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It is late, but technically before midnight, so technically this post is not late. Go me.
However, it is too late for me to have anything intelligent to say about it. I think, somehow, my adoring fans with survive.
Today we have the last of the Trudy paper dolls. I haven’t yet decided what I should do for my next short run doll. I’ve been combing through by own old file folders of paper dolls looking for things I can post and for things which are nearly done and it would only take a little work to make them totally usable for the site. It is neat to see how my own art has improved and how my style has changed.
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The more I learn about the comic paper dolls that inspired Trudy, the more impressed I am by the artists. A few of my favorite Katy Keene paper dolls are the ones in neat poses that you wouldn’t expect to see a paper doll in. Also you can find Katy on a horse. You can tell Bill Woogon, the artist, was having a lot of fun with these. Maybe someday I’ll have the nerve to draw a paper doll in a strange pose though I think if I do, she wouldn’t be on a horse.
Non-Katy Keene dolls which impress me are generally the newspaper paper dolls that were printed in one color without shading. Not being a huge fan of shading myself, I love the sparse line work that makes these paper dolls fantastic examples of how you don’t need a lot of times to make an impact. Some neat ones can be found from Boots, a blog devoted to these newspaper images to color, many of which are paper dolls, and from The Paper Collector and Marge8’s Blog which I’ve already written a bit about.
Maybe Florence needs an archery costume. I like to think she’s the sort of adventurous lady who would do well in archery. On the other hand, I already have a skating costume sketched and a riding habit for next week, so perhaps putting more on my plate is not an entirely wise idea.
Here is Florence, the paper doll that wears these dresses.
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I don’t usually name my Curves paper dolls, but then I don’t usually need too. In this case it seems necessary, because how could I present the famous Adele without an introduction? Who else has fought for truth, justice and all other noble things while also being a smart young lady with an innate sense of style? With her glasses firmly over her eyes, her walking stick in hand and her gloves loaded, Adele faces off with the Mars Men, the strange otherworldly beings from the next dimension and still manages to lay a proper table for tea. Truly a lady to be admired by us all.
Is it obvious I’ve been spending a lot of time with Victorian three volume novels?
On an unrelated note, one of my goals for the last few days of drawing has been to stretch myself a bit with the paper dolls, so expect to see more pattern and more detail. The plaid on the vest is an example. I’ve always been scared of plaid, but I think it turned out okay.
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The first Truly Trudy post talks a lot about where to find other comic paper dolls, so I don’t see much need to go over it again. The jacket is meant to be cut out and then put over the dress and is copied from a similar style I saw on one of the Katy Keene comics I looked at. I would say which one, but frankly I don’t remember. One thing I did notice is that Katy Keene has a lot of evening gowns and so do her friends. I adore the red and black dress in this set, but I’m pretty sure Gloria was supposed to be Katy’s rival. Having not read the comic, I can’t be sure but the speech bubble does suggest some malice.
Perhaps I should actually track down some comics and read them… though I suspect if I had read them as a child it really would have been for the paper dolls.
I have realized that most of the “walking” costumes I have drawn for the paper doll up to this point are more of promenade costumes and less walking costumes- like the spring walking costume or the winter walking costume.
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The difference seems somewhat minor, but a matter of formality. Promenade costumes were to see and be seen in, walking costumes were for walking. I imagine the paper doll wearing this costume to go to do her shopping and today she has gone to the milliner to get her new hats.
Hats aren’t worn much anymore, unless you’re the Queen of England (whose hats I totally adore) or going to the races, hats mostly function as useful things for keeping heads warm and not much else. I’m not necessarily advocating the return to hats, but hats were crucial for any well dressed lady in the 1870’s. Fashion magazines, along with dresses, offered detailed advice on fashionable hats and hat styles- colors, feathers, ribbons and flowers to be worn by ladies of all ranks and ages. Hair styles and hats are tightly connected and often changed together.
Here is Florence, just in case you missed the first post in this series and need a doll to go with these paper clothes.
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Truly Trudy is based on the classic comic paper dolls of the fifties like this butterfly basedKaty Keene from Marge8’s Blog. Katy Keene had lots of friends who got paper dolls too. I never read the Katy Keene comics since they were a bit before my time, but I do remember reading Archie and Veronica on commercial fishing trips and trading the comics back and forth with my sister.
The Paper Collector also has a bunch of these old newspaper and comic paper dolls including Katy Keene And the newspaper paper dolls Mopsy Modes or Boots or Brenda Starr by Dale Messick who was the first women syndicated cartoonist.
Though I’m not totally pleased with everything about Trudy, I do think there are some strong points. Her pose is perfectly comic book, though I don’t know if she’s busty enough to really have that fifties pin up look. Her face I feel mixed about. I don’t really draw open mouths very often and this is really why. She was a bit of an experiment and is one I may come back too another time.
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Inking paper dolls still terrifies me every time I start. Still, when I finally erase the pencil lines and the paper doll is sort of revealed, it is a magical kind of moment. I felt that way about this 1870s dress and these hats. I wasn’t sure if I liked it until I’d finally lost all the pencil.
I’m glad I didn’t give up on it. I think this Visiting costume from 1871 turned out well. So, I seem to have come down on the “liking it” side of the spectrum. Never would have guessed that two hours ago.
Looking for the paper doll that goes with this outfit? Here she is.
Generally, I find myself feeling dismissive of “flower fairies”. Complicated and often dark folklore seems to always turn into light children’s stories over time, but I still am a purist when it comes to my fairies. I like them grim and dark and full of blood. Of course, the blood has mostly been taken out to make them more acceptable to most parents (not to children who, on the whole, seem to not mind blood so much). Despite my usual distrust of anything deemed “darling” or “cute”, I began this drawing because I wanted to practice drawing flowers. So, I did and the result is… a lot of flowers.
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Keeping with my own slightly grimmer views on the world of fairies (and yes, I know I could spell it differently, but writing faeries would make my feel like a pretentious git with a need to spell out the digraph), I have done this Curves paper doll’s face very differently from her other paper doll friends. They are mostly human, after all, she is… Other. But as Other as she might be, I can’t stand her chin. I just… think it looks weird. It didn’t look weird when I sketched it…
Oh well, at least her undies are still cute.
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Her hair is my favorite part inspired by the thirties and twenties when women wore their hair in finger waves tight to the skull like Josephine Baker who was an entertainer, exotic dancer, movie star, French Resistance fighter and all around amazing woman. Seriously, cool lady.
And I do regret that my fashions for her aren’t quite as fantastic as a paper doll inspired by the remarkable Josephine Baker deserves, still I had fun with them and I wanted to do something a little retro, but not an actual vintage piece. So… there you go then.
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So, I’m be bit belated today. Okay… very belated and, to be honest to entirely pleased with either paper doll dress. I wasn’t when I first drew them and I’m still not. I liked the masquerade costume more then the ballgown. I was terrified of drawing the train and I still don’t like how it came out. Oh well, it just means I’ll be doing another ballgown for my Victorian paper doll Florence. It’s been quite a few months since I did the old one, I think I could do it better now.
Trains are totally impossible for me. I need to keep practicing on them.
Oh, and here is Florence, the Victorian paper doll that can wear these outfits.
As some of you have no doubt already figured out, I draw ahead of time as much as I can. It’s easier to work in spurts when I have a few hours to devote to the blog rather then doing fifteen minutes here and twenty minutes there. So on Saturday, after I had run my errands and washed my laundry, I settled down in front of some old Star Trek episodes on DVD and drew paper doll clothes for a few hours.
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For next Monday’s Marisole I had my fashion magazines out and windows from clothing websites up on my computer screen. To draw for Florence, I pulled out books of Victorian fashion plates and printouts of doll furniture. But when it came time to draw for Curves, all I had to do was find my thumbnail doodles and put then down next to my notebook. It was entirely liberating not to be bogged down with references.
Of course, it wasn’t as though I didn’t have some limits. The thing about Evil Sorceresses is that it’s a slippery slope and once you are one, you can’t wear just anything. Sure, some might say it’s a bit cliche or even over done, but the Sorceress has to maintain her reputation. And most Sorceresses don’t start bad, they just sort of slide that way. Something about being beautiful and powerful seems to just go to their heads. And once they are an accepted memeber of the Evil Soceress Guild, they can’t wear just anything.
What would people say, after all, if you showed up to a gathering wearing flannel or flowers? Well, flowers are okay if they’re evil flowers. Not, you know, daisies or something.
