To view this content, you must be a paying member of my patreon! Join us here and help support Paper Thin Personas. Already a qualifying Patreon member? See below on how to access the content.
WIP: Newsletter, 1950s & Dolly in the 1900s
Sometimes, I struggled to take a breath/break.
So, I decided to take a minute this week and highlight some things that are in-progress/in-process for the blog/newsletter/patrons. I like finishing things. I like seeing something and feeling like- yep, that’s done.
However, I do think it’s important to pause occasionally and consider the value of the process. The process has to be fun or why do it at all?
So, in this post, I am going to share some screen shots from a few of the paper dolls I worked on this weekend. None of them are done, all of them are in process, and I am 100% happy with that.
Dolly & Her Dresses
One of my patron exclusive projects has been these 19th century inspired antique doll paper dolls. These two dresses are both from the 1900s- a party dress and a sailor suit (which were super popular). I haven’t decided if I am going to continue these into 2023. I’m struggling to even think of 2023, because 2022 has been such a long year.
Still, I don’t want to face a cliff at the end of December, so I need to think clearly about what 2023 will hold.
1950s J&G Collection
I started this back when I was fill of vim and vigor and somehow decided to draw more for it than I really should have. It’s huge! There’s 5 dolls and at least 20 outfits and a dozen pairs of shoes. I haven’t even thought about how I’m going to break it up for layout or how I am going to actually color all of it. It was not the best planned out project I have ever undertaken which maybe why I am struggling to get momentum up on it- it feels overwhelming.
Anyway, steady progress has been made- tabs are being added, fits are being checked, linework is being cleaned up. Hopefully, it’ll all be done before 2023, though no promises on that front.
Newsletter Paper Dolls
I really love these dolls! I don’t know what it is about them, but they feel so easy to draw for. Probably because the pose is so very delightfully simple. I really have been enjoying these ones a lot. This is my take on some autumnal regencycore styles. The dress is, well, obvious, but the collar of the blouse is also super regency.
My big hope is to take a digital imaging class next semester from the Uni where I work and learn to do more of my work digitally. I love working on pen with paper, but I really want to up my coloring game and the long process of inking, scanning, fixing the inking leaves me a little drained these days. I need to streamline.
Plus, an my first formal art class in almost 20 years sounds like fun.
Which one of these are you excited for?
New Mermaid Paper Doll Collection on Etsy
I am super excited to announce that I finally fin-ished (pun intended) my big mermaid paper doll project that you might recall me mentioning way back in July and previewing as a WIP in August. You can pick it up on Etsy right now!
Sometimes, these projects take a lot longer than I think they will when they start, she said, side-eyeing the 1950s Jewels and Gemstones set that still isn’t done.
Anyway, at long last I am happy to announce that the Mermaids are up on Etsy and you can go grab them if you wish. There’s four dolls and over 60 mix and match pieces, including 11 different mermaid tails.
Anyway, it’s a big 7 page set (plus one page of stands and directions) and I couldn’t be happier with how it all came together. I’m particularly pleased with a few of the tails that were too big to easily fit on a horizontal layout page, but which look great with the vertical layout. Layout is not my strongest suit, but I feel like I’m getting better and learning a lot from examining Julie’s work for paper doll review with care.
In case you’re wondering- a lot of this content as not appeared on the blog before. One of the dolls is totally new! She’s actually maybe my favorite and it was really hard to resist showing her off before now.
Anyway, if you’d like to add the mermaids to your collection, go get them on Etsy.
Right now the set is only available as coloring pages, as I find that’s what sells best on Etsy. No idea why, but paper dolls in color just don’t seem to sell. If you’d like to see them in color, let me know! I’m curious.
More Vivian Dolls for my Patrons
To view this content, you must be a paying member of my patreon! Join us here and help support Paper Thin Personas. Already a qualifying Patreon member? See below on how to access the content.
A Vivian Paper Doll as a Thank You
To view this content, you must be a paying member of my patreon! Join us here and help support Paper Thin Personas. Already a qualifying Patreon member? See below on how to access the content.
Regency Autumn Fantasy
Download Black and White PDF | Download Color PDF | More Jewels & Gemstones 2.0
One of my favorite things is taking a historical silhouette and just playing with it. It’s pretty much just a chance to draw pretty dresses for paper dolls. Don’t get me wrong, I love doing variety (like this Cybergoth Set), but I think anyone whose a regular here knows my first loves are the fantasy and historical stuff.
The fantasy stuff is easier than the historical stuff, because there’s no research involved. I simply am unable to call something historical if I haven’t actually done some research to back up that claim. And sometimes, I just don’t wanna do research.
Despite the research free nature of these dresses, they are based on Regency Era styles. In my head, the dress on the left with the yellow skirt is a ballgown, because it is the lowest cut and fanciest. The dresses on the left are a dinner dress (the blue one) and day dress (the one with the vest).
If you want some actual regency dresses, rather than these regency fantasy dresses, I recommend my Regency tag and as I was working on this post, I realized I do have other regency fantasy dresses- enough that maybe I should make a tag for that too, so I did.
I now have a regency inspired tag for all my non-historical forays into this silhouette, including my regencycore modern stuff which I think I’m going to draw more of. I really enjoy drawing romantic dresses. And yes, I am eagerly waiting for season 3 of Bridgerton.
Meanwhile, this is Newsletter week, so if you haven’t, sign up and get an extra paper doll coloring page in your inbox every two weeks.
Witchtober: The Merchant and Traveling Witches!
Download the PDF to Print | The Rest of This Project | All the PTP Witchtober Paper Doll Pages
Happy Halloween!
It’s so exciting to be wrapping up my 2022 Witchtober project with the ever delightful Julie Matthews today with the Merchant and Traveling themed witches.
So, let’s talk concepts- On the left, is the Merchant themed witch. I wanted to go for like an edgy CEO in the 1980s look. Very much a power suit. I had fun playing around with drawing the sharp angles on this one. I decided a traditional hat made the most sense, but I tried to keep it feeling super crisp.
On the right is the Traveling witch. For this one, I went a totally different direction. My first thought was like 19th century traveling suits, but then I was like- Nah, I’ve done that before a lot. So, instead, I thought about adventuring clothing- something a little fantasy, a little practical, with lots of pockets for carrying things, and gathering things. To go with this, I wanted to draw a well worn sort of weather beaten hat. The sort of hat that looked like it had been around the block a few times and seen some things.
Both outfits got boots, but I tried to make them about as different as two pairs of boots could be.
You can, of course, just download this page if you want, but you can also grab all the pages in this download, if that’s more your style. In case you missed any, here’s all of the my posts.
Of course, you should head over to Paper Doll School where Julie has shared her really fantastic creations. She sent me a sneak preview and they are pretty fantastic.
And, of course, I hope everyone has a wonderful Halloween today!
Dolly’s Dresses for October 2022
To view this content, you must be a paying member of my patreon! Join us here and help support Paper Thin Personas. Already a qualifying Patreon member? See below on how to access the content.
Witchtober Continues: 18th Century & Winter
Download the 18th Century Page PDF to Print | Download the Winter Page PDF to Print | The Rest of This Project
If there was one thing I knew from the beginning of this whole Witchtober adventure, it was that my 18th century gown was going to be big. When Julie and I picked out our 8 themes from this list by Juan Joltaire of witch themes, I immediately loved the idea of an 18th century witch.
First off, it has been a while since I drew anything 18th century inspired. Secondly, my love of giant paper doll dresses is well documented on this blog. And is there a better century for giant paper doll dresses than the 18th century? I think not.
For me, nothing in Western Fashion can beat the 18th century for pure over the top glorious absurdity in dresses like this one or this one. There will forever be a soft place in my heart for eras when things are just more is more and that is where the 18th century lives (also, the 1830s, because what even is this?).
Once I decided I was going to go big on the 18th century design, I had a technical problem. I knew that dress was going to fill the whole page. So, when it came time to design the Winter costume, which was the other theme for this week, I knew I needed to at least try to make something that could hold its own against the 18th century spider-queen delight I’d just drawn. After all, a little shift dress was not going to stand up.
So, I went with a sort of coat/top-thing with a bit of a train. For my Winter costume, I wanted something that would feel actually warm, but also I realized none of my outfits were trousers. Since that seemed a pity, I decided at least one of them should get trousers. There’s a little 1890s/1900s in this one with those sleeves and the cut of the bodice. Boots and a fur trimmed hat complete the outfit.
You can, of course, check out Julie’s takes on these two themes over on her blog. They’re great! I especially like like the hat to go with the 18th century gown.
The Patreon Vivian Project Round up of Everything Else: Part 2
To view this content, you must be a paying member of my patreon! Join us here and help support Paper Thin Personas. Already a qualifying Patreon member? See below on how to access the content.