To view this content, you must be a paying member of my patreon! Join us here and help support Paper Thin Personas. Already a qualifying Patreon member? See below on how to access the content.
Ghosts & Vampires Paper Dolls to Print for Halloween!
Happy October! I can’t think of a holiday more fitting for paper dolls than Halloween.
So, this first day of month, I figured I would shine a light on two themes I haven’t done much- vampires and ghosts, in paper doll form of course. I’m not a big fan of super spooky Halloween. I tend to lean towards and elegant gothic theme or a cute one.
Vampire & Ghost Paper Dolls to Print
All right, I hope you all enjoy this collection of ghosts and vampires to start out the month of October. The days are getting shorter up here and the it will soon snow (it usually does before the end of the month), so I am already gearing up for the cold months ahead, but am super excited to decorate the front porch for Halloween. My partner goes all out, but I have a rule against things that make noise.
25 Paper Dolls in Yellow
I have always had mixed feelings about the color yellow and I rather think I am not the only one. It seems to me that the color yellow has a sort of mixed reputation. It’s either a sunny happy color, represents the emperor in Imperial China, or might drive you mad.
After all, there’s the King in Yellow, both the title of a short story collection by Robert W. Chambers and, according to Chamber’s works, a play which if read, causes madness and despair. There’s also the wonderful short-story the Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman in which a woman becomes increasingly obsessed with wallpaper in a house she’s stuck in. I had yellow painted walls in my room in high school which I liked more after I read the Yellow Wallpaper. Hmm… that may say more about me than the color yellow.
The point, lest I wander entirely into the world of 19th century American horror fiction, is that the color yellow seems really be a chameleon. From a purely artistic point-of-view, yellow is a tough color, because it can easily get muddy and end up looking rather awful. It’s also a color I rarely wear, but I really like it. So, here today is a round up of 25 paper dolls from the site that are wearing yellow.
25 Printable Paper Dolls Wearing Yellow
Somehow when I see yellow in historical garments, I am always a little surprised. I don’t know why- you can get quite a good yellow color from several different natural dyes including brown onion skins, turmeric, and several different flowers. I think I just associate yellow with all things modern, as I tend to with most bright colors, even though I know better.
In today’s paper doll round up, there is fantasy yellow, a 1970s yellow jumpsuit, a 1970s yellow dress, a version of Alice’s dress in yellow, and a modern take on yellow as part of a nautical paper doll set. All around, a pretty good showing for this color.
I recently did a Paper Dolls in Pink collection and I think next up maybe blue or red… not sure which one yet.
DDJ: Sweet Summer Scallops with Dusk
Download Black and White PDF | Download Color PDF | More Dolls Du Jour Paper Dolls
While all of my paper dolls have themes, I think my contemporary fashion paper dolls have themes that are sometimes more subtle or more defined by color than anything else. After all, there’s only so many ways a person can draw a pair of blue jeans. This set was inspired by summer florals and a pair of polka-dot jeans my sister used to own. In my head, I was thinking feminine silhouettes (hence the flutter, tulip and puffed sleeves) and scallops. I included the long denim skirt, because I feel like 1990s fashions are having a revival and long denim skirts feel so 1990s to me.
I wanted to keep the colors soft and pastel without feeling too… childish. I think pastels can go nursery room really fast. For those keeping count at home, this is my 7th Dolls Du Jour paper doll and my second one with Dusk. The last one was this very fancy evening gown set.
There’s also a new paper doll set up on Etsy if you’d like to go check that one out. It’s a three doll set with five pages of fantasy clothing. I imagine it would be super fun to color.
Want a free paper doll coloring page in every issue? Subscribe to my Very Occasional Newsletter!
Want to support the blog and access to more paper dolls every month? Join us on Patreon!
Lapis in the mid-1940s
To view this content, you must be a paying member of my patreon! Join us here and help support Paper Thin Personas. Already a qualifying Patreon member? See below on how to access the content.
Jade in the Lady-Like Looks of the 1930s
Download Black and White PDF | Download Color PDF | More Jewels & Gemstones 2.0
I am always struck by the femininity of 1930s fashions. Both 1920s and 1940s fashions tend toward the more masculine, but the 1930s always feels very girly to me. I think it’s all the small florals and the puffy sleeves and the ruffles.
Jade here is in the same color scheme as my Diamond 1930s doll and my Amethyst 1930s doll, so between the three of them I think you get a pretty nice collection of fashions from the era, hats and shoes.
Enjoy!
Two-Dozen Paper Doll Fashion Coloring Pages
If there’s one thing I’ve learned from three years selling digital paper doll downloads on Etsy, it is that the things which sell the best are the coloring pages, especially my modern fashion ones. This feels strange to me, because as a child, I never really liked coloring books or coloring paper dolls. I much preferred the ones that were in color and then I liked to design my own paper doll clothing, but I didn’t like coloring other people’s designs.
Anyway, I did get to thinking about what makes a good coloring page and I concluded a few different things. One thing was that the details. I think it’s fun to color detailed patterns, so I wanted to highlight pages that had those. Another thing is that I think it’s fun to have some empty space (not too much) for adding your own patterns or ombré color fade or whatever.
So, here’s two dozen different fashion paper doll coloring pages that I hope people will enjoy! From my cottage-core country time (I was drawing cottage-core before it was cool 🙂 ) to an ode to sporty fashions, there’s something here for nearly everyone.
24 Paper Doll Fashion Coloring Pages
All right, I hope you all enjoy today’s foray into fashionista paper dolls and maybe get some fun coloring out of it. I see these archives posts as a chance to show off the older stuff on the site, since there’s literally hundreds of paper dolls here and even I lose track of what I’ve created.
Should I admit that? Hmmm… It is true though.
The Early Fashions of the 1930s
Download Black and White PDF | Download Color PDF | More Jewels & Gemstones 2.0
Download Black and White PDF | Download Color PDF | More Jewels & Gemstones 2.0
As often happens with my historical paper dolls, we need to talk about reference images. So, Diamond’s hair is based on the hair of Ann Sheridan in this 1935 promotional photo from Paramount Studios. HHer evening gown came from A Decade of French Fashion, 1929-1938: From the Depression to the Brink of War which I bought for this project. Her underwear is from Simplicity 2288, a sewing pattern from 1930. Everyday Fashions of the Thirties As Pictured in Sears Catalogs provided more source images, because it is one of my go-to 1930’s fashion books.
As I was working on writing up alt-text for my images, I realized this printable paper dolls sort of has a little mini-wardrobe. Since, she has an evening dress, a coat, and a day dress. Plus with the two hats, she’s ready for anything. And, of course, she can share clothing with Amethyst and her 1930s clothing.
Want to know more about my paper dolls? Subscribe to my Very Occasional Newsletter!
Want to support the blog and access to more paper dolls every month? Join us on Patreon!
DDJ: Color Blocking with Twilight
Download Black and White PDF | Download Color PDF | More Dolls Du Jour Paper Dolls
Download Black and White PDF | Download Color PDF | More Dolls Du Jour Paper Dolls
Color blocking is one of my favorite fashion themes. I just love how it lets me play with different colors and experiment with how different lines look on a set of garments. I first drew this paper doll set last year, but didn’t manage to actually get it done until a few weeks ago. Sometimes, I am a little slow on finishing up my own artwork.
Let’s not talk about the large number of 80% finished projects lurking on my hard-drive.
By the way, this is only my 6th Dolls Du Jour paper doll. I created this series in May of 2020 as part of my move towards drawing more diverse figures. Figure drawing is my least favorite part of paper doll making and it is the part I think I am worse at. There’s dozens of abandoned attempts at figure drawing in my notebooks. I still don’t think my figures are as diverse as they could be, but I also can only bang my head against the things I don’t like doing so long.
Just let me draw silly shoes and ignore when my people look off, which they often do.
Want a free paper doll coloring page in every issue? Subscribe to my Very Occasional Newsletter!
Want to support the blog and access to more paper dolls every month? Join us on Patreon!
The Newsletter Paper Dolls in Color by Julie Matthews
It’s been such a weird year. A dear friend of mine recently told me she felt like she was wandering through the year. I found myself nodding in agreement. Somehow we’ve gotten into August and I’ll be darned if I can remember what happened in July. I feel so dislocated.
Anyway, my day was made a few weeks ago when Julie Matthews (of Paper Doll School, many books from Paper Doll Review and all around enchanting member of the human species) sent me a wonderful surprise of a few paper doll books and color prints of these.
Download a Printable PDF of these Paper Dolls
What are these, you ask? Well, if you’ve been on my newsletter list, you know I have been sending on a black and white paper doll with each newsletter. (Okay, so I am way behind on that project, but that’s okay.) Julie colored a bunch of them in and made these fantastic full color versions.
There are so many things I love about these! I love the painterly quality of the color and the patterns she chose for the summer dresses. I love the variety of skin-tones. Most of all, I love getting to see my own art through someone else’s eyes. There’s something really inspiring about that for me.
If you want the black and white versions of these paper dolls (and you don’t have them) check out the Newsletter Archives. If you want to print the color versions, you can download a PDF of them here. If you want to get the new newsletter paper dolls as I share them (and there will be more!) sign up for my super occasional newsletter that I am trying to make less occasional.
Thank you, Julie! Both for your wonderful coloring talents and your generosity in letting me share these with everyone.
Oh, and if you haven’t checked it out yet, Julie has a new book out from Paper Doll Review called Nora and Nellie which features more of her wonderful skills with color and pattern with some very fun 1920s styles.