Marisole

Marisole Monday: Feeling Blue

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As a paper doll, Marisole provides a few options which the other paper dolls on the site don’t. One of those is to play around with mix and match clothing options which is what I tried to do with this set of paper doll clothes. I wanted to show a variety of options which were available with one dress and several vests, cloaks, jackets which could be placed over it. I stuck to a blue based color scheme when my red based color scheme just didn’t work out very well.

So, my original idea was that Marisole here was some sort of exotic noble lady in a world where fabric (being handmade) was extremely expensive. The resulting society would rely on accessory pieces to turn a simple gown into a lovely dress for a variety of occasions. And since fabric was at a premium, absurd hairstyles could be the status part of a ladies attire. (It is also entirely possible, I just like drawing absurd hairstyles. I would not rule this out.)

Though Marisole’s family has some money, they are not absurdly wealthy. Perhaps some bad investments many years ago have dwindled the family fortunes. So, she must make-do with one dress and a few other pieces to shine in. Her elaborate hairstyle is a sign of her noble status, but she relies on her beautifully made outer garments to keep herself up to date.

Zombie Chic- An Undead Paper Doll to Print

Like a zombie from the dead, PTP has returned.

Drawing a zombie paper dolls was the source of some slight worry when I turned down a shopping invite because, and I quote, “I need to draw clothing for a dead chick.”

It’s a good thing my friends know me.

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Of course, like any paper doll, dead or otherwise, the clothing is the most important printable paper doll bit, so here we have a nice set of clothes for the printable zombie version of Marisole. But no shoes. I couldn’t seem to get them right.

Truth be told, doing this Marisole set meant I could be a little messier then I usually am. I let myself have rough edges and I didn’t freak out when my inking went bad. It was okay. After all, she was a zombie and distressed fashion was totally all right. Sometimes, I think the absurd and the playful reminds me why I draw paper dolls to begin with.

Marisol Monday: Punky Girl Paper Doll

So, I have this fantasy. It involves ice cream and pie, but also having like saved paper doll posts so that they go up automatically and I’m not constantly scrambling to throw something together while trying to sound like I know what I’m doing. Never in my fantasy is it late at night and I’m staring at my computer screen thinking… Oh god, now I have to say something intelligent.

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The sad part is that I’m pretty witty when I’m not staring at a computer screen at 10:00 pm at night.

(In case you’re wondering, I draw my posts the night before they go up, so most of the time they go up at 12:00 am my time- used to be Alaska time, but I am in the mid-west these days with soybeans and corn. Also since I entered grad school, posts going up at midnight is rarer and rarer.)

My best friend in high school was a punky girl. She still may be, though I haven’t seen her in nearly four years, a fact I am saddened by now that I realize it. Besides being one of the inspirations for Curves and one of the smartest people I know, she had the guts to wear punk clothing in a small isolated town before the days of ubiquitous internet shopping.

Marisole Monday: Ahoy Matey- Pirate Paper Doll

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So, I haven’t died. I promise.

My friend says to me: You know, if your blog were a child, Social Services would have been called by now.

And I said: If my blog was a child, there would be other more serious concerns.

And she said: Update your damn blog.

And I said: Meh.

And then about a week passed. And here we are. With a blog update. Proving to my mother, who gets concerned about me, that I am, in fact, not dead.

PS: The colors got messed up when I saved it into a web format, so I recommend downloading it.

Funky Fashion Girl: Printable Paper Doll

Unless, I am suffering from some sort of delusion (which is totally possible) I seem to recall someone asking for a redheaded Marisole. I originally just kept the dusky skin tone I usually use and gave her redhead, but it clashed and looked really bad, so I decided I better change her skintone too. I’ve had a thing for redheads ever sense I saw Anne of Green Gables on television.

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Sometimes, I can’t think of anything funny, witting or really happy to write here. I’m having a rough month. Still, there are always pretty paper dolls.

Oh, and this is one of those paper dolls that the websave photoshop feature kinda messed up the color. I do recommend downloading the pdf to get the full bright tones. I need to figure out a way around that… But not tonight.

Edit 1/6/2014: Get a colorable version of this paper doll to print here.

Snow Day: Printable Paper Doll

So, sometimes I don’t know what to draw. On these occasions, I usually poll friends looking for ideas. In one night, I might get suggests ranging from “ballerina” to “mad scientist” or “snow day”. Obviously, I decided to go with the “snow day” suggestion and I was told that I “had” to add a snowball and a snowman, so Marisole gets her snowman and her snowball.

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When I was a child, my favorite paper dolls had accessories. I don’t think I’m that good at drawing things other then people to do a lot of accessories, but even I can draw a snowball. I’d like to someday draw other accessories for Marisole. I think she needs a pet, but I can’t decide what kinda pet and drawing animals isn’t my gift. We’ll see.

Edit 1/6/2014: Get a colorable version of this paper doll to print here.

Pretty In Steampunk: Printable Paper Doll

So, steampunk is not something I know a lot about.

I tried to get through William Gibson’s Difference Engine and around page thirty I decided life was too short.

(Of course, I also feel this way about most of Charles Dickens and the entire Wheel of Time Series.)

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Despite my inability to get through any modern version of the genre, I do enjoy the old scientific romances such as Time Machine and Tono-Bungay which is not a scientific romance, but I have been reading and enjoying at the recommendation of a friend. Though lesser known then others of Well’s novels, I’m enjoying it as much as I did Time Machine.

Anyway, this paper doll post is dedicated to a few friends who are very into Steampunk and without this flicker group, it just wouldn’t have happened. Thank goodness for that. Of course, knowing a fair bit about Victorian costume, it was hard to not want to draw everything to be actually period and that’s not the point. I did my best, but expect another post like this whenever I feel inspired again.

Oh, and you might want to cut along the sleeves of the blouses next to the dolls body to make it easier to layer her clothing with this set. The more I draw for Marisole, the more her arm placement annoys me. A perfect paper doll pose is such an impossible goal.

Prom Night 2010: Printable Paper Doll with Dresses

When I went to prom back in highschool, the dresses seemed to echo the movies of the time. Lots of Titanic-like high waists and layers of black net over red satin.

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There was only one store to really buy a prom dress at and the women who owned it would only sell one of each style during the prom season, so that you could be assured you were wearing the only one of your dress at the dance.

These days, according to the internet, short styles are much more in fashion, but I had to draw a long traditional dress for my own preferences in that regard. All of these dresses are based on actual styles. Though I would never wear it, my favorite is the layer purple on with the strapless bodice. It’s very 1908’s which seems to be the decade that has come back to haunt us now. I’m not sure how I feel about this.

Princess In Pink: Printable Paper Doll

Today’s Marisole has her being a fantasy maiden, possibly a Princess, once more. I do love my princess fantasy gowns.

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I know people have expressed some interest in seeing the process I go through to draw a paper doll. I never know how to show people what I do, but I scanned the dress on the far left with the blue in it during some of it’s stages of creation.

First of all, the dress was a simple pencil outline. And then I drew a detailed pencil version which had some pattern and folds and other things added. The version you see above is after it’s been inked and colored. As you might notice, the inked version is a little different then the final penciled version. Sometimes, I mess up while inking and just sort of go with it.

So, there’s a little look into some of the stages the paper dolls I draw go through.

Edit 3/28/2016: There is now a black and white version of this paper doll. Find it here.

Cyberpunk Princess: Printable Paper Doll

So, I have a love of sci-fi which I blame on my mother’s love of sci-fi which might have passed on gentically or simply because of watching to much Star Trek as a child. I only began to recently read cyberpunk with William Gibson’s Neuromancer last year, but I do enjoy the genre.

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I also have a soft spot for unique looking clothing and the cyberpunk/futuristic clothing look is totally unique.

On a completely unrelated note, I love interlibrary loan. I really really do. I think it’s just so fantastically cool. All you have to do is ask for a book and then, like magic, it arrives. Okay, not magic. I know there are a lot of hardworking people who make these things happen. I’m just happy because on of my requests came in recently. It’s a collection of fashion plates from the sixties and seventies. Expect something totally mod soon.

I don’t know how soon… but it will happen soon.

(Soon being a relative term.)