I get a fair number of questions about my process and one thing I really wanted to do is show people how I create what I create. I admit sometimes I feel like a slacker, because very little about this process has changed dramatically in the decide the blog has run. I’m sort of in awe of people who really dramatically switch up their methods on the regular.
I’m trying to learn to use Photoshop on ipad, so I can occasionally draw something directly on the screen and it’s already stressing me out. But I am getting better at it. Maybe sometime I’ll share a few of my attempts.
I pencil everything first. So, on the left is the “rough” sketch over which I will be inking. There’s usually few more tweaks that happen, like adding details to the “ray-gun” and fixing the shape of the skirt which I clearly wasn’t super happy with this stage, but that’s the basic idea. The themes are ballgowns and retro space alien, in case you’re wondering what ray-guns and ballgowns have in common.
I often draw patterns as single motifs and then use photoshop to make them into a more complicated pattern for the actual garment. Avoids me accidentally messing up somehow and also drawing 17 identical pumpkins is hard.
So, for October themes include – a witch (I’ve been practicing witch’s hats for a project that may or may not happen) and a October themed clothing set sort of like my March themed clothing set. I need to think about winter stuff and if I am going to try to do a paper doll for Thanksgiving. I never have before, but I guess there’s a first time for everything. How hard can it to be draw a Turkey?
The wrinkles in the paper (which do not look this bad in real life) are the result of erasing with more gusto than I should have. They won’t matter once I scan the pages.
None of this is specific for a month or anything, but the clothing on the left was a sort of regency-core inspired set of clothing and the gown on the right was me playing with fantasy dresses. I like having sets that aren’t based on a specific holiday, because it allows me to calculate where to put them in the order of the newsletters.
To give further context, there’s about 19 weeks left in 2022. Since the Newsletter comes out very two weeks, that means I need ten more paper dolls to get me through the end of the year. Friday’s paper doll was number 14, so in September there will be 15, 16, and 17. Then October will have 18 and 19 and then… well, you get the idea.
Anyway, the goal here was create enough content to get me through September, October and a little bit into November before I decide what to do next. Hence why I haven’t drawn a turkey… yet.
Want to see these paper dolls when they’re all finished? Be sure to sign up for the Newsletter here.
Sometimes, when I really like a paper doll book, I don’t have a lot to say about it. “This book is beautiful” is not really the most interesting review ever written about anything. I think part of the point of a review is to think about a piece of art (in this case a paper doll book) and really analyze it in a meaningful way with an opinion.
If you don’t feel like hearing what I think about each, just go buy them from Paper Doll Review. They are all lovely books.
Cutting Edge Couture by Norma Lu Meehan
Front CoverBack Cover
So, let’s start with Cutting Edge Couture Paper Dolls by Norma Lu Meehan. Basic stats: The book is 9 by 11.75 inches tall. The dolls measure just under 10 inches. There’s 20 different outfits. David Wolfe chose the designs and maybe wrote the essay in the book. He’s not credited for it in the book, but it feels like other writings of his I have read.
Total side note, but did you notice how the C of the word “Couture” goes through the paper doll’s hat? So cool. Great attention to detail there.
Let me start with stating the obvious. Norma Lu Meehan is one heck of an artist. I’ve been a fan for a long time. The fabrics are rendered beautifully, the dolls skin seems to glow, and the drape of the garments feels right. I love that the dolls are clearly from the same “world”, but each one is distinct. Not just skin color, but facial shape and structure. These are two beautiful models, but they are not the same at all. Love that.
All of the art here is amazing. I can not say that enough.
My only criticisms are with the intentionality. The best paper doll books, I think, are works of art the feel cohesive. The essay, while interesting, felt disconnected from the illustrations. The text on the pages didn’t add anything (though I did like the splatter looking backgrounds) and I couldn’t tell why the garments had been chosen (beyond all being beautiful.) There’s tantalizing hints at the end of the essay, but little more.
Why these designers? I wondered. Why these garments? Why this arrangement? They aren’t in chronological order.
If you want a lovely book of contemporary fashion design, I think this is absolutely successful. As a fully cohesive piece of art, I felt like it was missing something.
Big Fancy Dresses by Kwei-lin Lum
Front CoverBack Cover
Next up is Big Fancy Dresses by Kwei-lin Lum. Basic stats: The book is 8.5 by 11 inches, so letter sized. The dolls are 9 inches tall and there’s ten costumes. There is also an instruction page about the floating tabs, always helpful, included.
It’s not often that a see a paper doll book and think to myself, “This is just fun” and Big Fancy Dress is one such book.
It’s playful, whimsical, and a little surreal in all the best ways. Each costume feels like it belongs in a funhouse mirror version of our reality where these garments make sense and I am 100% here for it. There’s also something genuinely funny about a lot of these gowns. I didn’t want to give too many away by showing pictures. There’s a dress made of candy. There’s a dress with Romeo and Juliet being played out on the skirt with a puppet who looks like Shakespeare. (Not shown here, but you can see it on Paper Doll Review.) There’s a fairy princess dress and a Queen of Hearts.
All in all, I was very impressed with how each background was unique for each dress, but I found the “different” backgrounds side by side in the spreads a little jarring. On the flip side, I’m not convinced that wasn’t intentional to emphasize the topsy-turvy feeling.
The dolls are very similar. 99% of the time, I want more paper doll diversity. In this case I think it works, because the dolls don’t really feel human. There’s such a surrealist undercurrent to the whole book, so the dolls feel like they are part of something that’s defining it’s own parameters. This is not the real world. So, in the case of this specific book, I think the dolls similarity 100% works. There’s cohesion there.
The cover-stock and interior paper are nice. I didn’t mind the smaller size, but imagine some people might be surprised by it. I did wish there was some sort of artists statement to go with this book, because I would super love to know more about the inspirations for these fantastic dresses. However, I didn’t feel like its absence distracted too much, because the artistic vision (to be pretentious for a moment) was so strong.
My love of bustles is well documented on this site, but a lesser known fact is that I also love kimonos. So, Japonica by Andrea Helen Smith was right up my alley. Basic Stats: The book is sized at 11 by 9 inches. It’s sort of an unusual size. The doll measure 10 inches high and there’s 8 dresses. There’s some background info and an artists statement included.
The book is a collection of bustle gowns and kimonos based on the styles of the Meiji era (1868-1912) when Japan began adopting European dress. This is not, however, a book devoted to perfectly rendering historical clothing. It is more a historically inspired work with all the garments are inspired by the Japonica butterfly. If that feels a little complicated, never fear.
The book never feels like it is trying to do too much and the captioning is informative, but brief. I learned things I didn’t know reading the information given with each dress. I also didn’t find it distracting or feel like I need to know more. It was the perfect amount of informatio
A super great instruction page.
The art is beautiful. The soft colors feel dreamy. The borders on the pages add cohesion without distracting. When I was a kid, I loved paper doll books with one doll and a bunch of dresses. So, the format of this book resonates with me. Also, it’s not common to see a historical inspired paper doll book with a non-white model. Very nice to see.
Can I be a paper person for a moment? The paper here is amazing. I have handled a lot of paper stock in my time and this paper stock feels utterly luxurious.
One last note on Japonica, there is an amazing instructions page. I mean, it might seem like an odd thing to highlight, but it is so well done. I was super impressed by it, but didn’t want people to miss out on pictures of the pretty dresses.
If you want a historically inspired paper doll book with beautiful gowns and fun information about Japan, then I think Japonica by Andrea Helen Smith is a great choice.
And that’s it.
The truth is that Big Fancy Dresses, Japonica, and Cutting Edge Couture are all books I would recommend. Each one is really a nice book and a wonderful addition to a paper doll collection. Each book feels different from each other, but I don’t plan to get rid of any of them. That’s rare. I don’t keep all the paper doll books I review, but I will be keeping all of three these.
Do you have a favorite of these three? Or a book you’d like to hear me ramble about? Let me know in a comment.
At the height of the pandemic, I just couldn’t draw post-apocalyptic fashion. It felt somehow too much.
But now that things are starting to feel “normalish” again, I decided I could maybe slip back into that genre for a little paper doll set for the Dolls Du Jour. So, here’s Dawn and her post-apocalyptic fashions.
Also, is post-apocalyptic an oxymoron? Isn’t there not supposed to be anything left after an apocalypses by definition? That maybe overly pedantic.
I need to get to work on the OPDAG prompt for plaids. I am not much of a plaid drawing person, but I have an idea of how I might be able to make plaid work. Julie Matthews has a plaids in photoshop tutorial.
For those keeping count (which I am 95% sure is just me), this is Dolls Du Jour paper doll number seven. Three to go before I hit my 2022 goal.
So, today’s 1920s printable paper doll was something I drew, because I was a little tired and the great thing about historical paper dolls from time periods I know pretty well is that they aren’t a ton of work. Especially because resources like Good House Keeping can be found online in their complete run. It makes this fun!
Some of you may recall from my Goals of 2022 was more historical paper dolls and more Dolls Du Jour, so I am super psyched that I got to kill two birds with one stone. Metaphorically speaking, I do not condone bird stoning.
This is my 10th historical paper doll for 2022! I reached my goal and it’s only August. It’s only my 6th DDJ paper doll, I still need four more to reach my goal. I like goals.
I digress.
So, today’s 1920s printable paper doll has two gowns designed to fit in with the theme of a 1920s wardrobe. The dress on the left is a blue and cream day dress and the dress on the right is a coral colored evening dress. It’s not really a super formal evening dress- more like something for an evening garden party. You know, if you have a lifestyle where evening garden parties are your thing.
The blue dress was based on this McCall 5120 sewing pattern from 1927. I assume this is a day dress, but I don’t know for certain. It seems to be more casual daywear. That’s a guess based on other dresses I’ve seen. Her clutch was based on this one, but I modified it to match the dress better.
The coral colored evening gown is from 1924 and was first published in Good House Keeping from June 1924. The dress is described as a light weight option for summer parties. I am always playing around with how to show transparency in linework. The purse comes from a French design and I made the color match the dress.
The paper dolls underwear was inspired by this combination from the Met Museum. You can see similar styles here and here. These teddies or combinations seem to have been pretty popular given the number that have survived.
Sometimes people ask me if my paper dolls are historically accurate and I wince a little. Not because I can’t tell you my sources (I clearly can, I just did), but because the entire idea of historical accuracy is sort of impossible. We simply don’t know enough about the past and we never will. So much about the clothing a person choses to wear has to do with unwritten rules that people conform to in society.
I have no idea how an actual woman from the 1920s would feel about these dresses and I never will. That’s impossible. As a result, I have no idea how accurate anything I draw really is. All I can do is tell you where I found my sources and what decisions I made.
And I hope you enjoy these little expeditions into historical clothing as much as I do.
Happy August! I used to do these sorts of work in Progress posts all the time and then I started Patreon and I sort of decided these sorts of posts should be Patreon exclusive. Then somehow I stopped doing them over there and I honestly do not know why. I think I was nervous- what if I shared something and I never finished it? Would people be upset with me?
But I know that this is silly. I’m not promising completion here. I’m just showing you some screen captures of a few things that I’ve been working on, so you can see them and maybe find them interesting. Maybe not. I have no idea. I would love to know if you do and I’ll try to do more of these.
So, first up we have a regency historical fashion set using my 2020 Patreon 365 project doll base. I love that doll base and I think she’s super cute and I really like her size. She feels like the perfect paper doll size to me- just right to fit in an envelope and tuck into a pocket.
The set will likely be either Patreon exclusive or an Etsy set, I think. It’s going to one doll, eight dresses for a total of three pages and each dress has a matching hat. I am conquering my fear of bonnet drawing! There’s a morning dress, dinner dress, carriage dress, ballgown… basically what a lady of the 1810s needed to be dressed properly in around 1810ish. No riding habit though… perhaps for another set.
Yes, I have been watching too much Bridgerton… why do you ask? 🙂
My Mermaid set is next up. I know Jaime said her and her kids were mad about mermaids, well…. here’s a sneak peak of the mermaid coloring pages I plan to get up on Etsy hopefully before the end of the month.
There’s four dolls, a bunch of tails and a lot of different “land” clothing all done in the same sort of flowy garments theme that I seem to associate with mermaids.
It’s big and I am realizing that I probably need a few more accessory items to help the pages feel full (otherwise there’s gaping in the layout and things start to feel to sparse to me). So, I may need to hit the sketchbook again and make more necklaces and daggers or something. What accessories make sense for mermaids has be me a little stumped… Tridents? Harpoons? Bones of drowned sailors?
Maybe not that last one…
Moving rapidly along, this is a little preview of a circus set I’ve been working on. This is Jade. I tied to do this lipstick thing and it may not survive the coloring process, because I am not 100% happy with how it looks… Maybe I’ll like the lips more in color.
Or I’ll decide it was a bad idea and fix it. Thank goodness for Photoshop!
The circus set is gong to have a mix of things from old Patreon posts and some older Jewels and Gemstones stuff. I sometimes like getting to pull those items back together to make a set, because man it does save me time! So much time, but it’s not always as much for me as new stuff. It’s still fun, but fun in a different way. Sometimes working within a structure if sort of liberating.
So, that’s it. Little preview of things to come I hope.
Let me know which of these you’re most excited about in a comment!
Sometimes I draw printable paper dolls and then by the time I get ready to share them on PTP, I find myself looking at them vaguely and being like, “Why did I draw this? What was I thinking about?”
My hunch, just because I know me, is that there was a distinctly Asian thing happening with this paper doll probably inspired by this weird “ancient Chinese” costumes thing I’ve seen on Pinterest. I find it fascinating, because China has a long and varied dress history (just like everywhere else), but (maybe in part thanks to Video games) there’s a sort of generic “ancient China” look. It’s super cool looking, but kinda like the Victorian view of medieval dress, probably hasn’t got much in common with what people were actually wearing in China a thousand years ago.
I don’t know enough about the history of Chinese dress to speak with any authority, but I don’t think anyone was running around in these, but that’s okay! It’s fun and beautiful. Sometimes, fun and beautiful is enough, you know?
As they do on NPR, I tend to wrap up my posts with two reminders to folks that these paper dolls are made possible by the generous support for my Patrons, so consider joining if you wish.
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