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So, steampunk is not something I know a lot about. I tried to get through William Gibson’s Difference Engine and around page thirty I decided life was too short. (Of course, I also feel this way about most of Charles Dickens and the entire Wheel of Time Series.) Despite my inability to get through any modern version of the genre, I do enjoy the old scientific romances such as Time Machine and Tono-Bungay which is not a scientific romance, but I have been reading and enjoying at the recommendation of a friend. Though lesser known then others of Well’s novels, I’m enjoying it as much as I did Time Machine.

Anyway, this paper doll post is dedicated to a few friends who are very into Steampunk and without this flicker group, it just wouldn’t have happened. Thank goodness for that. Of course, knowing a fair bit about Victorian costume, it was hard to not want to draw everything to be actually period and that’s not the point. I did my best, but expect another post like this whenever I feel inspired again.

Oh, and you might want to cut along the sleeves of the blouses next to the dolls body to make it easier to layer her clothing with this set. The more I draw for Marisole, the more her arm placement annoys me. A perfect paper doll pose is such an impossible goal.

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So, I rambled on during the first post for this paper doll about the Pantone color trend books Spring 2010 and Spring 2009, so I will spare you that ramble. As I have said a lot of times, I have some trouble with colors. I think partly because I use the computer to color my dolls online, the colors tend to be hyper saturated and I don’t always like that, so getting to use the Pantone colors was a lot of fun.

Tomorrow, there shall either be steam or snow for Marisole… depending on which one I finish first, I think.

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Some weeks, it’s not worth crawling out of bed on Monday. Anyway, here is Curves in SPACE. I have honestly been wanting to use that title for a post since I came up with it which was…. well, a while ago. I’m still enjoying the Curves paper dolls. They get crazy things to wear in places like SPACE.

In my brain, the outfit on the left is the good space princess outfit worn by the heroine. It has a very 1980’s vibe, but I blame this on my Star Trek: The Next Generation watching childhood. The outfit on the right is the evil space princess outfit. You can tell it’s evil because of the thigh high boots and the slight dominatrix vibe.

Yes, I just used the word dominatrix on a post about paper dolls…

I think I better go to bed.

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When I went to prom back in highschool, the dresses seemed to echo the movies of the time. Lots of Titanic-like high waists and layers of black net over red satin. There was only one store to really buy a prom dress at and the women who owned it would only sell one of each style during the prom season, so that you could be assured you were wearing the only one of your dress at the dance.

These days, according to the internet, short styles are much more in fashion, but I had to draw a long traditional dress for my own preferences in that regard. All of these dresses are based on actual styles. Though I would never wear it, my favorite is the layer purple on with the strapless bodice. It’s very 1908’s which seems to be the decade that has come back to haunt us now. I’m not sure how I feel about this.

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First things first- Happy Purim!

Secondly, here is today’s paper doll. She’s my first “short run” paper doll in full color which is kinda exciting. I was inspired to do her in color thanks to the Pantone color trends prediction. Pantone is a company that, basically, makes inks, paints, plastics… anything which involves color. They are known for being able to reproduce the same color across multiple mediums through a numbered mixing system. This is all rather unimportant, but what is important is that every year they create a color trend prediction based on what they (and designers they talk with) think will be the big colors of the season.

All of the paper dolls clothing’s colors come from the trend reports for Spring 2010 and Spring 2009. In some cases, I did lighten or darken colors slightly to allow for more contrast then was available through the colors as offered. And I do recommend downloading the PDF of this paper doll more then some others, since saving her for the web altered some of her colors.

Seriously, the Pantone website is like heaven for people who love color. And I do love color. I don’t understand it very well, but I think it’s awfully pretty.

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New thing for the Florence paper doll today. It’s very exciting. Well… I think it’s exciting…

(I might need to have more thrills in my life.)

So, this dress was drawn off this fashion plate from the LA Public Library’s Casey Fashion Plate Index. It’s a fantastic collection of plates.

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So, confession time: I actually had this done on time, but I put the wrong date into as the date to post. So, my template posted rather then my post and then I just noticed it like two minutes ago and now I am fixing it.

Yeah, I feel like a bit of a space cadet.

Still, here’s the paper doll which should have gone up at midnight and since it’s still the right day, I am not technically late.

I have mixed feelings about this paper doll. I like the lacing, the corset and the hair. I’m less sold on her eyes and face. I try not to be to down on my own work when it doesn’t turn out like I want it too. I draw all the time and it’s not like every paper doll is going to be perfect. The trick is to get back to the pad and do it again. I really do like some things about this set for Curves and I don’t like other things. This is okay.

I don’t think you should ever apologize for your art.

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Today’s Marisole has her being a fantasy maiden, possibly a Princess, once more. I do love my princess fantasy gowns. I know people have expressed some interest in seeing the process I go through to draw a paper doll. I never know how to show people what I do, but I scanned the dress on the far left with the blue in it during some of it’s stages of creation.

First of all, the dress was a simple pencil outline. And then I drew a detailed pencil version which had some pattern and folds and other things added. The version you see above is after it’s been inked and colored. As you might notice, the inked version is a little different then the final penciled version. Sometimes, I mess up while inking and just sort of go with it.

So, there’s a little look into some of the stages the paper dolls I draw go through.

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There is a small child who lives next door to me. He has been crying all day. I feel sort of bad for him, but I do wish he would shut up. In other, unrelated notes, here is the last set of the clothing for Pixie. Enjoy.

Added Note 1/15/2010: Because of school work, the blog will be on a short break until next Monday. I will not be replying to comments or checking my site related email until that time. I apologize for any inconvenience this may cause, but work and the graduate degree come first. Smiles- Rachel

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Imagine there is a witty intelligent blog entry here rather then some random sentence I wrote before going to bed early since I have a horrible head ache.