Full Color

Cogs & Gears: Steampunk Printable Paper Doll

So, if this paper doll seems vaguely familiar, that’s likely because I have done steampunk things before for Marisole and for Curves. I openly admit I think William Gibson’s Difference Engine is among the boringest books I have ever tried to read; however, I do love anything which lets me play with Victorian fashion and not have my natural need to research to overwhelm me. There might be better steampunk books out there. Suggestions anyone?

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So, if this paper doll seems vaguely familiar, that’s likely because I have done steampunk things before for Marisole and for Curves. I openly admit I think William Gibson’s Difference Engine is among the boringest books I have ever tried to read; however, I do love anything which lets me play with Victorian fashion and not have my natural need to research to overwhelm me. There might be better steampunk books out there. Suggestions anyone?

I feel I should add, I love many of Gibson’s other books including the fantastic art work Agrippa which the librarian in me both loves and hates. Seriously, a mind-blowing piece of artistic work.

Okay, I’m done gushing now about digital poetics which technically have no place on this blog. This blog is about more important things like paper dolls.

So, speaking of paper dolls, today’s Marisole is considerably more brightly colored then my last foray into Steampunk. I like the brighter colors and though I tend to think of the Victorian era as sepia toned, I know the reality is that it was a horribly gaudy era of fashion since chemical dyes had just been invented.

Modern Girl: Marisole Monday Printable Paper Doll

ne of the challenges of drawing clothing for the Marisole paper doll is to make sure things seem to fit together thematically. It’s easy to do when the theme is zombie or fantasy or steampunk, but it is harder when I’m dealing with contemporary clothing. So, I try to do it with color. By making sure I use a consistant set of colors throughout the paper doll, I can make it look like an actual set of clothing that a person might own… if, you know, they were the most color organized person on the planet.

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paperdoll-tailored-miniLiana has written before about how when she is paper dolling everything seems to fall into “paper doll” form. I find the same thing is true for me. When I am in the midst of thinking in terms of paper dolls clothing, everything I see becomes me wondering if I could draw it. I love the fall and spring when the big name fashion houses are putting out their new collections. Magazines are always full of clothing, so I can pick up one or two and sit on my couch looking for ideas.

As with last week’s Marisole paper doll, I ended up playing with the paper doll a little. I shouldn’t make a habit of it, because it just creates more work for me. And more work is not what I need when I’m trying to keep this site up and running. Still, it is fun to play when I have time. I’m fairly excited about this Marisole paper doll, because I think I finally got a caucasian skin tone I like which is fairly exciting. Skin tones are very difficult. I want them to be the same, so the dolls can share shoes among each other, but I also want to like the skin-tones.

White, Black & Red All Over: Fashion Paper Doll Printable

So, I don’t usually play with my paper dolls. I mean, I spend so much time drawing them and coloring them that I don’t often actually play with them. But I have this thing for the red boots in this printable paper doll. I saw them at a shoe store last winter and I wanted them. Of course, I have no idea what I would do with thigh high red patent leather boots except stare at them in awe and then put on my simple pumps. I wanted them anyway. So when I drew them for Marisole, I knew I wanted to see them on the paper doll and then… well…. things just sort of spiraled from there. It was kinda fun though.

Fashionable young black woman in paper doll form with a mix and match red and black wardrobe of 12 mix and match pieces. Free from paperthinpersonas.com

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And of course, I had to share my hard work…
marisole-mini-red-blackMarisole’s hair style comes from my own salon experience. I went to get my own hair cut and spent a while pouring through hair style magazines. I sort of love these hard, sharp spiky bobs that I could never wear in my own hair, but think look really cool.

On a totally unrelated note, I collect links to other paper doll blogs, always with the best of intentions. I tell myself I’m going to write a post about them and then I forget or get busy or have to go grocery shopping or stab myself in the arm with my pen and it never happens. I feel bad about this. Life is full of good intentions, I suppose. It’s just that when I find a new paper doll blog I want to do more then just add it to my links page. I want to actually say something about it. So, I’m going to cover a few paper doll centered blogs over this week.

A.R.T. Taylor’s Paper Doll Blog is a neat, fairly young blog. The paper dolls are very stylized and full color and is worth checking out when a few spare moments can be stolen from the chaos of life. On that pretentious statement, I think I’ll call it a night.

Wings and Petals: A Printable Paper Doll with Curls

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I try to think about how the paper doll would be played with while I’m coloring in Marisole’s clothing. I know it seems sort of strange, but it seems important that the doll be playable even if I don’t cut her out. The nice thing about these sets of the paper dolls is that they can be layered. It’s important that tops can go over bottoms, though it’s not something I double check with everything even though I should.

I ran a bunch of errands today and it took longer then it should have. I get lost a lot here in Illinois, though I am getting better at finding my way around. I used to hit soybean or corn fields whenever I was truly lost and then I knew I need to go back the other way. I swear that pretty much sums of my entire driving life. Somehow living somewhere flat “on a gird” is way more confusing to me than living in a place with hills and wacky streets. Never the less, it is home for the next few years- than onto something new.

Regency Romance: A Historical Paper Doll

Technically, I realize this is late, but here’s the thing. It is still Monday on the West coast which is kinda like it being Monday in the Mid-west. I’m sure there’s a hole in my argument, but I am ignoring it and distracting with a pretty pretty printable paper doll.

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Actually with quite a few printable paper dolls, I had set up a whole series of posts to post while I was in class this last week, except none of them actually did post. This made me sad and I was too busy to spend time fixing it, so over the next few days things will be popping up from the last week which should have gone up previously. Just keep your eyes open for them.

I haven’t been paying as much attention to the blog as I should, but I will start doing so over the next few days. There shall be lovely paper dolls and strange ramblings by me about life, the universe and paper dolls. Paper dolls being the most important factor.

Empire Elegance: Regency Paper Doll Printable

I love regency costume, though not as much as my Mother loves it. I find it simple and elegant and a little romantic, but it can get boring to draw after a while. I try to learn new things about the era each time I draw it- like I learned elastic actually existed (who knew?) and was being used for garters.

Never would have thought of that.

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Days seem slip away quicker than I can blink and suddenly I am realizing time has passed. I suppose that’s the danger of having many commitments on my time- I’m always stretched thinner then I thought I would be. Working while going to school is incredibly forefilling and incredibly challenging. I love my program. I love my job, but my time is a premium. Fortunately, I paper doll to relax, so as long as I know what I am going to do, I can sit down on my couch with my clip board in my lap and draw away when I get home from work. Sure my dishes get neglected, but who needs dishes?

I’m still playing around with skin tones for Marisole, eventually I’ll get a set of them that I like on multiple computers.

Sugar and Spice Version 2.0: A Gothic Lolita Paper Doll

So, yesterday, I had a Sweet Lolita paper doll and today we have a Gothic Lolita version of the same doll. Once again, you’ll want to slit along the dotted line on her hair, so she can wear the bows and hat and other hair accessories. Hair accessories seem to be very important in the whole Lolita thing. I openly confess to not being an expert, but I did my best. You can check out the Sweet Lolita paper doll for the list of sources I used.

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While I was researching Lolita fashion, I did find this cute paper doll by Ninipowwaa on Deviant Art. She also has her own blog which I can’t read, cause I think it’s in French. In high school, when most people I knew were failing to learn French, I was busy failing to learn Spanish. I love how she colored the paper doll. Someday, I might actually try to shade Marisole. I mean… not in the near future, but it could happen.

And, I should say, doing two different color schemes was really actually difficult. Don’t expect it to become a theme, but by the time I realized how long it was taking me to recolor the whole set, I’d already gotten so far along that I wasn’t stopping. I don’t think I’ll be doing Lolita fashion again in the future for the paper dolls unless I get lots of requests and start to feel guilty. I have a very well developed sense of guilt.

Sugar and Spice: Sweet Lolita Paper Doll in Pinks & Blue

So, I’m a bit late with Marisole Monday, but I think it was worth the wait. I may have gotten a little carried away with these Lolita style paper doll clothes. Just, you know… A bit. See, I got this new paper which is designed for pen and ink (it’s a hot press smooth Bristol with lots of sizing in it) and the result is that the inking goes so smooth and so I sort of was having a lot of fun and kinda forgot that I had to fit everything onto a certain amount of space.

It happens.

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On the list of other confessions to be made about today’s printable paper doll include that I really don’t know anything about Japanese street fashion. I don’t speak/read/understand any Japanese and so most of my information came from the Wikipedia article on Lolita style and a dozen Japanese clothing brand websites like Angelic Pretty and Baby, The Stars Shine Bright. Navigating them while not speaking Japanese was an adventure to say the least. American stores like Candy Violet and Sweet Rococo.

I think I’ve mentioned before, I’m trying to work on improving my art by doing things that scare me and what scared me about these paper doll dresses was the ruffles and the ribbons and the general high level of detail. I didn’t draw any patterns because I didn’t know if I wanted Sweet Lolita (full of pinks, ruffles and floral patterns) or Gothic Lolita (full of black, ruffles and a distinct lack of floral patterns). In the end I settled on Sweet for today’s paper dolls, but there will be an Extra Special Not on Monday, Marisole Monday post tomorrow which the darker Gothic version of the paper doll and her clothing.

On one last note, cut along the dotted line in Marisole’s hair, so that she can wear her bows and hat.

The Third Page of Jessica: City Girl- A Modern Printable Paper Doll

I am a bit belated on this post. I’ve been cleaning my apartment in plans for a visitor coming to stay and it’s been taking up a lot of my time. Today’s paper doll is the last of the Jessica things, so there will be a new short run paper doll starting next Sunday, unless I get too busy to post it which might happen. Life is full of surprises.

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My favorite thing about this set of paper doll clothes is the orange sweater. It’s SO orange, but I also love the brightness of the color. Plus my Vogue magazine tells me Orange is the color of the season. And would Vogue lie to me? Of course not.

I’m not totally pleased with how the gray dress turned out. I think the trim looks a little flat and should be more curved and I have mixed feelings about her shoes, but I’m trying to stay positive about the paper doll since in general I like it.

Red Carpet Elegance: A Pretty Paper Doll with Fancy Dresses

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I really have very little to say about this paper doll and her clothing except that I am trying to do more skin tones with Marisole and I draw formal gowns when I can’t think of what else to draw. I have nothing witty nor intelligent to say about the paper doll beyond that. Enjoy her.