If your question isn’t answered here, shoot me an ask on tumblr!“May I repost/ reference or trace your art?”that’s totally okay with me as long as you give credit! I’m fine with most things as long as you’re not claiming the work as your own, or using it for money. If unsure, you can always send me an ask on tumblr, or dm me!“What’s your name/age/pronouns?”My name is Ari, I’m 22 and she/her“What do you use to make dolls?”Armature wire, sculpty polymer clay, and felt!“Do you take commissions/requests?”Not usually! The pressure gets to me. When I am open for commissions, I’ll post about it. If you’ve commissioned me before, feel free to reach out though.“Who are the characters you draw?”They’re my, and sometimes my partners characters! I’ve been making ocs since I could remember, some of the current ones I depict being as old as 7 years. A lot of mine are extensions of me to some extent. Traits plucked from my being, and magnified, given a life and roll in my many stories. I’ve always been hesitant to share details. Afraid that I might get made fun of. Been trying to share more though, and the info I’ve posted can be found on my Twitter, tumblr (usually in the notes) or my toyhouse.“Are you self taught?”aside from art class in middle/high school — which I should’ve paid more attention to to be honest — yes. I don’t think labels like that really matter though. We all learn differently and at our own pace. Some plants thrive in conditions where others wilt. The distinction only indicates what sort of learning environment might be best for you, and even that varies, because teachers vary! Personally, I learn best by figuring things out for myself, and doing what I want to do. I failed so many art classes partly due to this. Also because I never finished anything lol. A bad habit I have but am getting better with as I grow and better understand myself.“How long have you been drawing?”My whole life. Ever since I could pick up a pencil I’ve always liked drawing. I even made picture books when I was in kindergarten/elementary school. One is about two snails getting married, and I distinctly remember drawing the lady snail giving birth in a snail hospital. Another was about my stuffed rabbit getting a tattoo, inspired by the embroidered “I love you” on the chest. Somehow I understood birth, but not how tattoos were done (why did I think you had to peel the skin off and paint under it?????)
I kept drawing. Through middle school I made bad anime drawings and traced pictures of animals and celebrities via a paper held to my family’s computer. I was always interested in semi realism, or plain ol realism. So I did a lot of tracing, and eventually, got too lazy to put the paper to the monitor and tried to draw by looking. couldn’t draw without a ref though.
Then steven universe came out and I was in love with the unique (at the time/to me) style. It was so cute, the colours, the heavy use of shape, and the story intrigued me with these all female rock aliens. Something clicked in me and I was determined to draw like Rebecca sugar.
Time goes on and I got more into posting my art online, and being inspired by other online artists.
It’s hard to pinpoint when I “started” drawing. It’s an odd question to me, since most if not all of us have drawn as children. Maybe some stop, but I, like so many others, never really did. So I point to when I saw Steven universe as my “starting” point. It really sparked me to want to get better, to learn anatomy, colour, and composition — which I still struggle with lol — in short, It was the start of me really trying! :’)“How can I get better at art?”Time and effort :’) there’s no tricks to getting better. You might be down about your work now, but remember, all those flaws you see are opportunities to get better. The first part of fixing mistakes is to see them- and you’re already there! Keep at it, you will improve. Remember to do studies, look at refs, and remember, the killer of passion is comparison. Your work won’t be amazing professional level shit for probably a while and that’s okay. You’re learning, and improving, and that’s great! You should be proud of how far you’ve come.“Where did you get your ball jointed dolls?”Some are from Alices collections, others I’ve gotten second hand, and a couple are fake dolls known as recasts. Fake dolls may sound silly, or a cheap way to get a pretty doll, but it’s really unfortunate. Ball jointed dolls are often made and sold by small teams, or single artists. It takes ages to master sculpting, let alone joint engineering. Then factor in the cost of resin, failed casts, and all the time and effort... The artists need to make a living, and deserved to be paid what the dolls are worth, which is usually quite a bit. Usually ranging anywhere over 100 USD.
Recasters get these dolls, either by buying the doll or digitally sculpting over photos, and sell for fractions of the original price. Theyre usually lower quality resin, lack detail, and don’t treat their workers very well (ex: no PPE against toxic fumes) they even send dolls with fake certificates of authenticity (COA’s) or other authenticating features to trick unwitting buyers.
This is devastating to many artists, with some shutting down because they can’t afford to sell their work anymore. It doesn’t matter if they’re “larger” companies like Volks (who only have around 30 employees) or the single artists who sell through Instagram. Recasters do not discriminate. Not only is the loss of funds for their dolls harmful, but it can be emotionally devastating. All this to say please buy legit. This isn’t like stealing from corporations who can afford to eat some losses, or snobby designer products appealing to the rich. These are artists who don’t even make a ton of profit after all the costs and time spent accounted for.
You can find info here. General rule of thumb is that dolls on AliExpress, Etsy, ebay, Amazon, or similar sites are recasts. There are legit but they are vastly outnumbered. For more info, go to the bjd Reddit, den of angels forums, or the bjd addicts Facebook group. Many questions can also be typed into Google with doa or den of angels at the end to view forum posts on that topic.