Face Up: Freckles! Yay or nay? ✦

Jul 4, 2017

  1. Yay

    246 vote(s)
  2. Nay

    25 vote(s)
  3. Little goes a long way

    86 vote(s)
Multiple votes are allowed.
    1. I'd like to open a discussion about freckles! I looked around a bit and haven't seen a thread directed exactly at freckles (or beauty marks in general), and whilst it's something I'm heavily considering for a face up right now, I've decided to create this thread. ♥

      (If I had been blind and skimmed right past an existing discussion, please feel free to kick me the right way...)

      Freckles are gorgeous. Little kisses from the galaxy, I'd say, the more the better. I was considering going for this kind of look, just having a doll freckled from head to toe. On the other hand, just a few specks on the cheeks, nor and/or forehead and chin seem very lovely, too. Have you had an experience with asking a face up artist for freckles before? How did that go for you / were you satisfied with it? Or if you're self-painted, did you go overboard or were you afraid to put on any dots at all?

      And just on the side: What about beauty marks? Are there any beauty marks that you keep on your doll at all times, as a part of their style/character, or do they come and go as you please?

      I'm currently deciding whether I want the freckle magic to happen or just keep it low with a few beauty marks.

      Anyhow, let me know how this kind of face up goes with you!
      #1 cudnaruza, Jul 4, 2017
      Last edited: Nov 8, 2018
    2. I'm training myself currently to do a face up with freckles. I fricking love freckles! I do prefer when they are more subtle though, like giving texture to a face, not actually being way too visible dots on a face (that would look like someone threw paint in your face on a human as well). I feel they really bring dolls to a new level of 'looking alive'!
      • x 2
    3. I love freckles! My friend gave my girl Valli freckles as part of an artist's choice face up, and I think it works so perfectly. Plus, it gives her a lot of personality that a plainer faceup might not have!

      Freckles as part of body blushing would be gorgeous! But I think on the right doll, a beauty mark or two would be lovely as well.
      • x 2
    4. I absolutely love freckles,like a more subtle way and not just some random dark dots all over the face.
      When I commission Someone for a faceup I look at their portfolio/gallery of their faceups with freckles and tell them those are the kind of style I'm going for
      Now for beauty marks I don't really care for them
      • x 1
    5. Of my dolls, only Billy really has freckles. I painted them myself-- I wanted to have a middle ground between just a few and freckles everywhere, and wanted them to be fairly natural in terms of not being too evenly-spaced, not being the same size or even the exact same strength of color...

      I came out with a result that I was happy with, since it was my first time painting freckles on a doll. They're mostly on his face, but he has a scattering across his shoulders/upper back, and a couple on the backs of his hands.
      • x 1
    6. I love freckles on BJDs I tend to go the lazy route and just use my paintbrush to splatter freckls all around I do the same with painting so I guess I'm used to it now)
      It does get tough not making it just look like random dark spots though so sometimes I'm too scared to try :')
      • x 1
    7. The last doll I ordered I asked for a few freckles (he`s not here yet though, so I dunno what it looks like!)
      My opinion is that freckles are fine, so long as they aren`t organized. The dolls with freckles in straight lines and stuff drive me nuts. It just doesn`t look natural.
      • x 2
    8. I love freckles. Sprinklings, thick coatings, all types! The only think that matters to me is that they look natural, and that can be hard. And the more freckles there are, the harder it is to achieve. But there are real people smothered in freckles, so I think it can be done.

      I don't personally want beauty marks, but I think they can look alright.
      • x 1
    9. I adore freckles~ My next doll has freckles and I'm super excited to get her painted; I've been using this photo (that I found on Google) as reference for her (she's a Dollits Miso). I wasn't gonna have freckles on her at first, but then she ended up being a redhead and she's outside like 90% of the time, so she'd definitely have some freckles.

      I also have Ilya, who...kind of has freckles? They're more like speckles, I guess. More fantasy. (Plus he has bigger spots on his forehead that don't count.) For Ilya, I basically just asked for freckles and the artist did it and I loved it; of course, they're dark grey/black instead of a natural brownish color just because of the rest of his face.

      Edit: Here's a picture of Ilya's little speckles; you may have to zoom in a bit, bit they're there!

      04-07(5) by kiyoshisenshi, on Flickr

      The only thing that sometimes puts me off of BJD freckles is when they're too organized, like other people have mentioned, or if they're all the same size/saturation (like...the color is all the same intensity throughout).
      • x 3
    10. Well, I love freckles IRL and on my doll so there's not too much more than that. I bought Annix basically because he's my grail doll WITH FRECKLES!(eleventy) I've seen so many gorgeous faceups incorporating all styles and types of freckle formation I don't think it'd be hard to find something both aesthetically pleasing and fitting for a character. I do have a smaller doll with a beauty mark and like with freckles it adds depth to her face so I'd be for beauty marks on other sized dolls too.
      • x 1
    11. I like them but I don't want them on all of my dolls. But I think if it fits the character, go for it!
      • x 2
    12. The head my friend bought me for my first doll came with freckles. I did have a faceup in mind for the character but I told the artist that it was up to them if they liked the freckles enough to bring them back after doing what I needed. We'll see how he returns! I do think they can be cute but if there was any sort of pattern in them it would definitely bother me
    13. I like them, if they're tiny and look natural. Of my dolls, Jack and Derby have a lot of freckles, Kier and Gemma have them along their cheeks and nose, Hailey, Marie and Luc have quite a few random beauty marks, and Dhani and Justin have strategically placed beauty marks. I keep them all every time I redo faceups as they're part of the character.

      The reason so many of my dolls have them is because I've always been envious of people who have beauty marks. I have almost none at all and the few I do have are so pale or in places that don't show, like one on my thigh. Both my sister and husband have more visible ones and I think they're beautiful. Since I can't have them myself, I put them on my dolls.

      The only time I really don't care for freckles on dolls is when they look drawn on or like dirt splatters. I'm guilty of both of these myself. When I first started doing freckles, I drew them on with a pencil. This made them look too big, too round, and too evenly spaced. It looked very unnatural. Now, I splatter them on with the toothbrush method, but it still takes some work. If I'm not careful, it looks like mud thrown in her face.
      • x 2
    14. It depends on how it's done. I've seen some that are absolutely darling, and some that look like smallpox victims. It would depend on the look I was going for with my doll.

      Has anybody here done a body blushing with freckles?
      • x 1
      • x 8
    15. Freckles are an absolute yay if the character calls for it. I have one boy (actually the one in my avatar, though you can't see them there because they're very subtle), absolutely covered in them and I think they give him that little bit something extra. I wouldn't do all over freckles because I don't do body blushing on any of my dolls since I don't care for it, though characters-wise, yes, he's also covered with them head to toe.

      Also a big YES for beauty marks. I have them myself and it actually took me a long time growing up to realize by looking around at my peers that they're not as common as I thought, especially prominent dark ones. So I ensure that a few of my dolls have them to remind myself that anyone can have them and still be beautiful.
      • x 3
    16. Freckles can be a really cute detail on a doll, but it's easy to go overboard. I tend to love them when they're something you notice when you're looking at a doll up close, but it shouldn't slap you in the face.

      I'm also pretty much obsessed with freckle-y beauty marks on dolls right now. They're such a cute touch!
      • x 1
    17. I have no issues with it. A couple of mine called for freckles, and a few ended up with moles/beauty marks. So far it's limited to faceups, but I might add them if I end up ever doing more extensive body blushing.

      Silly as it may sound, sometimes the MSC spray has caused dotting when putting a layer of it down, and I've used moles/beauty marks to remedy it. I like to take a sharpened tipped watercolor pencil and lightly dot it on the spot, and followed it up a couple other times with some other colors to help blend it and make it look more natural (black/brown/peach/fleshtone:)). It's saved me from some faceup woes and given their characters something unique to add to their features. I also love using watercolor paint for the paintbrush speckle technique for freckles, as it allows me to place them out randomly while letting me lighten them if they're to thick or dark. Makes for easier cleanup than acrylic too :kitty2.

      Never really thought about the appeal of beauty marks, or lack thereof with people in real life. I was born with a strawberry mark on my forehead that faded out by the time I was one or two, and have a heart-shaped mole. But I never really thought too much on them :kitty1
      • x 1
    18. I'm planning freckles for my (one & only) doll who still needs a face-up - I absolutely love the way they look (on dolls and people!) especially when there are distinct layers of them, like lighter smaller freckles with larger darker ones mixed in.

      How do folks manage the really really tiny, light freckles that add realistic skin texture to face-ups? If anybody has any good freckle face-up tutorials I'd love to see them!
      • x 2
    19. I like freckles and beauty marks. I also like shading on the face to bring out bone structure. But I am picky about the way the freckles are done.
      • x 1