Books for BJD makers
Like with any hobby, it’s nice to have all kinds of resources to find more information, get inspired or just flip through when you’re bored. Since ball-jointed dolls are quite a niche hobby, finding quality resources can be tough. But I got you covered! In this article, you’ll find many incredible books about BJD. If you have a suggestion for this list, don’t hesitate to leave a comment, we all will appreciate it!
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Probably the most popular book about BJD making and taught a lot of BJD artists the nuts and bolts of the craft. It has incredibly thorough pictures that show every step of the process. The only downside is the language barrier if you don’t know Japanese. But in most steps pictures do all the talking! It even has a section about hair, so you can fully complete a doll by following this book.
How to ROCK at BJD Face-Ups: A Beginner's Guide to Painting Resin Doll Faces
Painting your dolls is a different kind of ordeal. Most of the ball-jointed dolls have life-like features that are enhanced by painting techniques. This book can teach you all about that. Like Yoshida’s sculpting book, this one has step-by-step guides, as well as an introduction into materials and equipment. It’s targeting beginners more than advanced doll makers, so have that in mind if you’re looking for more intricate techniques.
Learning to be a Doll Artist
This book is no longer in print so it’s harder to find, but could be a gem for those who want to make porcelain ball-jointed dolls. Even though the dolls in the book are vintage kind of porcelain dolls, the techniques are still mostly the same. It’s even interesting from a historical point of view: you’re able to see how doll making styles changed over the years. This book is not really a step-by-step guide but it’s very easy to read and implement the techniques into your own craft.
Dolly Bureau: Doll Patterns and Fashion
If you’re having a hard time finding patterns to sew clothes for your dolls, this book is worth checking it out. It’s not groundbreaking by any means, but can be very helpful for beginners or doll collectors who want to try sewing clothes for their dolls. Especially if you own specific dolls from the book since the patterns are created to fit those dolls (you can find the list of featured dolls in the book description).
Ball-Jointed Dolls for Beginners: Finding the Doll of Your Dreams
This one is not about making ball-jointed dolls but rather owning and taking care of them. It almost serves as a guide into the BJD world. Accompanied by lovely pictures and useful tips this book offers you information about different kinds of dolls, tutorials on restringing your doll, tips about starting your collection and so on. Even though you can find a lot of this information online, it’s nice to have a book about the hobby you love and flip it every time you need some inspiration.
The art of BJD: The first guide for collectors (L'art de la BJD: Le premier guide à l'usage des collectionneurs)
It’s more like a catalog than a book but I love this kind of thing! The author gathered information and beautiful pictures from BJD artists all over the world and put it together in one beautiful book. If you’re a true lover of ball-jointed dolls, you know that marveling at intricate details and beautiful sculpts could take hours, haha. Having an ability to do so in a book form is really pleasant. Also, you get to see the artist behind beautiful dolls you probably have seen on Instagram.
The Unicorn of BJD books
Enchanted Doll by Marina Bychkova
Like with anything Marina does, this book is exquisite. Sadly it’s no longer in print so the prices of the few books left on the market inflated A LOT. I’m talking hundreds of dollars. It’s a collection of Marina’s gorgeous dolls, stories about them, behind the scenes, sketches and beautiful photos. It makes an incredible coffee table book for a BJD enthusiast! Lucky for those who were able to purchase it back in the days it was available.
I hope you’ve enjoyed this list of books about ball-jointed dolls. Let me know if you have any additions in the comments below. Also, if you’re interested in learning this intricate form of art consider joining my BJD sculpting Masterclass!
