Creating a BJD - Constructive Criticism Welcome!

[Tsukiyono]

I posted this on DoA as well, but I thought it might be good to fish for input elsewhere too.  Anyway I am currently in the middle of creating my own BJD that is inspired by all of those lovely Asian ball jointed dolls out there.  The head has already been fired twice, so right now I'm reworking fresh sculpey over the hardened form.  I feel I'm finally getting the nose somewhere near where I want it to be and her profile is looking better, but I'm thinking maybe I might need to move her eye holes up a bit (wah, that will be a hard chore!)  and I'm having a lot of trouble getting the swell of the cheeks right. 

So basically I seriously need some constructive criticism!  I consider myself a novice sculptor, so lots of sculpting advice would be greatly appreciated!  And I welcome anyone to mark on my photos if it would better illustrate a point.  Thanks!

[aliceownsj00]

WoW that looks almost identical! Of course thats coming from someone who doesn't own one, lol.

This will defiantly be a project worth seeing to the end! Looks great to me

[geekycraftgrl]

That head is fantastic. you have done a great job.

i cant wait to see the finsihed doll.

[Lingering_Kitten]

I think the features you have sculpted look great.  They seem to be a bit out of proportion though.  I would definitely move the eyes up.  It is said that the eyes should be in the center horizontal line of a face.   I realize how difficult that would be. Also, the ears are a bit big for the face.  Generally, ears match up with the center of the eye and the bottom (tip) of the nose.  Maybe its just that the ears are a bit low.  Also, what age are you going for?  The proportions make it look very babyish.

How tall is she going to eventually be?

 I, too, am working on a doll.  Her head is freaking huge!  I am going to continue working on her, but also I want to try my hand at a smaller doll.

[Tsukiyono]

Well, I'm going for a stylized anime-ish look, and I wanted to make her around SD13 sized...about 57cm but I think she's going to come up a bit shorter than that at about 52.5cm, but the legs haven't been fired yet, so we'll see after that.  I wanted her to have a young, cute looking face, but I really haven't decided on an age yet really.  Anyway thanks for your input....I was afraid I'd have to move the eyes. *dies*  Oh well, what must be done, must be done.  Good luck with your doll too btw!

[Lingering_Kitten]

Thanks!

I think she does have an anime style look.  If that's what you are going for then the face being a bit squished may not be a problem.  Actually looking at the pics again, there might be some other options besides completely moving the eyes...

I'm going to try and draw what I'm thinking on your pics and post em.

I have to go to class right now, but I'll post it tonight =^.^=

[Tsukiyono]

WoW that looks almost identical! Of course thats coming from someone who doesn't own one, lol.

This will defiantly be a project worth seeing to the end! Looks great to me

Thanks. I plan to finish her that's for sure, but it's probably going to take me a while yet.  Though it is summer, so who knows, maybe I can make some fabulous progress with my free time.

That head is fantastic. you have done a great job.

i cant wait to see the finsihed doll.

Thanks.   I'll be sure to post pictures of her here when I have finished her, but it seems like a long way off right now!

Thanks!

I think she does have an anime style look.  If that's what you are going for then the face being a bit squished may not be a problem.  Actually looking at the pics again, there might be some other options besides completely moving the eyes...

I'm going to try and draw what I'm thinking on your pics and post em.

I have to go to class right now, but I'll post it tonight =^.^=

That would be super awesome!   I will be looking forward to it, but no hurries or anything.

[bubblegum_phoenix]

I think she looks beautiful as is  peoples faces come in all types and this would be a ooak doll 

[Lingering_Kitten]

kk, I'm in class... French is amazingly easier to sit through when I have a project =^.^=

Here are some pictures:::


This is unchanged just to show how the eyes are too low based on the horizontal center line of the head.


This is the change I would propose.  The following is a profile pic.  I think you could accomplish this through a lot of sanding ^_^  But, you wouldn't have to try and move the eyes.  The eye position would still be a little low... but nowhere like the original. Profile::


Actual heads (I looked around the classroom to confirm this) are higher in the back than the front.  So... I would recommend sanding and reshaping.

Also... there's one other little thing that would be a pain to fix... I think you could leave it as it, but it would be something the watch for in the future.  Here's a pic:

The white lines show the distance between the eyes and side of head.  The rule of thumb is that the head is 5 eye widths wide.  One on each side of the eye, then an eye, a width between them, an eye, then an eye width.  Obviously there is not enough distance on the sides.  And it looks like there is slightly too much distance between.  However, I think you can get away with leaving this as is.  I just thought I should point it out.

Even though I've pointed out some flaws, don't get yourself down.  As you can see with the lines on it, it is very clear that you have great symmetry.  And I think your features are REALLY well sculpted!  I hope this helps.

-Laura

[CohesiveChaos]

I think you're making beautiful progress.  I am a BJD lover/owner myself so I appreciate the time and effort you've put forth here.  The lips are lovely.

I think once you have a headcap and a wig on the large forehead wouldn't be an issue (just think about the Dream of Doll or luts girls you don't notice all that blank space up top once they are wigged

I can't wait to see your pretty when it's finished