blond hair

Bright Geometric Paper Doll Dress Up

A super cute 1980s inspired paper doll dress-up with a mix and match wardrobe.
A super colorful paper doll dress-up with a mix and match wardrobe. She has over 40 different outfit combinations.

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

So, I wanted to try drawing patterns in Procreate and practice using some of the shape tools. Today’s paper doll dress-up brings the geometric patterns and some 1980s flare. She can dress-up in circles, squares, or triangles. Not literally… that would be a totally different paper doll dress-up experience.

(My concussion on shapes in procreate- I miss my plastic stencil. It was MUCH easier to use.)

Personally, I think today’s paper doll has a kinda 1980s vibe. Not super 1980s, just in the patterns. I was not very old in the 1980s, plus we were living in rural Alaska, so fashion wasn’t exactly making its way to me. However, when I think of the 1980s, I tend to think of really bold colors and graphic lines and geometric patterns. (Also big hair, shoulder pads, and excess, but that’s not really visible on this paper doll.)

By the way, have you seen Julie’s new 1980s paper doll? It’s great. (And I’m not just saying that because I think Julie is great, though I do.)

The older paper doll that inspired this paper was Candy Coated Couture which is a good name for a paper doll set, if I do say so myself. Normally, I stick with 4 to 5 colors for a single paper doll set, but this one is stretching that rule of thumb. I wanted a sporty vibe, so I did sneakers for the shoes.

I’ve been drawing more crop tops. I was in high school during the “belly-shirt” fad of the early 2000s. And therefore for years I’ve been staunchly anti-crop top; however, I’ve been sort of impressed by the newer high-rise pants and shorter tops. So, I am more open minded about it.

Jade in Circus Inspired Fashions

A printable circus paper doll coloring page with a 12 part wardrobe. Her clothing can mix and match.
A circus paper doll to print for free. Her mix and match wardrobe was inspired by vintage circus posters.

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

I really love the visuals of circuses. I always have. After all, I have a whole pinterest board devoted to them, after all. So, sometimes I draw a circus paper doll like today’s to play with those visual motifs. One of the challenges of circus paper dolls is the color scheme. Generally, I do a black, white, and red for a circus paper doll, but I have played around with pink and blue as well.

For this circus paper doll’s color scheme, I decided to go with more a muted, softer cream over using black and added a moss green to add some depth to the whole thing. I wanted her swimsuit/bodysuit to be really a part of the set, so you can easily layer the skirts or hats with it. There’s no floating tabs for the top-hats, so you may need to make your own. I have faith in you all.

I hoped the addition of the green and the cream would make the whole thing feel more vintage. You might have seen the prototype for today’s paper doll a few weeks ago. In that version, I had played around with some weird lipstick for the doll, but I ended up scrapping it. Sometimes I think something will work and then realize… no, no it really doesn’t. Also, I got rid of the face makeup, because it read “evil clown” to me and that was not the vibe I was going for.

Another inspiration for all this was clowns. I don’t mean creepy party clowns or something, I mean traditional masked clowning which is super hard and very old. Goes back to commedia dell’arte, that semi-improvised form of Italian masked theater which dates back to the 1500s. I mean, we’re talking old old forms of art here. There’s something universal about masked theater. It seems to show up in most cultures in various forms.

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Talia Tuesday is Having Adventures

Inspired by the high fantasy medieval gowns from movies like LoTR, this two page free printable paper doll coloring set has a wardrobe of elegant gowns and practical adventuring clothing.
Inspired by the high fantasy medieval gowns from movies like LoTR, this two page free printable paper doll has a wardrobe of elegant gowns and practical adventuring clothing.

Download the 2 Page Black and White PDF | Download the 2 Page Color PDF | More Talia Tuesday & Friends Dolls

Last week was a lot of “housekeeping” sorts of posts- announcing changes to Patreon, letting people know about the new 1960s paper doll set– and I don’t mind those posts. They have to happen. Plus, I am proud of what I put on Etsy and I like getting to share it with you all.

But my Etsy products are always a a little higher stakes for me. Does everything fit? Do all the instruction make sense? Will someone who doesn’t know me really love the printable paper dolls as much as I hope they will?

I figure you are all my fans and will likely forgive me a foible for two.

So, I’m excited to return to a week of just sharing some printable paper dolls. It’s nice to get back to basic. Starting off with this fantasy set for Talia Tuesday feels right to me. Sometimes I do fantasy paper doll sets and I 100% know the narrative, but it’s not very common. It’s much more common for me to chose an element (in this case the scalloped sleeve detail) and think- how do I apply this across several things. You’ll see it in the sleeves of the gowns, but also repeated in the tunic trims.

I drew this paper doll at the same time as I drew my Tanya Elegant Empress paper doll. My original plan was to do a set that was all gowns and a set that was all pants. However, once I got down to the nitty-gritty of layout, I had too many gowns and not enough pants. Oops. I decided to call this printable paper doll “Having Adventures,” because the combination of nice gowns and more casual tunics made sense for someone who goes out and has an adventure. So, there’s a bow and arrows, but also an elegant gown. At least, that’s my justification after the fact.

Don’t forget to cut between the doll’s shoulders and her hair for best results when trying to dress her up.