Dead Roses: Gothic Paper Doll

I feel a little weird saying this is in color when the color is mostly black…

Not the most cheerful color scheme ever developed for a paper doll. I almost made it all black, but that seemed a bit much, even for Gothic Marisole. If you look closely, you’ll see one of my usual tricks for keeping things from looking totally “flat” is to use shades of the same color. So while everything is “black” there is still some definition between the various parts of the garments. I actually did this Marisole in four shades of very very dark grey which look black, but still allow the line work to be seen.

It’s all an illusion.

gothic-paper-doll-10-8-12

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So, Meredith asked: I think a ballerina paper doll would be cool or mabey a pool / summer themed doll also for some ting tiffrent you could do dolls theamed ot colors of the rainbow

how long have you been drawing paper dolls for?
could you do a cow girl paper doll that would be cool and diffrent

To answer the easiest question, I have been drawing paper dolls for as long as I can really remember. It began when my mother would draw me a doll as a bribe for cleaning my room or other activity and then I had to draw the clothing. Eventually, that evolved into drawing my own paper dolls, though I still prefer clothing to the dolls.

As for your requests, I have added them to my list of ideas. I usually keep a running list of ideas, but since most paper dolls are drawn weeks (sometimes months) before they eventually get posted, I can’t promise anything as far as doing any of those ideas. And I probably won’t to the ballerina, because tutu’s scare me.

To answer a related question, Tawny asked: What is your favorite sort of paper doll to draw? I mean… I think eeery thing you do is great, but what do you like to do the most?

I like drawing everything. I do find I tend to return to certain themes a lot. I like things that are a little alt-fashion inspired and a little fantasy inspired. I often draw from fashion magazines, because it makes deciding what to draw simpler. I always fear that I will fall into a rut and draw the same thing over and over again. I try to keep things interesting using reference images and other materials.

Got a question you want me to answer on the blog?Ask me here.

8 thoughts on “Dead Roses: Gothic Paper Doll”

  1. I thought I was the only one who didn’t like tutu’s. It’s nice to see someone else who can’t stand them, either! 🙂

  3. It’s not that I dislike tutus, B, I think they can be quite pretty, it is that I know for a fact that I can’t draw them that keeps me away from the tutu world.

    I’m surprised you liked the punch out ones, Saltandserenity, because I always disliked them. I much preferred the process of carefully cutting out and then carefully dressing the dolls. To this day, I find cutting out paper dolls sort of relaxing, though I admit I don’t do it much.

    Lolita Clothing- I openly confess that I don’t watch Anime. I did recently draw some anime costumes for a magnetic paper doll as a gift for someone, but I can’t say more about it since she might read this. 🙂 Once I get the set popped in the mail, I’ll probably post it up here.

  5. I love this set. I usually don’t like the color black but you made it look amazing. I think the best thing of this doll is that she reminds me of Amy Lee.

    • The trick to dealing with black is to not actually use black, but use different shades of very dark grey. That gives the clothes some depth and it reads as black even though it is not actually black.

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