black paper dolls

Dionisia: Printable Fantasy Paper Doll

So, I used to think that cockroaches were the most annoying pest ever known to man, but recently fleas have taken over as my least favorite pest. I have been working on eradicating them from my apartment over the last few days. The Flea Eradication Effort (FEE) is progressing well, I think, though now everytime I enter my apartment I start itching (fleas or not..). Ugh….

Anyway… Let’s talk about paper dolls.

As far as paper dolls go, Pixie is pretty versatile. So, is Marisole, but perhaps because Pixie sets take fewer pieces (the average number of pieces on a Pixie paper doll set is 8 vs 11 for a Marisole Monday paper doll set), I tend to find them less intimidating. I also think the pose is easier to draw for.

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{Click Here for a PDF in Color} {Click Here for a 150 dpi PNG in Color} {Click Here for More Pixie & Puck Paper Dolls}

Anyway, I was inspired to do this paper doll set by the episode The Outsider (specifically Belle’s outfit here) from Once Upon a Time. I openly confess I haven’t gotten up the energy to watch the second half of the second season of that show. I enjoyed the first season, but the second season just got a little two soap opera complicated. Trying to follow three different plot-lines each episode was confusing and I found myself feeling like I just didn’t care enough about any of the people involved. I might not finish the season.

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{Click Here for a PDF of Black and White} {Click Here for a 150 dpi PNG in Black and White} {Click Here for More Pixie & Puck Paper Dolls}

Despite my apathy towards the series as a whole, here’s a paper doll inspired by it, vaguely. I don’t dislike today’s paper doll, but her eyes are kinda huge and a little to faun like. Anyhow, enjoy the paper dolls and let me know if it is worth it to finish Season 2 of Once Upon a Time. 🙂

Kalisha: Paper Doll to Print in Color

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{Click Here for a PDF in Color} {Click Here for a 150 dpi PNG in Color} {Click Here for More Pixie & Puck Paper Dolls}

I try to be balanced in paper dolls. I want to have a variety of styles, a variety of skin tones, a variety of hair styles, a variety of genders (okay, maybe not the last one so much…), but I haven’t done a paper doll with glasses in a while.

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{Click Here for a PDF in Black and White} {Click Here for a 150 dpi PNG in Black and White} {Click Here for More Pixie & Puck Paper Dolls}

Recently, I have been watching a lot of Black Adder, particularly Black Adder Goes Forth, which I have never seen before. I’m really enjoying it, though I don’t know if that has anything to do with today’s paper doll creation, actually, I expect it doesn’t, but it has allowed me to draw some paper dolls.

Kalisha’s color scheme was inspired by flowers and sunsets- warm soft tones. I love pale grey trousers which perhaps explains why they show up so often in my paper dolls (also in my closet).

Divergent: Paper Dolls Inspired by the Book

So, when I was in Chicago last week I visited a good friend who works as a children’s librarian and she recommended a book she’d just finished called Divergent, which is a recent Young Adult novel by Veronica Roth. I read the book while I was riding the train from Chicago to Minneapolis and drew the paper doll outfits soon after.

marisole-divergent-color{Click Here for a PDF to Print in Color} {Click Here for a PNG to Print in Color}

In a slight change of pace from usual, the black and white version is posted today along with the color version. Each of the sects is defined largely by color and I didn’t think spacing out the two posts was really worth it. Plus I got both paper doll versions done at the same time, so I might as well show them off.

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 {Click Here for a PDF to Print in Black and White} {Click Here for a PNG to Print in Black and White} {Click Here for the rest of this series}

In the distopian future of Chicago, as told by Divergent, all people belong to one of five sects. In alphabetical order- Abnegation (self-denial) wear grey, Amity (fellowship) wear red and yellow, Candor (frankness) wear black and white, Dauntless (fear-less) wear black punky style and Erudite (scholarly) wear blue.

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The story follows Beatrice, born into Abnegation, through her choice to join Dauntless on her sixteenth birthday and everything which comes with this decision.

I enjoyed the novels engagement in questions of identity, a topic I think that is important to a young adult audience, plus Chicago was shown as a swamp which, without the various canals currently in the city, it certainly would be. And we don’t get enough novels these days that pull out esoteric words like abnegation into common speech.

This isn’t a paper doll of Beatrice, since I don’t draw other people’s characters, but rather some other member of the society. I didn’t look at any of the movie promotional stuff, because I wanted to draw what I saw people in, not what the costume designer on the film saw people in. Though I did see the camera stuff around downtown Chicago where they are currently filming the movie.

I also went to the Chicago City Museum’s exhibit on the Ebony Fashion Fair and you can expect to see that in paper doll format soon as well.

Oh, and I haven’t read the sequel yet, so no spoilers in the comments please, though I’d love to hear that other people thought of the book.

Happy 4th of July… Printable Paper Doll

Happy Independence Day!

So, in celebration of the 4th of July, here in the United States, I offer a paper doll, as usual. I mean, I don’t know how else I was going to celebrate. I’ve done some 4th of July paper dolls in the past… like these Marisole Monday rocking some 18th century attire which I had a lot of fun drawing.

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{Click Here for a PDF to Print} {Click Here for a PNG to Print} {Click Here for the Rest of the Series}

 

At home, in Alaska, they have fireworks at midnight on the 3rd of July, because it doesn’t get dark until about 10 pm. In Alabama, where I live currently, I have no idea what they do, but I can hear the fireworks from my apartment. I had a quiet 4th which, after two weeks of constant travel and stress, was just what I wanted.

This is a new member of the Mini-Maiden Family. I am thinking of naming her something that begins with H, but I am having trouble coming up with an idea. There aren’t a lot of good H names out there… So, at the moment I am divided between Helen or Hannah… neither of which I’m too smitten with. Suggestions from the audience?

Astronaut Paper Dolls… Color & Black and White

Disclaimer: I know NOTHING about astronauts.

However, I got an email from a young reader named Emily who wrote:

…would you please consider to draw astronaut paper dolls because when I get to grow up I’m going to be an astronaut scientist.

In the words of one of the college students I work with, “You go girl!”

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{Click Here for a PDF of Emily in Color} {Click Here for a 150 dpi PNG of Emily in Color}{Click Here for More Pixie & Puck Paper Dolls}

I have named the paper doll Emily for reader who requested her. Emily comes complete with a graphing calculator, space suit, lab coat, safety goggles and a rocket t-shirt. Who doesn’t need that? Emily has short hair so that her space helmet fits properly. I realized after I drew it that the boots should probably not be separate, but it was already colored by the time this occurred to me. I didn’t put a flag on her space suit, because I know I have a lot of international readers, but feel free to add your own.

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{Click Here for a PDF of Emily in Black and White} {Click Here for a 150 dpi PNG of Emily in Black and White} {Click Here for More Pixie & Puck Paper Dolls}

Personally, I rather like the flag of Yap an island in the Federated States of Micronesia. Now, I’ve never been to Yap, but it’s fun to say and they speak a language called Yapese, which sounds pretty cool to me. (Okay, most of them speak English, but Yapese sounds a lot cooler than English…)

Happy Slightly Belated Birthday, Emily and Enjoy the paper dolls!

Now, I just need to do the cowgirl set people keep asking for… I wish I knew how to draw a cowboy hat… or that I didn’t find horses kinda creepy…

Thoughts? Questions? Ideas about Space? Drop me a comment.

Little Wren Riding Hood…

So, I was asked where the name Flock came from. Basically, I wanted a name that would allow for each of the paper dolls to have a unique name, but wouldn’t force me into a specific culture or letter of the alphabet. The idea was that since so many girl’s names were based on birds like Robin or Raven or Oriel, than it wasn’t a far reach to suggest names like Dove or Swan. In many ways, the names of the Flock are intended to be place holders, so that someone could name the dolls anything they wanted and they give me a way of talking about them and keeping tack of them in my head.

Today, Wren is being Little Red Riding Hood (and I am not apologizing for the pun) and she’s pretty cute. The color palette is not the same as Rapunzel, but it’s the same family of colors, so the two dolls can share some pieces of clothing I think that’s important, since the fun of paper dolls is dressing them up. There are two other Fairy Tale sets in the works, one for Rose Red and Snow White and the other for East of the Sun, West of the Moon. I don’t know which one will be done first. I’d like to also do Morgiana from Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves, but I haven’t even got it drawn yet, so I recommend people don’t hold their breaths on that one.

Despite my small set of examples, there are actually 136 outfit combinations here, I just didn’t have time to play as much as I wanted. Sometimes life is like that… Oh well… Enjoy Little Wren Riding Hood.

 

Fairytale Flock: Wren as Little Red Riding Hood Set PDF Downloads
thumb-wren-riding-hood-1thumb-wren-riding-hood-2
Wren Doll PDF Download Little Red Riding Hood
Clothing PDF Download

 

Marisole Monday: Phoenix & Smoke in Color

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{Click Here for a PDF to Print} {Click Here for a PNG to Print} {Click Here for the rest of this series}

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.

Pixie and Puck: Pirate Nammu in Black and White

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{Click Here for a PDF of Nammu Page 1} {Click Here for a 150 dpi PNG of Nammu Page 1}

I was asked by a reader to do my Nammu pirate paper doll in black and white. She was posted in full color back in November. So, it only took… um…. six months for me to get my act together. Seriously, it might have taken longer, but I was feeling guilty.

Normally, I save the paper dolls in a file with all the layers broken up. The color is on one layer and the line work is on another layer and than the heavy black borders, which I add last, are on a third layer. This time, I saved the file with those layers merged, so I didn’t have a separate line-work layer to work with. Since I didn’t want to redo a lot of work, I tried using Photoshop to remove the color from the paper doll set. I can sat with utter confidence that this worked better than expected, but not as well as I would have liked.

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{Click Here for a PDF of Nammu Page 2} {Click Here for a 150 dpi PNG of Nammu Page 2}

I will spare everyone a list of the things that I think didn’t turn out quite right, but the quality of the line work is not what I hoped it would be. Never the less, a black and white Nammu is better than no black and white Nammu, so hope whoever asked for it (and I honestly can’t remember who that was) is pleased with the outcome. And besides, once you color her, I don’t think my insecurities about the line work will be obvious.

Some people have expressed fear that the Mini-Maidens will replace Pixie and Puck in my heart and I hope that this Pixie paper doll reassures people that I still love the Pixie and Puck paper dolls.

Autumn Color: A Paper Doll to Print

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.

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{Click Here for a PDF to Print} {Click Here for a PNG to Print} {Click Here for the rest of this series}

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.

Marisole Monday: Autumn Colors

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. Several years ago, I drew an Esther paper doll, though you’ll have to scroll down a little to see her in the post.

marisole-autumn-color-BW-2013{Click Here for a PDF to Print} {Click Here for a PNG to Print} {Click Here for the rest of this series}

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?