Dollieh Sanctuary

The last ball jointed doll face up I’ve done was 7 years ago back when I was 17 and honestly I don’t think my skills have really improved since then lol. I find BJD face ups to be an entirely different animal of painting compared to 1/6th dolls and especially since how the BJD community seems to have shifted from pastels and acrylics to pastels and watercolours.

However I really wanted to give my Elfdoll Wu a better face up than the crappy one he got 7 years ago because the head was a gift from a doll friend of mine who passed away recently.

Essie was someone who really encouraged and nurtured my doll customizing skills in my younger years, and who was incredibly gifted and generous. If it wasn’t for her I definitely would have given up painting a long time ago.

So, I was stubborn and decided to try giving this face up entirely with pastels and acrylic paint because it’s what I’m comfortable with.

I gave him tons of freckles because I’m a huge sucker for them and that I’m not happy with his eyebrows but it’s better than the grainy, brown turds I drew on him when I was 17 lol.

He’s still not perfect by any means but I’m much happier with him now because he has a lot of sentiment attached to him…

He looks great! From my perspective as a non-artsy person I'd say you did an awesome job. ^__^

I have always loved your face-ups! I think he looks great, too!

I think he looks fantastic. His freckles are really cute, too.

He's so sweet

Hey John! I didn't know you were still around!
He looks great!

Oh, that faceup looks lovely! He's super cute!

I wouldn't worry too much about watercolor vs acrylics. Just stick to what you like to achieve the look you want~ I actually hadn't noticed anything about watercolors... though I have seen people using the very liquid acrylics such as liquitex ink. Personally, I like my acrylics and will be sticking to them! As long as you feel comfortable with it, go for it~ And if you like it, that's all that matters!