Okay, so I somehow got it in my head that I really wanted to try to put Citrus Summer on a vintage background- something that would feel like newsprint- a nod to comic paper dolls. Again, I wouldn’t recommend home printing this one, because the amount of ink you’d need would be a lot.
I stopped doing backgrounds on my paper dolls years ago, because I was trying to respect people’s home printers. However, I still think backgrounds are pretty! And I think they make a more artistic and interesting paper doll.
Something about the limited color scheme, the tones I chose for her, just seemed to speak to me to try this out.
Had I been really wanting to mimic comics, I could have redone my shading with sort of Ben-Day Dot look, but honestly, I haven’t found a Ben Day Dot brush that I like yet. I’ve always been a little conflicted about Ben-Day dots… I think as a black and white effect I like it more than when it was used as a coloring medium, like you see on comics.
If I ever find one I like, maybe I’ll dive into some Ben-Day dots or lines… I’ve always liked the look of copper plate engravings. Another thing I’d need a brush for… thoughts.
Seriously, a paper doll project that I respect so much was done by Boots back in 2015 when she redrew some amazingly wacky illustrations from Judy, the London serio-comic journal as paper dolls. Her line-work is an utter delight and she super captures the feel of the original.
Anyway, back to this paper doll, the background was done using the Phantom Paper Pack from RetroSupply. I tried several free paper backgrouds before, but man, sometimes tools are worth the money. This one was so much easier to use. It really was delightful and the micro-adjustments you can make using it are really great. Well worth the cost.
Okay, I think this is my last version of Citrus Summer. I don’t know what else I would do with her at this point! Let me know in the comments if you had a favorite version.
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