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glasses
Warmest Wishes: A Cozy Winter Paper Doll
Download Black and White PDF | Download Color PDF | More Paper Dolls from the Ensemble Eclectica Series
When I was designing this winter paper doll, I wanted her to have glasses (because I hadn’t done any Ensemble Eclectica dolls with glasses yet) and I wanted her to feel distinctly different from my other winter paper doll in pastels. I also wanted to make sure things could layer well, because on thing about winter clothing is that layering is critical.
I basically live in layers in the winter- lots of long underwear, lots of socks. So, everyone I know has at least two parkas, sometimes more. I have my “wet weather” set up- which is a fleece under a raincoat. I have my light weight parka, which I wear until it gets below -10 and then I have my heavy parka, which I bust out for colder weather. If I end up needing it, I also have a variety of layering pieces I can add- wool and silk long underwear and heavy socks.
But up here in my part of Alaska, this winter has been weirdly mild, until this week when it’s finally dropped down to -30 where it should be this time of year. Since it’s been above 10 degrees several days this January, which is not normal, everyone is sort of relieved to get some actual winter. I actually busted out my big parka, finally. I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised- climate change- but I don’t love the increase of snow. Usually, it’s too cold to snow here and the roads stay pretty dry and easy to drive on. I’m not a snow lover, even if I don’t mind the cold.
Anyway, I do try to match my paper dolls to the seasons, but this is hard, because it can take me a long time to finish things. Working digitally has sped me up a bit, but I’m still someone who tends to ink a bunch and then color and bunch and then do layout and then… etc.
Do you have a favorite season? Let me know in a comment. Despite the cold, I really don’t mind winter. However, I think autumn is my favorite.
Autumn Looks: Printable Paper Doll
Download Black and White PDF | Download Color PDF | More Jewels & Gemstones 2.0
Very similar color scheme here to my November Vivian Gown. I really like purple, orange, and green together. Also, I realized I hadn’t done a doll with glasses in a long long time, so I wanted to fix that.
One thing I’ve noticed this year is a lot of maxi-skirts and a lot of cropped tops, so I tried to use both of those in this set. The other thing I’ve noticed is that pants are starting to veer away from the skinny jean to more of a straight leg style which I think is great, because I much prefer it. Sort of sad to see tunics being less popular as I also tend to prefer those.
Oh well, can’t have everything.
Meanwhile, I wanted try to do something seasonal. Though it was -3 outside this morning and I had to plug my car in (I live just below the arctic circle), so the battery would survive my work day and all I could think was, “Why do I live here?”
Also, it’s only November, she whined.
Still, I love Alaska and 90% of the time, I don’t mind the cold so much.
So, two little things:
- If you’re a patron, there’s a poll on last Friday’s post about the future of Vivian. Please vote. Thanks!
- If you want to get in on some Newsletter paper doll goodness, be sure to sign up for the newsletter. Next issue comes out Friday! And I am super excited.
Ruby in Winter In the Country
Download Black and White PDF | Download Color PDF | More Jewels & Gemstones 2.0
Today’s printable paper doll was a chance to explore a trend I was seeing in the winter fashion runways in 2020- a sort of riding habit inspired country estate look. Because so many of these pieces are solid, I opted to not stick to my usual very limited color palette. I gave Ruby glasses. I think she’s the first doll in this series to get glasses, so that’s something to be happy about.
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A Pair of Akiko Dress Up Dolls
Today, there are two new versions of Akiko, my Asian A pose lady paper doll, to be dressed up. A pair of dress up dolls, if you will.
For me, a paper doll you can’t dress up has no interest. Don’t get me wrong, there are some beautiful jointed dolls made from paper out there. I’m in awe of the engineering that goes into these creations, but for me the whole point of paper dolls is that you can dress them up. It’s the ease at which a doll goes from being a princess to a ninja to a post-apocalyptic warrior that engages me.
I mention this, because I regularly sacrifice variety for versatility. I chose, when I began the Dames and Dandies, that I would focus on four skin tones for each pose and three poses to begin with. That’s not the end, of course, but I made that choice knowing I was limiting the whole glorious spectrum of human beings to 12 skintones, two genders and three bodies.
Sounds pretty limited when I put it that way, doesn’t it?
But within those limitations (chosen in part for my own sanity as much as anything else) I wanted to create as much versatility as I could. By choosing just three bodies, I thought I would be able to create a variety of roles for those bodies to take on from steampunk to goth to flapper.
And within the limitations of those three bodies, I wanted variety as well. So Akiko has gotten to visit the 1920s and wear Lolita street fashion. And here are two more versions of her to be dressed up. There’s a blond version and a glasses wearing brunette. My second paper doll recently with glasses.
If I have one major regret about my three bodies, it is that none of them are plus-sized. As a curvy woman, I regret that I didn’t start with a curvy figure as well. However, I’ve been on a curvy figure drawing kick lately and I have three curvy paper dolls in the works. One will be my model for Inktober. The other two… I’m not sure yet. None of them are to scale with the Dames and Dandies, so they won’t be part of that series. What will happen to them, I don’t yet know.
My patrons are usually the first to know about my activities, but I have been posting some to Instagram Stories when I’m sketching and inking. So, join Patreon or follow me on Instagram if you want the latest.
Meanwhile, let me know what you think of today’s Akiko paper dolls in a comment if you have a moment. Love to hear from you.
Need a clothing for today’s paper dolls? All the A Pose Dolls & Clothing
A Pair of New Beatrix Dolls and One has Glasses
When I was working on these double doll sets, I realized I hadn’t done any paper dolls for the Dames and Dandies with glasses yet. That seemed like a serious omission given that I wear contacts and can barely see without them. So, I knew I wanted a doll with glasses. The doll on the left has a hairstyle based on how a student who worked for me wore her hair and the doll on the right has blond highlights. That’s actually her second hair style. I really didn’t like the first one I designed, once I saw it on the doll.
That happens sometimes, because I draw all the hair separately and sometimes once I get it fitted to the dolls head, I’m not sure that I like it as much as I did in theory. Fortunately, it’s not hard to draw another one and through the “Power of Photoshop” there’s a lot of options.
Coloring wise, these versions of Beatrix have, of course, the same skin-tone as the other versions of Beatrix. I did however choose to match the paper doll’s glasses to her toenails, like you do.
Meanwhile, I posted a few progress images over on Patreon if you’d like to see some work in progress and my #100dressesproject continues on Instagram. Almost done! I’m in the 90s.
And, as always, I’d love to hear what you think about today’s paper dolls.
Need a clothing for today’s paper doll? All the B Pose Dolls & Clothing.
Greta in Autumn: A Printable Paper Doll in Black and White
Today’s printable paper doll in black and white is Greta sporting an autumnal wardrobe. Greta’s wardrobe was inspired by what I see the college kids on the campus where I work wearing in the fall. Most of my paper dolls are pretty high fashion, or at least very trendy. This has to do with my source materials which tends towards InStyle and Bazaar, but most college students I work with seem a lot more attached to their jeans and t-shirts.
(In college, I lived in a hoodie, jeans and flip-flops- even when it was pouring rain.)
This more casual version of Greta has some jeans, shorts, capris and then a few tops. I focused on sweaters on this set and just gave her a casual t-shirt dress which seems to be a style I see around a lot these days. I can not wear t-shirt dresses, but hey- paper dolls don’t complain when you dress them. 🙂
Right now, I am polling my readers on what they might like to see in the future, that is NOT paper doll related (or at least not a printable paper doll.)
[poll id=”13″]
As always, if you like the blog, I’d appreciate your support on Patreon. Thank you to everyone who already supports me. You guys rock!
Beauty in Bloomers: A Steampunk Paper Doll inspired by Amelia Bloomer
Once in a while, I host little drawings for custom paper dolls. I do them rarely, because frankly they are time consuming.
Anyway, last June I held one. People submitted custom paper doll suggestions. You can see all of them on the original contest post. The winner of the drawing was Lina, but I added all the ideas to my paper doll ideas list. Today’s paper doll comes from an idea submitted back then. (See, I do sometimes draw things people request.)
Erin Winslow proposed a steampunk set based on Amelia Bloomer’s women’s dress reform movement costume. My first thought was, “No Way!”
Because, honestly, I really didn’t like the Bloomer Dress. I’ve always thought it was both unflattering and kinda ugly. Why would I want to draw something I thought was ugly?
And then… rather unexpectedly, I found myself thinking… I should draw it because I find it ugly. I should tackle a style I dislike for a paper doll set. I should stretch. Plus I recently read a this book on Victorian dress reform movements.
First, I had to gather sources and ideas. You can see a collage of these below.
I remembered somewhere I had seen a photo of a female doctor wearing a Bloomer costume. That was where I started thinking about doctors cases and I found that Pat Stall, one of my favorite paper doll artists ever, had done an Amelia Bloomer paper doll set. I found some wonderful modern pieces and then a few great cartoons from various Victorian periodicals. I felt like I was on my way towards a set I might actually like.
Plus, I got to draw Victorian glasses and that was fun. 🙂
As most of my readers have figured out by now, I’m currently conducting a survey about developing products to open a Paper Thin Personas store in the next year and some other stuff. It’ll only take about 15 minutes and I’ll send you a thank you paper doll if you leave me your email at the end. (The emails are deleted out of the survey results immediately to keep things as anonymous as possible. So, no worries about that.)
Thanks again to everyone whose already done the survey! I’m closing it on Saturday, so I can begin to analyze the results. I’ll share some of my discoveries sometime in the next few weeks.
Beautiful Boho: A Black Paper Doll in Color
Summer in Alabama is probably my least favorite season. First of all, it is very hot and humid. Secondly, there are cockroaches. Thirdly, it rains in the afternoons, but the rain doesn’t actually cool anything down.
We are having a freakishly hot June. It’s been in the high 90s for the last week and it is not looking to cool down at all next week. I am miserable in this heat, but I suppose it could be worse.
Someone who is not miserable in the heat (or at least isn’t showing it) is Marisole in today’s colored version of Beautiful Boho. A big part of color selection for me is finding colors I wouldn’t normally think to combine. Part of this is instinct, but I borrow most of my color schemes from various sources around the internet and then alter them as needed. Design Seeds more muted palettes were what I used on this paper doll set. I wanted to use colors that felt like they were modern and came from nature.
I don’t think I mentioned this last time, but the paper doll’s hair is based in part on the last hairstyle in this fantastic video of 100 years of black hairstyles 1910 to 2010. My only complaint about the video is that it ignores wigs which were commonly worn by black women, particularly 1940s through the 1960s. Never the less, it is a fascinating time-lapse piece.
Later this week there will be the first Flock post of 2015 (embarrassing but true).