Autobiographical: Making Doll Art

Posted by Jessimi February 26, 2017

Autobiographical: Making Doll Art

Making Doll Art

This blog is going to discuss the art I do, which is art that anyone can do. One of my favorite animes and art to make is Sailor Moon, so for an example of the variety of doll styles you can do, here is a Sailor Moon collage. You can see which program I used below each image. (You'll also see a common theme as you continue further in this blog, heh.)

So as you noticed, there is a large variety between these dolls and the programs I used for them. Some look identical to Sailor Moon, and others only barely are recognizable as her character. The reason for this is because each doll maker has limits for what it can and cannot do. Some have themes, some have great customizeable options, and others you have to get very creative with to try to imitate one of your favorite character's looks.Sailor Moon is a popular anime character, so you can often get lucky to find her unique hair bun style in most programs. As you see, you wont always get lucky though. So try using other items to give the illusion of what you want instead, for example I used the goggles with red glass in the first doll to try to give her the red orbs in her hair. The 'Sailor Moon Maker 3.0' program obviously has all the options you need for this character because it is about her. You don't have to just make her though. Here is an example of dolls I made from the Sailor Moon program which have nothing to do with Sailor Moon. Sadly, as is my complaint with most doll programs, you cannot customize poses further than flipping/mirroring the position.

We go from a very fantasy, feminine flowy dress, to Kagome from Inuyasha in her school girl outfit. The next is the male option and some of what you can do with that, and then finally a very simple and modern look.

Now that you get an idea of how the programs work, I am going to share with you some of my favorite programs and the variety of art I've made from them. I'll give you a run down of my favorite parts of that program and things I wish that could be improved on.

X-Girl

This is easily one of my favorite of the programs because of the large variety of customization options. Left top to right bottom: Poison Ivy (DC), D.Va (Overwatch), Moon Princess (Special Request), Hinata (Naruto), Team Mystic (Pokemon), Leah (Stardew Valley).

As with most of the programs, you cannot change the pose except in a mirror fashion. This is unfortunate, but I understand that the programming gets vastly more complicated when you start changing their positioning around, instead of just letting it do layers on a static form. Here is what you start with in this program:

My biggest complaint about this particular program is that it does not provide you a male form or male options. With those curves, it gets very hard to try to "cover up" creatively to get a guy. However if you are going for a female piece, this has some of the best customizing in all the programs I use. Unlike many programs, they give you basic clothing shapes and colors, instead of fully done pre-made outfits. There are two pages that also have "draggies" which let you take what they offer and drag it onto the doll however you like (great for adding unique shapes or items you're trying to emulate.) They don't have the best drag options I've seen, but at least they have some. Since it is a fantasy theme from X-Men, you get good color and "power" choices to work with too. Of the pieces above I made, D.Va was the most difficult because she has such unique items and designs. If you just do your best though, you can get pretty close to what you want. I highly recommend this one and you'll see a lot of my art from this program.

Mega Anime Avatar Creator

The examples I've given here are from the Sword Art Online anime. Asuna in two forms, and Kirito. This program is from the chest up, with a few hand options available if you wish to have them. It is for an 'avatar' type profile, so if you want something full body this is not the program you'll want to use. This one has some fun anime style colors and options I enjoy. I've used it quite a bit, and will share with you some more of my examples. Downsides to this one is limited clothing options, and no 'drag' options. But at least you can do both male and female. Also, doing 'aged' characters I found hard as well.

How you start:

Examples of what you can create:

R.W.B.Y. (anime)

Stardew Valley (Game)

Variety

Chibi Maker

So this program is really more for fun than trying to get an accurate portrayal of something you're trying to emulate. You make a 'chibi' form in an anime style, and it has a lot of playful options to work with. My only complaint on this one is limitations in the form of pre-made outfits, and no 'draggies'.

Starter:

Some of the things I've created from this program:

Sailor Moon

Pixie Scene Maker

Above is a male and female starter for this program which is based off the 'Tinkerbell' style universe. Though they are tiny characters, you get a LOT of creative options for them that I have fun with. I really don't have much I can complain about with this program. If I wanted anything changed or added to it, perhaps more basic shape 'draggie' options, to give me some building variety. Here are a few dolls I've made with this:

Those are a few of my favorite programs. I use over twenty different programs for the art I do, depending on what I need. Anyone can create these, and if you like me can't draw to save your life... this might help give you a little creative confidence in the end. :) Here are a few more programs I won't go into further detail on, but will link it and show you some examples of my art. I hope you enjoyed the blog, thank you for reading it.

Dark Fairy