honestly the perfect candidate for one of those beautiful ball jointed dolls that are super nicely painted and have like tons of nice clothes but alas im not a wealthy hobbyist and i also dont enjoy any dolls bigger than 1/6 (and they just dont make a lot of dolls that small that aren't babies or fairies or animals... sigh)

[volfoss]

sincerely i think the worst part of having bjds of different sizes and styles is you will get a guy bc u think he looks nice and then you realize his head is massive and doesnt mesh with ANY of your other guys...

[kosomolski-dolls]

Thanks to my darling @lunicorndolls I've gotten better at painting anime faceups 🥰

I still don't feel super confident with it, I find it incredibly hard compared to more realistic faces, but... Yeah. I think I'm getting better.

It's always really interesting to me how different vinyl and resin feels when painting.

[resin-popia]

Hello!! Your Copia doll is coming along beautifully! The paint is so realistic. Like his bottom lip has texture I have no idea how you do it! Your project got me really curious about doll work myself!! 🫣 but I have no idea where to begin. I have a few questions to start out with-

1. Could you summarize the overall process? What are the general steps from start to finish?

2. What general materials do you need?

3. What paint do you use? What brushes/applicators do you use? How did you achieve those softer/blended contour lines, like in skin tone? If that makes sense. I see some others’ projects that you can clearly see paint lines or the texture of the paint they used, but your Copia almost looks airbrushed!! :0

4. How does putting in the hair work?

5. Where do you buy your base doll? And as far as the reveal in the ~bonus picture~, did he come anatomically correct or was that something you had to add? 👀

6. Where do you recommend buying supplies?

Thank you in advance! 🙏 and happy customizing!

Long Post Incoming💀💀💀💀💀

Thanks for all the fantastic questions! Whether you work on playline vinyl dolls like Monster High or Resin Ball Jointed Dolls, the process is the same. The only difference between them is that with the vinyl dolls you are painting the eyes on yourself. Resin Popia has inset glass and resin eyes.

My tag #Resin Popia BTS has all my Behind the Scenes stuff and progress photos.

All the questions answered below the cut!

1. Could you summarize the overall process? What are the general steps from start to finish?

I will be uploading some vids soon. Try this one first tho.

When you do a faceup, it is a collaboration between you and the sculptor. The sculpture does most of the work. You are bringing the deep parts of the sculpture deeper and the forward parts more forward.

Basically this:

photograph and disassemble doll

wash doll pieces with dawn dish soap and warm water. dry all parts I want to paint.

three coats of Mister Super Clear UV Cut (MSC) sealant on each piece, with a 20 min dry time between coats.

deep freckle/blood vessel texture (optional) with red, blue,brown waterey gouache, spray MSC

dark reddish pink chalk pastel pigments in the deep creases/crevices, areas of blood flow. Correct work with kneaded eraser.

after every layer of pigment that I like, I do another spray of MSC.

lighter pinks or tans (based on skin tone references) on things I want to bring forward (brows, nose tip, cheekbones), another pass in the deep areas, new color on the lips. spray seal

Detail with fine lines under eyes, line texture on lips, wrinkles, lower eyelashes. Check references and experiment. A touch of green in the deepest part of the skull on either side of the nose. You know, where you get sinus headaches.

Pray to Satan and cry as I add eyebrows and hair details with gouache. I start by mapping the brows out with dark chalk pastel then do hairstroke lines with gouache. Personally I am super heavy -handed with my brushes, I need to work on that.

When happy, 2 final coats of MSC

Add Vallejo gloss varnish to water lines of eyes and lips.

2. What general materials do you need?

FYI I have been in this hobby for about 7 years. I have only had to replace Mister Super Clear cans and respirator cartidges in that time. Everything else I have used for nearly a decade. And also used them for other projects!

#1 item you need: a proper serious respirator. You will be at risk of inhaling toxic chemicals when you work with sealants or do any sort of dry sanding. Please please please invest in this item.

Mr. Super Clear UV Cut sealant spray. This gives the resin or vinyl a toothy surface to apply pastel pigments, watercolor pencil, and gouache paint on. The techniques will not work without this surface.

The sealant also behaves like skin, which is made up of several layers of matte cells So the pigment you apply to the resin is suspended in layers just like real skin.

Chalk Pastels I like the mungyo hand-rolled chalk pastel just because when you use a razor to scrape off some pigment it crushes up and mixes better. But any chalk pastel will do. The Xanthi video I will link later has a great idea of just buying a few chalks at a time, because to be honest I don't use all of my chalk.

Small nylon brushes.

A fan brush

A tooth brush (for skin texturing/freckles)

Crappy dollar store makeup brushes (for pigment powders)

Kneaded Erasers

White cloth gloves

ceramic dish for a palette

Some people use watercolor pencils, but I never got the hang of them. I prefer just using brushes. Everyone has their own thing they do.

Paint recs in Next Question

3. What paint do you use? What brushes/applicators do you use? How did you achieve those softer/blended contour lines, like in skin tone?

Goache paint dries flat and matte. It's basically opaque watercolor. I use a damp q-tip to remove it if I make a mistake.

Winsor-Newton is great. I am pleasantly surprised by Arteza's gouache. I have used the same gouache tubes for seven years. You put like a raindrop sized bit on a ceramic dish, that's it. And you can reconstitute gouache endlessly with just a little water.

The trick is to never EVER EVER use true black. nothing is true black unless it's makeup. I use gouache paint on Resin Popia's eye makeup but then soften it with black pastel powder to make it richer.

If you use true black it looks like mud or holes. Dark purples, browns, and greens.

Also don't be afraid to be a bit louder with the colors, the sealant mutes them a lot. Just work slowly and take breaks.

4. How does putting in the hair work?

For resin dolls, you need to make a wig. They are a PITA to make, but it's possible! Check out Mozekyto for how to make wigs. (I'll have more recommended videos further down this post.) Vinyl playline dolls you can reroot, but some people prefer wigs.

5. Where do you buy your base doll? And as far as the reveal in the ~bonus picture~, did he come anatomically correct or was that something you had to add? 👀

The same techniques can use used on vinyl dolls like Rainbow High, Monster High etc. You can get them at goodwill, big box stores, and on ebay. Lots of people sell old toy dolls.

Resin Ball Jointed Dolls are a lot more expensive, so I have spent several years slowly building up my collection. I love vinyl and resin dolls equally.

I bought my base doll from Alice Collections acbjd.com they are a vendor of many resin dolls. I absolutely love Resinsoul.

My favorite doll companies (find them on Alice Collections!) are IslandDoll, Resinsoul, Dollmore, MyouDoll, DollLeaves, 5StarDoll.

Resin Popia is MSD "Mini Super Dollfie" size aka 40cm-52cm. He's 52 cm. SD (Super Dollfie) is around 60-65cm.

I have owned dolls that were considered "prestige artist dolls" in the past, but I always end up selling them because they are so precious I'm afraid to ruin them so they just become dollar signs to me instead of something I love. I'd say $300 would get you a gorgeous resin doll and some clothes for them. Saving up for a doll you really really love is worth it in the end. People also sell used dolls on Instagram. Just please make sure to check the COAs.....

Important Note: I am a Pro-Artist legit BJD collector. AliExpress, Etsy, and Ebay have bootleg dolls that yes, are significantly cheaper, but that is because they steal from the artists that did 99% of the work (and spent tons of their own money) to develop the doll's appearance and engineering. If one cares about supporting artists they should consider the ramifications of purchasing these recasts and propagating the bootleggers. (Especially since a large part of the artist BJD community is from Russia and Ukraine, who have been lately hard hit by war and YET are still making beautiful art for the world to enjoy) I am not pro-bullying though, I am Pro-Education so if anyone wants to have a private, frank conversation about recasts in the BJD hobby feel free to message me.

One silly thing that happened once was I purchased a legit IslandDoll Bru (IslandDoll is always on sale TBH) that was actually cheaper than its recast on ebay. There are a lot of sales during Chinese holidays (11/11, Lunar New Year, Fall Festival) and you usually get a lot of extras like free eyes, beautiful carrying cases, incredible boxes, etc. Resinsoul, the "cheap" BJD company often gives you a gorgeous carrying case for your doll.

Ok enough with the disclaimers now onto doll d!cks haha

Resin dolls are usually realistic when it comes to parts. Realistic in the fact that they add something there...something simple but it's there. Resin Popia has option parts made of silicone that are actually from an action figure company called TB League. Look up "TB League Option Parts" on Ebay. The figures are 1/6 scale making the parts scary and massive at 1/6 scale but funnily enough they make sense at 1/4 scale.

IDK why i got em, I just wanted to have some fun with this doll.

6. Where do you recommend buying supplies?

If you can get to a local hobbyshop that sells models (like miniatures and wargaming figures) please support them first! As vital spaces for geek culture they need all of our support. You can get tiny brushes, Model Paints and sometimes even the sealant from them. Just call ahead they can work something out for you!

Chalk Pastels, Gouache paints I get from art supply stores and as a last resort, Amazon. I use these supplies in other art projects and you will quickly get addicted to gouache painting, i'm sure of it!

Great Videos/Resources

Xanthi's Minimalist Supply List

Xanthi's Male Realistic Faceup (I watch this one so much)

Youtube Channels I like: Enchanterium, Dollymotion, Dollightful, Lomi's Playground, Xanthi

This Book is Great: How to Rock at BJD Faceups

I am answering your additional questions in the comments if you have any! I am @anamelessfool

[amapolasdolls]

recently got this head. it's somewhere between the anime faces and the more realistic sculpts and it's up to the owner to go with the direction. Seems to be more used for anime faces since the bonus pictures and listing pictures have an anime-esque faceup. got it in yellow skin, which seems to be normal, but it's not really that yellow, and even the listing says so. wanted to get a human eared one but it wasn't available and elf ears are cuuute.

I was also sent these eyes, which are quite curious since they're on a 20mm base but use small irises. wonder if i can get eyes like this ordered although the eyes the artist sent are in the color I want.

And here's some bonuses, pictures of other dolls from the artist and a picture of a little kitty which also has the COA in the plastic bag. I hope this head hybrids well with the Miracle Doll 65cm girl body. It's around the standard 1/3 head size, but I'm still not sure how it fits or the color matching.

Doll: SSRS Doll No.16 1/3

[ephemeral-darkness]

My boy got some new piercings!!! I know they don't look 100% realistic but I'm working with the materials I have! Hopefully the sealant for his minor faceup touch ups dull the glue shine.

(He did have a few on his ears. I had to take them off though as the glue wasn't fully dry and they slipped out of place)

Oh I also made his necklace out of a bunch of rings I had lying around from an old project! Its supposed to be a belt but the jumper he was in hid it. He also now has matching boot chains (not pictured here because he is lanky as fuck)

[the-bjd-community-confess]

The secret to my hyper-realistic faceups is pre-staining the resin. I will take blue, red and yellow pigment straight to a clean doll head and leave it there to develop a stain (I have control swatches on the inside of the head to check how the staining is coming along). When I am happy with the result, I wash the head, seal it with MSC and go forth with the rest of the faceup. Less layers to redo if I mess up and also it makes it look more natural and smooth. I don't do commissions 4 a reason.

~Anonymous

[thedandydollmaker]

Shimebruary Day One:

Starting Shimeji's tenth anniversary month-long spectacular (half joking?) with a new faceup!

I do have to admit, ever since giving up on trying to do ~realistic~ faceups, I've had way more fun doing them and way more satisfaction with the results. Of course, winter is not the ideal time to be spraying so there's, hm, A Lot Of Tooth (exacerbated by the fact that Shimeji is not smooth resin) but gosh, it's so lovely to see his face again.

[bunnyscribblesbjd]

bjd eat fresh refresh

I had both of my dolls (Jaellis and Raymonde) in storage for a while and pulled them out several months ago. I was happy to see them again, but realized that I had lost interest (the reason that they ended up in a drawer in the first place) because they no longer matched my aesthetic tastes. I didn't want to get rid of them altogether because they are very dear to me, and I figured that I could make them look nicer given that I have more financial flexibility than I did when I got them as a teenager + I have more ✨skills✨

I am going to be posting the things that I have done so far throughout the next week (mostly just as a journal for myself, but maybe it will be useful in some way to someone else) and will continue posting as I continue to work on them :)

for now, here is a before picture of each of them and some notes on what I am hoping to improve:

this is Raymonde! she is a Dikadoll Peony Lion (or Mudan) in tan skin. I would like to try to improve her hair- it used to be really nice and curly but it has sort of straightened out over the past several years. her pants are also weird- the material isn't right and they are too simple looking. she still needs some things for her character to be complete: a hat, a scarf, a tool belt, and tools. I am also considering redoing her faceup since her eyebrows are light and the colors look a little off against her skin tone.

this is Jaellis! she is a Mystic Kids Caroline head on a Xagadoll V.1 body. she is super dirty for some reason, and has some uneven yellowing/tan lines from wearing this outfit in my very bright apartment for the past couple of years. I am hoping to clean her up, add some sueding while she’s in pieces, and possibly add some blushing to her hands and chest to make the yellowing look like a natural tan instead of just plastic discoloring. her expression has also started to seem super vacant so I intend to find a new pair of smaller iris eyes for her and replace her eyelashes so that she looks more alert. her wig is very stylized and unnatural looking because of the color, and I want to find or make her a new one out of more natural looking and desaturated fiber. finally, her clothing is a bit amateur, and I would like to remake it so that the scale and level of detail are more realistic.

[real-bjd-recast-community]

My recast dolls seem to look more alive than legit ones. I do understand the pro artist, which is why I also own legit dolls. But I find recasts to look more realistic. There are more resin skin choices to choose from, custom faceups and arrives much faster than Legit ones. I’m not anti-recast but I do support the artist as well. I find my casted dolls to be more attractive as well. ^^

Why don't you just say you're NEUTRAL Anon???

[hisomu]

Realistic skin texture on my recent faceups commissions. Detail photo and general photo of the heads. Faceups commissions OPEN! If you’re interested in my work, send me an email to devirot @ gmail [dot] com

[volfoss]

Silly little doll box opening (kind of) post for um a VERY heavily modified body :)

This is kind of a two in one post as I bought this head and it FINALLY came weeks ago and i have been waiting for his body to start working on him!

So the head was stuck in the UK for 2 plus weeks but he's absolutely gorgeous. Arrived to me with a slightly damaged faceup but he is probably the only more realistic styled bjd I'll ever get because his PROFILE!!!!! He's got such a gorgeous nose and such a kind smile, as well as the cutest ears that stick out.

^ stealing Dindrane's body (they are about 10 cm of a height difference so it did NOT work but it was nice to get a proof of concept for him on a body!) And him blank! Literally no pictures can capture how lovely he is irl 🥺

The body was a HUNT. His resin color is one that is very hard to match, much less when it's yellowed like he was (iirc he's about 10 or so years old) so I had been keeping my eyes out on the secondhand market. At the same time, I'd been HAUNTED by this very modified body that was the right scale but would be a ton of work to get it where I wanted it to be. I spotted this body months before I bought the head but continued to tell myself I would NOT get it because the amount of work would be immense. The more I looked into bodies and when I compared the one I had been considering, the colors were far too off. In the back of my brain, I remembered the body that I had been beating the temptation to get for months and hunted for resin comparisons. Funnily enough it seemed it would match really well or at least close enough so I bit the bullet and went for it. This body has been spray painted and sculpted on but it was objectively the best deal and the best match so I was pretty hopeful. (I love to get big projects and have 30 million of them). The neck measurements were also super close so I was PUMPED to get him on a body.

The body came to me unstrung (and I promptly forgot this information until I opened the box and was like oh fuck it is going to be a silly restringing moment)

I cannot even remotely emphasize just HOW big this doll is and how much I did not expect that. His torso (not even including his chest) is the size of my hand.

^ rough resin match which showed the head was a tiny bit lighter but I needed to sand the body anyways and it was lightly body blushed so I have pretty high hopes it'll match when I'm done :) or at least close enough! The tendril looking things are the sculpted on bits and I plan on keeping them a bit, but sanding some completely off and some down a little to fit my vision for him!

All unpacked and laid out! He's absolutely GORGEOUS sculpting wise, the detail on the hands and feet alone are more than worth it for me!

Like the veins and the overall sculpting are SO gorgeous. I'm so happy with him :)

^ kitty cat helper 🥺 i was having the fight of my life with this body because he comes up to me eye level when I'm sitting down. He's BIG. (Iirc nearly 30 inches tall) and very heavy!

I had to redo the stringing here but seeing him all put together was so so good! It fits his head size perfectly and is the exact body shape I wanted for him!

^ fully put together!! He's got so much personality and honestly is gonna be so so fun for me to work on!

^ next to my other biggest dolls. He is a UNIT

[lma-dolls]

[eviltwindoll]

OOAK-custom-doll-Kamenetskaya-19 (7) von Olga Kamenetskaya