Kira of Komorebi Dolls is a US based artist. She takes commissions for face-ups and hand and foot blushing. She can take requests for tattoos and will do minor repairs and modifications for her clients.
Q: How long have you been working as a face-up artist? How did you get started?
A: My current shop has been open since September 2017, but I’ve been doing face-ups off and on since I put my first doll together back in 2008. Pretty much immediately I attracted some attention for jumping into the deep end with a hybrid that required full-body painting, some modification, and a pretty precise face-up. Over the years, I had a thread open now and then on Den of Angels, but it was always very limited and always just a hobby for me until I decided to come back on a permanent basis last year. Now it’s turned into an actual job for me.
Q: Do you have an art background?
A: Kind of. I’m primarily self taught with about 5 university courses in oil, watercolor, and design. Though, when I say self-taught, I mean I’ve been seriously studying art and art history since I found out there was such a thing as a child. As with face-ups, I jumped right into the deep end with technique practice and study.
Q: How did you become acquainted with BJDs?
A: I actually always collected dolls, so I knew about the old German and Japanese articulated dolls. I first ran across modern BJD specifically around 2006, I think with Dream of Doll. It came up somewhere on DeviantArt if I’m remembering correctly, and I started checking the doll publications and such for information and history on articulated dolls. Two years later I made the plunge with that first hybrid, joined Den of Angels to gain access to a wider community knowledge base, and I’ve been painting and collecting BJDs ever since.
Q: So have you collected many BJDs at this point? What types are you most interested in? Do you have any favorite companies?
A: I have owned too many dolls to count, so many that I’ve decided to limit myself to under 10 so that I can really focus on creating rather than consuming. I favor Korean artist dolls and always have. My own collection is entirely Dollshe and Bimong these days, with a couple of Dolls Town bodies in the mix. Bimong and Mr. Kim are easily my favorite working sculptors, but I also love Volks, Bluefairy, Dust of Dolls, Twigling, MerryDollRound, and Alice in Labyrinth. I appreciate a strong and singular aesthetic vision and rigorous quality standards. Plus, those dolls are just a blast to paint.
Q: Do you paint any size BJDs? Do you have a size you like to work with the most?
A: I’ll paint any size. I’m actually working on a Foveo tiny right now, both an eye mod and a faceup request, and this is the tiniest head I’ve ever seen. I like them all, but 1/3 scale is my favorite. It’s the same as ‘working large’ in traditional art: the bigger the canvas, the more room you have to play, and the more thoughtful you have to be with that space.
Q: Do you take commissions for face-ups only or do you also do manicures, body blushing or parts blushing?
A: I won’t do full body blushing anymore. It’s just too fragile and expensive on my end. I do take manicure and partial blushing requests though: things like a chest part or a solid torso are fine.
Q: What materials do you prefer to use for face-ups?
A: I work in pastel and watercolor for the most part. I only break out the acrylics for eyeliner or to cover heavy staining in, for example, open mouths. I use the softest grade of pastels for maximum translucency, and the same logic governs my use of watercolor for line-work. My goal is always to create the complex layered luminosity that comes from light reflected through and on skin, so translucent materials are essential.
Q: What was the biggest project you have undertaken for a customer?
A: Long before I started my shop, I actually took a private request for one of the massive Dollshe 28m guys. He had skin texturing, freckles, bruises, callouses, and scars, plus he was one of the darker tans, so the color palette had to show up on the resin without looking chalky or unnatural. I’m so grateful for that particular request. It really pushed me past what I’d attempted previously.
Q: Do you concentrate exclusively on painting dolls or do you work on any other BJD related projects (wigs, eyes, clothes, etc…)
A: I’m a painter first, but I can sew and sculpt as well. The sewing is limited to my own dolls and something for a friend occasionally. I would like to try my hand at making painted resin eyes though, and I’m currently working on my own original doll prototype.
Komorebi Dolls Face-ups and Aesthetics
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