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Ensemble Eclectica: Vacationing in 1936

A 1930s fashion paper doll with clothing from a 1936 issue of McCall's style news including a six piece mix and match wardrobe to color.
A 1930s fashion paper doll with clothing from a 1936 issue of McCall's style news including a six piece mix and match wardrobe to cut out and play with. She has blond hair and a summer inspired color palette.

Download Black and White PDF | Download Color PDF | More Paper Dolls from the Ensemble Eclectica Series

Happy Labor day! I can’t quite believe August is over. Wow. That was an unexpected month off! But life has quieted down a tiny bit (okay, not very much). The least I think I can do is share the last of my 1930s sets, before I potentially disappear again.

(Nothing bad, but I’m teaching this semester for the first time and it’s a lot!)

Out of every 1930s fashion paper doll I’ve created, this one stands out with the most cohesive theme. This paper doll design hopefully captures the essence of a vacation wardrobe in around 1936. She showcases clothing for sports and summer activities. I keep thinking beach vacation, probably because of the swimsuit. (I could have labeled things here, but I’ve delayed in so long in sharing this that I decided to share and move on.)

For my 1930s fashion paper doll, I picked out pieces from the McCall’s Style News magazines of 1936. I really wanted to try to make a cohesive set. So, the mini-wardrobe has a stylish sports dress, ideal for casual daytime activities, with matching jacket. There is also a playful split skirt romper, which I assume you wear while playing tennis or other athletic activities. The trousers with top are there for golf or whatever a girl might do in trousers at the time. I’d say horseback riding, but an actual riding habit would be more for that.

To complement these outfits, I added a straw hat. It can be mix and matched with any of the clothing pieces. I decided on just one hat, though of course, hats were crucial for the era of the 1930s. Feel free to draw more or steal them from other paper doll sets.

This 1936 photo of Carol Lombard inspired this paper doll’s hair. Just in case you were curious about where that came from.

I have an amazing time at the 2024 Paper Doll Convention in Indianapolis. I didn’t take nearly as many photos as I should have, but I will try to put together the small number I have into something. Overwhelmed for a million non-paper doll reasons at the event by other “real life” things that were happening at the same time, I just haven’t managed to quite get my feet back under me.

(Real life should not intrude on paper dolls, darn it! Though I am trying hard to be kind to myself about it, because as one very nice and friendly blog reader reassured me at the convention with something like, “I’ve been following along since the beginning and I know your life has gotten more complicated. Please don’t feel bad about missing posts.” )

As with all my 1930s paper dolls so far, I have a second page I’ll be sharing for my patrons at some point this month.

Enchanted Elegance: A Fantasy Paper Doll

A printable medieval princess paper doll coloring page with two fantasy gowns and accessories. She has braided hair and two fantasy gowns, along with other accessories.
A printable medieval princess paper doll with two fantasy gowns and accessories. She has long blond hair and two fantasy gowns.

Download Black and White PDF | Download Color PDF | More Paper Dolls from the Ensemble Eclectica Series

I don’t know why this paper doll looks Russian to me. I have no explanation for that one, but something about the hair just screamed “slavic fairytale” to me. Once I decided that, than she needed to be blond, because if I was going to go slavic fairy tale, I might as well lean into all the stereotypes.

For some reason, and I don’t know why, I’ve found that working digitally means I am less drawn to doing fantasy as I was in pencil. Again, I’m not sure why. I suppose I’ll figure it out.

Actually, I’ve been frightfully unproductive over the last few weeks/months. I mean, I’ve been very productive, but not paper doll related. I’ve been working on a million other things. I have some work to get done for the convention and so that’ll get me motivated I hope.

Meanwhile I do have lots of thing “in-progress”, but I am struggling quite a lot to get those things over the finish line. We’ll see where it all ends up, I suppose.

Neo-Noir Threads: A Little Futuristic Fashion Paper Doll

A cyberpunk fashion paper doll with blond hair and a green and brown color scheme.

Download Black and White PDF | Download Color PDF | More Paper Dolls from the Ensemble Eclectica Series

Maybe this is just me, but when I draw any cyberpunk fashion paper doll designs, it feels a little absurd. My paper dolls are playful and cute. Cyberpunk is neither playful nor generally cute. However, my art is and I like drawing cyberpunk fashion, so here we are.

Besides a free printable cyberpunk fashion paper doll could be a commentary on the capitalistic society we live in and the commodification of childhood… or it could just be that I wanted to draw improbable zippers. I’ll leave the art analysis to others.

I really do love the cyberpunk aesthetic. Maybe it’s the zippers that don’t quite make sense or the straps that also don’t quite make sense. Maybe I read too much William Gibson in high school. Either way, I’ll always have an affection for cyberpunk and neon. As I’ve gotten older, I confess that I find the whole thing more dystopian than I did as a teen, but then I guess growing up gives one perspective on these things. Truthfully, I don’t read as much of it as I used too, I think it hits too close to the actual state of the world sometimes.

This paper doll was made around the same time I was working on all my aliens (Galaxy Glamour, Interstellar Seas, Stardust Styles, and Astro Allure), but she took a distinctly darker turn than they did, so I don’t consider her part of the series.

Haunting Couture: A Foray into Gothic Fashion

A gothic wardrobe paper doll template printable for coloring. She has a 13 piece mix and match wardrobe. A little Halloween fun.
Gothic wardrobe paper doll template printable. She has blond hair, blue eyes, and a mix and match wardrobe. Some fun halloween things for you to enjoy.

Download Black and White PDF | Download Color PDF | More Paper Dolls from the Ensemble Eclectica Series

Today’s paper doll with her gothic wardrobe was inspired by a lot of different things from my my gothic fashion pinterest board, including this corset, this top and this dress. I really wanted to do a take on Morticia Addam’s famous dress, but I added a bit of a puff sleeve, as those are very popular right now. Of course, Morticia Addams is timeless, but I didn’t want to copy the gown in all the details, in part, because I don’t love the bottom of the skirt. It reminds me a little too much of tentacles (true to the comic, but still.)

(Speaking of Morticia Addams, Julie Matthew’s did a nice write up about her paper doll of Morticia Addams.)

Lastly, I wanted to make a gothic baby doll dress which was 65% just a chance to play around with lace and a new procreate brush set. My first plan was to do see through lace sleeves, but then I couldn’t seem to get a version of that which I liked, so I ended up abandoning that idea. I did keep the lace around the neckline with the openings for some detail.

I can’t claim that I meticulously assembled my gothic wardrobe paper doll, because really this was not that organized (am I ever that organized?). I do think of all the pieces of the Ensemble Eclectica: Gothic Glamor Collection as sort of. mixing and matching together. I think the ruffled skirt from Dark Demigoddess, for example, would go well with any of the tops in this collection.

Anyway, stay tuned for more gothic paper doll fun Friday and Tuesday of next week.

A Little Steampunk Paper Doll Experiment in Color

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So, I decided to dip my toes into color in Procreate with this paper doll. I also did some experimentation with noise and backgrounds and other things.

While I wouldn’t recommend home printing for this one, because the ink usage will be through the roof, I have added a link to the PDF if you feel the urge to try to see what happens if you do.

East of the sun and West of the Moon illustrated by Kay Nielsen in 1913.

You do you!

And if you do print it, it is scaled to mix and match with the 365 paper dolls.

I’ve been trying to sort out how to get texture. Of course, I think the effect doesn’t work super well unless you zoom in at which point, like maybe it doesn’t work at all?

Hmm….

So, here’s what I was trying to mimic…

One of the things I love very much is the illustrations of the turn of the century. Generally done with a trichromatic printing process (sometimes black was added and sometimes green was added, which is fascinating in it’s own right), the screens used result in a very specific texture to the solid colors in the prints. You can see it in classic illustrators like Arthur Rackham, Kay Nielsen, or fashion illustrations from things like Bon Ton. You can see the texture I’m talking about here and here.

Anyway, trying to archive that effect digitally is not as simple as you might think. So I have been experimenting with noise and other texture effects in Photoshop and Procreate. The result, however, is probably not “strong” enough to be obvious. This is one of the problems of working digitally- you are zoomed in or zoomed out or… whatever. It’s actually super hard to tell what the finished product is going to look like at true scale.

The other factor is that digital printing introduces a bit of noise and I don’t like how it looks, but only because it feels unintentional and I really really value being intentional in my work. I want control, or an active lack of control (hello ceramics, I’m looking at you.)

As I keep saying on these posts, Julie has been a huge help in referring me to tools to try to get this effect.

There are many tools and brushes and things for Procreate that it is super overwhelming. There’s a million different tools and things you can do with those. But I suspect I’ll eventually find 3 or 4 I like and use them 90% of the time. That tends to be how I roll.

But you can’t find the three or four you like without trying out a few dozen, so that’s been the current challenge.

Next up, I’ll be sharing an experiment using a less smooth brush and seeing what happens when I have a “rough” line texture. More on that one next week.

Greek Fantasy Dresses with Evening

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We had out first super hard frost a few days ago and now there’s been some snow mixed with rain. Winter is coming! I can tell as the days keep getting shorter. Sigh. Well, that’s the downside of living as close to the arctic circle as I do. Let’s move on.

So, there’s a lot of Xena Warrior Princess/Hercules and the Legendary Journeys wrapped up in this set. Not gonna lie. I wanted an autumnal color scheme without feeling too obvious and I figured the jewelry could help tie together the colors of the dresses. Evening here hasn’t gotten as many sets as some of the other dolls. She’s the newest, but she’s catching up fast.

As I mentioned in my last goals review post, this is my 7th Dolls Du Jour doll this year. Woot!

I want to do a few more historical themes for Dolls Du Jour. I’ve been asked for 1950s. Is there another period people would like to see? I’m leaning towards either 1950s (because someone asked) or 1400s (like this, if you’re wondering.)

By the way, did you know I have a newsletter? You can sign up for that Newsletter here. There’s going to be some super cute Halloween content in there come October. I’m excited, at least.

Ombre Stripes in Purples with Lapis

A printable paper doll in pwith a 9 piece mix and match wardrobe.
A blond printable paper doll in purples and teals with a 9 piece mix and match wardrobe.

Download Black and White PDF | Download Color PDF | More Jewels & Gemstones 2.0

So, according to the internet, source of all wisdom, lilac is a big color for Winter 2022. I wanted to really focus on two colors- purple and teal- for the this paper doll. The set was supposed to be a look at monochrome colors which isn’t something I do a lot in my paper doll coloring.

Recently, I got a question from a reader asking if I did anything with my finished paper dolls. At first, I didn’t understand the question. What did “do anything with” mean? I wondered. I told her about my messy files, my boxes of sketchbooks in my office closet, but that answer didn’t feel right. It’s been percolating in my brain for the last week.

What do I “do with” my finished work?

And then the answer occurred to me as I was working on scheduling this months paper doll posts and it was utterly obvious…. What I do with my finished paper dolls is this. PTP is what I do with my finished work. Completing things is deeply satisfying for me and how I complete my paper dolls is sharing them with all of you.

Once I thought about for a while, the answer was obvious. So, thank you for being a part of my process and a part of my little corner of the inter-webs. If you’d like to support my little corner of the internet further, I have a Patreon page, Etsy store, and a newsletter.

Autumnal Evening Gowns with Amethyst

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It feels funny to me to be talking about autumn when the temp hasn’t been above zero here in at least three weeks. Well, it was warmer when I designed these gowns, I guess. The thing about them that feels autumnal to me is the color scheme. Jewel tones feel like winter and fall to me. Not sure that other people agree with me on that one, but that’s how I’ve always felt about it.

Weirdly, I know these gowns have source images, because I almost never draw formal gowns without using my Pinterest Formal Gowns and Cocktail Dresses board (creatively named), but I’ll be darned if I can find the source images. I usually save them carefully… So, read into that one what you like I guess.

Meanwhile, snow is falling, Hanukkah has begun, and I hope those who celebrate a holiday in the coming months have a wonderful one. As I move towards the end of the year, I always find myself beginning to think about the future and what has been done this year. It’s a funny time of the year for me. I plan to take a few months off soon, so I’ll have time to be contemplative.

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Lapis in the mid-1940s

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Cut Out This Super Cute Superhero Paper Doll with Pearl!

Superheroes seem to be in style right now and therefore make a good paper doll topic. I think I read last year that superhero costumes outsold princess costumes for Halloween. That surprised me, but it’s sort of neat to see the change in culture that’s taking place around superheroes. I have no idea the Halloween costume sales in 2020, given the whole- there’s a pandemic thing.

We did get tricker-treaters, but it was WAY fewer than we get normally. Our neighborhood is a prime tricker-treater location and usually gets swarms of kids.

I digress as none of this has to do with today’s superhero paper doll.

Download Black and White PDF | Download Color PDF | More Jewels & Gemstones 2.0

When it came to colors, I wanted to make sure this set felt like the pieces came from the same world, even though jumpsuits are not a high mix and matchable thing. My partner helped me brainstorm ideas for the paper dolls superhero names, but feel free to rename them as you desire.

Today’s paper doll was created from some old old content, a new doll and some Patreon only pieces. I like the idea of themed superheroes, but I confess I don’t really know what other then natural forces to use as icon symbols. I figure people will decide for themselves what powers the superhero has.

Download Black and White PDF | Download Color PDF | More Jewels & Gemstones 2.0

I confess openly I am both not a huge superhero comics fan, nor do I really enjoy shows or comics commenting on superheroes with the possible exception of Deadpool. After being introduced to Deadpool in college, I think I read everything that existed at the time. Truthfully, I haven’t kept up with my comic’s reading.

I hope everyone is having an amazing holiday season and staying safe. Hopefully the end is in sight for this pandemic based year, but I have no idea what the future holds. Stay safe everyone out there.

For 2021, I’ll be creating a newsletter of paper doll content! I’m super excited! Sign up here if you’d like to or read more about it, if you’re unsure.