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A Stylish Paper Doll July: Cyberpunk, Sort of…

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Inspiration:

  • So many 1980s/1990s sci-fi movies… Escape from New York, RoboCop, Judge Dredd, The Running Man…

On Sunday mornings, I usually get together with some freinds from grad school on the internet in a private chat and we all play a game of Shadowrun, which is a table top roleplaying game set in a fantasy/cyberpunk future. The game was written in the 1980s and it always feels very 1980s to me.

So, in honor of the the fact that it is Sunday and the fact that I have a weird deep soft-place in my heart for the way the future was concieved in the 1980s, I offer up this 1980s/1990s scifi inspired paper doll.

I think the look works best when you can actually layer it- the cropped top over the jumpsuit look will always remind me of the 1980s. I don’t know why. Maybe because it feels like 1980s work out clothing.

A Stylish Paper Doll July: Another Little Summery Paper Doll with a Floral Dress

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Super pleased this with little paper doll. Originally, the floral pattern was going to go on her undies, but it was too large and looked weird. So, I put in on the dress instead.

Very happy with the dress. It was based on one I just bought for a trip, but then didn’t end up wearing. Oh well… I have a conflicted feelings about dresses. I love the idea, but never seem to wear them.

That’s kinda all I got today! Enjoy the printable paper doll coloring page!

A Stylish Paper Doll July: A Little Rainbow Weather Theme

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Like yesterday’s paper doll, today’s paper doll was inspired by some doodles I did of different “themes” for dolls. Once I started really thinking about this project as a project lasting 31 days (oh my) I thought to myself- Self, you need some dolls.

So, I came up with a few themes I liked- strawberries (originally cherries, but strawberries seemed more fun once I started drawing), rainbows and clouds, florals and geometrics. I managed to carve out some time over the weekend to get all of them done and ready, except the geometric one. That one is still in progress.

Today is weather themed and tomorrow will be flowers.

As always, I find it much easier when I batch my work. I tend to work on several things at once.

A Stylish Paper Doll July: Braids & Strawberries & Sundresses

A black paper doll with braids as a coloring page. Her dress is a crisp empire waisted sundresses with a midiskirt.

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Inspiration:

  • The Attempt to Make a Braid Brush

One of the cool things about Procreate is that you can build your own brush shapes. One of the things I wanted to try was building a braid brush. I tried to follow this tutorial which was excellent, but the results weren’t what I really wanted.

In the process, I became sort of obsessed with drawing a paper doll with box braids- hence how I ended up here with this cute little black paper doll with braids. Because once I get an idea in my head, I tend to try to push through.

Or I don’t. It really depends.

While there’s a few things I would do differently next time, I think the braids came out pretty well. I didn’t figure-out how to make a functional braid brush, but I’m not crying over that. I am not convinced that I like brushes- I mean, I like brushes, but some of the shaped ones are not as useful as I’d have thought if you’d asked me when I started with Procreate. I don’t love how they look and I sort of like hand-drawing things, because I like to draw. If I was working in color, I might feel differently.

I think playing around with the sizes of line gave me a lot of the texture I was looking for and, as a first try, the hair looks pretty dang good. So, I’m proud of it.

Today’s paper doll is part of a series of paper dolls I sketched out all the at the same time (I was in an airport), each of which had a single summery outfit (mostly dresses) and different patterns on their underwear. There will be two more that I’ll share tomorrow and the next day.

For this one, I designed a strawberry and polkadot pattern. There were also flowers, but the flowers looked way too much like the polkadots from a distance, so they didn’t make it to the final finished piece. One thing I am still learning is how thing scale and resize when working purely digitally. The ability to zoom in and zoom out messes with me.

Additionally, this paper doll did inspire me to work on a strawberry themed Lolita dress which I hopefully will finish before the month is out. I think I will. It’s nearly done. I wanted to practice ruffles and that seemed a great way to do that.

Happy Independence Day in the USA

An independence day paper doll coloring page with a trendy star themed outfit including a cropped top and wide legged pants with a frayed hem

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Sources:

  • The jeans worn by a waitress in Indiana

Most years I try to do an Independence Day paper doll or paper doll outfit. I didn’t want to give up that tradition this year. So, here’s my Independence Day paper doll. (Halloween might be my next most common paper doll holiday.)

Last month, I found myself at the University of Indiana campus during their new student orientations. I was not there for student orientation, but the bustling atmosphere provided me with an opportunity to observe clothing trends among students, which I always enjoy. Cropped shirts paired with high-waisted jeans and frayed hems seemed to be popular.

The jeans are based on a pair worn by a waitress at a place where I was eating lunch one day. I don’t think she noticed me sketching her pants which is good, because that might be been kinda awkward for both of us.

On this Independence Day, I find myself wrestling with mixed feelings towards the United States. It’s a scary time for a lot of people and a lot of them are very close to me.

However, despite the current political climate, I want the USA to be better and I believe it can be. I think most people are basically decent. Unfortunately, I also study history, so I know that decent people can and will do horrible things to each other.

Anyway, I am desperately trying to be optimistic about the future. So, I thought I would do my 4th of July paper doll as usual. I couldn’t quite bring myself to be as patriotic as I sometimes am, so stars were my compromise.

I wish everyone a safe and enjoyable day in the USA today however you celebrate (or don’t) or a pleasant Tuesday wherever you may be.

By the way, I’ve started numbering these paper dolls to avoid the hassle of coming up with titles. This particular creation is number 4, for those of you who are keeping track.

I’ll need 31 if I get one up every day in July. We shall see!

A Stylish Paper Doll July: A Suit from 1915

A black and white line drawing of a suit from 1915 with a straw hat trimmed in flowers and roses. The suit is trimmed in braid at the waist, collar and cuffs. A printable paper doll coloring page!

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Today’s 1915 paper doll drawing comes from Perry, Dame & Co. was a New York department store which also did extensive mail order business. The Internet Archive has a few of their catalogs available online one from 1915 and one from 1919-1920.

One of my favorite sources to draw from are clothing catalogs which I did for this 1915 paper doll suit. I love flipping through old catalogs and I love knowing that what I am drawing is clothing women could actually purchase. It’s not hypothetical, as many fashion plates are, or something very high fashion, and it’s fully styled unlike museum pieces.

This suit is from the Spring-Summer 1915 catalog. I didn’t love the original hat that was put with it, so I picked out a hat I liked more from the millerinry section of the catalog. Of course, my modern eye is very different from that of a person from 1915 and who knows if this hat would really have gone with this suit. I chose the hat partly because I wanted to practice drawing feathers in Procreate and I chose the suit in part to allow me to try working with a double line brush that helped me do the complicated braided trim that decorates this garment.

So, this was certainly a “Rachel tries out some new Procreate things” creation. I am pretty happy with how it came out.

I confess I’ve got other things from this catalog in progress, so you might get really sick of the 1915 Spring Summer Perry Dame & Co catalog by the time this month is out!

Do you like 1915? Or is that a fashion era that doesn’t do it for you? Let me know in a comment. I’m super curious.

Sources:

A Stylish Paper Doll July: A Suit from 1913

A black and white line illustration of a 1913 suit for a paper doll with a hobble skirt and trimmed in fur from based on an illustration from Vogue magazine.

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Source:

Today’s July paper doll outfit is a suit from Vogue from 1913 to go with yesterday’s early 1910s paper doll in her undies. Now, she has a suit!

My husband was shocked to learn that Vogue was around in 1913. The suit is made from wool and trimmed in Russian chipmunk fur. I think chipmunks are very cute, so that took a sort of dark turn when I realized why the fur was striped. The skirt has a slight “hobble” so it is a bit tighter around the ankles. Hobble skirts were very trendy in the early 1910s and very controversial.

One of the best things about researching clothing from the 1910s is that there is a ton to look at. It was hard to pick one suit to draw! I discovered this amazing fashion magazine directory that someone else put together and it’s so good! I wish I’d found it years ago.

A few of my favorites from this era are Vogue, Ladies Home Journal, Good Housekeeping, Half-Century Magazine, McCalls (which began as Queen of Fashion and became Rosie), and commercial catalogs like Sears. Buried within the fashion commentary (which I am totally into) there is some really interesting insight into how women navigated entering the workforce, growing feminist and suffrage movements, and a variety of other social issues.

Each magazine is a little different. Vogue is very fashion focused, most of the others are also interested in “domestic life” which is early 20th century speak for social issues. Half-Century Magazine, which was a women’s magazine specially written by and for black women, is full of calls to action for readers to support various black businesses and enterprises. Good Housekeeping is aimed at a less wealthy audience and has a lot to say about budgets. Ladies’ Home Journal, one of the most widely circulated magazines in its height, mixes condemnations of “radical fashion” with sometimes surprising willingness to mention radical topics like divorce.

I could go on and on, but this isn’t a write up on women’s magazines of the 20th century, so I’ll spare you all.

A Stylish Paper Doll July: Visiting The Early 1910s

A black and white line drawing of a woman paper doll wearing a 1910's underwear consisting of a long corset over a chemise with stockings and shoes.

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As I wrote to my patrons earlier this week, I wasn’t sure if wanted to do this idea I’ve had rattling around my head. I really want to get better at drawing line-work and it seems to me the best way to do that is to draw a lot of line-work. So, I thought I would try to draw a paper doll or/and an outfit every day for the month of July and share them here.

I am totally unprepared for this- usually I don’t start projects like this without a big head start and I only have the first two fully finished (though the several others are in various stages of progress.) But I am also trying to get over my fear of failure and how better to do that than try something and possibly fail publicly. Because that’s not anxiety inducing….

Anyway, I decided to start with the 1910s, because my patrons voted a while ago on which time periods I should draw and 1910s was one of the winning eras. It’s not a period I actually knew much about, so it was a lot of looking at things and trying to decide what to draw. I’ve actually not done a lot of 1910s paper dolls over the years.

A little about this paper doll…

Women in the early 1910s wore long corsets that went over their hips. These corsets often unlaced at the bottom and this meant a woman could decide how restricted she wanted her movement to be. Unlacing the bottom of the corset would allow more movement for walking or hiking. Underneath the corset, women wore slips or combinations that were decorated with ribbons and lace. Combinations were underwear that had short pantaloons and a chemise top, similar to a modern romper. The long garters attached to the corset were used to hold up stockings.

Capturing the interaction between the garters and the bottom of the combination worn underneath the corset was hard. I’m still not 100% happy with that outcome, but the whole point of this project is to move forward, even when I am a little conflicted.

As for the hair, I am really pleased with it. Women often styled their hair by pulling it over their ears and twisting it at the back of their heads. This hairstyle was a preview of the short bobbed haircuts that became trendy in the 1920s. It’s common to see women in this era and wonder if the hair is long or short. I was surprised at how many styles I saw included bangs, which I hadn’t known were popular.

What do you think of today’s paper doll? Do you like the 1910s?

Sources:

Citrus Summer Paper Doll

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So, like what does it say when you share a piece with another artist and they immediately send you a tutorial and are like… you might want to watch this?

Personally, I think it says you have great friends who want you to improve and know you want to improve.

This is what happened when I emailed Julie Matthews all excited by my second finished digitally drawn paper doll where I proudly said I’d “varied my line-weight”. Julie nicely called my line weight variations “subtle” which I think is polite for “you can’t tell you did that, friend” and sent me this lesson from Proko on Line Weight which was really helpful.

Moral of this story, which I sort of told in this week’s email newsletter: If you want to get better at something, you need to have honest people who can give you informed feedback. So, become friends with people who are better than you at something and are kind enough to be willing to be honest with their observations. Be open to those things and improving your craft (whatever that is), becomes so much easier.

I am incredibly lucky to have Julie to help and her feedback consistently makes my work better.

I often think of this Neil Gaiman quote, “Remember: when people tell you something’s wrong or doesn’t work for them, they are almost always right. When they tell you exactly what they think is wrong and how to fix it, they are almost always wrong.” He was talking about writing, but the same thing applies to any creative piece of work. In art, there are “correct” things- like ‘hey, that foot is backwards,’ but once you get into choices that are purely aesthetic, then you need to listen to your own voice and your own taste. Make the art you want to see in the world. Not the art someone else wants to see in the world.

But as long as I am quoting Gaiman, I also think of this one a lot- “Remember that, sooner or later, before it ever reaches perfection, you will have to let it go and move on and start to write the next thing. Perfection is like chasing the horizon. Keep moving.” He’s talking about writing, clearly, but it is true of anything creative. You can endless edit. You can endlessly tweak.

I look at this paper doll and I see a dozen things I might “fix.”

That’s okay. Because there’s going to be a next time. So, the best thing I do can is share it here. Declare it done and make the next one.

There’s always a next one. Especially when you are, like me right now, learning new tools. You have to leave space for letting go and moving forward.

So, onto the next digitally drawn paper doll!