I have a new question. I have a tendency to make my babies look like real newborns with alot of “newborn marks” I see alot of babies on here and ebay etc that are done very “pretty” with perfect “peaches n cream” complexions. Am I missing something? Should I be doing less newbornish? Does the reborn community have a preference? ( I have only been at this for two months and all the feedback I can get will help me enormously~~
I agree with ^^^^, I too think it is a matter of preference. Me myself would go for pretty with a bit of scratch here and there, kinda like a happy medium.
I agree. When I browse through eBay, I see a variety. Certain sculpts seem to sell better one way than the other. Shyann, for instance, seems to sell big time when she has this poofy hair and all glamoured up. Yet, that is not my taste. I think it should look the age you are striving for. (I also take into account the size of the doll. A preemie wouldn’t have poofy hair and glitz) I like the little bits of realism but not overdone. I agree that there are some that go overboard, so it is a matter of finding that happy medium.
Being the mom of 9 and a Pediatric ICU nurse for years, I like my babies to look appropriate. My own children never had scratches or blotches etc until they were more than a week old. As newborns they were lovely…except for one…my gorgeous red haired daughter Saral Elizabeth who missed 10 lbs by a potty between the delivery table and the scale…LOL She would not appreciate so much information I am sure as she is now 36, mom of 2 and a NICU nurse! LOL But she looked like a Green Bay Packer on Monday morning. But she was the only one. The others were spotless.
Preemies are a totally different story. I don’t know why people insist on even doing little preemies. They are NOT cute, they are really poor little things with no body fat, and look like little featherless chickens. But they grow up to be wonderful little kids in no time. But dear me to do a realistic preemie would be nearly horrifying. I’m sorry if this causes anyone upset… moms of preemies do not see the ugly side of course…they should have those rose colored glasses on! But the little ones are so tiny and not pretty!
BB has done all these new little ones at 16 inches! 30 week preemies are 16 inches! And they don’t look like these chunky babies at all! It will be interesting to see if they sell reborned. I have a hunch they will not. Unless the pendulum is swinging back to DOLLS and dolly looking dolls instead of realistic babies.
off my soap box now…my friend is coming to spend the week with me and her bed is still full of my babies! She should be here any minute. So…I haveta go work.
hugs
Joy
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It is definitely a matter of tastes. I personally do not like all the blemished looking babies on Ebay. I like a realistically mottled baby that has a newborn appearance but not one that is all scratched up, bruised or super blotchy. However, I see them like that that do sell. Peaches and cream coloring is probably considered less painted by many and there is a market for that as well. I don’t like “dolly” looking reborns that have unrealistic heads of hair, thick lashes, bright red lips or look like they have been playing in Mom’s makeup.
If you are reborning the sculpt for yourself, then you should definitely do personal preference. However, if you are reborning to auction/sell, then(IMO) it should be for the buyer’s market~just like any business.
My daughter never had blemishes nor scratched her face. Other than a few milk spots she was born with, she was always a ‘peaches and cream’ baby with light mottling.
But, if you always paint for the buyer, you never really develop “your” style of baby. I do this for the love of the art with the hopes that I can provide a doll at a reasonable price for the average person and not the wealthy.
I absolutely love doing this. And just because you do something that is popular or in demand doesn’t mean that you don’t have your own style. It is practically impossible to duplicate a baby, even if it is by the same artist. “Pretty vs. Realistic” has nothing to do with creating for the average or the wealthy~which can mean something different monetarily to different people. I took the original thread as wanting to know what are people looking for. The only way to know what people are looking for is to do research. Study the reborns that are selling. Determine the type of artist that you want to be. Set your goals for this year, next year, and the years after. As the saying goes “If you don’t set goals, you can’t reach your D R E A M S.”