The Good:
Merging With dA - Bringing Out Dolling Into the Art World:
While many have said that the merge from individual dollsites to the ever growing DeviantArt site isn’t the best for the average doller, there are a few key points that the site offers which can help the community as a whole. It wasn’t until last year that dA had recognized dolling as a seperate art from from the traditional pixel art and created a seperate category for them. In due time, the current gallery director and well known doller, Pyrochan, had acquired the directing position and help straightened out the dA community and bring it more into the spotlight. With the features such as Daily Deviations, dollers now have the chance to have one of their works featured on the front page along with other featured artists from various art style galleries and thus bring our gallery out into the world as a recognized art form. Another great feature is the live chat room specifically set up for dollers which enhances the communication between those who participate in it.

Project Originality - More Than the Average Base/Doll:
It has been noted that from the previous year that more and more dolls are becoming baseless and that bases are becoming more original than traced or your usual static standing poses. If anything that can be said from this, it is hopeful that this trend will not die away in the upcoming years.
Project Originality

Male Dolls - Really, They’re Male!:
More attention has been given to the finer details of the masculine counterparts of dolling and thus making them more and more masculine than feminine.

Baseless or Heavily Edited - Uniqueness FTW:
Dolls with no bases or those that have been edited to almost beyond recognition are certainly a bigger hit than to those with minimal editing. It shows that the doller will go the extra mile, or pixel, to achieve their desired doll. The jaw dropping styles are certainly head turners for those not used to such changes and even more so with those that had no base to begin with.

Shading Styles - Going Out of Your Norm:
Experimenting can be quite an adventure and a hit/miss opportunity but from those who have done it, whether not being successful, they would surely tell you that everyone should at least try. From different shading styles to base forms, a change can be a good thing!

Big Head Challenge - Big and Bold:
If you have yet to hear about the Big Head Challenge, then you’ll need to seriously catch up in the news. It can be quite a project of building a massive doll head and adding a certain theme to it while using as many colors as possible to complete the artwork. Most of them are done by pixel shading, making the challenge even harder but even strict toolers are welcomed to give it a whirl.
Big Head Challenge

The Bad:
Merging With dA - The Fall of Individual Sites and Forums:
With dA being as broad and expansive as any art site is, it’s no wonder that some dollers are reluctant to join. The individuality of one’s page is mostly stripped to a uniformed layout unless you purchase a subscription and even then, you can only do so much. Viewing dolls one by one is also not a favorite feature that most will agree to and the impersonal favoriting feature is a step down from the traditional adopting process that has been around since the beginnings of dolling. The ease of updating the site can also be viewed as lazy compared to the traditional updating for one’s own site.

Excessive Emo/Gore - Yum… Even More Blood:
Emo and gore have been around for a while, but the excessive rise in such styles has some dollers wondering what the point of it all was. The angst attitude from emo dolls from the punk to Gothic look is usually a favorite for those who try it once and while but when the line crosses to scenes of rap and blood letting, suicidal angst with no apparent meaning, then it’s gone a bit too far for many dollers.

Too Many Pageants - Copy-Cats and ‘Spur-of-the-Moment’ Pageants:
It was very apparent that the trend of last year was to be the one hosting a pageant but the failure of so many newer ones that were ’spur of the moment’ types made many hanging within the first round. The copy cat allegations of those with pageants similar to others and the same entries entered into the similar pageants made the situation even worse. We can only hope that the lessons of last year reflect onto this year’s pageantry.

Steampunk - Getting Too cliche’?:
There’s steampunk and then there’s SteamPunk but when it comes to the same thing over and over again, it does get pretty boring. Unless the style and design is so innovating and one of a kind that it can wow anyone who has seen every steampunk doll created, then it’s just part of the fad. Victorian outfit + shiny gold clocks and ooh, add a metallic hand = steampunk? It’s almost becoming a ‘been there, done that’ kind of deal.

Traced Bases - The Impermissible Ones:
We all know that tracing bases isn’t the best way to make a base but for those who have seen the recent waves of bases mostly traced from popular animes, it makes us shake our heads and say “Did we ever do that?” Truthfully dolling did start from tracing. An explicit picture of Marylin Monroe first started the bases that we now know as Preps. But that was then, this is now and dolling has indeed grown up from it’s infamous roots.

Base Elitism - DHF/Fainelloth = Unoriginal?:
Seeing the same face over and over again can get annoying and aggravating, especially when it involves pageantry and a popular base set is widely used. The main annoyance is when a doller focuses most of their attention to the outfit and accessories design but none to the skin and face. What makes a person unique? Their body shape and facial structure, not just their clothing or hair style. So why the base elitism? Why should the choice of a base set be ridiculed to the point that some are afraid that if they enter with a particular base that they will be judged as lazy and unoriginal? The prejudice must stop but so must the disregard of base editing. Making the character more ‘real’ than just another ‘dolled up’ base would certainly help.

The Trendy:
OCs- The Story Behind Them:
Original Characters from an actual story are always a great thing compared to those that are spur of the moment types. Those who do them tend to add the extra details that make them more unique and real to their story. Even those from fandom universes such as Star Wars, LotR, PotC and the like are still quite popular.

Pageants - A Classic Competition:
Pageants will always be a fun and competing activity for everyone in the community. It is a way for a friendly challenge between a large group of dollers, dwindling down the the head to head rounds in the end. Hopefully the good sportsmanship will still be retained even after the upcoming years.

Steampunk - Oldie but a Goodie:
Though it has a few repetitive qualities, the Steampunk style will hardly be rejected by those who love the art. With a bit of imagination, anyone can create something that is totally unique from the others.

Feb/Mar 2009 CoverDoll

The winner of the Feb/Mar CoverDoll contest was Sumi! Congratulations!

A new CoverDoll contest for Apr/May issue will be announced in the upcoming month!

At the beginning of each year, we can expect a round of pageants reopening their doors for entrants and every year, one must decide on which pageants to enter in or else risk getting bogged down by entering in too many. There is also the risk of pageants suddenly dying on you as well, so which ones to choose from? Below is a list of pageants that have had more than one successful year running and what type of pageant they are.

Miss Doll Classics:
MDEurope - Link

Established in 2007, MDE has become quite renown for all levels of dolling.
Auditions are still open until February 19th!

MDAmerica - Link

First established in 2003 and then re-established in 2007, MDA has yet to reopen for this year’s pageantry rounds.

MDInternational - Link

Established in 2004, MDI is the oldest continuing dolling pageant that still runs to this day! This year’s pageantry has yet to be reopened for the public though.

Fashion:
Next Top Doll - Link

Established in 2007, NTD mimics the fashion series Next Top Model. The 2008 season has yet to be closed. The contest is at a bit slower pace but at a much higher skill level.

Flawed Perfection Modeling Agency - Link

Established in 2008, FPMA is already in the voting stages for their 2009 auditions. This faster paced pageant is suited mainly for those who want something with unique twists and turns along the way.

Theme:
Annual Space Gala - Link

Established in 2008, the Space Gala is a one shot, one round type of pageant mixing sci-fi and fashion together. This year’s theme can be described at raiding pirates crashing into the party.
Auditions deadline has yet to be determined.

MDFantasy - Link

Established in 2007, MDF has hit a bump in the road during its 2008 year but has made a comeback for 2009.
Auditions are still open until March 13th!

MDMyth - Link

Established in 2008, MDM is a sensational pageant where even Aphrodite might not be crowned the winner.
Auditions are still open until February 28th!

MDHistory - Link

Established in 2007, MDH is a historical pageant based on real life women in past history before 1950. Although there wasn’t a 2008 season, this year’s pageantry has been officially reopened with a new owner and look.
Auditions are still open until March 25th!

Newer Pageants:
MDSith - Link

The Dark Side can quite frankly compel anyone to joining this first time pageant.
Auditions are still open until March 10th!

MDSpecial - Link

MDS is one of the first pageants that caters to the everday human body and nature so if you like to see something with more eu’ natural, then this pageant is for you!
Auditions are still open until March 2nd!

-

Editor’s Note: Due to the different timings per pageant, it is not a guarantee that the pageants listed will be or are running and accepting entries at this time.

Many of you probably have heard of DeviantArt and its newest Doll Gallery Moderator, Pyrochan. For those who have yet joined and have been curious about the site, here are some things you should know. The dolling category is located under Customization > Dolls. After that there are three subcategories that define the shading technique that was used on the deviation, Pixel, Tool and Misc.

Pixel Shaded
Dolls in this section should be made entirely pixel by pixel, with the exception of the flood fill tool. Backgrounds, if any, should also be created pixel by pixel or should be a flat color. Gradient, Photo and Texture backgrounds are not created pixel by pixel therefore rendering your doll not entirely pixel art. Pixel is also often created with a limited color count.

Tool Shaded
Dolls created in programs such as Gimp or Photoshop using automated anti alias techniques such as brushes from Photoshop and the smudge or blur tool. Dodge and Burn tools may also feature. Color count is not an issue and often these dolls are saved in .png format to preserve all the colors. Tool dolls can often look like miniature CG paintings.

Misc
This is a somewhat hard section to define as it falls somewhere between pixelling and tooling.
This is where dolls/bases with no shading at all or limited cell type shading where no pixel technique have been used should be placed. Also pixel dolls placed on gradient/photo/texture background belong here and dolls with computer generated text as part of the piece itself. Dolls with perhaps pixelled clothing and tooled hair may also belong here as they are neither entirely tooling nor entirely pixelled.

Cell Shading is shading in the style of what would be found in an animated movie. Typically there are only two shades, the flat color and one shadow color. It is often created by sectioning off the shadow and flood filling. It is different from pixelling because it emulates the animation style as opposed to following pixel techniques such as dithering, anti-aliasing and using a range of shades.

In terms of dolls, pixel dolls created with computer generated text as part of the piece belong in the misc section as the text was computer generated not hand pixelled. This includes adding the name of a character, a note to someone, or a Happy Holiday text.

After deciding which shading category your doll goes in, there is another set of categories that define what type of base was used; Adopted Base and Original Base.

Adopted base is for a doll you have made using a base that someone else made. You must link back to the basemaker so that people know where you got the base from. The majority of dolls are made on adopted bases because it’s just too much fun to use bases in other people’s styles of working.

Original base is for a doll you made on a base that you created yourself, i.e. the doll is entirely created by you. In this case there is no credit required as you made everything yourself. Baseless dolls are also included in this category.

There is one last category, simply called Bases. Basically this is the category where you submit any bases that you have created yourself. There is one in both the Pixel and Tool shaded categories respectfully.

Stock Referencing
On dA there are artists who make stock or references for drawing and photo manipulation. You can easily reference a piece of stock on dA but referencing is NOT tracing! It is very different and should not be confused between the two. Referencing is having a picture visual of what you wish to do and drawing it yourself from a blank canvas. It is not exact and in your own style.

Another fun thing about dA are the many original contests and challenges going on in the community. Project Originality is a base making challenge for those who want to make a an original base without tracing. The Big Head Challenge is more of a challenge for yourself to see how many colors you can cram into a pixelated big head, all of which is baseless. Plus there is a Daily Deviation category that features certain artists’ works everyday. It is quite an honor to recieve a DD since it throws the artist into the spotlight with all of the other DDs from other art categories. You can recieve a DD every 3 months.

The Review
Deviant Art is a great way to have your art out there in the art community while still being in the dolling category. With the handy favoriting tools and commentry, it’s perfect for those who want organization or a gallery for their works while being able to look back and read the commentry on each one. The watching tool helps you keep tabs on your favorite artists from every medium and the journal is a handy way to keep your watchers up to date with any major news and announcements of your own. With so many other things that one can discover on the site, it is best to say to join and find out first hand!

To read more about dA and dolling, take a look at the Welcome to Digital Doll dA article!

For this cover doll contest, you’ll need to create a doll in a fashionable leather jacket mixed in with the valentine season spunk. “Leather and a quiff hairdo… now that’s fashion.”

The deadline is Feb 28th. Our e-mail address can be found at the top of the site, to the right. Make sure you include the base maker and contact information in the e-mail. The winner will have her/his doll on the magazine cover (as seen to the right) of the Feb/Mar issue and will also get the opportunity to have an advertisement on the index page. Good luck!

Dec/Jan 2009 CoverDoll

The winner of the Dec/Jan CoverDoll contest was Danielle! Congratulations!

A new CoverDoll contest for Feb/Mar issue will be announced in the upcoming month!

15.) Showing off incomplete dolls as finished pieces.

You see a doll in a beautiful gown but -gasp- she’s not wearing shoes?!
Take your time in filling out the details, even the smallest thing can bring out more of the doll’s personality. A small checklist might include; hair, makeup, hair decorations, necklaces, bracelets, earrings, shoes, belts, patches, scars, tattoos and anything else that can make the doll more complete. If you’re still having some trouble, lots of forums offer help areas for incomplete work and tutorials are a great place to go looking for ideas too.

14.) Frankendolling art.

Simply put, don’t steal bits and pieces of other peoples’ dolls to create your own ‘franken-doll’ monster.
First off, it’s art theft and second, it’s very rude and can seriously kill your dolling ‘career’. Just don’t do it. Ever.

13.) “PLZ Download” as a preview.

A preview should be what it means, a preview. Not a plea for downloading.
This applies to the DeviantArt site where you can have a preview of a doll for others to click on to see. If you’re going to make a preview, then make an actual and descent preview so others will be drawn to see it. You’ll want to capture their attention so make the preview feature the best and most capturing part of the doll, in example the detail of the gown or bust and face. If it’s nothing more than a “Download” bit of text, then less people will want to see what it is. Of course, you don’t have to make a preview. Having the background set to dA’s background color of #D6DED4 works just fine. The ‘preview’ image will be of the whole doll shrunken down. It honestly doesn’t look that bad either.

12.) Photos as backgrounds.

Photographs as backgrounds never look good with dolls. Period.
The reason they won’t look good with dolls is that the are from two very different mediums of art. Best thing to do is make your own background that matches the doll’s drawing style. The best possible way to use a photograph in a doll if it was shrunken down to appear as a miniature photograph with the doll. Example, a framed portrait of a historical character behind the historical doll.

11.) Rushed jobs.

Rushed work won’t accomplish anything. Patience is the key from so-so to awesome dolls.
The best dolls take time to work on. Some take days or even weeks to get them just right. Unless you are very talented and spend hours on a doll, it is most likely not going to be one of your best. Take your time and be proud of your work in the end.

10.) Light source on the clothing but not on the base.

Light sourcing should be applied to the whole doll.
Don’t forget that the skin and face have highlights and shadows too! If your light is coming from the side, edit the bridge of the nose and face to keep it consistent with the rest of the doll. Don’t forget the neck, shoulders and arms as well and any other body part showing and lastly the hair.

9.) Lots of excess space.

Extra space around the doll does nothing for the art itself.
Trim away the extra space around the doll to either on the doll’s farthest pixels on all sides or at least 1 pixel out. It takes off a bit of the file size, making it faster to load and makes it easier for others to adopt on their pages. You don’t want a doll in a ’sea of transparency’.

8.) Hair lined and flat against the head.

In the real world, hair does not lay flat against your skull, not even when it’s perfectly straight.
Hair has volume even when it’s thin. Give it a pixel or two off of the head outline if it’s straight. If it’s not straight, then add even more volume.

7.) Base line art for outlining clothes.

Again, things in the real world do not lay flat against the body.
Take a look at reference pictures of what you want to draw or even better look in the mirror. Look at the folds and draping of the fabric and how they lay against the body. Even spandex isn’t perfectly flat on you. It creases and folds in certain areas as well which bulges out slightly on those folds.

6.) Using default colors.

Don’t use the pure default colors that are on such programs like Paint and Photoshop.
Unless you’re trying to blind someone with bright colors, adjust the colors by either sliding the color slider to different levels of saturation and brightness. Original colors are always better and easier on the eye. Remember the default colors are there as a template for you to manipulate to choose your palette.

5.) Gradients as shading.

Clothing does not shade naturally like MSPaint or any other program’s gradients. Gradient backgrounds are also not appealing.
If you wish to use gradients for clothing, then you may want to use a tutorial on how to shade them correctly than leaving them shadeless and flat.
Unless the background is of a sunset or such and has a border of some kind then it won’t look ‘tacky’, but remember to keep it small. Large, full gradient backgrounds do nothing, if not worsen a doll.

4.) Not editing a base at all.

Unless the basemaker says not to edit their bases, do something with them.
It’s not that hard to change the skin color of a base. Edit the lips, the face, eye colors and shape, anything to not make it a dime a dozen. Everyone is different in the real world, why not in dolling?

3.) Pillow shading.

Don’t shade around the outline of something so it looks more like a pillow than a piece of clothing. Even pillows aren’t really pillow shaded.
Take a look at different dolls and pictures of models on the web. See how their shading is not pillowy and how the highlights and shadows sometimes meet without there being a middle color. It takes practice but it’s worth it.

2.) Making ‘new’ dolls from recolored old ones.

Recoloring an old doll does not truly make it a new doll.
Technically, it’s frankendolling your own work and how boring can a recoloring of one doll be? If you truly love how you made a doll and want to show it off in another color, why not combine the images together to one file since it is one doll.

And the moment you’ve been waiting for, our #1 mistake in dolling…

1.) Losing or forgetting where you found a base.

When it comes down to posting the doll you’ve spent so much time on and you have forgotten where the base was from and who to credit, don’t post it without at least questioning those who see it if they recognize the base for later editing! Not asking is not crediting which is against many dollers’ rules.
To avoid such situation, it is best to keep any artist stamps or write who’s base it it on the doll while you work on it until the very end when it’s time to reveal it to the world. That way you won’t forget.

A huge thanks to those who participated in creating the ideas and suggestions in this article!

Dolling
Doll Progression Sheets - Everyone loves to figure out how their favorite dollist works. What techniques they use and how they too can replicate them. For the most part, there have always been tutorials on certain things to doll, specifically hair or a dress or shirt, but rarely a whole doll itself. Things have changed and an increase in doll progression sheets have popped up on the site DeviantArt. A doll progression sheet is a large sheet that shows each step or leap in progressing on a single doll from the very start of the base and up. It is a wonderful insight for those who want to see how you work and has become quite popular for the larger and more complicated Big Heads. (See Contests below.)

Steampunk - A sub genre of fantasy and speculative fiction, this popular theme has brought much inspiration into the dolling community. With its wide variety of styles and Victorian-like fashions, this makes a wonderful category for every level to doll in and will very likely continue on far into the upcoming year.

Male Dolls - For a long time female dolls have largely dominated the dolling scene but will the new year bring in a new turnaround for the males? Male base editing is becoming widely popular with the few selected dollists who are able to capture the masculinity of males without making them too buff or too feminine. No longer are dollists able to get away with just editing out the chest and making the waist a bit bulkier. Muscles, more rectangular waist, broader shoulders, thicker neck and everything that makes a man well, manly, is being added to capture the masculine look.

AsiaJam - With fashion direct from Japan being the hottest thing in the real world, why not in the dolling world as well? Even Doll on the Hill Factory has their own AsiaJam fashion category. With so many colorful combos and different styles, it’s perfect for those who need a bit of inspiration every now and then.

Contests
Big Head Challenge - First suggested by Jaeden, the Big Head challenge was designed to challenge yourself in your pixel skills to create a large baseless bust with as many colors as possible.  With most pixel artists struggling to create their works with as little colors as possible, this challenge defies the norm for all pixel artists out there.

Pageants - Will the pageantry fad fade away into the new year? Many believe that pageants will never truly die away but that they will become shorter for those who want a quick win. Contests with more than 3 rounds besides the infamous Next Top Doll will soon become obsolete with more and more dollers looking for pageants with a lighter burden. A new style that involves having all three entries at once in one round is slowly becoming popular for lesser known hosts who want to achieve a pageantry status while still keeping it fairly simple.

Bases
Hippie bases - With so many poses, perfect body proportions and excellent shading style, Holly’s Hippie bases will no doubt become a hot base for the 2009 year. Being outside of the skinny model form, the Hippies have a nice balance that every dollist can appreciate and admire.

Mini Moe bases - The Mini Moes have stirred up a storm! Just from being miniatures of the popular Moe bases by Suzy, it is without a doubt they will become the base to doll on for the 2009 year. Small enough for mini gifts yet still fashionable with their most used poses, they are perfect for small gifts and quick dolling.

For this cover doll contest, you’ll need to create a doll that is in full New Year spirit. Glam it up like you’re gonna party like it’s 199- wait, 2009!

The deadline is Dec 30th. Our e-mail address can be found at the top of the site, to the right. Make sure you include the base maker and contact information in the e-mail. The winner will have her/his doll on the magazine cover (as seen to the right) of the Dec/Jan issue and will also get the opportunity to have an advertisement on the index page. Good luck!

Oct/Nov 2008 CoverDoll

The winner of the Oct/Nov CoverDoll contest was Pandemonium! Congratulations!

A new CoverDoll contest for Dec/Jan issue will be announced in the upcoming month!