It’s been a while since I shared some sketchbook stuff and so I thought it would be fun to show off some of my work in progress.
A bid skirted princess gown for the Jewels and Gemstones.
I classify my fantasy outfits in my head based on silhouette and my two favorites are my vaguely medieval ones and my big skirted ones. This one clearly falls into the big skirted princesses dress model.
A Gothic Lolita set created at a Patron’s request.
One of my long time patrons asked for more Gothic stuff and fortunately for her, I was already itching to draw a set of gothic Lolita dresses, partly because I really wanted to draw a bonnet.
Some clothing for my new Doll Du Jour Paper dolls.
Before I share a new series on the site, I like to have at least a few sets drawn and finished for them. I have to know that I actually like drawing for the paper doll enough to commit.
More Gothic Lolita.
So, that’s what’s in my sketchbook at the moment. I have been enjoying sharing these with you all and I hope you’re as excited about these up coming paper dolls as I am.
Issue 126 of Paper Doll Studio Magazine Featuring the Spindle Sisters
I recently resubscribed to Paper Doll Studio magazine, as one of my goals for 2020 has been to submit more paper dolls to the magazine. I am always nervous about sending things in. I don’t know why, exactly, but I’ve always been shy about sharing my work beyond the blog or the occasional commission.
The interview with the Spindle Sisters.
One of my favorite parts of the magazine is always the interview with the featured artist. In this case, it was the partnership between two artists- Erica Lange and Abby Polakow- who call themselves the Spindle Sisters.
I had seen their work on Etsy before, but I haven’t bought any of they art for my own collection. They mostly work in fairy tales as their source material.
While I like the fairy tale theme, I rarely buy paper doll books these days. I found their interview particularly interesting, because I have never had a collaborator over a prolonged period and reading about that process was enlightening.
It’s funny how I used to buy a lot more paper dolls and since I had to move back to Alaska and decide what I really wanted to move (I did move a lot of paper dolls) I find I’m less interested in adding to the collection. Funny how having to move boxes of paper dolls across the country make you hesitant to buy more paper dolls.
One of my favorite paper dolls in the magazine by Ralph Hogden.
I wanted to show off one paper doll from the magazine. It was hard to pick a single one. In the end, I settled on this paper doll by Ralph Hogden. He drew many more beautiful dresses for the Mona Lisa which I thought was a really cool idea. It was also beautifully executed. The drape on the skirts of the paper dolls was particularly lovely.
One of the things I love about Paper Doll Studio magazine is that I get to see the work of a variety of artists many of whom don’t have a big online presence. And for this issue, the renaissance is such a big period of history with such diversity in dress, it was really interesting to see what places and time periods people chose to illustrate.
There were other amazing pieces, but I don’t want to give everything away. I will also give a shout out to Julie Matthews who had a great article on using Art Rage for illustration. Not something I am going to take on soon, but I love learning about how other people make paper dolls.
My contribution was a paper doll with three different dresses from different eras and locations.
If you want a high res download of my paper doll contribution, the top of the page above, head over to Etsy and you can see her here. You can read about my research process if you want to know more about my foray into Renaissance dress.
Other fun features of the magazine included a good article on Renaissance clothing and a nice overview of Shakespearean paper dolls. I’ve never drawn any of Shakespeare’s characters as paper dolls and I don’t think I am likely to.
I like starting paper doll series with evening gowns. I don’t 100% know why, but I think because they are fun to draw and everyone needs a few amazing evening gowns, don’t they?
Plus a lot of things I like draw are evening gown adjacent like fantasy dresses and evening gowns help me plot out how many pieces I can fit in a single paper doll page.
These dresses are all based on designs from David’s Bridal and other online retailers. I could spend hours looking at fancy dresses that I have no reason to wear. My life is not that exciting.
And since it is spring, or so the calendar tells me, even if there’s 24 inches of snow on the ground outside, I wanted to focus on a color scheme that was spring colors- pastels mostly, but since I find a lot of pastels overly saccharine, these are pretty smoky.
I am excited by the fact that I can fit three pairs of shoes along the bottom of each paper doll sheet! This is a little thing, but I get joy out of small things.
I hope everyone is staying safe and doing okay in this strange time we’re all living in.
So, this has apparently been the coldest winter on record where I live in Alaska. Long stretches of over 20 below is not exactly my idea of fun. I am working my way through the whole experience the best I can with a good parka, a hat lovingly knit by my mother and thick warm gloves. Gear makes all the difference when it is cold outside.
It’s finally above freezing (yay!), but the roads are awful (boo!). It’s April, but there’s still so much snow on the ground. It’s nice enough for long neighborhood walks wearing my homemade cotton mask, hat and light coat. Happy to be out of my parka, for the moment.
This got me thinking about papers dolls and their coats. One of the problems with paper doll coats is that unlike fabric, paper doesn’t squeeze down to fit in a coat sleeve. So, not everything can layer under a coat.
Paper Dolls & Their Winter Coats
I probably missed one or two sets with coats, so if you know of one I missed, please drop me a note in a comment.
I know it’ll be spring soon (or so people tell me) and at least I can see blue sky out of my home office window.
Every year in March during Spring Fashion Week the big fashion magazines bring out their issues on the trends for the next year. It’s one of the few times I buy fashion magazines, because I love getting to see what’s on the runways.
I know there’s lot of websites that do the same thing, but maybe it’s because I stare at a computer screen most of the day (and even more now that I’m working from home!) that I really find myself craving something that isn’t digital to look at. So, I still pick up my fashion magazines and crack them open.
Inspiration
So, I was pouring through the fashion magazines for March and I noticed a lot of these sort of soft tie-dyed stripes. Well, I can’t draw soft tie dye very well in pen and ink, so I decided to do this instead. It’s sort of an soft semi-monochrome stripe.
Also, just fyi, the new Jewels and Gemstones 2.0 I mentioned last week will debut next week. I am super excited about this.
Ask me if you have any questions!
And if you want more Jewels and Gemstones clothing, check out the Patreon page.
I have just a few of these posts to share before I wrap up the Jewels and Gemstones 1.0 and roll out the new Jewels and Gemstones 2.0. I am super excited to share them.
So, this week will be the last week of Jewels and Gemstones 1.0.
I designed this set to be a set of military inspired steampunk clothing. Throughout history, the military uniforms have influenced fashion (as all current events do) and this is particularly obvious during the Regency era when the Napoleonic wars ragged and suddenly everyone was wearing bass buttons on their walking coats.
Also, the Civil War and World War 2, though World War 2 had other interesting influences, because of the fabric restrictions placed on clothing.
I digress.
Inspiration
Steampunk, obviously. Steampunk is an aesthetic which combines the Victorian era fashion with contemporary looks. I think it’s a natural response to the digital age, much as the craftsman movement of the turn of the century was a cultural response to industrialization.
However, I do find the whole genre’s tendency to glamorize an era that was rife with social issues and colonialism problematic. I mean, there’s no perfect era of history, but… the Victorian era was pretty grim.
Want more paper dolls? Head over to Patreon where I share an extra Jewels and Gemstones paper doll outfit every week.
I’m trying to stay away from too much Covid-19 talk. I know it’s happening (everyone else knows its happening), but I think right now all I can really do is let everyone know I am safe and that I hope everyone else stays safe. Now… let’s talk about paper dolls!
Big News 1: New Home For PTP
I’m on a new server with a new hosting company. A few kinks from the site transfer are still being worked out, but Blue Host has been lovely to work with and I have nothing but nice things to say about their support folks.
Moving a site as large as PTP (plus it is basically held together with digital duct tape and string) was never going to be painless.
Big News 2: Jewels and Gemstones 2.0- Smaller, but Just as Cute and Curvy!
Gothic Lolita Paper Doll Set In Progress
As some of you know, I’ve been doing a project for my 5$ and up Patrons where I am sharing a piece of paper doll clothing everyday this year. That project has made me realize something- I miss drawing sets.
So, I am happy to introduce Jewels and Gemstones 2.0- smaller, but just as cute!
In order to turn the series into sets, I’ve had to resize it.
The original Jewels and Gemstones clothing SHOULD fit if resized to 80% (and the new dolls can wear the old clothing at 120%). My plan at the moment is to make sets both of new content and existing content and some will be a mix of both.
I have two sets from Jewels and Gemstones 1.0 to share and then… 2.0 will debut.
It was supposed to debut 2 weeks ago, but server stuff got in the way.
Big News 3: The Doll Du Jour: New Paper Doll Series
New Paper Doll Series in Progress
I am happy to say I am working on a new paper doll series called Doll Du Jour, a big thank you to Sheryl, one of my long time patrons for helping me come up with the series name.
These dolls were inspired by a paper doll I created last year which was in my sketchbook, but that sketchbook got ruined in the move, so I had to redraw her and I’m super happy with how she turned out.
Big News 4: The 100 Day Project
The 100 Day Project Doll, as of yet unnamed.
So, I’m working from home and getting a fair bit done, but I find I really have to take a formal “lunch break” mid-day or I start clawing at the walls. During these lunch breaks, I’ve been working on a 100 Day Project. You can check out my work on Instagram.
Several people have asked if this unnamed paper doll (any suggestions you are welcome to toss into a comment) will show up on the blog or the Etsy Store. Short answer: I have no idea.
Lastly… A Favor to Ask
I have every reason to believe at this point that the site transfer to it’s new home was successful. However, if you find any problems, please please let me know. You can email me anything you find to paperthinpersonas (at) gmail.com.
Patrons will, of course, continue to get content and starting on April 7th, I’ll be posting in #the100daysproject on Instagram. My hashtag will be #100daysofpaperdolls
I don’t suffer from a lot of delusions of grandure. I’m a librarian/archivist who draws paper dolls for her micro-business and also can gut a salmon in six cuts. I’m not qualified to say anything about our current pandemic, except that I’m staying home a lot more and for some reason, there is no flour in town.
Bread, yes. Flour, no. I’m so confused, people.
So, instead of telling you to wash your hands (because I hope you are), I am going to focus on what I do- draw paper dolls and occasionally make weird jokes about the strangeness of 1830s hair styles.
Meanwhile, here’s a fantasy princess paper doll dress. And over on Patreon for everyone there’s two other versions of this dress- a blue version & a yellow version.
Inspiration for Today’s Paper
This dress really doesn’t have a source image. I just kinda was drawing one afternoon and it happened. It wasn’t planned or carefully sourced in anyway. If I go way back to this post Green Princess, you will seem a similar silhouette.
By the way, in my head, this is a special dress that was commissioned by the princess to wear to a chess match. Because nothing calls for a new dress, like a chess match. Maybe, she’s in the chess match? I have no idea. I am super bad at chess.
Okay, I know I spent a lot of this post making fun of the 1830s, but really how can you not? Also, I doubt a decade can really be offended and in honor of poor hair choices, I had a bowl cut for most of the 1990s.
In my defense, I was 10. I also had a rat tail which I asked for. It was a thing.
I just recently realized how long it has been since I’ve done one of these sketchbook posts. I kinda missed them. They’re relatively easy and the results are fun and I like showing off my sketchbooks. These days these sorts of things tend to show up on my social media and that’s hardly logical. No reason I can’t share the there and here.
Penciled Circus set for my 365 Paper Doll Project on Patreon
My 365 (366?) Day paper doll project has really revived my interest in doing paper doll sets. This Circus collection has been a lot of fun and I am sharing it now with my 5 Dollar Patrons.
Penciled sets for the Jewels and Gemstones. Military Steampunk on the left and Modern on the right.
The Jewels and Gemstones get some steampunk and some modern stuff here. I love the patterned pencil skirt.
6 Mix and Match modern pieces inked and in my sketchbook.
And this is some inked things. These are more modern things. This time of year, with Spring Fashion Week, I always find myself wanting to draw contemporary clothing.
Any themes you would like to see? Let me know in a comment!
There’s something fun about designing flower fairies. I think it might be, because the dolls leafy undies always make me think of fairies.
It’s very cold up here in the sub-arctic where I live. There’s still snow and it’s been over 20 below more days than I like to admit. Did you know that when it is -40 is the temperature where Celsius and Fahrenheit meet?
I sort of wish I didn’t know that.
However, nothing for a cold, snow covered March like imagining spring and flowers are a sign of spring.
Inspiration for Today’s Paper
There wasn’t a specific source image for these fairy paper doll clothes. I sort of was inspired by a bunch of images from my Fairies and Fauns Pinterest board.
So, I do enjoy Cicely Mary Barker’s flower fairies, I also confess an affection for older, darker fairy folklore. The book Fairies in Tradition and Literature by Katharine Briggs is a great study of the darker views of fairies and their stories, if you want to read some more grim thoughts on the fairy world.
Also, please everyone stay safe right now. Things are stressful, but we can still be kind to each other. Also, wash your hands.
As always, if you like my paper dolls and want more of them, I do share a paper doll piece every Friday for my patrons along with other fun things. Head over to Patreon to learn more.
In 2019, I decided to do some Jewels and Gemstones with party dresses. This one was Ruby’s contribution to the collection. One of the others was this version of Sapphire.
I really do enjoy drawing party dresses- partly because I think everyone needs a fun party dress. Also, because I think they’re a style of clothing I don’t wear very often, but they still seem critcal to a well rounded wardrobe.
Given that I never wear them, I do wonder why I still seem to think they are critical.
Inspiration for Today’s Paper
I wanted to draw a dress where the gown had an interesting shape. I also wanted to draw something that would make sense to go on the sheet with the doll. I think the complex cutouts of this dress would be a pain to cut out in the real world, where as they work well as part of the dolls skin.
Dresses with cutouts like this seem to be pretty popular right now.
Because I have hazel eyes, I wanted to do a hazel eyed paper doll. It’s a harder color to capture in my style, but I like how it turned out.
Last Thoughts on Today’s Paper Doll & Her Party Dress
One of the things I really am happy about this year is having a few favorite Friday patreon pieces to share with you all. Not only does it let me try to convince a few of you to join us over on Patreon, but it also it means I have a little built in black log I can tap as needed.
I’ve been thinking a lot about the idea that my perception of the blog and the reality of the blog might not always be consistent. My experience of this ongoing art project is very different from other people’s experience. Not sure where I am going with this, but it has been on my mind lately.
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