black paper dolls Archives • Page 16 of 21 • Paper Thin Personas

A Princess Paper Doll in Black and White

May 21, 2020May 28, 2012

{Click Here for a PDF to Print} {Click Here for a PNG to Print} {Click Here for the rest of this series}So, my drawing is still open (will be until Next Tuesday, winner will be announced with the Dictionary Girls post of that week), but I wanted to start answering some of the excellent questions I was asked. Since one of the questions was about Marisole and here is Marisole, it seems fitting to answer that question now.

Dee asked: Where did the original idea [for Marisole] come from, was the first doll based on anyone special.

The answer is yes, she was. Well.. sort of. The first Marisole paper doll was drawn in 2009, according to the note I have scribbled on the original art work, but I never got around to posting her until the site crashed. As a result, she was posted for the new site version in January of 2010 and made her debut.

She is based, vaguely, on Halle Berry in the James Bond movie Die Another Day which is a pretty bad movie. Jinx Johnson, played by Halle, walks out of the water in a tiny orange bikini and a spiky hair cut. The hair was what made me think Marisole looked like Halle. The rest of the paper doll’s features owe their proportions to the Bratz dolls mostly.

Beyond the Jinx Johnson connection, I wanted to do a paper doll that wasn’t white. I’d noticed that there just aren’t a lot of brown skinned paper dolls out there on the internet. (My attempt to collect some African American paper doll printables taught me there still aren’t a lot of them.)

I went utterly cartoony with Marisole because I was self-conscious doing strongly ethnic features. The history of black paper dolls, especially, is full of some remarkably cruel depictions and I wanted to make sure Marisole wasn’t one of them.

It is possible she’s a cruel depiction of compound eyed, huge headed bug people… but that can’t be helped.

Also, making the paper doll cartoony meant she could be any skin tone or style I wanted which is part of why I still like drawing and coloring her after 2 and a-half years. She’s been dark, light, and dead.

I’ve even made her an alien.

Today’s incarnation of Marisole is a fairly standard pseudo-Victorian set whose pieces I couldn’t seem to arrange properly and so lose the title. Oh well… these things happen. I hate coming up with titles anyway. Tune in next week for the color version. It’s going to be… bright.

Sweet Cream: Fashion Paper Doll to Print

May 21, 2020May 21, 2012

{Click Here for a PDF to Print} {Click Here for a PNG to Print} {Click Here for the rest of this series}

The thing about this blog is that writing is hard. Drawing is hard too, but somehow less hard then writing. I think it’s because I draw in stages- pencil and then ink and then shade and then scan and then re-size. Sometimes those events occur in a slightly different order, but I always have multiple pieces in multiple stages of work. Yet, writing I find I stare at a white screen and have to think of something to say.

Ideally, something intelligent and nuanced to say… Okay, maybe not nuanced, but at least intelligent. Or coherent. I think I at least get coherent. Usually.

Boots wrote a really wonderful post a few weeks ago about momentum and how hard it is to keep it up. She’s right. When I get into a groove I can prep several paper dolls in a row and schedule them all and feel like I’m getting somewhere and when I’m not in a groove… well… it all takes much longer. Enjoy this pastel spring like Marisole. This paper doll is also available in black and white which I posted last week.

Kandi: Cyberpunk Paper Doll to Print

May 21, 2020May 20, 2012

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Normally, I do my futuristic, cyber-punky sets in blacks with neons, but I wanted to play around with white as a base color, rather than black.

Since I was using white, the citrus candy colors seemed proper to accent the clothes and the candy colors gave this paper doll her name- Kandi. Her dark skin tone was chosen to contrast with the white and pink scheme. I’m mostly pleased with how she came out, though I have some mixed feelings about the hair. It was originally black with pink highlights and I wonder if perhaps I should have kept it that way.

In the end, I’m fairly pleased with how she turned out. I like her clothes and her hair is okay, though I’m not totally pleased with it.

In my head, Kandi is from the same world Thorne, the Cyborg, Jay and Vera, though perhaps a happier more brightly colored part of that world… maybe the tropics.

Sweet Cream: Printable Paper Doll in Black and White

May 21, 2020May 14, 2012

Today’s paper doll is new and in black and white. Next week, she’ll be in color. I just don’t have the colored version done yet and I thought I would post a black and white version first. These are all pieces of clothing I found while looking through magazines in the airport. I really love the full skirted dress with the buttons. I would wear it, but then I love those full skirted vintage looking dresses.

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So, I disappeared there for a few days. I got busy and then I got overwhelmed and then I got lazy. But life has settled down a little, though I must confess not very much, and I am able to get some time in to work on feeding the blog. The truth is that while classes are over I have a few things to finish before I graduate and then, only then, can I consider myself done. Plus I am moving soon, so that’s another series of problems to worry about.

I saw the James Bond film Quantum of Solace tonight with friends and I had no idea what was going on for most of the film. I was rather disappointed. I really like James Bond, but…. I dunno. It was an odd film.

Beneath the Waves in Black and White Paper Doll

May 21, 2020May 7, 2012

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So… slightly slacker post from me today. I as out of town last week in Alabama and just got back. I prepped this while sitting in the Chicago airport waiting to get on a plane to go home. I posted Beneath the Waves in color last year in June. I found the file and decided to put it up in color. I have been getting more and more requests for paper dolls to color, so here is another one.

I love spring when the rains come and the paper doll blogs are in bloom. Actually, I joke, but I have stumbled across a few new blogs over the last few days. My latest find is called Miss Missy Paper Dolls, slightly unnerving for me since I have a good friend named Missy, never the less, I am enjoying the posts as I work my way through her archive. I recommend her blog to those of us who like such things (and if you don’t like such things, what the heck are you doing here anyhow?).

Prudence and Constance: 2 Paper Dolls in Black and White

May 21, 2020April 22, 2012

Happy Earth Day! There’s an Earth and we should be grateful or else we’d not exist. So, I’m glad for that. Beyond that, I try to avoid politics on this little corner of the web. There are other corners of the web for politics. Here is the corner of paper dolls.

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Two of my favorite recent paper dolls are Constance and Prudence, who I’ve always thought of as best friends, and so today I present them both in black and white for coloring enjoyment. Each paper doll was meant to have a distinct casual and slightly indie style. Prudence is a little bit vintage and Constance is a little bit tomboy. The t-shirt styles for the Constance paper doll are based on mandala designs which are simplified for the small size.

{Click Here for a PDF to Print} {Click Here for a 150 dpi PNG to Print} {Click Here for The Rest of this Series}

So, today, I’d like to also call attention to a new blog with some delightful black and white paper dolls called Inflammation Of…, which is about both paper dolls and raising a child with chrons disease. I have had several thank yous sent to me over the years from parents with health issues in their families who like the paper dolls and I always feel very touched that my paper dolls can help in any small way for people in need. Plus there’s a whole set of clothes for her paper dolls inspired by Scoopy-Doo and who isn’t in favor of paper dolls inspired by Scooby-Doo? I loved Scooby-Doo when I was a kid.

(Actually, I still sorta love Scoopy-Doo, but I try to be more of an adult and not admit these things in public.)

At the Big Gala: Black Printable Paper Doll

May 21, 2020January 16, 2012

Happy Martin Luther King Jr. Day to all those in the United State who, like me, get the day off. I’m spending mine doing laundry and getting ready for classes, but hopefully other people are having more fun. Marisole is all dressed up for a big gala this week. I confess that my schedule for this coming semester is looking crazy and I don’t know how much time I’ll be able to devote to the blog, but we’ll see how it goes.

{Click Here for a PDF to Print} {Click Here for a PNG to Print} {Click Here for the rest of this series}

So, my father is trying to get me to create some magnetic paper dolls to sell. I’m not so sure about the idea myself, but he’s convinced that in the tourist heavy summers of Juneau Alaska that they would be a hit. He’s promised to do the research, if I draw the paper doll. My question to all those grandparents who read this blog or parents or anyone else who buys gifts for children (or themselves, lets be honest here) how much would you pay for a magnetic paper doll, neatly packaged with an Alaskan theme (assuming you’re in Alaska to begin with, mind you). Five bucks? Ten? I’ve seen them on Etsy for as much as 30 dollars, but I can’t imagine anyone paying that amount (I certainly wouldn’t). How much would you spend?

Edit 4/6/2014: This set is now available here in black and white for coloring. Yay!

New Free Printable Magnetic Paper Dolls for Hanukkah

December 11, 2017December 22, 2011

Four of the six free printable Flock paper dolls are shown above, posing on my refrigeratorSo, this was supposed to go up yesterday, but life got busy with travel.

Still, better late than never we have a new set of printable magnetic paper dolls in time for last minute gift giving (four of them are pictured above- my printer decided it really really didn’t want to keep printing magnetic sheets after I got through these ones, so the other two are waiting). As you can see, they have taken over my freezer door. In response to suggestions from some readers, I made the new Flock magnetic paper dolls larger for smaller hands to easily handle. There’s nothing specifically Hanukkah about the design, but I thought mermaids were a fun and fairly universal.

Anyway, I just bought a tin for my Flock paper dolls at the dollar store during a round of last minute shopping, though due to their larger size I recommend either printing one out on regular printer paper to take with you for sizing purposes or bringing the printed magnetic doll with you. Yes, you might get some funny looks (I did), but its good to know the paper doll will fit. When I was out tin shopping, I found these framesless magnetic whiteboards from Micheals for less then five dollars a piece. They will free up my fridge for important family photos and reminders.

Now, if you want to do something a little more festive (and who doesn’t?), Make it and Love it has this wonderful tutorial making magnetic paper dolls and then using on a cookie sheet for a play surface. She even show how to make a cover for the cookie sheet with fabric. The idea of covering the cookie sheet with fabric is ingenious. For kids, a magnetic cookie sheet might be the best option- it’s got a ridge around the edge to hold the pieces in place and they could play with it on the floor.

Just remember, that not all cookies sheets, tins or white boards are magnetic and the stronger the magnetism, the easier and better the paper dolls work. One of the reasons I like printable magnetic sheets over stick on magnetic sheets is that they seem to be stronger magnets.

The Flock Magnetic Mermaid Paper Doll Set

Our first Flock set consists of six dolls, six pairs of shoes, There is also a set of tails and a set of dresses for when the mermaids are on land and not in the ocean.

**The Mermaid Set PDF Downloads**

Dove PDF Download	Oriole PDF Download	Phoebe PDF Download

Robin PDF Download	Starling PDF Download	Wren PDF Download

Dresses PDF Download	Tails PDF Download

Candy Coated Couture: Printable Paper Doll

October 19, 2016December 19, 2011

I wanted to play around with bright colors and when I play with bright colors, I like to use a darker skintone on the paper doll. I think it looks lovely with the bright greens, blues, pinks, oranges and purples which make up this set. Colors inspired, I confess by those runt candies. Remember those? I loved Runts when I was a kid.

{Click Here for a PDF to Print} {Click Here for a PNG to Print} {Click Here for the rest of this series}

Candy Coated Couture’s skin tone is the same as Book Loving Princess, so they can share shoes- should you feel the need to give the princess some rocking multi-colored platforms. (Who doesn’t need rocking multi-colored platforms, I ask you?)

There probably won’t be a Dictionary Girls update this week, because I don’t have one ready and I’m traveling on Wednesday to visit family for the holidays, there will, however, be Shadow and Light up on Friday and a one-shot paper doll to make up for the lack of Dictionary Girls.

Edit (10/7/2013): I just posted this paper doll set in black and white, so if you want to color her- now you can!

African Inspired Elf: Paper Doll Coloring Page

December 11, 2017December 15, 2011

So, this is a pretty darn old paper doll. Originally inspired when I did my Marisole Inspired by Africa paper doll, I just recently got around to finishing up cleaning her up and getting her posted.

{Click Here for a PDF of the three page paper doll set to Print}

I’ve been having some requests for more black and white paper dolls lately. This paper doll was inspired by African Fashion Week along with the idea of doing a set of elves based on something other than the traditional Western Europe approach.

Of course, I never got around to drawing any of the other ones, so we’ve got one elf here. She might be a trifle lonely, but if you print out several of her and color each of them a little different she can have friends… or clones. Clones are like friends.

One of my goals in posting this paper was to respond to those people who’ve requested more black and white paper dolls to color. So here is one- print her, color her and have fun.

Coffee, Stawberry and Cream: Printable Paper Doll

October 19, 2016December 5, 2011

goldenSo, I did this paper doll set once before, well… not this set exactly, but a very similar paper doll set called Mint and Roses. Now the idea was to try a similar color scheme and see if I liked it better. I think I do. I traded the grey for a dark chocolate brown (which has a lot of blue undertones) and the green is less muddy. On the whole, I think this set works better, though I sort of miss the orange hair of the other paper doll.

{Click Here for a PDF to Print} {Click Here for a PNG to Print} {Click Here for the rest of this series}

Things are up a little later tonight then I had planned. I have been fighting with the United States Postal Service lately about if I do or do not exist. They think I don’t exist. I swear I do exist. I’ve called them twice now and spoken to them in person once. I am getting ready to leave a nice little note in my mailbox for my carrier assuring him or her of my continued residency. I should add that I actually love the USPS. They do amazing things. They get mail across this country in a remarkably short period of time. They are amazing.

Anyway… on an unrelated, look its a paper doll. She’s cute. She has a really puffy skirt.

Prudence: Paper Doll with an Afro

January 31, 2016December 4, 2011

I really am quite pleased with my paper doll Prudence. Her skin tone, like Kadeem’s and Gabriel’s skin tones, was based on my recent searching around for skin tones on the web.

After a few weeks of looking and collecting, I have over 50 different swatches, but I am working on narrowing that down to a manageable number- probably 10 to 15. The truth is that a lot of them are so close in color, I don’t think there would be a visible difference once they were printed anyway.

{Click Here for a PDF to Print} {Click Here for a 150 dpi PNG to Print} {Click Here for The Rest of this Series}

It’s rare I produce a paper doll that I can’t find anything wrong with, but Prudence is pretty close. I lover her glasses and her vintage wardrobe and the color scheme turned out better then I imagined it would. Her hair didn’t come out quite as I had planned it (afro’s are hard to draw), but I’m still pleased with how it looks.

Personally, I would pop her into her cream dress and put her on a date with Kadeem or Gabriel for a night on the town. Or maybe slip her into something more fancy and have her strut down the red carpet (I’m sure Roxanne or Yasmine would be happy to share). In fact, if you don’t like any of those options, there’s a black and white version of Roxanne and you can color any color dress for Prudence that you think she needs.

The Flock Magnetic Mermaid Paper Doll Set

The Mermaid Set PDF Downloads