Paper Thin Personas • Page 89 of 148 • Rachel Cohen's Paper Doll Creations

Isadora in Ruffles & Bows: Printable Paper Doll in Black and White

December 6, 2020November 13, 2015

I’ve been in this whole printable paper doll drawing thing for a while. There’s a few things I have learned and one of them is that what I like is not always what my readers like.

Now, a lot of the time I don’t care. Sorry, folks, but I draw for me first and for most. Don’t get me wrong, I love that I have active readers and every comment I get makes me smile, but if I couldn’t draw what I liked than I would go mad. Mad I tell you!

(Okay, maybe that was a little overly dramatic. 🙂 )

I mention this in direct relation to black and white paper doll sets. They are easier for me, since coloring takes time, but when I was a kid I really didn’t like to color. I know that sounds odd, but I never really “got” coloring books. They were boring. I far more wanted to draw my own stuff than color someone else’s drawing.

So, sometimes I forget that I have readers who LOVE my black and white paper dolls.

That’s part of why I created the Mini-Maiden’s series. I wanted to share with my readers something just for the black and white coloring readers that I have. I might not “get it”, but I am do enjoy drawing them and not having to color them in does make them easier to finish.

{Download a PDF to Print} {View a 150 dpi PNG} {Check out some More Mini-Maiden Printable Paper Dolls}To bring this around to this actual post, let’s talk about Isadora. Isadora has only had three other outfit sets and none of them are contemporary. The poor girl can go to balls or fight off radioactive hordes, but she hasn’t got a decent pencil skirt. (Everyone needs a decent pencil skirt.) Well, all that ends today!

When I do contemporary sets, I like to do them in themes. So, for this set I was thinking about sweet, lady-like fashions. I wanted some delicate details like the rose pattern on the shorts and the scalloped hem on the pencil skirt. I often see these styles on the college students I work with, being that this is the South and all, so I wanted to do something of a Southern Belle. All she needs are white lace gloves and a mint-julep to sip while sitting in a white rocking chair.

Her short hair was intended to contrast with the wardrobe.

Today is Friday the 13th, if you’re the superstitious sort. I think paper dolls are good protection from such things. 🙂

By the way, speaking to my coloring readers, I know some people use simple coloring programs, but I have no ideas what they are. So, my questions are: What programs to y’all use? What file formats do those programs like? And would coloring sheets with no grey be useful?

(I’m thinking about digital paper dolls for sale right now and trying to decide what file formats to offer.)

And if you like my paper dolls, please consider supporting me through Patreon.

Underwear and Corset History Books: An Annotated Bibliography

May 26, 2020November 11, 2015

This is one of several posts I plan on doing focusing on historical costume research resources. Today, I am focusing on a topic that I think is really important and also fairly hard to research: Corsets and Underwear.

It may not come as a surprised that there are a lot of myths about corset history. Fewer about underwear history in general, but corsets weren’t worn in a vacuum, after all.

As some of you know, I collect costume history books, so I might as well embrace that obsession while I’m at it. My goal with these little selected bibligraphys is NOT to list every single book published on a topic. Rather, I want to share the books that I find most useful.

The Selection Critera

1. Have I actually seen it? If I hadn’t actually seen the book, than it doesn’t get to go on this list.

2. Do I actually think its worthwhile? If I don’t, than it doesn’t go on this list. Now, this isn’t a list of what I think are the best, just what I think are decent, so some of these I do criticize.

3. Does it focus specifically on underwear and/or corsetry? There are a lot of good books on Tudor dress that talk about underwear and there are a lot of good Victorian fashion books that talk about corsets, but that’s not the point of this list. This list is for specialized resources. So, the book has to be focused on corset history or underwear history.

4. Is it just a pattern book? I have no issue with books with patterns, but this bibliography isn’t about how to make corsets. There are excellent books on corset construction that don’t touch on the history of the garments. So, those are straight out. Some of these books do include patterns, however.

That’s it. That’s how things ended up on this bibliography. Not exactly the most complicated criteria.

The Bibliography of Books on Corset and Underwear History

Cunnington, C. Willett, and Phillis Cunnington. The History of Underclothes. N.p.: Dover, 1992.

Originally published in London in 1951, it was reprinted by Dover in 1992. It starts in the Medieval period and goes through about 1940. Now, let me make a few things clear here. The first is that this book was written in the 1950s and therefore it has to be recognized as a dated resource. It also lacks extensive illustration, again because it was written in a time when illustrating a book was much more expensive and challenging than it is today. Despite these flaws, this might be one of the best overview books on this topic around. At least, I have yet to find it the equal. Plus, they cite all their illustrations, so yay! Citation!

My only complaint is that the Dover reprint is about the size of a trade paper back. I wish it was larger. As far as complaints go, I think that is pretty minor.

Ewing, Elizabeth. Dress and Undress: A History of Women’s Underwear. New York: Drama Book Specialists, 1978.

Basically, Ewing attempts to do what Cunnington did in an updated fashion. After devoting about maybe a dozen pages to the period between 3000 and 1500, the book then covers the next few hundred years in more detail. I think Ewing’s work is decent but not fantastic. I’m not a big fan of the illustrations, but the text is well written.

Lynn, Eleri, Richard Davis, and Leonie Davis. Underwear: Fashion in Detail. London: V&A, 2010.

This is such a beautiful book. I mean, I love all the Fashion in Detail books by the V&A, but this one is really glorious. For those of you unfamiliar with the Fashion in Detail collection, it is structured so that you get a close up photograph of a garment, two line drawings of the garment and then a description of the garment. Unlike many fashion books, the Fashion in Detail collection focuses on, well, the details. So the books are often structured around specific elements like button holes or lace, rather than around time period. As much as I love this book (and I love it so much I own two copies), I don’t think I would buy it as the only costume history book you own. Still, if you want eye candy… this book as eye candy.

Salen, Jill. Corsets: Historic Patterns and Techniques. Hollywood, CA: Costume & Fashion, 2008.

This is one of those books that has patterns, but I have never made anything from them and I don’t think it’s really a “construction” book, rather it is a detailed study of about 24 corsets. The earliest is from around 1750 and the latest is from 1817. There are also two really cute little doll corsets included which is rather fun. Each corset gets a photo, a hand-drawn pattern and a detailed description. The unique inclusion of maternity stays and children’s corsets makes this a particularly valuable book, but it focuses strictly on corsets, so be aware.

Steele, Valerie. The Corset: A Cultural History. New Haven: Yale UP, 2001.

Steele takes on 400 years of corset history in this book and looks at both why women wore corsets and what their purpose was. Perhaps the most fascinating part of the book, however, is the section she devotes to look at the modern obsession with “fit” bodies in relation to the pasts obsession with corsetry. Well illustrated and well written, it’s a great book, but it is strictly about corsets.

Summers, Leigh. Bound to Please: A History of the Victorian Corset. Oxford: Berg, 2001.

If you’re looking for a book of beautiful photos of corsets, this ain’t it. If you are looking for a wonderful study on the sociological implications of the corset and its evolution, than this is totally that book. It’s a fascinating look on the role corsets played in construction Victorian femininity and middle-class culture. I think Summers and Steele are doing similar things in their books and I think both are excellent. Summers is a bit more focused on the Victorians than Steele who delves more into modern and fetish corset aspects.

Waugh, Norah. Corsets and Crinolines. New York: Theatre Arts, 1970.

There are certain works in a field that are seminial and Waugh’s Corsets and Crinolines is one of those books. First published in the 1950s, it discusses about 1500 until about 1920. Waugh organizes her work in large historical periods than by type of garments. So, finding stuff can be challenging. However, once you get past the wacky organization and sometimes tiny font, Waugh’s work is one of the most comprehensive books on the subject. Along with period patterns and diagrams, she quotes contemporary sources and includes tons of lovely primary source information. Unlike Cunnington’s work (which came out around the same time) Waugh doesn’t spent much time talking about cultural implications of garments, she just gives tons and tons of lovely information. Some of it a trifle disorganized, I grant, but I just don’t care.

Someday, I will own a hard cover addition this book, but that day might be a while off.

So, that’s my list. Did I miss any stellar texts on the subject? Is there something I should track down to check out? Let me know in a comment.

I linked to Amazon in this list mostly, but check your local library first. A lot of these are commonly found in those places and I am big fan of seeing a work before investing. Don’t just invest, look at it first. I mean, you can take my work for it, but I’d rather you make your own choices.

Maiden of the North: Printable Paper Doll Page to Color

May 26, 2020November 9, 2015

Vikings… Vikings… Vikings… Okay, not really. I mean, these are totally fantasy Viking outfits, but I have had Vikings on the mind ever since I did my historically accurate (for the given value of accurate) Viking paper doll and I found myself returning to the Viking look.

So, what makes these Viking inspired or Norse inspired, as I tend to call it. Well, the big thing are those dwarf-brooches. You can read all about the actual drawf brooches in my Viking article, but I wanted to include them here. Her shoes are also based on actual Viking finds in York, so they’re also a nod to the whole Norse/Viking thing.

I added fur trim to her gowns and did a lot of pattern. I wanted to get to use multiple colors in these gowns, so the patterns help with that.

{Click Here for a PDF to Print} {Click Here for a PNG to Print} {Click Here for More Marisole Monday & Friends Printable Paper Dolls}Our model today is Meaghan of the Marisole Monday & Friend’s family. This is the fifth Meaghan set and probably the last one of the year. I’m getting to that point where I start planning for 2016. Thinking about 2016 and making sure I have enough backlog to get me through the Holidays. I always travel mid-December to visit family, so I tend to try to have things ready before I depart.

That means… backlog, backlog, backlog!

(It helps if you say it three times in an increasingly cheery voice. That’s how the backlog fairies know you really need their help.)

As always, I love to hear for you guys, so feel free to ask questions or leave thoughts in the comments.

Evening Gowns & Cocktail Dresses: Paper Doll Clothes

May 26, 2020November 6, 2015

In doing my research for this set of evening gowns I went to a few bridal websites and pinned to my Pinterest boards wedding dresses I liked and bridesmaid’s dresses that I liked.

Now Pinterest thinks I am getting married and keeps suggesting pins to be about wedding planning, budgeting and seating arrangements. There needs to be a “Nope, not interested” button on Pinterest. Since I am not getting married, I just like to look a pretty dresses.

Speaking of pretty dresses, today we have two evening gowns and two cocktail dresses. I’ve never done evening gowns for the Ms. Mannequin dolls before. I actually hadn’t realized that until I prepped and posted these.

I wanted to do a range of styles in one sheet. There are gloves, because I think gloves are always elegant- even if I never wear them. There are two cocktail length dresses and then two full length dresses. I suppose these could be for prom or something, but I always think of the Ms. Mannequin dolls as being older. Maybe a red carpet event? Or a formal wedding in the evening?

{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}{Click Here for More Clothes}{Click Here for Paper Dolls to Dress}

As I write all this stuff about weddings, it occurs to me I haven’t really done a wedding paper doll set. That’s odd considering there is a long history of weddings as a paper doll theme. Maybe my inability to draw men has stifled my wedding plans. Of course, it could also be that I am scared of drawing lace. Lace is a wedding dress sorta thing. I mean Greta has a wedding dress in her Steampunk Trousseau, but none of the other paper dolls have wedding gowns.

Plus, I was never one of those kids who “dreamed” of my wedding day. I do remember playing with a golden book Bride and Groom paper doll. Mostly, what I recall is thinking the Maid of Honor was prettier than the bride. I think she usually ended up running off with the Groom. 🙂

So, weddings. Worth doing? Best ignoring? What do y’all think?

Last, but not least, I’d like to give huge thank you to everyone who is supporting me on Patreon. If you’d like to join the Vivian Project, here’s the Patreon page and here’s some info about the Vivian Project.

And if Patreon isn’t your thing, no worries. I’ll also be doing a Princess Club next year, starting January 2016, where you can subscribe and receive a princess paper doll. So, that’s another way to support PTP.

Or just tell a friend about PTP. That’s also a great way to support the blog (and it’s free).

The Vivian Project: Redrawing Childhood

August 29, 2022November 4, 2015

Today, I am pleased to announce that my Patreon support page is live. So, if you’d like to donate to support Paper Thin Personas, this is one way you can do so. Feel free to support at any level you’d like, because all is appreciated. However, for those of you who support at 5 dollars a month, you get to join the Vivian Project.

What, you might ask, is the Vivian project? Well… let me explain.

I moved recently and part of the moving process was going through my massive collection of every single paper doll I ever drew as a child. Some I kept. Some I tossed and then, at the bottom of a box, I found Vivian.

Viviean lives in a cookie tin and she was a huge part of my youth and now I am going to re-draw her. Viviean began in June of 1998, but I have no idea when I stopped drawing clothing for her. I think sometime around freshmen year of high-school, maybe a little longer.

Viviean was traced from an advertisement (I think in Seventeen or something) for a prom dress designing contest. I did not enter the contest, but I used their little fashion figure to create a paper doll for whom I drew over 200 outfits.

How do I know that? Because I literally indexed her whole collection on pieces of paper. Each outfit is numbered on the back and there is a corresponding description of the outfit on one of the pages of clothing index. Each set of outfits, usually five, were placed in a small envelope and sub-labeled such as “Futuristic Fashions” or “History Lesson 1910-1940”. Seriously, I should have known I was destined to be a librarian once I started indexing my own paper dolls.

Viviean is has an outfit for just about every occasion a person might ever find themselves in. (And a few, I doubt anyone would likely find themselves in.) For formal occasions, she might slip on Outfit #2: “Long dark blue ball dress with whiet (white) gloves”. I tried to get the gloves to stay on, but they didn’t fit very well.

Or if she feels like rocking out, she has Outfit #144, part of the Rock Star Clothing set, including “a very short leather jacket, yellow dress and black boots.” I didn’t see a short leather jacket in the envelope though, so perhaps it has gone missing? Or maybe it got misfiled?

After being a rock star, Vivian might need to relax by slipping into into Outfit #174, “a yellow-green terri (terry) cloth bath rope (bathrobe).” I clearly struggled with spelling at that age. Actually, I still can’t spell worth a darn, but that’s why there is spellcheck.

And if after relaxing, she wants to fight bandits, than Outfit #156 “Xena- brown leather top with gold decoration” is available. I love the tiny chakra.

The process of re-drawing Viviean into the new Vivian has been fun. She has the same hair, a very similar pose and the same bright pink and lime green swimsuit of her former-self. She’s different as well, because I’ve changed as an artist a lot since Viviean was created. Vivian isn’t a copy, exactly. I think of her more as an “ode” to who I was when I drew her all those years ago.

So, why do all this? Well, because I have wanted too for a long time, but also because I was looking for a project that I could do with my Patreon subscribers. So, if you would like to get involved, you can.

If you choose to join the Vivian Project than every month you’ll receive a redrawn outfit (or two) from the original Vivean clothing collection and, of course, a Vivian doll of your very own.

One month you might receive Outfit #6, a fuchsia above the knee length dress, and then next month you might get Outfit #164, a dress meant to represent the fall with leaves on top, a wreath and cloak, colored orange/red. Patrons will get to vote on the dresses that will be included sometimes and sometimes I’ll just pick something I think is fun to work on. Either way, there will be two versions of each outfit. One is a redraw of the original and other my sense of how I would draw the same concept today.

For twenty-five dollars a month, you’ll get to customize a “Friend of Vivian” paper doll by picking out her face, hair style, skin tone, hair color, and eye color. So, if you want a freckled blue haired paper doll, than this is your chance. There are over a hundred options for that customized paper doll.

There’s other support levels too from one dollar up and beyond. No pressure, of course, as I’ve said before. If you have to choose between something like rent or paper dolls- choose rent! The blog isn’t going anywhere.

Support me here if you’d like. Thank you.

Questions? Ask in a comment or send me an email.

A Little Retro Style: Printable Paper Doll

May 26, 2020November 2, 2015

Like any good printable paper doll should, today Marisole is showing off her full color autumn paper wardrobe complete with some sassy boots. The colors I chose are rich jewel tones for these paper doll clothes. I wanted something that said autumn to me and nothing says autumn like jewel tones.

There are color schemes I come back to over and over again in various forms and one of those is teal, dark pink, and green. I just love these colors together. I do confess that I sometimes I tell myself I can’t use “pink” or I must use “green” and that forces me out of color scheme ruts.

I confess this is a color scheme that I have done before, or at least, I feel like I have done it before. Maybe I’m wrong… anyway, it feels awfully familiar to me.

{Click Here for a PDF to Print} {Click Here for a PNG to Print} {Click Here for More Marisole Monday & Friends Printable Paper Dolls}Every once in a while, I return to things in the deluded belief they are going to come out better. Like red hair and dark skin, I return to it even though I feel that I have yet to actually get it right.

There’s a term for doing the same thing over again expecting different results. They call that, “insanity.”

Anyway, I once again tried red hair and dark skin. I think this attempt was better than several of my other attempts (Mint and Roses, I am looking at you).

There’s a big announcement coming up Wednesday, so stay tuned for that.

Masquerade Gowns! A Paper Doll Collaboration

January 11, 2016October 31, 2015

Happy Halloween All!

So, today I am pleased to share what Julie, Boots and I have been working on for the last few months together. Back in 2010, I organized our first Halloween paper doll collab. This year we thought it would be fun to do it again!

We did something different this time though. We asked our readers to participate. Now, I confess that I was wary of this idea.

What, I thought, if no one sends anything in?

Well, I should have had more faith in y’all, because we got some wonderful submissions both from other paper doll bloggers out there and from regular readers. A total number of gowns our lady ended with with was twenty-two. A wonderful wardrobe for any paper doll.

I should say thanks to everyone who sent in gowns. So, a huge thank you to A. Rockafellow, Lina of Lina’s Historical Paper Dolls, Isabel, Aged 9, Elizabeth of PrintablePaperDollClothes.com, Savannah A. and Missy A. Their gowns are in this download.

Thank you as well too Ella, age 5, Anna, age 8, Laurel Stein, Alpharella Shagdal, Gena, Irma of Pabernukublogi, Melinda, and Melissa Smith of Miss Missy Paper Dolls who contributed paper doll as well.

After a little editing on my end to make sure everything was in the right scale for the doll, I am pleased to post my part of the Masquerade paper doll. The only changes I made to people’s submissions were to add tabs to those gowns that were sent in without them. We divided the submissions by name of contributor, but tried to keep sets that came in together as one set. That seemed the most “fair” way to cut up the dolls extensive wardrobe.

And of course, my set includes my gown above.

Download The Paper Doll Gowns Here

Now, if you want the doll herself, you’ll need to hop over to Paper Doll School for the doll and the first set of outfits. And then you can visit Boot’s wonderful new site Pop Culture Paper Dolls to round out your collection.

A huge thank you again to everyone who sent in dolls and to Julie and Boots. We should do this again sometime.

(But not for a while. I need to recover. 🙂 )

Until Monday, I hope everyone has a safe and fun Halloween!

Poppet Pirate: Printable Paper Doll

May 19, 2020October 30, 2015

Last week I posted a fairy costume for the Poppet paper dolls. This week, we’ve got a pirate costume for the Poppet paper dolls.

Some people had store bought costumes, but in my family that was strictly out. All of our costumes were always homemade. When I was designing this pirate costume for the Poppet paper dolls, I imagined a little girl getting one of her father’s shirts, perhaps and a scarf from her mother’s drawer and a pair of old pants that got cut off and patched and a plastic sword and getting to be a pirate. I have distinct and fond memories of brainstorming with my mother what I wanted to be for each Halloween.

One year, my best friend went as a girl in a poodle skirt and I went as a poodle.

Another year, I was a head of garlic. Yes, I wanted to be a head of garlic and bless my mother, she didn’t even blink. She came up with a way to use white garbage bags to make a head of garlic costume for her very odd first-grade daughter.

It should come as no shock that I was an odd child.

I imagine therefore that this costume is homemade. Pirates are always a fun easy homemade costume to go with.

{Download a PDF in Color} {View a 150 dpi PNG in Color}{Download a PDF to Color} {View a 150 dpi PNG to Color} {More Poppet Printable Paper Dolls}

I hope everyone has a safe and happy Halloween on Saturday. Julie, Boots, and I will be sharing our Collaborative paper doll! I can’t wait for everyone to see her. She came out great.

Paper Thin Personas Product Survey Results!

January 11, 2016October 28, 2015

This is a LONG post. Just as a warning, you know, before you get started. 🙂

So, a few weeks ago I did a survey of my readers. I asked a bunch of questions and I got some great feedback. Today I am going to show some of the data that I am comfortable sharing that came out from my survey results.

I’ll be honest- I’ve never tried to write up something like this. I want to be transparent as I go out into this world, but there are also things I’ve not yet fully processed and things that I feel like aren’t really anyone’s business but mine. Despite running a blog for the last five years, I am actually rather private by nature.

So, I’ve done by best to summarize some stuff and write about it. It’s long and has graphs and there are no paper dolls, so proceed knowing all that.

More Here

A Little Retro Style: Printable Paper Doll Coloring Page

January 31, 2016October 26, 2015

Every once in a while, I imagine totally re-doing this blog. Abandoning my printable paper doll sheet format and switching to an outfit a day or something else totally different.

I doubt I’ll ever have the nerve to do that, but once in a while it does occur to me that it might be interesting to just “start over”. I had no choice back in 2010 when the site crashed, but it was also rather cathartic to be able to think about clean slating things.

(Don’t worry, the site is not destined for radical change at the moment.)

Today’s printable paper doll is Marisole, of the Marisole Monday & Friends Family, showing off her dynamic autumn wardrobe. It has been a while since Marisole has gotten any love which is funny considering she is the oldest of the Marisole Monday & Friends collection.

I love autumn. I love the turning leaves and the crispness in the air and the excuse to wear boots. I also love that the fashion magazines come out in September and provide a wealth of fun and interesting fashions for paper dolls. This is the time of year when I often draw a bunch of fashionable paper doll ladies, but this year I found between moving and a few other things, I just didn’t have the time to devote to my contemporary paper doll drawing habit.

{Click Here for a PDF to Print} {Click Here for a PNG to Print} {Click Here for More Marisole Monday & Friends Printable Paper Dolls}For this printable paper doll set I actually drew a crop top which I confess I pretty much NEVER do, but I have had requests and I have noticed they are coming back in style. As someone who remembers the 90s, I would rather crop tops not come back. Still, can’t fight the tide forever.

I was going through some of my childhood paper dolls lately and I kept seeing crop tops and miniskirts. I was a little obsessed at age 12, clearly. I’ll have more about childhood paper dolls to share in the beginning of November.

As always, comment if you want and I hope everyone enjoys the paper doll!

A Fairy Paper Doll Costume for Halloween

May 19, 2020October 23, 2015

For the next two Friday’s I’ll be giving the Poppet’s some Halloween costumes. Today, we have a fairy and next week, there will be a pirate for these printable paper dolls.

So, when I draw things like fairy paper dolls they fall into one of two categories- “Real Fairies” or “Fairy Costumes.” Sometimes I am creating a printable paper doll of a fantasy creature like a mermaid or a fairy and that is a different idea than creating a Halloween costume of that creature.

So when I created this fairy costume, I was thinking strictly of it as a costume sort of experience, rather than an actual creature. I hope that makes sense.

Despite this the wings are intended to be glued to the back of the paper doll or you could use double sided tape. I realize this means they are non-removable, but over the years I have come to conclude that this is the best way to attach wings. I have tried other methods, but they don’t seem to really work very well. Plus there is nothing stopping you from printing several of the Poppets and having “winged” and “normal” versions. After all, that’s part of the power of printable paper dolls. They can always be re-printed.

{Download a PDF in Color} {View a 150 dpi PNG in Color}{Download a PDF to Color} {View a 150 dpi PNG to Color} {More Poppet Printable Paper Dolls}

Modeling the fairy costume is Petal, one of the Poppet paper dolls. Of course, any of the Poppet dolls can wear the costume.

Halloween is my most consistent paper doll holiday. I’ve done Halloween paper dolls every year starting in 2010. In no real order, they have been a vampire, a costume set, a ghost, another vampire, and a collab between me, Boots, Liana and Toria.

Tomorrow at midnight EST our Paper Doll Round Robin closes. The guidelines are all explained here. Please join us! We’ve had some great contributions so far and we hope for more.

Paper Doll Preview: Nordic Fantasy and Princesses in my Sketchbook

December 11, 2017October 21, 2015

A few weeks ago, I showed the three stages of the paper doll drawing process in this post. Here are two more pages in their “detailed pencil” period and their final inking stage. As I mentioned before, the process of inking is actually one of my favorite stages in the paper doll creation process.

The paper doll outfits in these two pages are actually split between two different sets. One set is a nordic/Viking inspired fantasy set and the other is a princess set. I am a little compulsive about not wasting paper, so I usually draw Marisole Monday & Friend’s sets in pairs. Each set usually takes up a page and a bit.

My Nordic/Viking fantasy set came from all my Viking research. The Viking elements in these garments are the oval brooches holding up the dresses and the style of the knife. I wanted to do patterns that would seem woven into the gowns and fur trimming.

When I inked these sets I did the outlines first and then added the details. I always worry about smearing my ink and, of course, I did. That’s why I use Photoshop. It lets me clean up mistakes like that.

Messed up some of the inking, but I can live with that.

So, as I mentioned. My paper doll sets need to share pages, because I absolutely hate wasting paper. So, my Nordic sets are sharing some of their space with a princess ballgown which is actually part of a totally different set. Sharing is caring, as they say, so I don’t think any of my paper doll sets mind.

I sorta feel like her hair isn't that interesting.... Oh well... — I sorta feel like her hair isn’t that interesting…. Oh well…

My least favorite thing in the world to ink is ruching. I never know until I am done how it is going to turn out. It is less about following my pencil lines and more about “instinct” and that always makes me nervous. Still, I think this set of ruching came out okay. I suppose I won’t really know until I finish erasing all the pencil lines. So much erasing…

Erasing is actually the stage I dread the most, but I do realize that it is important. I tend to put it off as long as possible. Also I like the ink to get a chance to dry a little before I start running over it with an eraser. I recently switched my sketchbook style after five years of using Carson Univerisal Sketchbook to my new Canson Drawing pad. It’s got 70 lb paper which I love.