This is the 2nd of 4 planned presentations of face-ups throughout the coming year featuring various artists. Each artist whose work is displayed was invited to interpret the theme “Spring”. Many of the artists were included in the first project Winter (seen HERE). A few new artists have been introduced for this article.
Two artists represented, Nefer Kane and Keysha Costley, are doll artists who were recently profiled on BJDcollectasy. Loren of Grotesque Cabaret was a featured face-up artist last autumn on BJDcollectasy. The remaining face-up artists promote their work regularly on their websites or on Den of Angels.
~~~~~
Popomini – Rose Bleu
Although my country, Thailand, does not have a Spring season, when I heard the Spring theme, I thought about blooming flowers, warm wind and sweet atmosphere. So I used many colors to convey spring meadow in the face-up, including the blossom tattoo at the side of both eyes. The eyeshadow is green shade as the leaves that are in bud. I added a bright yellow tone as spring sunlight and blended pastels for soft harmony in her gentle expression. At last, I ended off with brushing her lips in pink as rose petal, to present my Ayla as her own image, the Queen of Flower Fairy.
~~~~~
arrowchild – DollSylph
~~~~~
Izabeth – Isa’s Face-up Shop
When I heard that the challenge for this theme was spring, I was ecstatic! I love spring, and it’s by far my favorite season. It’s wonderful to me to see all the snowmelt and the world come back to life. Seeing the first buds on bushes and trees is so amazing and uplifting, especially after a particularly cold winter. For my face up I chose my girl Elyra. I had no real plans for the face-up other than wanting it to be fantastical and something to do with flowers. I usually do rather natural face-ups, but I always itch to do something more creative and unique. I chose green and yellow for my palette because those are the colors that spring to mind when I think of this season. The swirls around her eyes represent the growing plants and blooming of flowers that spring is so well known for.”
~~~~~
Shin – Kanojo Kakumei
Oh, spring, I love spring! The light, the fragrant scent of the flowers and everything is perfect! It makes me be in the mood for painting always. My favorite flower is the Japanese sakura (cherry blossom) and because to me spring means ‘flowers all around, I decided to focus this project with flowers and specially sakura in mind. I wanted to give the doll a traditional Japanese-inspired look, based on the colors of the sakura flower, so I chose a doll with fair skin as a traditional Japanese beauty and gave him soft pink colors which resemble those of the sakura.
To me, cherry blossoms represent fragility and beauty: their lives are short but intense. They kind of represent the youth to me too as well as life: life’s short, but wonderful as is youth. That’s why I chose a young head for this project, to give it the grace and freshness of a young boy welcoming spring in a Japanese-inspired face-up.
~~~~~
Meenist
The gentle, cool mornings of Spring are some of the most beautiful of the year. Though still chilly with winter, the air is prickling with promises of new beginnings. One way I channel this new energy is through my face-up work, where I try to capture that special springtime feeling on the resin. A springtime palate is soft but colorful, budding with youth and light. The Or-doll Eris is perfect for these ideals, being so delicately shaped with long, ethereally sculpted elven ears. I wanted to create a character that seemed to be caught in timeless spring. I used a fresh, crisp set of colors with a subtle hand. Lashes and brows were lightly drawn in acrylic and carefully blended with pastel. I chose an eye-catching combination of pinks for the lips in memory of the seasonal opening of flowers such as the cherry blossom. A light dusting of shimmer powder over the eyelids and matching blue irises offset the mouth. To finish, I added small freckles to the face and ear tips to give a more human depth to the character.
~~~~~
Napoleonchan
When I started I wasn’t quite sure what I was planning to do. I’d just finished a little purple flower fairy that would have done nicely for the theme, but it seemed like using something I hadn’t done specifically for this article wasn’t fair or much fun. I started painting only with the idea of soft bloomy pinks and hints of green, and the urge to go crazy with a face tattoo and sparkles.
I managed to include all of these urges and despite not really planning ahead, I think she was a big success. When I look at her I think of warm sun and flowering fruit trees with falling petals. I think her pale resin with such cool pinks helps keep the feeling of air that’s still brushed by a dissolving winter.
~~~~~
Loren – Grotesque Cabaret
The concept of spring brings to mind fresh greens and explosive new growths. In order to capture this image, I wanted to use fresh and vivid greens with which to create an innocent vibrant face-up. I also wanted to incorporate the idea of growth, hence the blossoming green scabs growing across the face.
~~~~~
Nefer Kane – Circus Kane
This blue Aleah represents the freshwater of the river running during spring. I used when I was a child and a teen to go to fish with my elder brother. we fished trout in the river. We were whipping the air with our flies and our lines in the warm and golden air of spring. I remember the rainbow trout jumping at the end of our fishing lines. And I recall how I always fell in the freshwater which seemed to laugh at my clumsiness. This face-up is the memory of my childhood springs where two silhouettes, one very tall, one very small, walk on the stones of a river.
~~~~~
Keysha Costley – Charm City Dolls
The very first signal, for me, that Spring has arrived is the Cherry Blossom tree in my front yard. The blooming buds are an iconic symbol of new life and awakening. So, when I ponder on what is Spring, the flowering tree first comes to mind. I painted a white skin doll for this seasonal face up because it signified a very pure and fresh new start. The pinks and pale green are reflective of the cherry blossoms that grace my landscape every Spring. I wanted a very soft face up, as delicate as a new flower.
