Paper Thin Personas • Page 105 of 148 • Rachel Cohen's Paper Doll Creations

Pixie Paper Doll In Jewel Tones Named Clarisa

May 22, 2020May 2, 2014

This is a more wintery than summery paper doll, I think. Clarisa is a version of the German name “Clarice” which means bright, brilliant or clear. Clarisa is the Spanish form of this name. I think it’s a beautiful name for today’s Hispanic paper doll.

Lately, I have been struggling on the blog. The hardest thing for me to learn how to deal with in the last year has been this:

Life is Not Ideal. Deal with It.

Though it might not be the most stirring life motto, I find I need it more and more. Every post isn’t going to ever be perfect. Every paper doll isn’t going to be perfect.

And maybe that is quite all right.

I started this blog, because I drew paper dolls and I thought it would be worth it to have an outlet for that art. I have to learn to accept that everything isn’t always ideal.

So, I might have concerns about the lace and how it turned out. I might have concerns about her lips. I might not really be pleased entirely with everything… I might have wanted to post a different series after last weeks Pixie paper doll…

But… life is not ideal. Deal with it.

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In my head, Clarisa is a Hispanic paper doll or Latino, if you prefer. Why? Because I was chatting with a friend whose half-Mexican, and she was complaining about how I didn’t do enough Hispanic paper dolls. So, this is for her. 🙂

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Originally I conceived Clarisa as being on her way to some sort of party- maybe a holiday party, but that was several months ago when I first drew this paper doll. Obviously, a hoiliday party is less likely in May, at least not one where such dark clothing would be appropriate.

Marisole Monday: April Showers in Black and White

December 6, 2020April 28, 2014

I desperately wanted to get this paper doll up before the end of April, as she is, after all, called April Showers. I posted the base doodle I did for planning, so here you can see the actual paper doll that came out of that planning process.

One of these days, I keep meaning to do a “start to finish” sort of post, but since I take SO LONG to finish anything, I struggle to keep all the relevant pieces together and since so many doodles never make their way into paper doll status, it is a struggle to document the process for me.

I think she’s wonderfully cute with her her braids and her glasses. I try to do one of two paper dolls with glasses a year, as I know when I was a kid and had to wear them I never found paper dolls with glasses. I still draw braids the same way my mother taught me to draw them when I was fairly young. I sometimes think I should learn a new technique, but it seems to work.

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Personally, I love her rain-boots and her floral skirt (those are supposed to be pansies, though I’m not sure anyone can tell that…). I am regretting not making some more neutral tops to go with her other pieces, because I think the mix and match options for her may turn out to be more limited that I like. Never the less, I am proud of her potted plant and her seed packet. I have been trying to draw more little accessories for my paper dolls and I’m pleased with how these ones turned out. Now… if I could only draw a decent looking horse, I would finish that cowgirl paper doll that people keep asking for.

Sporty Pixie named Adannaya

May 22, 2020April 23, 2014

Like Jaunty Summer Styles and Minimalism, today’s printable paper doll was the direct result of me purchasing a bunch of fashion magazines in March. Adannaya is rocking the “sporty” look which is very popular. Sort of high fashion meets gym wear and if that seems like an odd match to you then you are not alone (it seems an odd match to me too). Her hair is based on this fantastic updo which I pinned to my hair board on Pinterest. Lurking around my Pinterest boards provides sneak peaks on what I am currently obsessed with. Feel free to follow me.

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Anyway, the name Adannaya is from West Africa, Igbo to be specific, and means “Her Father’s daughter” according to Behind the Name. I’m sure I’ve never used the name before. I liked that I could track it to a specific culture. I think calling a name “African” is just as absurd as calling a name “European”. There are about a hundred major African languages, so I wasn’t going to use a name if I couldn’t trace it back to the root language. For Adannaya the root language is is Igbo, mostly spoken in southeastern Nigeria. Someone who knows more than me about the region would know if it was a common name or not, I have no idea, but I liked how it sounded.

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Anyhow, I’m traveling today, so I’ve pre-scheduled this to rule in my absence. I’ve nearly worked my way through my backlog that I spent so much of February and March building. I suppose this means I’ll be drawing a fair bit over the next few weeks trying to get caught up again. What I really need is another snow closing… but I doubt that’s going to happen. 🙂

Jinn in Some Bright Colors

May 22, 2020April 21, 2014

If I was going to give out a prize for “set I colored the most times”, I think this one might be in the running for winning it. I think I went through four or five color schemes with this set.

I’m still traveling, so today’s post is a little late. I rather forgot it was Monday which tends to happen to me when I’m away from work and busy. I hope everyone had a lovely Easter sunday. I watched two little girls with matching Easter dresses ride their bikes up and down the street and concluded that they were, very possibly, the cutest things I’d seen in a long time.

Plus it wasn’t raining and that rarity in Southeast Alaska is a welcome change from the usual.

Meanwhile, we have our Jinn now fully colored with bright orange skin, blue hair and a colorful wardrobe. As I mentioned above, I went through quite a few different color schemes before I decided that I liked this one.

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To be entirely honest, I am still not sure I totally like the colors. I find the more complicated patterns that outfits have than the more confusing the color schemes become. Plus our Jinn has orange skin, which doesn’t really help in the coloring arena. I wanted to keep her copper colored skin and blue hair, as Jinn are supposed to be made up of smokeless fire and scorching heat.

This maybe the only post this week. I might manage another one. I just don’t know for sure yet… travel can be exhausting.

Terms of Use: What they Are & Why You Need One

May 22, 2020April 19, 2014

I went years without a Terms of Use statement. I didn’t want to bother writing one and I know enough about copyright to know that my general site notice was enough, in fact, the moment an artistic work is created than it is protected, regardless of whether or not a person actually places a copyright statement on the item.

However, I had some paper doll images stolen by a for profit enterprise and although we came to an equitable arrangement, I realized I had made a huge mistake by not making my terms absolutely clear. I might know a fair bit about copyright, but my readers likely don’t.

So, I drafted a terms of use and then posted it.

I know writing a terms of use statement is a little frightening, but the language doesn’t have to be scary. Still, there are times and places to be funny and charming, but your terms of use isn’t one of them. Be clear and simple in your language. Also, include contact information, because if people have questions, they should be able to ask them somewhere private and you don’t want someone claiming that they couldn’t get a hold of you.

Here are some questions to consider while drafting a terms of Use:

Who has the right to profit from your paper dolls?
Who has the right to print your work in multiple copies?
Can people post your work in other places? Under what conditions? With credit? What form should that credit take?
Are you waiving your copyright? Remember, once copyright is waived for an image, you can not get it back just because someone used it in a way that you do not like.
If someone draws an outfit for your paper doll (or creates a “derivative work”), can they post it? Can they profit from it?
Is your work licensed under something like Creative Commons? If so, that needs to be made clear on your site as well.

Once you have written your draft statement, ask a friend to read it for editing and clarity, then link it somewhere obvious. Mine is under my About tab and in my header. I know that seems like a lot, but I don’t want someone saying that they couldn’t find it.

And I get questions regularly from people who say, “I was reading your terms of use and I wanted to know if I could…” I don’t mind these questions. It means the Terms of Use is working and findable.

Lastly, I should note: I am not a lawyer and nothing I have said here should be construed to constitute legal advice. I am an archivist and librarian and paper doll lover, nothing more… nothing less.

Questions? Thoughts? Have you ever had your work taken without your permission? How did you deal with it?

Ms. Mannequin in Skinny Jeans and Peasent Tops

May 22, 2020April 16, 2014

One of the quirky things about working so far in advance is that sometimes I stumble across files I sort of forgot about. And today’s paper doll clothes post is one of those files. Opps.

This set of paper doll clothing was completed last year for the Ms. Mannequin series and I actually thought I’d posted it, but when I was looking through my files, I realized I never had. After a few moment of, “Well, now I feel rather foolish…” I decided to put it up. After all, there’s no reason not to post it even if it’s a little old.

When I had started this series I had decided to stick to a pretty small selection of colors designed to provide the most mix and match options for outfits, but in hind sight, I seem to recall getting pretty sick of the color options before the set was completed.

{Click Here for a PDF in Color} {Click Here for a 150 dpi PNG in Color}{Click Here for a PDF of Black and White} {Click Here for a 150 dpi PNG in Black and White}{Get some Paper Dolls to Wear these Clothes} {Get More Clothes for These Paper Dolls}

Now you might be thinking, but where are some paper dolls who can wear these clothes? Any of the Ms. Mannequin paper dolls can wear any of these stylish clothing options. Personally, I’m a sucker for that yellow sundress.

Jinn in the Desert: A Paper Doll in Black and White

May 22, 2020April 14, 2014

In my head, I imagine today’s paper doll as a companion to my Marauder princess paper doll from… wow, last year. That doesn’t seem so long ago. Time flies when you’re drawing paper dolls, I suppose.

Today’s paper doll was inspired by the Arabic folklore creatures called Jinn (or Genies). According to some sources, Jinn are made up of smokeless fire and scorching heat and they are sentient, like humans and angels. Jinn appear in many fairytales and folktales from the Middle East including the most famous to my readers, I suspect, which is the genie in Aladdin. Though there are some stories of Jinn granting wishes, this doesn’t seem to be something they do outside of fairytales.

I decided to give my paper doll a separate tail piece which is meant to be glued to her back once she’s been cut out. I thought it would be easier for the variety of clothing options which you might want to dress her up in. Her clothing has nothing terribly Middle Eastern about it, but that’s neither here nor there. As often happens, the resulting doll has wandered far from the source material.

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One of the things I really do like about today’s paper doll is the number of outfit options. With seven tops and four bottoms and two pairs of shoes, she’s got over 56 different outfit options and that’s nothing to sneeze at.

Oh, and before I forget, I did manage to get my email notices up and running again. If youve already put in your email than you should being receiving a notice when the site updates. If you haven’t gotten a notice and you think you should, please email me (paperthinpersonas (at) gmail (dot) com) and I shall see what I can do. If you want to receive a notice, just type your email into the box on the sidebar and you’ll be added to the list.

Feeding the Blog Monster

May 22, 2020April 11, 2014

Sometimes, I think of my blog as a monster. I call it “DaBlog Monster.”

And it is my job to feed the monster paper dolls (other blogs may hunger for other things) lest it devour the world and/or the souls of children.

Feeding the blog is not always easy and can be stressful. I’ve learned a few tips and tricks to keep me sane while I do it and I thought I’d share those today.

So, this is how I feel DaBlog Monster….

I work in several things at once.

I get bored easily. Having four or five different paper dolls in different stages of development means I can hop around and do what I feel like. If I want to ink, I can ink. If I want to sketch, I can sketch. If I want to color, I can color. If I want to mess with layouts, I can mess with layouts. (I never WANT to mess with layouts, but… it has to be done.)

The thing about paper dolls is they should be fun. Once drawing them stops being fun, I think you need to find something else to do. Not to suggest that slumps don’t happen (they to do everyone), but pleasure should out weigh pain.

I work in spurts.

Let me describe what last week looked like… On Saturday, I scanned a bunch of things including a Marisole Monday set, two poppets sets and some new pieces for Greta’s trousseau. On Sunday, I finished up the next Marisole Monday post. On Monday, I worked on my Grandmother’s 90th birthday present, did a little inking and cleaned my bathrooms. On Tuesday, I went grocery shopping, did laundry and spent the evening reading about World War One propaganda for a conference presentation I am working on. On Wednesday, I ran a few errands, worked more on my Grandma’s birthday gift and cleaned my apartment. On Thursday, I cooked for a dinner party I was hosting Friday and did more cleaning. On Friday, I had friends over, served them enchiladas and had a lovely time.

The moral of this story: I didn’t spent and I don’t spend every waking moment thinking about or working on paper dolls. I do work intensely and then I stop.

I space out my posts.

WordPress has a scheduling feature (as do most other blog platforms). Know it. Love it. Use it.

So, imagine you’d just finished two paper dolls and that’s wonderful. Now… when do you post them?

Think about schedules. Is next week insane like my last week was insane? Are there a dozen things you have to do in the coming month? Should you post one now and save the other for when you’re in a pinch? What’s the best option?

Just because something is done, doesn’t mean it has to go up. Save things for times when you’re crunched.

Plan ahead.

Okay, this one I’m not so good at, but I try to think about what holidays are upcoming. Do I want to do a Passover paper doll? This coming up fast. How about something for May day? Or the summer solstice? When is the summer solstice? (I have no idea without looking it up.)

I know it takes a long time for me to go from idea, to sketch, to final sketch, to inking, to coloring, and then to posting. I don’t like to rush it. I can if I have too, but I’d rather not have too.

So, these are the ways I feed my blog monster. How do you feed yours?

Poppets Go Roccoco: Princess Paper Doll Dress

May 19, 2020April 10, 2014

One of the big myths of costume history is that children were dressed like adults, but in miniature. While this is sort of true, I have yet to see a decade where there is not some, however slight, difference between children’s and adults clothing. The differences are often subtle and children were considered adults at a much younger age than we consider children adults today.

This is all by way of saying that I really wanted to make sure this fluffy dress (which has NO historical accuracy about it at all) felt like a child’s dress and not an adult’s dress. I think of the Poppets as between 8 and 10 years of age and I really hate it when I see child dolls dressed like adults, especially in historical outfits or psuedo-historical outfits.

So, to maintain the principle, I’ve shortened the skirts of her fluffy dress. See.. I have some principles (not a lot of them… but I digress.)

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Actually, I’ve been thinking about principle’s lately. If you read Liana’s interview from Friday (and if you haven’t than you really should), she talks a lot about the problems of paper doll poses and the complications of paper doll design. I think about these things when I design a paper doll as well, but I also find I think a lot about the principle of correctness. I made this principle up by the way, but for me I think it’s about the correct outfit for the correct paper doll at the correct time.

By my nature, I am scattershot personality. I tend to work on something in the grip of interest, give it up when I get bored, and then move onto something else. Paper doll designs, projects, work endevaors, whatever, all become mixed about in the messy world I exist in. If I’m reading up on women’s publishing, than somehow this filters into everything else I do. I am very envious of people who can have firm divisions in their heads between project A and project B, but I’ve never been wired that way. This means my paper dolls tend to be schizophrenic. Astronauts to mermaids all have happened over the years. I think this is sometimes the charm of PTP, but I also fear it’s a bad thing. I find I envy people like Boots who commit to a theme and then stick to it.

I can not imagine trying to limit myself like that.

Three Sets of Marisole Paper Dolls in Black and White

December 6, 2020April 7, 2014

So… I often get asked for more black and white versions to color of Marisole Monday paper dolls. Oddly, I have almost never been asked for black and white versions of other paper dolls, but that’s neither here nor there.

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This was specifically requested a while ago, so I wanted to make sure to do Ancient Chic and one of the sets.

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I forgot that I hadn’t done this in black and white. I would have sworn I had… but as it turned out, I was wrong. It’s odd to me to think this paper doll set in color was posted nearly two years ago. Wow… That was a while ago. I’m still not pleased with how the floral skirt turned out, but sometimes you just can’t win.

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{Click Here for More Paper Dolls in this Series}

Walk in the Woods in color was a set which I wanted to do some more casual wear and as I recall someone had asked for East Indian coloring, so that was my attempt at that. In hind sight, I rather like the accessories with this set like the apple, water bottle and backpack.

So, here they are. A few sets in black and white to be colored. Enjoy them everyone.

An Interview with my Featured Paper Doll Artist of the Month: Liana of Liana’s Paper Doll Blog

May 22, 2020April 4, 2014

This month I was so pleased to be able to interview Liana of Liana’s Paper Doll Blog. I fell in love with Liana’s Paper Doll Blog back when she was posting Anna in 2004 (There’s a wonderful retrospective on her site) which was my first year of college and I remember reading it while sitting in my dorm room and feeling pleased that someone else actually liked paper dolls other than me.

Many years later, after college, I followed Sylvia and Iris while I was working at the State Library of Alaska. I checked the site every day at lunch. I watched her site and I thought, “I could do this. I could make a paper doll blog.”

In a very real way, Paper Thin Personas would have never existed without Liana’s Paper Doll Blog. I owe her so much.

So, I was excited and elated when she agreed to let me interview her for this month’s Featured Artist. Go read her interview and check out her amazing site.

Regency Paper Dolls and Their Clothes

May 22, 2020April 2, 2014

Today, in honor of Han Christian Andersen who was born in 1805, we have two regency pixies and their wardrobe. This is the last big Pixie set for a while, though I do have some one page Pixie paper dolls in the works that I am looking forward to sharing. I don’t think I’ll do another multipage set for a while. They are a lot of work.

Theses paper doll’s dresses are from about 1800 to about 1815, or so. The latest one being the morning dress with the neck ruff looking thing for Lydia (or Emma, either doll can wear the dresses) which was popular for a while though I find the style a little absurd, myself.

{Click Here for a PDF of Emma in Color} {Click Here for a 150 dpi PNG of Emma in Color} {Click Here for a PDF of Emma to Color} {Click Here for a 150 dpi PNG of Emma to Color}

There is a tendency to make everything in this period white, as that’s what fashion plates usually show, but women aren’t stupid and there are plenty of dark fabrics with prints that were popular for day dresses. They don’t show stains as much as white (does anything show stains as much as white?) and they could go longer between washingings. There’s also a tendency to talk about women being out of corsets. This was sort of true, but as anyone with boobs can tell you, having no support is darn painful.

{Click Here for a PDF of Lydia in Color} {Click Here for a 150 dpi PNG of Lydia in Color} {Click Here for a PDF of Lydia to Color} {Click Here for a 150 dpi PNG of Lydia to Color}

Since bonnets were going to be featured in this set (and I do confess I’m not very good at drawing bonnets), I knew I had to keep both of the paper dolls hair close to their heads. Lydia, above, has a braid and Emma, also above, just has her hair pulled back somehow. I imagine it in a neat bun, but whatever.

{Click Here for a PDF of Regency Gowns in Color} {Click Here for a 150 dpi PNG of Regency Gowns in Color} {Click Here for a PDF of Regency Gowns to Color} {Click Here for a 150 dpi PNG of Regency Gowns to Color}{More Paper Dolls from this Series}

It was important to me to give these dolls some clothes, so I decided to do a separate sheet for their dresses. After all, one dress hardly makes a very fun paper doll. So, here is a riding habit, a few day dresses, a ballgown and one of the cropped spencer jackets which I’ve always liked. As for other regency paper dolls, there’s always Flora of the Regency, and two Marisole Monday & Friends sets- Empire Elegance and Regency Romance.

Thoughts? Do the Pixies need more historic outfits?