WIP Week: Doodles in my Notebook

Sometimes, I just don’t have any finished paper dolls, my friends.

Creativity, for me, is something that comes in bursts. I truly believe that creation breeds creation. The more you work then the more you will keep working, but I also generally try to have more than one project in different stages at one time- that way if I am not feeling like penciling or inking, I can work on the computer.

Maybe it’s just that I’ve been busy, or maybe it’s that this last year has been A LOT, but I’ve gotten out of rhythm and I am struggling to keep the stages of the pipeline in-synch. Right now, I have a lot I want to draw, but very little have actually gotten into the sketchbook and less I’ve gotten inked or scanned.

But that’s okay. I’ll catch up.

In the meantime, I thought I’d give a little look into my little notebook, the one I carry with me 90% of the time. I have a bit sketchbook and this isn’t it.

Everything from to do lists to various doodles hang out in this little notebook. When it’s full, I replace it with another one, because I use a travelers notebook style cover. Easy, peasey, and low commitment.

Let’s look inside…

First up, a set of things I doodled after a round of ideal roulette (more about that over here).

My feelings about this round of this game were pretty mixed. I wasn’t super happy with anything I ended up with, except my regency fantasy armor looks. I do actually really want to draw, but I’m not sure for which paper doll. I’ve also got this cute gothic fairy idea which I might use for Halloween, except Julie of Paper Doll School and I have been talking about witches for Halloween.

So…. maybe need to wait on my cute little gothic fairy idea.

Past the idea roulette, we have four Vivian ideas. Vivian is my Patreon paper doll, named for a childhood paper doll with the same name. I am starting to think it’s time for a Vivian 2.0 reboot, since I’ve been drawing her since 2015, but in the meantime, there’s some steampunk dress designs I’ve doodled here.

And after Vivian, we have an assortment of other things.

On the left, there’s a redraw I’ve been wanting to do of an old Marisole Set and a Curves set, along with a “outdoorsy” set for Talia Tuesday and some fantasy Regency dresses to go along with the armor I came up with. And on the right, there’s an autumn addition to the Big Princess Dresses Jewels and Gemstones thing, but I’m not super happy with those designs, so they may not happen. We’ll see how I feel when I start penciling them.

The primary reason I don’t show these off very often is there’s a pretty high chance that some of these will never make it from “idea in my head” to actual paper doll content. These are about as raw as my ideas get. Some of this, if not most of it, will never be finished.

My other big project is a 1950s set for the Jewels and Gemstones. More on that later this week.

Happy Wednesday! Here’s some Newsletter Paper Doll Previews!

I get a fair number of questions about my process and one thing I really wanted to do is show people how I create what I create. I admit sometimes I feel like a slacker, because very little about this process has changed dramatically in the decide the blog has run. I’m sort of in awe of people who really dramatically switch up their methods on the regular.

I’m trying to learn to use Photoshop on ipad, so I can occasionally draw something directly on the screen and it’s already stressing me out. But I am getting better at it. Maybe sometime I’ll share a few of my attempts.

I pencil everything first. So, on the left is the “rough” sketch over which I will be inking. There’s usually few more tweaks that happen, like adding details to the “ray-gun” and fixing the shape of the skirt which I clearly wasn’t super happy with this stage, but that’s the basic idea. The themes are ballgowns and retro space alien, in case you’re wondering what ray-guns and ballgowns have in common.

I often draw patterns as single motifs and then use photoshop to make them into a more complicated pattern for the actual garment. Avoids me accidentally messing up somehow and also drawing 17 identical pumpkins is hard.

So, for October themes include – a witch (I’ve been practicing witch’s hats for a project that may or may not happen) and a October themed clothing set sort of like my March themed clothing set. I need to think about winter stuff and if I am going to try to do a paper doll for Thanksgiving. I never have before, but I guess there’s a first time for everything. How hard can it to be draw a Turkey?

The wrinkles in the paper (which do not look this bad in real life) are the result of erasing with more gusto than I should have. They won’t matter once I scan the pages.

None of this is specific for a month or anything, but the clothing on the left was a sort of regency-core inspired set of clothing and the gown on the right was me playing with fantasy dresses. I like having sets that aren’t based on a specific holiday, because it allows me to calculate where to put them in the order of the newsletters.

To give further context, there’s about 19 weeks left in 2022. Since the Newsletter comes out very two weeks, that means I need ten more paper dolls to get me through the end of the year. Friday’s paper doll was number 14, so in September there will be 15, 16, and 17. Then October will have 18 and 19 and then… well, you get the idea.

Anyway, the goal here was create enough content to get me through September, October and a little bit into November before I decide what to do next. Hence why I haven’t drawn a turkey… yet.

Want to see these paper dolls when they’re all finished? Be sure to sign up for the Newsletter here.

Work in Progress: Regency, Mermaid and Circus

Happy August! I used to do these sorts of work in Progress posts all the time and then I started Patreon and I sort of decided these sorts of posts should be Patreon exclusive. Then somehow I stopped doing them over there and I honestly do not know why. I think I was nervous- what if I shared something and I never finished it? Would people be upset with me?

But I know that this is silly. I’m not promising completion here. I’m just showing you some screen captures of a few things that I’ve been working on, so you can see them and maybe find them interesting. Maybe not. I have no idea. I would love to know if you do and I’ll try to do more of these.

So, first up we have a regency historical fashion set using my 2020 Patreon 365 project doll base. I love that doll base and I think she’s super cute and I really like her size. She feels like the perfect paper doll size to me- just right to fit in an envelope and tuck into a pocket.

The set will likely be either Patreon exclusive or an Etsy set, I think. It’s going to one doll, eight dresses for a total of three pages and each dress has a matching hat. I am conquering my fear of bonnet drawing! There’s a morning dress, dinner dress, carriage dress, ballgown… basically what a lady of the 1810s needed to be dressed properly in around 1810ish. No riding habit though… perhaps for another set.

Yes, I have been watching too much Bridgerton… why do you ask? 🙂

My Mermaid set is next up. I know Jaime said her and her kids were mad about mermaids, well…. here’s a sneak peak of the mermaid coloring pages I plan to get up on Etsy hopefully before the end of the month.

There’s four dolls, a bunch of tails and a lot of different “land” clothing all done in the same sort of flowy garments theme that I seem to associate with mermaids.

It’s big and I am realizing that I probably need a few more accessory items to help the pages feel full (otherwise there’s gaping in the layout and things start to feel to sparse to me). So, I may need to hit the sketchbook again and make more necklaces and daggers or something. What accessories make sense for mermaids has be me a little stumped… Tridents? Harpoons? Bones of drowned sailors?

Maybe not that last one…

Moving rapidly along, this is a little preview of a circus set I’ve been working on. This is Jade. I tied to do this lipstick thing and it may not survive the coloring process, because I am not 100% happy with how it looks… Maybe I’ll like the lips more in color.

Or I’ll decide it was a bad idea and fix it. Thank goodness for Photoshop!

The circus set is gong to have a mix of things from old Patreon posts and some older Jewels and Gemstones stuff. I sometimes like getting to pull those items back together to make a set, because man it does save me time! So much time, but it’s not always as much for me as new stuff. It’s still fun, but fun in a different way. Sometimes working within a structure if sort of liberating.

So, that’s it. Little preview of things to come I hope.

Let me know which of these you’re most excited about in a comment!

And It Came from The Sketchbook!

It’s been a while since I shared some sketchbook stuff and so I thought it would be fun to show off some of my work in progress.

A sketchbook illustration of a fantasy gown.
A bid skirted princess gown for the Jewels and Gemstones.

I classify my fantasy outfits in my head based on silhouette and my two favorites are my vaguely medieval ones and my big skirted ones. This one clearly falls into the big skirted princesses dress model.

A sketchbook illustration of gothic Lolita fashions.
A Gothic Lolita set created at a Patron’s request.

One of my long time patrons asked for more Gothic stuff and fortunately for her, I was already itching to draw a set of gothic Lolita dresses, partly because I really wanted to draw a bonnet.

A preview from my sketchbook of the Doll Du Jour paper doll series.
Some clothing for my new Doll Du Jour Paper dolls.

Before I share a new series on the site, I like to have at least a few sets drawn and finished for them. I have to know that I actually like drawing for the paper doll enough to commit.

A sketchbook illustration of gothic fashions for paper dolls.
More Gothic Lolita.

So, that’s what’s in my sketchbook at the moment. I have been enjoying sharing these with you all and I hope you’re as excited about these up coming paper dolls as I am.

Views from the Sketchbook

I just recently realized how long it has been since I’ve done one of these sketchbook posts. I kinda missed them. They’re relatively easy and the results are fun and I like showing off my sketchbooks. These days these sorts of things tend to show up on my social media and that’s hardly logical. No reason I can’t share the there and here.

Penciled Circus set for my 365 Paper Doll Project on Patreon

My 365 (366?) Day paper doll project has really revived my interest in doing paper doll sets. This Circus collection has been a lot of fun and I am sharing it now with my 5 Dollar Patrons.

Penciled sets for the Jewels and Gemstones. Military Steampunk on the left and Modern on the right.

The Jewels and Gemstones get some steampunk and some modern stuff here. I love the patterned pencil skirt.

6 Mix and Match modern pieces inked and in my sketchbook.

And this is some inked things. These are more modern things. This time of year, with Spring Fashion Week, I always find myself wanting to draw contemporary clothing.

Any themes you would like to see? Let me know in a comment!

WIP Week: B Pose In Progress- 1930s and Fantasy Gown

Confession: I can’t show off any C pose stuff, because I don’t have any in progress. I’m working on some, but it’s not yet ready for sharing. Instead, I have some B pose progress images from Photoshop files of what I have been working on.

First up is this fantasy outfit. I’m not sure about the color scheme. I think it needs some tweaking. So, you can expect that to change a bit, but the outfit was fun to draw and I think feels a little kaftan like.

Just like I’ve been working on historical 18th Century Alice, I’ve also been working on a 1930s Benedita and a 1940s Beatrix. So, here are two 1930s outfits. Both are from sewing patterns. I love the sleeves on the dress on the right. Very period and very over the top.

So, next week we’ll be back to paper dolls with 18th century Alice for at least two days of the week (maybe three, depending) and then we’ll go from there. I hope everyone has enjoyed WIP week and it has allowed me to get a lot of paper dolling done.

If you love seeing WIP images (and want exclusive content), consider becoming a patron.

WIP Week: B Pose Sketchbook Images

Top Image: Sci-fi Mix and Match, Fantasy Warrior. Bottom Image: Fantasy gown, 1945 Sundress and Sci-fi Mix and Match

There’s still a bit of a learning curve going on with the Dames and Dandies paper dolls. I’m still trying to sort out how many pieces I need to “make” a post and what works best for each pose. Pose B, for example, is better for showing off shoes and trouser details. Pose A, for example, I think is more historical feeling. Pose C is my only guy.

The first image is a sci-fi mix and match set. I settled on six pieces for the set. With two bottoms, three tops and one pair of shoes, there’s at least six different outfit combinations. I hope this feels like enough when I get to the layout stage.

Next there is a set of armor over a gown. I originally planned this design for the Sprites, but I never posted it or finished it for that matter. So, I redesigned it for the B Pose Dames. I might re-design the guy version for the Dandies, but I wasn’t as in love with it.

The second image is more of the sci-fi set. Then there’s a classic medieval inspired fantasy gown and a 1945 sundress. I designed a 1940s Beatrix version and I decided I needed at least two dresses to make a post and I needed an extra one. So, this fixes that set.

So, of all of these, which is your favorite?

WIP Week: 18th Century Alice

I had a plan. It was a good plan. However, it involved finishing the paper dolls shown below and I was very close. Very close.

Until I realized this evening that I had not saved the files correctly and I would have to redo several hours of layout work. I realized I just wasn’t going to get that done tonight and had nothing to post.

A solution presented itself in the form of a suggestion from a  friend for “WIP week.” WIP stands for work-in-progress. This is my chance to share some WIP images from my computer and sketchbook. Plus, it’ll also give me a chance to “wip up” some backlog.

(Sorry, I love puns.)

Okay, so I’ve been working on these paper dolls with historical undergarments. This is Alice in some mid-18th century underwear. She’s wearing a chemise, stays, pocket, stockings and shoes. There’s also a set of hoops and three pairs of shoes.

One dress will be red in pleated and there maybe a second color scheme. I based this robe à la française on this gown from 1770. This dress is designed to fit over the doll and her hoops. It’s a very formal gown from 1770 and I had a lot of fun with the pleating.

I had thought about posting two versions of Alice, one with period underwear and one without, so she could wear jeans and such. In the end, I decided that I was just making my life “too complicated” and it made more sense just to post the period undies version. Of course, the 18th century gown will work on any of A pose paper dolls, but the Alice 18th century doll won’t be able to share all the A Pose clothing.

That might be more detail than you wanted to know. Wenesday there will be some photos from my sketchbook and on Friday I’ll share more progress images. Hopefully, this week will give me some time to get my backlog back in order and so we’ll be strong through the end of March and beyond.

Clothing Previews for Dames and Dandies

Top: Sketchbook penciled pages. Bottom: Cleaned up line-work.

Today, we have some clothing previews. I’m actually pretty far along at this point (thank goodness) or I would be having a panic attack at the moment.

I’ve been working on layouts for everything and getting the first few weeks of January scheduled.

So, it’s a short update for today!

Meet the Dames in Dames and Dandies

So, I’ve been coloring paper dolls like a mad woman all week, super enjoying myself.

Here is the first set of girl paper dolls.

Top: (L to R) Alice and Akiko. Bottom: (L to R) Benedita and Beatrix

The top two dolls are in the A pose. The doll on the left is Alice and the doll on the right is Akiko.

The bottom two dolls are in the B pose. The doll on the left is Benedita and the doll on the right is Beatrix. These girls are still in progress, obviously. I need to color Beatrix and finish coloring Benedita.

Each doll’s face will be used regularly and I’ll note each new style of doll with the term “version” so these are all version 1. The dolls won’t always come with just shoes, but these first ones will in order to establish and certain number of shoes seemed logical. I want to later do themed dolls with at themed outfit, like this Min-Seo punk doll, for example.

There will be guys as well, of course. They will be in the C pose and will all have C names. I am still working on them. Like often happens, the ladies took priority.

So, what do you think? Do you have a favorite already?