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Medieval Fantasy Paper Doll to Print and Color

logo-isadora-fantasy-castleThis is the second Isadora paper doll and a member of the Mini-Maiden paper doll family. I haven’t done a fantasy Mini-Maiden before, so I thought I should and I have been in a psuedo-medieval mood as of late. Perhaps simply because I am wishing I was living somewhere cooler than Alabama which is having a humid hot August.

I can not wait for fall. Fall is full of wonderful things and I can start wearing tights and boots again.

I love both tights and boots.

Plus September brings the big fall fashion magazines and that will mean a spasm of paper doll drawing and a spate of contemporary styled paper dolls, as it always does.

Until then, of course, we have Isadora as a fantasy Mini-Maiden. I am hesitant to call her a princess, as she doesn’t have a crown, but she can still live in a castle, I think. Personally, I think it would have been dreadfully drafty and cold in castles, but I suppose at least it was better than living in a hovel.


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Anyway, now Isadora can either be living in a castle or fighting radioactive zombies in the wastes of a destroyed civilization. Basically, she’s ready for whatever life might throw at her, though I think she also might want to raid another Mini-Maiden’s closet for some more… shall we say… normal clothing. I think she’d look awfully cute in Faye’s girly get up or Hazel’s vintage vibe or Greta’s I-couldn’t-come-up-with-anything-alliterative outfits.

There will be one more update this week (nothing major, just some sketchbook stuff) and then hopefully a new Marisole on Monday as I get myself back into the rhythm of things. For updates, you’re welcome to follow me on twitter @paperpersona, though you will also have to put up with other inane, unpaper-doll-related rambling about my life.

Geta’s Steampunk/Neo-Victorian Printable Paper Doll Trousseau… The First Part

greta-trousseau-set-1-imageThis is the first part of a multi-part paper doll project to create a neo-victorian or steampunk paper doll bride with a trousseau of outfits for every occasion. I feel like I’ve written before about my love of the idea of a trousseau. I remember as a child I was fascinated with the idea of having different dresses to do different activities. I wanted to tea dress and an afternoon dress and a morning dress. This all seemed very exciting to me. I’ve never given up my love of trousseaux or layettes or wardrobes and each time I do a paper doll, particularly a mix and match paper doll, I think about how each of the pieces can go or can’t go with each of the other pieces.

Several months ago, I hatched the idea of doing a steampunk paper doll with a trousseau, playing with the Victorian obsession with an “outfit for every activity”. I poured over old reports of trousseaux from major marriages of the guilded age, including Princess Beatrice whose style seems remarkably crisp and straight forward for such a frilly period. In the Ladies Book of Etiquette and Manuel of Politeness the following information about a proper bridal outfit, or trousseau, is offered, “In preparing a bridal outfit, it is best to furnish the wardrobe for at least two years, in under-clothes, and one year in dresses, though the bonnet and cloak, suitable for the coming season, are all that are necessary, as the fashions in these articles change so rapidly. If you are going to travel, have a neat dress and cloak of some plain color, and a close bonnet and veil.”

Clearly, this is going to be a larger project than just this post. This is the first of what I suspect will be several pages of trousseau for Greta. We’re starting with her wedding dress, with a jacket, a dinner dress and a house dress.


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The wedding dress could become a ballgown quite easily and that wasn’t an uncommon practice, because wedding dresses were often simply a women’s best dress. The dinner dress is more of a semi-formal dress, a step below a ballgown and right around the world of an opera toilette (don’t worry, she’ll get one of those two). Her house dress is, of course, the least formal with a book to read while she spends time at home. Ever stylish paper dolls need to relax sometimes.

All of Greta’s Trousseau posts are gathered together under the tag “Greta’s Trousseau.”

Pixie & Puck: Robynn, a Huntress

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{Click Here for a PDF of Robynn in Color} {Click Here for a 150 dpi PNG of Robynn in Color}

Every paper doll I do is a little different. Today’s Pixie Paper Doll has a few things that are different from normal. I’ve been experimenting with how I draw the Pixie faces, so you might notice her lips are distinctly different from the other Pixies. I’m not sure how I feel about this new style, I think I’ll stick with it for the next few (since I already have their heads drawn this way) and see how I feel. Feedback, as always, is enjoyed and very useful.

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{Click Here for a PDF of Robynn in Black and White} {Click Here for a 150 dpi PNG of Robynn in Black and White} {Click Here for More Pixie Paper Dolls}

So, I got an email a few weeks ago from a nice young lady name Megan who asked for:

Pale
Blue eyes
ginger
Female

Style:
Commando
Outdoors
midevil

And, debates of the spelling of Medieval aside, I was intrigued. What was a Medieval outdoors commando? I wondered and how would one dress, anyway? And so, mostly to forefill my own fascination at the concept, I drew this Pixie set. Free advice to people who make requests, the weirder the request, the more likely I am to take it on.

A couple things that are different about this Pixie than what was asked for. I did not give the doll blue eyes (mostly because I forgot) and the set is only medieval in the vaguest of senses. Still, I think she came out pretty cute. I do rather wish I’d remembered to give her blue eyes, per Megan’s request, so I hope she will forgive me that oversight.

Robynn is named for Robin Hood, of course, who robbed from the rich, gave to the poor and was generally a cool dude, though did not, necessarily exist. I had a great love of Robin Hood stories when I was a child.

Book Loving Princess Paper Doll with Braids

I love her braids. I am less pleased with the title of this set. I am running out of things to call these darn sets. So, I just sort of pick words out of the air. I’m not sure that they are that informative for people, but what the heck? It’s a paper doll.

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

I have been working on creating a new pallet of skin tones based on photographs of supermodels/actresses of various elasticities. It is slow going. I tend to think of skintones in terms of color- light brown, dark brown, brown with a little red in it, brown with grey undertones, peach with yellow undertones, peach with red undertones… I rarely think in terms of ethnicity, so I find myself skipping around looking for various “colors” to adopt. It’s been educational and I like the colors I am getting out of it.

Also, I know I owe a Puck paper doll to Kat the winner of my drawing. Fear not, Kat, it is nearly done and will be up this coming Sunday. I have not forgotten, I just didn’t get it quite finished last week.

Edit 8/10/2013: There is now a a black and white version of this paper doll for coloring. You’ll need to scroll down a bit in the post to see her.