Today’s Marisole Monday & Friends paper doll is a little futuristic and a little cyberpunk. She has a new face which I like I think, though I’m not sure about it. Drawing new faces for Marisole is a struggle for me. Drawing for Marisole at all right now is a struggle for me.
In fact, I kinda hate Marisole right now.
Don’t get me wrong…I’m proud of the 96 or so versions of Marisole I have drawn and I’m pleased she’s been a ninja, a fairy and an alien (not to mention plenty of other things), but lately I’ve been feeling uninspired when it comes to her. I think a big part of my frustration is that I drew this base doll over four years ago which is a long time to be drawing for the same doll. Working on her is like going back in time to a style I drew a long time ago and don’t anymore.
Some days, that feels very odd.
Before anyone freaks out, I’m not saying I’m not going to continue with Marisole style dolls, I just feel very much in a slump. The wheel in spinning, as they say, but the gerbil may be dead.
Advice for getting out of slumps, anyone?
I do a few things: draw a bunch of stuff that will never see the light of day again (or that I plan to post online), find some random item of clothes to look up and see what styles I can find (and possibly save for later references), or, because of the historical aspect of my paper dolls, wikipedia dates to see what happened and see if there’s a time period I really want to do but wouldn’t have thought to do otherwise.
The last is how I decided to do mid 1960s Japan and 1690s Brazilian Gold Rush.
Not sure this will help you out, but I find it helps me.
Maybe taking a break from this series will help. Switching to other things usually helps me get through slumps, even if it doesn’t always happen right away.
And this set looks a lot like your In Space! one, maybe she’s from the same universe?
I like the new face.
As for slumps, it sort of depends… Some slumps are relieved by taking a break. Others by finding new sources of inspiration. Sometimes it just helps to play without a specific goal in mind. (The last is my favorite. Even if it doesn’t work, at least you’ve had some fun.)
i agree with amy ~ i like the new face and hairstyle! but i know what you mean about staring at the same body for so long. eventually you do have the change it up.
one thing you might challenge yourself to do is play with the body style/pose where she might still be able to wear some of the original’s wardrobe, but have different bottoms (or visa versa, different tops).
: D
When I find myself stuck, I set that aside and play with what interests me. Much of my frustration comes from resisting where my creativity wants to go.
If you’re worried you might never get back to Marisole, consider playing more with her friends. I actually like the Mini-Maidens because they seem like a younger sister to Marisole. Perhaps a completely different pose?
Thank you everyone for your wonderful ideas and very nice words. I don’t think I’m going to walk away from Marisole anytime in the immediate future, but the more I look at this new face (the first I’ve drawn completely from scratch in a while), the more I find I rather like it a lot.
I think playing around and perhaps trying out the Wikipedia dates suggestion from Lina will help.
do all of your paper dolls come in black and white so they can be colored. Example Ahoy Matey, White Black and Red all over, Princess in Pink, Beneath the waves, Gypsy Rose, Retro- Pin-up Sweet and many more?
Nope. I didn’t start doing the Marisole Monday paper dolls in black and white and in color until May of 2012. When I go back and post an old paper doll in black and white for coloring, I try to add a link at the bottom of the original post linking to the black and white version. For example, Gypsy Rose is available in black and white and there’s a link at the bottom of the original post.
I hope this answers your question. 🙂
I really like the patterns on her clothes…
😀