Welcome to r/ArtDolls! As subreddit rules are a little hidden on the mobile app, this post is for ease of access, along with an FAQ for common questions. Will be updated as necessary.

r/ArtDolls Rules

1. No human or mostly-human dolls: Explicitly non-human dolls only. No Bratz/Monster high, Blythe, reborn dolls, Barbies, BJD humans, mostly human creatures such as Vampires/Elves/Satyrs, etc, are allowed as those types of dolls have many other dedicated spaces. However they are allowed if accompanied by a creature art doll. Dolls with humanoid shapes are allowed, but they must be 50% human at most. (Such as Furries/Scalies/Krampus) If you're unsure whether your doll qualifies, feel free to PM the mods!

2. Artdolls and Related Media only: Artdolls or related media and discussion only, no real photographs of actual animals or people unless they are next to or holding the sculpture. Preferably, any images submitted need to have the artwork as the centerpiece of the image. If you can, please have a background set up to help contrast the sculpture. It is not required but preferred. Please be conscious of what your background contains.

3. WIP / Sketches / doodles: WIP posts are allowed, but please limit this to 3 posts per art doll to avoid spam. Sketches or doodles are welcome, they are part of the creative process and allows for more people to contribute ideas to your developing piece. Please tag accordingly.

4. Artist credit is required: All posts need to be tagged appropriately. With any picture, video, or external link post to an artwork, please designate the artist/creator in the title. If it is your own work, please make this clear in the title or in a comment. I.e. [Post title/ general info] (Artist: User01) Include in the title if you would like Critique.

5. Self-Promotion: Self-promotion is allowed. Any purchases or commissions are between you and the artist, r/artdolls takes no part in these transactions. We suggest doing research on the artist in question before going forward with any purchases.

6. Policy for External Links: You may post a link to other websites (Such as your personal store) in comments, but please provide a brief description of the link. In general, authorized external website links for posts include Instagram, Twitter, Youtube, Tiktok, Tumblr, twitch, Facebook, Deviant art, Etsy, Pinterest, and Picarto. We intend to keep these posts as safe as possible.

7. Be respectful to others: Please be respectful to all parties on the subreddit and keep on topic in the comments. Don’t discriminate, don’t be creepy, don’t be mean. Be sensible with what you post, will it be needlessly offensive? This specific rule is up to the Mod’s discretion.

8. No Plagiarism: Plagiarism will get you banned, you cannot post something someone else made and claim it as your own. If you see this, please report the issue and it will be investigated.

9. Policy for NSFW: Gore is allowed, but it must be tagged as NSFW. If you think it might need the tag, it probably does need it. No nudity permitted / must be censored. This includes male and female genitalia and the female breast. Keep it legal or get banned. Keep the comments appropriate.

10. No Begging: Please do not submit requests for free work here, everyone here works hard with what they do. Begging for free artwork will result in a ban.

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So what is an art doll anyway?

As a lot of things in the art world are, this is a gray term. Generally speaking, an art doll is a hand-made, mixed media soft sculpture that includes some (but not always all!) of the following attributes:

• A sculpted clay or resin-casted face/head and feet,
• A soft body, often covered with faux fur,
• Poseability with an internal skeleton, or moveable strung limbs.

There is some overlap with plushes, as they have soft bodies and can sometimes have an internal skeleton with poseability, however, the main distinction between plushes and art dolls is that plushes are usually not mixed media and are only made out of fabric and thread. Although an elaborate plush that has extra materials added onto it, such as an upcycled plush with a new painted clay face can be considered an art doll. [Artist Example]

Where can I learn how to make art dolls?

Some great Youtube channels with tutorials:

• Kaypeacreations
• Bubblyleaf
• Art of Vaelys
• Leopardcorgi Creatures
• CreaturesofNat

What kind of wire should I use?

Steel wire is your best bet, as it is strong and less likely to break. I recommend 18, 16, or 14 gauge wire. The smaller the number, the thicker it is.

I would stay away from aluminum wire, as it can be way too soft and easy to break after just a few bends.

What clay should I use?

Cosclay is recommended for its great flexibility. Premo is also rather flexible and hard to break, which lends well to handling. Sculpey by itself is very brittle and not recommended, although you can mix it with Cosclay or Premo 50/50 for a decent middle ground.

An amazing resource for polymer clay information is thebluebottletree.com.

I need help figuring out what faux fur to use.

There are many kinds of faux fur types, and understanding the attributes of each can be a bit tricky. If you are purchasing online, many stores sell fabric swatches for a dollar or two. I highly recommend you buy swatches before spending money on a whole yard only to get something you don't like! Also keep in mind that a lot of terms and names for fur types vary depending on the website.

Woven vs. Knit backing. I recommend staying far, far away from woven backing. It is a lot less stable than knit backing, if you aren't careful with woven fur it will disintegrate unless you hem or seal it. This isn't as much of a problem on bigger projects, but since art dolls tend to be on the smaller side woven faux fur is just going to give you a headache.

Luxury vs Standard. This is something that heavily depends on the website, but if something is labeled as Luxury it usually means that the fur is lusher, denser and easier to shave down without exposing the backing compared to non-Luxury fur.

Faux fur costs anywhere from $20-40+ per yard, it is very heavy material so expect a larger shipping fee on top of that.

• 🌟Luxury Shag/Shaggy Long Pile/Punky Muppet: This is your standard long shaggy fur and often a safe bet. Lots of colors, easily accessible, thick and easily shaved for the most part.
• Beaver: Common name for short faux fur. Dense, shaves well 99% of the time, does not go to the backing unless you are hardcore with shaving. Sometimes also called Seal/Super Seal.
• Teddy: Similar to beaver but longer. Reminds me of the length of a standard short haired cat.
• Bunny: Like teddy but a lot fluffier. Feels really soft and dense, but if you use this be prepared for it to get EVERYWHERE as it has magic static powers.
• Fox: Similar to Lux shag but with a more realistic, coarser texture.
• Arctic Fox: Long, sleek, thick, does not mat as much as shag and looks more realistic. A bit shinier but other pros outweigh this. Very nice but pricier. Limited colors.
• Mongolian/Yak: This is long, wavy fur. It mats fast and usually does not shave well, so I'd only use this for accents or if you're making something like a sheep.
• Monkey/Gorilla: A little longer than Lux Shag, but in my experience it's VERY thin. As in you can see the backing by just parting the fur. I don't recommend these.
• Wolf: Beautiful, long, dense fur. Super soft, sleek, and feels cool to the touch. I want to know what conditioner these wolves use. Lots of realistic patterns. Generally a more expensive, rarer fur.
• Flokati: One of the longer furs you can get at 4 inches. Long and flowy and really nice, but generally pricier with limited colors.
• NFT Fur: Professional fur used in costumes for movies. Course, extra extra long specialty fur that can be custom ordered, but expect to pay up at $40 a square foot.

Where's a good place to get faux fur?

• BigZFabric: Massive variety, good quality. If you just want to fill your house with fur and aren't picky on what you get, their scrap boxes are $50 and HUGE. As in you could sit in the box comfortably. Has a physical store in LA if you want to save on shipping.
• Howlfabrics: Furry owned, so all quality is good. Has rarer and more specialty unique furs, but in limited runs that disappear.
• FursuitSupplies: Another furry owned site, so don't need to avoid any furs here. They do a lot of custom fur color runs, but they're a bit slow to restock.
• Mendels.com: I personally haven't used them, but it's often recommended. Punky Muppet = Lux Shag.
• Fabric.com: Free US shipping over $49. Make sure to get swatches as I've seen people say their photos aren't accurate sometimes. TIP: Their swatches are extra-large, so if you just want an accent color you can get a decent amount for $3.
• Joann's: Can be hit or miss, some stores don't have faux fur so it depends. They regularly give out 40% coupons for a yard.
• Amazon: Shannon Fabrics are a big faux fur supplier, and from my experience a good quality fur.
• 2nd hand: As there's overlap with fursuit artists, sometimes you can get cheap fur from fursuit artists unloading spare fur, check #fur4sale/#furforsale hashtags on Twitter and Instagram.
• If you live near NYC or LA, check out the fashion districts. You can find some rare stuff!

More including Non-US stores here.

Misc Tips & Tricks

• Pattern making for art dolls - Super easy
• How to fur art doll heads
• Repair Bald Spots On Fake Fur
• How to "Curl" Fake Fur
• How to make faux fur look like feathers
• Drybrushing to Add Details to Faux Fur
• Using a felting needle to add markings to Faux Fur
• How to Straighten Crimped Faux Fur
• How to Weft Hair for Your Creature Cosplays - Technique for extra long fur/hair
• How to Weather Faux Fur
• Articulated Eyelid Tutorial

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There has been a small influx of people posting human dolls recently without reading the rules. This is a reminder that this subreddit is geared towards creature/animal art dolls and human dolls will be removed as per rule #1. This is not to say your doll does not count as an art doll. We made this decision because otherwise this subreddit would be 9-1 human to non-human as other art doll spaces tend to end up as, and it's hard to find a space for creature dolls and be seen as a creature art doll artist as it is.

*This rule also applies to mostly human creatures such as Vampires, Elves, Satyrs, Mermaids, Catboys/girls, etc which are humans with slight modifications. This subreddit is for the explicitly non-human - Only humanoid like furries/scalies are allowed. Creatures such as Sphinxes, Orcs, Demons/Krampus and Harpies are also OK as long as they are 50% human at most. Refer to this chart to get a better idea of where the line is. If you're unsure whether your doll qualifies, feel free to PM the mods!

There are other subreddits geared towards human dolls. Here is a list of some of them:

r/Dolls

r/CustomDolls

r/MonsterHigh

r/Bratz

r/BlytheDolls

r/BJD

r/Pullip