How to make faceups look good?

I'm new to faceups, and had just had my mom help me with the first one on my doll, only using dry and wet pastels. I just wondered what sort of tips people had to make things look smooth and similar to how the factory/professionals do! I'm also a bit worried about black acrylic paint staining, is that true?

Here's what the faceup looks like (it's a bit glossy because of the MSC turning out a bit glossy, I plan on redoing it but wanted some tips before doing that!) 

 

First, I'd recommend avoiding oil pastels, if that's what you mean by wet pastels (if you mean chalk pastels mixed with water, though, then you're fine).

I've never had issues with acrylics staining, especially if the head is sealed properly--I've have more trouble with dark reddish-brown/sienna watercolor pencils leaving stains on vinyl heads even when sealed properly. 

To get really fine lines, you'll want really fine brushes and really sharp watercolor pencils. It's okay to go over the same lines on multiple layers to build up the opacity, too.

I don't have a ton of experience with MSC (I've used a different sealant method until my last couple faceups), but the main points are to avoid humidity and cold, and spray at a fair distance (around arm's length if wind will allow) to reduce the chances of it clouding up or getting shiny on the face.

Finally, practice, practice, practice! Just like any other skill, you'll keep learning new techniques and what works best for you by doing more faceups. 💪

Just now, Manaphyyy said:

First, I'd recommend avoiding oil pastels, if that's what you mean by wet pastels (if you mean chalk pastels mixed with water, though, then you're fine).

I've never had issues with acrylics staining, especially if the head is sealed properly--I've have more trouble with dark reddish-brown/sienna watercolor pencils leaving stains on vinyl heads even when sealed properly. 

To get really fine lines, you'll want really fine brushes and really sharp watercolor pencils. It's okay to go over the same lines on multiple layers to build up the opacity, too.

I don't have a ton of experience with MSC (I've used a different sealant method until my last couple faceups), but the main points are to avoid humidity and cold, and spray at a fair distance (around arm's length if wind will allow) to reduce the chances of it clouding up or getting shiny on the face.

Finally, practice, practice, practice! Just like any other skill, you'll keep learning new techniques and what works best for you by doing more faceups. 💪

I use chalk pastels, so no worries! 

That's really good to know, I had heard from a friend that black and brown acrylic might stain!

What sizes of brushes do you normally use? I have small ones but probably not small enough, and they're kind of stubby which doesn't help for fluid lines.

Thank you!!

And thank you for that too!! Very much appreciated!

Just now, AveragePigeon said:

I use chalk pastels, so no worries! 

That's really good to know, I had heard from a friend that black and brown acrylic might stain!

What sizes of brushes do you normally use? I have small ones but probably not small enough, and they're kind of stubby which doesn't help for fluid lines.

Thank you!!

And thank you for that too!! Very much appreciated!

No problem! If you're concerned about a material staining the doll, you can test it on the headcap first (that way, it won't ruin the face if it does end up staining).

The thinnest brushes I have are 3/0. I mostly use those for acrylics. For applying pastel in specific areas, I usually use a fine angled eyeliner brush.

Just now, Manaphyyy said:

No problem! If you're concerned about a material staining the doll, you can test it on the headcap first (that way, it won't ruin the face if it does end up staining).

The thinnest brushes I have are 3/0. I mostly use those for acrylics. For applying pastel in specific areas, I usually use a fine angled eyeliner brush.

On the outside, right? And that's really smart, thank you!!

I'll have to look at those, thank you! Are there any specific brands you use that work really well?

Just now, AveragePigeon said:

On the outside, right? And that's really smart, thank you!!

I'll have to look at those, thank you! Are there any specific brands you use that work really well?

No specific brand for the brushes, I got all mine off of Amazon or at Walmart haha

Just now, Manaphyyy said:

No specific brand for the brushes, I got all mine off of Amazon or at Walmart haha

That's a relief, I didnt know if I would need super expensive brushes to do well!! Thanks so much!!!

17 hours ago, AveragePigeon said:

I just wondered what sort of tips people had to make things look smooth and similar to how the factory/professionals do!

I believe they use masks and / or airbrushing for DDs. I am pretty sure SDs face-ups are all hand painted. 
 

Volks makes and sells good quality brushes for face-ups. 

1 minute ago, BeyondTime said:

I believe they use masks and / or airbrushing for DDs. I am pretty sure SDs face-ups are all hand painted. 
 

Volks makes and sells good quality brushes for face-ups. 

Thank you!! That's interesting to know!

Are there any specific brushes they make that you recommend?

If you go onto their webstore and choose Make-Up & Care Items and then Make-Up Tools you will find all their painting tool. The brushes are used by their own staff to paint their SDs, and the work they do is impressive. 

Volks USA has a starter face-up kit that seems to have everything you need, but at the moment it’s out of stock. I think it’s a Volks USA exclusive item, so you can’t get it from the Japan store. 

Just now, BeyondTime said:

If you go onto their webstore and choose Make-Up & Care Items and then Make-Up Tools you will find all their painting tool. The brushes are used by their own staff to paint their SDs, and the work they do is impressive. 

Volks USA has a starter face-up kit that seems to have everything you need, but at the moment it’s out of stock. I think it’s a Volks USA exclusive item, so you can’t get it from the Japan store. 

Thank you! I didn't know if you had any specific brush sizes that you use!

 

That makes sense! Thank you!

11 minutes ago, AveragePigeon said:

Thank you! I didn't know if you had any specific brush sizes that you use!

I’m not doing face-ups with mine, so I can’t advise you there. I did watch their lead SD artist paint a resin head once, and she was using a very fine tipped Volks brush. She also used thin coats of paint. 

I do have a fine point brush made by Volks and it’s a very nice brush.

33 minutes ago, BeyondTime said:

I’m not doing face-ups with mine, so I can’t advise you there. I did watch their lead SD artist paint a resin head once, and she was using a very fine tipped Volks brush. She also used thin coats of paint. 

I do have a fine point brush made by Volks and it’s a very nice brush.

Oh ok!! That's helpful, thank you! Very much appreciated, I'll check their brushes out!

16 hours ago, Manaphyyy said:

I don't have a ton of experience with MSC (I've used a different sealant method until my last couple faceups), but the main points are to avoid humidity and cold, and spray at a fair distance (around arm's length if wind will allow) to reduce the chances of it clouding up or getting shiny on the face.

I was wondering about this!!! 😩The first faceup I got commissioned from an artist left my doll head looking SUPER glossy, even though he claimed it was matte MSC (I don't take pictures of that doll because she's super hard to photograph with almost any lighting). All this time, I thought the shininess came from spraying on various layers of MSC (which seems to be a normal thing to do). I really wanted to ask some faceup artists if my assumption was correct, but I didn't wanna come off as rude. Thanks for the insight!

30 minutes ago, BottleStar said:

All this time, I thought the shininess came from spraying on various layers of MSC (which seems to be a normal thing to do). I really wanted to ask some faceup artists if my assumption was correct, but I didn't wanna come off as rude. Thanks for the insight!

It sounds like it was improperly applied. 

31 minutes ago, BottleStar said:

I was wondering about this!!! 😩The first faceup I got commissioned from an artist left my doll head looking SUPER glossy, even though he claimed it was matte MSC (I don't take pictures of that doll because she's super hard to photograph with almost any lighting). All this time, I thought the shininess came from spraying on various layers of MSC (which seems to be a normal thing to do). I really wanted to ask some faceup artists if my assumption was correct, but I didn't wanna come off as rude. Thanks for the insight!

What I had been told by a friend was that my MSC wasn't shaken enough (which probably was the case), so that also could be it! 70% humidity and not too hot or cold of weather is the best way to get it matte!

From my experience black acrylics don't stain. Watercolor pencils can stain (the browns especially). Red/pink pastels like blush can bleed through the MSC and stain. Looking at your head, either the MSC is not applied properly, too close or in a too big quantity. You also have to let it dry, 1 hour minimum, 3 hours is OK, best is overnight! As for the faceup style, I'd say look at a lot of dolls from japanese artists, and spend a lot of time on Pixiv looking at illustration~

Edited September 25, 2020 by AtelierMoe

6 hours ago, AtelierMoe said:

From my experience black acrylics don't stain. Watercolor pencils can stain (the browns especially). Red/pink pastels like blush can bleed through the MSC and stain. Looking at your head, either the MSC is not applied properly, too close or in a too big quantity. You also have to let it dry, 1 hour minimum, 3 hours is OK, best is overnight! As for the faceup style, I'd say look at a lot of dolls from japanese artists, and spend a lot of time on Pixiv looking at illustration~

That's really good to know! So each coat, you want to let it dry overnight, ideally?

On 9/26/2020 at 5:21 AM, AveragePigeon said:

That's really good to know! So each coat, you want to let it dry overnight, ideally?

I think it's the best way to do it yes!

46 minutes ago, AtelierMoe said:

I think it's the best way to do it yes!

Alright, thank you so much!!!

If you are getting glossiness with MSC it's due to multiple reasons, and not just weather.

 

You're overspraying with MSC. The spraying shouldn't be long sprays, but rather short bursts. 

 

Lomi's playground has a good video on this :

 

https://youtu.be/NUsG-dYHEAI

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sc6BD65-os0

Edited September 27, 2020 by Q_T

I am also a faceup noob! good luck i love the warm brown you're using for your eyeline base! Chalk pastels with water are sooo hard to get even, though.. i'm surprised you were able to do as well as you did!

I like to use gouache on faceups, because if I make a mistake, I can just wipe it right off with some water! 

I had trouble with shininess with MSC, and it was because I was spraying too much, too close. I did just a couple of sprays at an arm's length away, and that did the trick! I found that spraying MSC properly took away the shininess of the improperly applied underlayers, too! 

1 hour ago, littlecherishdoll said:

I am also a faceup noob! good luck i love the warm brown you're using for your eyeline base! Chalk pastels with water are sooo hard to get even, though.. i'm surprised you were able to do as well as you did!

I like to use gouache on faceups, because if I make a mistake, I can just wipe it right off with some water! 

I had trouble with shininess with MSC, and it was because I was spraying too much, too close. I did just a couple of sprays at an arm's length away, and that did the trick! I found that spraying MSC properly took away the shininess of the improperly applied underlayers, too! 

Thank you so much! I'll definitely look into gouache!

That's really good to know with the MSC, so thank you! 

1 hour ago, Q_T said:

If you are getting glossiness with MSC it's due to multiple reasons, and not just weather.

 

You're overspraying with MSC. The spraying shouldn't be long sprays, but rather short bursts. 

 

Lomi's playground has a good video on this :

 

https://youtu.be/NUsG-dYHEAI

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sc6BD65-os0

I was definitely doing long sprays, I'm used to doing that with resin dolls, so I'll have to try the short bursts! Thank you so much!

Just putting out a reminder, since there's a lot of talk about MSC and sealants in this thread, in case anyone here doesn't already know:

You must wear a half- or full-face respirator with an N95 Filter and an Organic Vapor Cartridge to properly protect your lungs while spraying MSC or any other sealant (including via an airbrush!)

You can find an extremely in-depth explanation on what, why, and how via this page, which was kindly re-uploaded from a very old but very informative post on Den of Angels.  You only have two lungs, please remember to protect them!

TLDR;
You need:  A half- or full-face respirator, an N95 level or higher Filter, and an Organic Vapor Cartridge.  I use a 3M half-face respirator with 60921 filters, as they have both a P100 level filter and an Organic Vapor Cartridge together for ease of use.

You must wear it when spraying:  Outside, inside, with a spray booth, 'just one layer,' with an airbrush, etc.  If you're spraying, you need a respirator.

Basic Tips:  Do not share your respirator.  Keep it clean.  Test the fit by covering the filters with both hands and trying to breathe in; if air comes in around the mask, re-fit it correctly, and do it every single time you put it on.  Do not assume it is fit properly without testing.  Store your respirator in a zip top bag or some other air-tight container to prolong the life of your filters.  If you can smell anything through your filters, replace them.  Do not risk the health of your lungs: you cannot undo damage once it has been done.