Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    How to Rock at BJD Face-Up: A Beginner's Guide to Painting Resin Doll Faces
    How to Rock at BJD Face-Up: A Beginner's Guide to Painting Resin Doll Faces
    How to Rock at BJD Face-Up: A Beginner's Guide to Painting Resin Doll Faces
    Ebook181 pages1 hour

    How to Rock at BJD Face-Up: A Beginner's Guide to Painting Resin Doll Faces

    By Jesslyn Carver

    3/5

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    If you are looking at this book, it is assumed you've been browsing photos of ball-jointed dolls (BJD) online and wondering why they look so...alive? It's actually not hard! One major contributor to the effect is the resin they are made of--half the job done. The other half is you and your tools.
    The process is called "face-up," like make-up, but instead of adding color to an already living face, we are adding the illusion of warmth and life to a resin sculpture. This book was written to help you get started. It begins with a good list of tools and mediums you will need to buy, accompanied by brief definitions and why they are used. Next we move on to basic color theory with a list of effects you can employ to your process. Then we dive into the work.
    Heck, I'll even show how to remove the doll's head and insert eyes to bring you up to speed. And there are over 100 photos and examples to help out! This book is written in the order a face-up usually happens, but this art is totally flexible, so you can mix and match effects as you see fit. I've scoured the net, asked questions, and compiled this information so you don't have to. As there is always more to learn, be on the lookout for future books covering the vast world of doll customization.
    If you are a total beginner in this hobby, you are in the right place!

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherDorwik Publishing
    Release dateNov 22, 2016
    ISBN9780998210414
    How to Rock at BJD Face-Up: A Beginner's Guide to Painting Resin Doll Faces
    Author

    Jesslyn Carver

    Jesslyn Carver has been a natural-born artist all her life. She started serious drawing practice in her childhood and quickly moved into painting at the age of thirteen. Oil painting is her favorite, and she looks up to the seventeenth century masters like Jan Vermeer and twentieth century masters like John Singer Sargent and Norman Rockwell. She spent four years studying art heavily in college and then called it quits to go home and focus on writing. She has numerous awards from college for her paintings, an essay published in her college's "best of student essays" magazine for 2011-2012, and exhibits her art around Nashville, TN now and again. She enjoys all creative aspects surrounding ball-jointed doll customization and currently has thirteen of them. She plans to write more books about the BJD hobby in the future and is ever working hard on a fantasy novel trilogy.

    Related to How to Rock at BJD Face-Up

    Related ebooks

    Visual Arts For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      Mishka

      Oct 31, 2018

      Mishka
      6 min read

    • Article

      Makers Mark

      Oct 29, 2020

      Makers Mark
      3 min read

    • Article

      In No Small measure

      Feb 19, 2022

      In No Small measure
      2 min read

    • Article

      Bags Of Fun

      Aug 6, 2020

      Bags Of Fun
      5 min read

    • Article

      Mapping The History Of Macramé

      Jul 4, 2018

      Mapping The History Of Macramé
      1 min read

    • Article

      Transparent Mokume Gané Beads

      Jul 26, 2018

      2 x 2oz (58g) packages of Transparent Polymer Clay – Premo, Sculpey III, Fimo Soft or Fimo Classic. 4 sheets of silver or gold metallic leaf 29g (1/2 block) of each of Turquoise and Yellow Polymer Clay Work surface – glass, Perspex, granite or marble

      3 min read

    • Article

      Keep It Chilled

      Jan 27, 2022

      Keep It Chilled
      2 min read

    • Article

      Make Your Own Macramé

      Feb 4, 2020

      Make Your Own Macramé
      4 min read

    • Article

      Koala Felties

      Oct 31, 2018

      Koala Felties
      2 min read

    • Article

      Learn From Your Mistakes

      Jun 17, 2022

      Learn From Your Mistakes
      7 min read

    • Article

      Find Your Visual Voice

      Jun 17, 2022

      Find Your Visual Voice
      6 min read

    • Article

      I Can’t Draw a Straight Line

      Feb 22, 2019

      I Can’t Draw a Straight Line
      5 min read

    • Article

      Letters

      Sep 16, 2022

      Letters
      2 min read

    • Article

      Curtis Holder

      Apr 16, 2021

      Curtis Holder
      4 min read

    • Article

      Paint With Confidence

      Jan 21, 2022

      Paint With Confidence
      2 min read

    • Article

      Brush Strokes

      Jul 23, 2021

      Brush Strokes
      5 min read

    • Article

      New Resolutions

      Jan 20, 2023

      has BA and MA degrees in Fine Art and is a qualified art tutor with over 20 years'teaching experience. Alongside her regular classes at Midlands Arts Centre in Birmingham Helen also teaches classes and workshops from her studio at her home in East St

      7 min read

    • Article

      Finding Time to Paint

      Feb 8, 2018

      Finding Time to Paint
      6 min read

    • Article

      New Resolutions

      Jan 20, 2023

      has BA and MA degrees in Fine Art and is a qualified art tutor with over 20 years'teaching experience. Alongside her regular classes at Midlands Arts Centre in Birmingham Helen also teaches classes and workshops from her studio at her home in East St

      6 min read

    • Article

      A Walk on the Wild Side

      Apr 25, 2018

      Admitting to bursts of frustration, this artist is soon lured back into the fold, once again finding hope, excitement and profound satisfaction as he starts his newest creation. I picked up the brushes and began painting in earnest about ten years ag

      4 min read

    • Article

      Belief

      Apr 21, 2020

      Everybody believes in stuff. Everybody has beliefs. They are funny things. Sort of like personal truths. Your passion and enthusiasm to create art is always by necessity underwritten by your belief system. You wouldn’t put pencil to paper if you didn

      6 min read

    • Article

      Brush Article 18

      Apr 14, 2016

      Brush Article 18
      5 min read

    • Article

      Brush Article 18

      Jan 13, 2023

      Brush Article 18
      5 min read

    • Article

      Paint Brushes

      Jun 7, 2018

      Paint Brushes
      5 min read

    • Article

      Emily Watts

      Aug 4, 2022

      Emily Watts
      6 min read

    • Article

      Portraiture With Hands

      Feb 17, 2023

      runs residential courses from his home and studios in south Devon. For more information email lara@coombefarmstudios.com Telephone 01803 722 352 or visit www.coombefarmstudios.com Watercolour portraiture is tricky enough at the best of times; adding

      6 min read

    • Article

      Making Connections

      Dec 15, 2023

      Making Connections
      3 min read

    • Article

      From The Drawing Board

      Jul 26, 2018

      Hi Brett, I have dabbled in art on and off for forty years and having part completed a commercial art course in the 1970s, I appear to have, until recently, missed the concept of drawing the negative spaces. I still primarily draw what I see but reco

      6 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for How to Rock at BJD Face-Up

    3/5

    5 ratings1 review

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 5/5
      Apryl has opened up sculpting so it is easy to understand and you feel comfortable enough to actually try to sculpt yourself.
      I have read different sculpting books that made it so I understood armature. I just wasn't ready to try to actually buy supplies though as information was not complete. After watching a video and reading her bjd making free on Scribd.com, then going to her site reaa bit more I was ready to buy supplies for my first sculpting box- everything needed to complete one doll..I just cannot express enough to those who may have just thought or drempt of sculpting, to just watch a video by Apryl, and read her detailed instructions on any part of sculpting..fear will wash away and confidence will wash over you, so you realize you have found a fantastic teacher that will walk you thru everything and answer your questions..this is also a very affordable craft that takes No Kiln!
      Build your confidence with every move and know, the sky is the limit for where you want to go with the knowledge learned!

    Book preview

    How to Rock at BJD Face-Up - Jesslyn Carver

    How to ROCK at BJD Face-Up

    A Beginner’s Guide to Painting Resin Doll Faces

    By

    Jesslyn Carver

    Smashwords Editions License Notes

    This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, then please return to your favorite retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

    Copyright 2014 Jesslyn Carver

    All Rights Reserved.

    Table of Contents

    Foreword

    Chapter 1: Tools of the Trade

    Chapter 2: A Doll’s Rebirth: Removing the Old Face-UP

    Chapter 3: It’s a Lovely Day for a Face-Up

    Chapter 4: Color Theory

    Chapter 5: Look at those Rosy Cheeks

    Chapter 6: Line Work

    Chapter 7: The Awesome Eyebrows Technique

    Chapter 8: Finishing Up

    About the Author

    Works Cited

    Foreword

    Welcome to the BJD hobby! Your pursuit of a new skill in this wonderful and strange new art form is an admirable undertaking. It takes a little money, practice, and imagination but you are about to tap into a new creative world with boundless possibilities for expression.

    I decided to become a Ball-Jointed Doll collector and face-up artist in 2012. I had, of course, seen photos of these otherworldly little people first and went through a few emotional stages before finally coming out as an actual owner of one. First there was amazement and longing for such a bizarrely beautiful object, every one of which seemed to have life inside of it somehow. Then my little buzz was killed when I noticed that I could not afford one. I was thrown into a darker stage when it looked like I would have to spend hundreds of dollars to hire someone to paint my doll’s face. They would be using super expensive airbrush equipment that I had no idea about and wasn’t really interested in dishing out the money and discipline to learn (airbrush had always been a little too high-tech for this old-fashioned, hand-painting girl). I don’t remember whose blog I was reading at that time, but thinking back on it now makes me laugh.

    Roll the calendar forward about five or ten more years and I’m in my twenties, married, and making my own money. I rediscovered Asian Ball-Jointed dolls (or BJD’s as we lovingly call them) and noticed a new company that may not have been around when I was a teen. It was called Resin Soul, based in South Korea. These dolls were not only beautiful to me and came with awesome pointy ears that I’ve always wanted in a doll, but they were incredibly affordable. I decided to go all the way and get a $200 elf-boy named Long. That price was pushing it for me, but I decided that that was what I was getting. As I saved my money I did extensive internet research to learn everything I could about this hobby. It changed my life when I heard about the technique for using soft pastels with a spray sealant to get the same softly blushed appearance that can be achieved with an airbrush. From this point, I knew everything was going to be all right as far as giving a personality to my new beloved resin boy.

    My very first face-up allowed me to get a feel for the process. It was NOT one that I kept. It was done on a large soft resin Obitsu head that cost me about $20. I did two face-ups on the Obitsu head and when my Resin Soul arrived in the mail, it took two tries again before I was happy with the result. Art is not about following someone’s exact instructions, doing as they do, and then having a perfect work of art on the first try. First I would say it’s about love and passion: you should love what you are doing, the process and the result, and you should have a burning passion driving you forward. It’s safe to say that I don’t paint because I want to—it’s because I have to. If you are unsure about starting this endeavor, you may want to start by asking yourself, Why do I want to do this? If you are also wondering whether you should even buy a doll, your answers to the above question may be helpful. This is an expensive hobby and should not be taken lightly.

    On the other hand, I believe that art is about the five stages of the Creative Process, which are preparation, frustration, incubation, illumination, and revision. Let’s put an emphasis on frustration. That’s right. We all have that—especially the professionals! So you should get used to it. The good news is that there are three great stages that follow. Incubation time happens when you take a break from the project. It gives your brain time to mull over the project whether you’re consciously thinking about it or not. Even while you sleep your brain is trying to solve your problems for you! Illumination happens in that magic moment when you finally understand or come up with the solution to the problem. And then revision is the part where you get back into the project, do some more work, and step back to see how it looks. This may be the finishing step or you may experience more frustration and do the steps all over again. Eventually you’ll get comfortable and learn to decide for yourself what works for you and how to achieve the look you want. No two artists do or should have to follow the exact same process!

    It’s good to ask other artists for constructive criticism if you feel you need help, but don’t let anyone tell you that your face-up is wrong or bad. No face up is wrong. There are some who did the face-up purposefully and there are some who just need a little practice. If you sense someone being malicious online, it’s best to cut the conversation there. There may be slight competition in the BJD hobby if you choose to enter one at a convention or doll meet, but otherwise, it’s not about that at all. In reality it’s you and your doll. No one else matters after that. Remember, art is an extremely subjective thing just as jealousy and negativity are extremely destructive things.

    I am here to give you all the technical aspects of the art of face-up. I can tell you what supplies you need and how they work together. When it comes to the actual creative part, like choosing colors, please feel free to branch off and try anything that takes your fancy! By all means, you are welcome to copy my face-ups—I am not threatened by this—but I think what you really would appreciate is designing your own unique style and character.

    The bad news is this process is not cheap. I spent $50+ alone on pastels. And even when you try to cut corners,

    Enjoying the preview?
    Page 1 of 1