Tag Archives: black paper doll

Marisole Monday: Phoenix & Smoke in Color

Posted on April 1, 2013 by RLC

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This is one of those sets where the yellow looks a lot more yellow than I had planned for it to look. Oh well…

I spent most of this weekend trying to come up with something witty and funny to do for April Fools day, but… honestly… I got nothing. Therefore, we’re just going to keep puttering along here in paper doll land. Sorry guys, I’m just not that good at that sort of thing.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter or is still having a wonderful Passover, depending. I had a quiet day spent working on blog stuff and cleaning my apartment. I rather enjoyed myself, I confess.

I’m also not totally pleased with his face. I don’t think he looks as African-American as I had planned him to look, but I am trying my best. I think he’s okay, but I’m not totally pleased.

Posted in Marcus, Marisole Monday & Friends, Printable Paper Dolls | Tagged black paper doll, contemporary, jeans, male, mix and match | 10 Comments

Marisole Monday: Autumn Color in… Colors

Posted on March 4, 2013 by RLC

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I have a similiar relationship with blond hair and brown skin as I do with red hair and brown skin. This is to say that I try it and than I don’t like it and swear I won’t do it again and than I do it again. Unlike the red-hair brown skin combination which I never feel like I’ve achieved, this blond hair brown-skinned Marisole is look pretty cute to me.

I think it’s her braids. Have I mentioned that I am totally in love with her braids?

So, February has come and gone. Last year I noted African American History Month (which is February) by compiling a list of paper dolls around the web. And um… I kinda forgot this year.So, though I don’t have another list of paper dolls, I would like to draw attention to Paper Doll’s by Gail where there are lots of lovely African American paper dolls including Condoleeza Rice, Michelle Obama, Halle Berry and Fantasia Barrino. Also, though unrelated to African American paper dolls, the entire cast of Twlight.

Posted in Full Color, Marisole, Marisole Monday & Friends, Printable Paper Dolls | Tagged black paper doll, blond, braids, contemporary, hat, mix and match, pattern, skirt | 1 Comment

Marisole Monday: Autumn Colors

Posted on February 25, 2013 by RLC

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So, this was supposed to go up last Monday, but clearly that didn’t happen. Never the less, here she is on this Monday looking as dashing as ever.

Sunday was Purim, as some people probably know. Purim is one of my favorite holidays, mostly because of fond memories from when I was a child an the joy of making and eating hamentashen. As usual, I made far more of them than I could eat and so I’ll be giving them to various people today.

Anyway, in other news, I know I’ve neglected the blog over the last few weeks. I’ve been really busy, but I’m hoping to get back onto the ball with it. A few things are going to be changing, so keep your eyes open for a new about section and a few other new things- nothing radical, mostly housekeeping chores that I put off for a long time and finally am getting around to.

Today’s paper doll was inspired by a lot of different things, but mostly by my realization that I haven’t drawn very many coats for my paper dolls (with the exception of my Snow Day set, years ago) and my new found favorite research tool- hair style magazines, particularly black hair style magazines which I can draw hairstyles out of.

I do feel a little self-conscious buying the magazines at the local drug store, since the woman behind the counter usually gives me an odd look, but they’ve proven invaluable for getting hairstyles right. This braided bun is something I’ve wanted to draw for a while, but since asking random passer-bys to stand still for art practice isn’t really reasonable, my hairstyle magazines saved the day.

What sorts of hairstyles would you like to see for Marisole in the future?

Posted in Black & White, Marisole, Marisole Monday & Friends | Tagged black paper doll, boots, braids, coat, contemporary, fur trimmed, gloves, hat, jeans, mix and match, skirt | 5 Comments

Marisole Monday: Vintage Roses in Pinks and Browns and Purples…

Posted on February 11, 2013 by RLC

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So, a version of this paper doll set got to become magnetic and is on it’s way to my grandmother, hopefully to get there before Valentine’s Day. Her set has a different doll with it, but I liked this doll a lot. The truth is that I have owed her a magnetic paper doll set for a while and I would be nervous about saying this online, but since she doesn’t seem to believe in the internet, I think I’m safe. I tend to be of the view that when you get to a certain age than you can decide not to use the internet if it suits you. I plan on becoming a grouchy old woman who may or may not chase children off my porch with a shotgun.

Anyway, this is a busy week for me. There’s a birthday in my family and Valentines Day for which I really should draw a paper doll. I did one for the Chinese New Year after all.

I’m also pleased to announce I now have a Showcase page inspired by Toria’s wonderful one. I am looking for more people’s colored versions of my black and white paper dolls or costumes you might have drawn for the paper dolls or anything else related to the paper dolls on this site that I might feature, so please email me“>email me if you have work that you would like included.

Questions? Thoughts? Theories on the meaning of life? Feel free to comment. I do love comments.

Posted in Full Color, Marisole, Marisole Monday & Friends, Printable Paper Dolls | Tagged black paper doll, dress, mix and match, pattern, short hair, skirt, vintage | 3 Comments

Marisole Monday: In the Mid-1860s… Full Color

Posted on January 14, 2013 by RLC

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Here we are today with the colored version of last Monday’s post. Color for historical garments is complicated, because colors are very much a matter of taste and a matter of time. Just as the avocado and burnt orange polyester shirts of the 1970′s seem dated to us today, the colors of the past are rarely how we imagine them to be. I always picture the Victorians in tones of sepia, not because that was what they wore, but because I always see sepia photographs. I once had a professor point out that the way we picture the past has little to do with how the past actually was, but I enjoy my fantasies of the past as much as the next person.

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For this set of paper dolls, I chose to use colors from reproduction quilting cottons as a basis for the garment. They turned out to be a little muddier than perhaps I would have chosen on my own, but I wanted something different than the oranges, blue, pink, and green combination of colors I find myself most often drawn too. The ballgown in pink and black is based on the fashion plate which I drew it from, though I made a slightly darker version of the original.

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I’ll confess openly that I’m not entirely pleased with how some of these came out in color. I went muted and I think that was the right call, but I’m not sure that I didn’t lose some of the lusciousness and the vibrancy of the era. They also came out less romantic than I had hoped they would be. I do think Margot is awfully cute with her freckles and red hair (yes, I do have a weird thing for redheads). In truth, I am pleased with both the dolls. I think Marisole is a warm brown this time and I like how Margot came out. All in all, though I had some second thoughts about drawing a new face for Marisole, I am pleased with Margot and I think she’ll show up a bit more around the blog.

On an unrelated note, child paper dolls have pulled into the lead in the polling… a fact which I am very much surprised by.

Posted in Full Color, Margot, Marisole, Marisole Monday & Friends, Printable Paper Dolls | Tagged 1860s, ballgown, black paper doll, blue, corset, cream, freckles, green, historical, pink, red head, swimsuit, underwear | 6 Comments

An Elf with an Obi

Posted on January 4, 2013 by RLC

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So, today I wanted to draw a paper doll that was a little edgy and inspired by Asian traditional dress with obi’s and mandarin collars (though there is some debate as to the evolution of the mandarin collar… and whether it evolved from Chinese contact with European military uniforms or European contact with Chinese dress… I’ve read both versions in respected literature on the subject, so I have no opinion except to say we don’t know and leave it at that), but I realized I tend to draw Asian looking paper dolls when I’m drawing Asian inspired costumes and that seemed a little… odd, so I instead made her an elf with braids, resulting in a sort of African elf in an obi.

I’m sure if I was more awake today and if I really wanted to, I could probably read some interesting orientalist thing into all this, but I’d rather just stick with the “it’s a paper doll and it’s neat” side of theoretical endeavors.

Anyhow… as you might have noticed on the right side of the blog a few things have changed. I’ve added tags in an attempt to try to create a genre sort of listing which crosses paper dolls styles. So, if a person wanted to see all the fantasy paper dolls or felt a need to look at every blond paper doll, the option would be available. The three tags I am sort of uncomfortable with are Asian paper doll, Black paper doll and Hispanic paper doll. I did them, because I erratically get emails asking about paper dolls of one of those three groups and I thought the tag might help people find them, but I also feel rather uncomfortable applying racial labels to my paper dolls, especially with Marisole who only has two facial options to begin with.

So, I’m tossing this out to the peanut gallery: Asian paper doll, Black paper doll and Hispanic paper doll tags are useful or awkward or likely to offend people? Thoughts?

Posted in Black & White, Shadow & Light | Tagged asia inspired, black paper doll, braids, edgy, elf, fantasy, obi, shadowed | 4 Comments

Magnetic Marisole… A New Layout for New Year

Posted on December 31, 2012 by RLC

Everything about the magnetic paper dolls is getting revamped this year.

The old Magnetic Paper Doll Index has now been replaced with a new version that resembles the Printable Paper Doll Index much more closely. This is an attempt to streamline updating the magnetic paper dolls, allowing me to do more single sheet updates, like I do with the other printable paper dolls on the site, but it is still a work in progress.

Magnetic paper or adhesive sheets are more expensive than printer paper (as I am sure anyone who has ever printed them out has learned) and so I have re-organized the Marisole Magnetic Paper Dolls to have the shoes on the same sheet as the paper dolls. This means that they are now three dolls per sheet with four pairs of shoes and required re-doing the layouts on all of the magnetic sheets.

I just finished that, so I am posting them today instead of a traditional Marisole Monday update. You can see them here.

The Magnetic Marisole Printable Paper Dolls

{ Directions for Making Printable Magnetic Paper Dolls }

The Dolls


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Contemporary Clothing Sets


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Fantasy Clothing Sets


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Historical Clothing Sets


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Everything here has been adapted from paper version of the printable Marisole posts, except for the shoes and the magnetic dolls, many of which have been re-colored to provide for the six different skin tones. If anyone has requests for skin tones which don’t appear here, please let me know. I try to have as much diversity in skin tone as is possible.

Thoughts? Feel free to comment. I know I don’t always answer every one, but I do read them all.

Posted in Full Color, Magnetic Marisole, Magnetic Paper Doll | Tagged asian paper doll, black paper doll, blond, brunette, contrmporary, fantasy, freckles, high heels, histoical, kid friendly, latino paper doll, magnetic, mix and match, red head | 5 Comments

Marisole Monday: Fruity Autumn in Color

Posted on December 24, 2012 by RLC

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I’ve mentioned before my “skintones make shoes a pain” thing, and so I wanted to give this Marisole a skintone that was shared by another doll so that she could share shoes. I chose Candy Coated Couture, but I don’t think the skintones are actually the same. In fact, a quick check with photoshop’s eyedrop tool tells me they aren’t. This has something to do, I think, with how Photoshop saves things for the web.

So, I did a little internet research and found a lovely article

I am going to try a few other methods and see if they help. It’s a strange problem indeed.

Since it’s Christmas Eve, I wanted to wish a everyone a lovely Christmas. Be safe and be merry. I am back in Alaska with my family celebrating.

Posted in Full Color, Marisole, Marisole Monday & Friends, Printable Paper Dolls | Tagged black paper doll, blue, contemporary, curls, dress, jeans, jewelry, mix and match, orange, pink, yellow | 3 Comments

Marisole Monday: Fruity Autumn

Posted on December 17, 2012 by RLC

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I don’t think I’m that great of an artist. This isn’t a plea to be reassured or an attempt to fish for compliments, I’m just being honest. And I say this because what I draw rarely looks like I wanted it to look in my head. I’m often satisfied with my work, but I rarely look at it and think, “Yeah, that came out just like I wanted it too.”

Marisole’s hair today is a rare case where I can say that it came out just like I wanted it too. It looks natural, bouncy and cute. I am quite pleased.

There were originally a few more pieces on this set, but than there was a tragic run in with a glass of egg nog and well… now there are a few fewer pieces on this set.

Opps.

Oh well… I hope everyone is having a lovely holiday season.

By the way, this is the 100th Marisole paper doll post… though not the 100th Marisole design, since she has been posting in both black and white lately… still, not a bad achievement.

Posted in Black & White, Marisole, Marisole Monday & Friends, Printable Paper Dolls | Tagged black paper doll, contemporary, curls, dress, jeans, jewelry, mix and match | 2 Comments

Meet Octavia- A New Printable Paper Doll In Black and White

Posted on December 14, 2012 by RLC

{Link to a printable PDF of the Octavia paper doll}

I have to confess that this was a paper doll of contrasts. I like certain parts (her hair and her shoes) and I dislike other parts, but I think all in all, it came out well enough for me to post it. I wasn’t totally pleased with her mouth, so that got changed a bit with Photoshop to make her look less angry. Her hair style is based on one a student in one of my graduate courses wore her hair in. I always thought it was neat and I loved how huge the side buns were with her hair teased out a bit.

Somehow, she made it look sophisticated rather than absurd.

Enjoy the paper doll. There will be another one up on Monday.

In a fairly unrelated note, check out these beautiful kimono’s made from African fabrics. I am totally in love with these, but then I am obsessed with anything which mixes cultural garments.

Posted in Black & White, Printable Paper Dolls, Short Run Dolls | Tagged black paper doll, boots, contemporary, curls, mix and match, pattern, urban | 1 Comment

Tag Archives: black paper doll

Marisole Monday: Phoenix & Smoke in Color

Marisole Monday: Autumn Color in… Colors

Marisole Monday: Autumn Colors

Marisole Monday: Vintage Roses in Pinks and Browns and Purples…

Marisole Monday: In the Mid-1860s… Full Color

An Elf with an Obi

Magnetic Marisole… A New Layout for New Year

The Magnetic Marisole Printable Paper Dolls