Meet a diminutive paper doll with fantasy dresses, poised for adventure, literary excursions, and the occasional (but undeniably dramatic) sword duel. In truth, any visit to the library carries a nontrivial risk of armed theatrics with sword, or at least it should. You may take my word for it. I am, after all, a librarian.
This particular paper doll with fantasy dresses was inspired by two outfits I sketched many years ago for an entirely different doll. When my imagination feels sluggish, I like to rummage through my old work and borrow from my past self. It’s a bit like time travel, only with (hopefully) better line work. Anyway, this is one of the dresses and this is the other dress.
Her overall mood carries a whisper of The Lord of the Rings, mixed with a dash of Victorian-era medieval romance. You know, the sort of world where everyone looks fancy and has surprisingly straight teeth and no one leaves the castle without a sword or a book. Whenever I get stuck designing fantasy accessories, I default to “books and swords,” which feels deeply on-brand. Someday I may diversify my repertoire to include goblets or apothecary vessels of dubious origin, but today is not that day.
May her paper skirts swish gracefully across your imagination.
If you enjoy these little paper worlds and want to support the drawings behind them, you’re always welcome on my Patreon, where I share behind-the-scenes sketches, extra paper doll downloads, and the occasional overly enthusiastic ramble about various creative things.
Step into the world of myth and elegance with today’s paper doll set, Ancient Elegance, part of my Ensemble Eclectica series. This Greek mythology fashion doll is well within the realm of fantasy and one of two dolls with this theme I drew. I’ll share the second soon, I’m sure.
I’ve loved Greek myths since I was a child, devouring them in every form I could find from illustrated books for kids to my mother’s old college encyclopedia of mythology. Of course, if you’ve been around here for any lenght of time, you know I also loved the old Xena television shows.
One of the rare things I did with this paper doll (that I don’t do with many of my creations) is I gave her a head piece. It’s easy enough to trim off with a pair of scissors, should you wish to do so. I just thought it added a fun element to the paper doll. She’s got two gowns, of course. To complete the set, you’ll find strappy sandals, jewelry, a scroll, and a collection of decorative Greek-style vases and pitchers and these the kinds of treasures you might imagine in a temple or mythic hero’s home.
Color scheme-wise I went with blues and pale green. I don’t know that I’ve ever done a color scheme quite like this and it was largely inspired by a color card from the Color Cube, something I treated myself too as a source for color schemes last year, I think. This was card 007 from volume 1 of the cube, which I am not sharing out of respect for the creator of the Color Cubes. It’s very blue color scheme! As you can see, I suspect.
As fall tips into winter up here in Alaska, I always notice my cat deciding that yes, my lap is officially the warmest place in the house (a sure sign that winter has arrived, even if snow has not). It does make cozy evenings, but it also make drawing occasionally challenging when there’s a needy cat.
I originally planned to spend all of December on a big project. It was going to be a series of paper dolls from 1830 to 1859. Julie Matthews’ December themes (like this one from 2015) inspired this idea, back when I started thinking about it. However, that didn’t quite go as planned — life happens. And that’s okay. My new plan is slightly smaller in scope. I’ll be posting paper dolls with historical clothing from the 1830s (and maybe 1840s and 1850s) on Tuesdays and Thursdays for the rest of December and possibly into January. Who can say? Not me.
I tend to hesitate about sharing things before they’re complete, because I dislike leaving projects undone. But lately, I’ve realized that’s a bit silly. Drawing paper dolls isn’t life or death, and it’s okay if things don’t go exactly as planned. I’d rather share what I’ve done and keep moving forward than leave the work sitting unfinished on my laptop. Plus, I think you’ll enjoy seeing the project even if it doesn’t work out like I had originally imagined it would.
In fact, no one would know I’d planned to do the 1840s and 1850s, if I hadn’t said anything. But here I am, being very honest. (I haven’t even started collecting reference images for the 1850s, so I am quite behind on that one. Probably won’t happen, which makes me sort of sad, honestly.)
Women’s Underwear In the Early 1830s
So, let’s talk a little about 1830’s women’s underwear, since today’s 1830s paper doll printable is a lady with some undies on. I based her underwear off this set from the V&A museum, though I made the stays/corset colorful based on this one.
In the 1830s, women’s underwear primarily consisted of a chemise, pantalettes, petticoats and a corset/stays. (Fun fact: The words “corset” and “stays” are both used in the 1830s, but the term “stays” largely falls out of use by the end of the decade.) Generally, these corsets used seams and cording providing support, rather then boning. (Also, boneing doesn’t mean bones- it means whale baleen.)
The chemise was a loose, knee-length garment made from lightweight cotton or linen, worn directly against the skin to safeguard outer garments from perspiration. Chemise’s had wide necklines. Pantalettes (also spelled pantaletes) or drawers covered the legs and provided some more modesty. I can’t seem to definitively determine which is the more precise term. Both terms seem to have been employed to describe similar garments and I’m not an expert on 1830s clothing.
Though not appearing in this 1830s paper doll printable, petticoats supported the wide skirts of the era. Here’s a lovely example from the Met. This is before anyone invented hoopskirts, so women wore lots of petticoats. Additionally, women often wore sleeve supports (like this or these) to get the right shape for the huge puffed sleeves of the era called, “sleeve puffs” which is the most wonderful name. I didn’t add sleeve puffs to the paper doll, because I wanted flexibility with sleeve shape, as it changes throughout the decade, and the puffs would have made that more difficult. Sometimes with paper dolls, functionality has to trump historical accuracy. (But man… I really do want to draw sleeve puffs someday.)
I don’t often create printable paper doll with glasses, but I wear glasses (blind as a bat without them) and therefore I thought, I should make more paper dolls with glasses. Glasses are cute and fun.
So, I’ll be honest- I am still learning to use Procreate a year after starting. Because I’m still getting used to the tools, I’ve been a little conservative about what I’ve attempted. I did a lot of playing around last year, but this year I’m trying to give myself space to get comfortable.
As part of that process, I’ve been revisiting older paper dolls that I liked. Sometimes, I stick close to the original like I did with Rose, Coffee, And Mint Redux and Coffee Strawberry and Cream, but other times I end up heading off on my own little side trek as I did with Bright Boho from Wings and Petals. This time, I think it is somewhere in the middle.
Marisole Monday & Friends: Late Summer Flowers inspired this new printable paper doll with glasses. I kept the glasses, changed up the hair, and kept the color scheme, though used it in a different way. My two favorite pieces from the original (the shoes with flowers on them and the shorts) I redrew. The pattern on the shorts was a great learning experience about how to manipulate lines in Procreate.
I worked on this printable paper doll while I was visiting my family for a week. My niece helped me pick out the colors for her and I was happy to create a printable brunette paper doll for her.
My niece’s choice of this color scheme from my Pinterest board injected a splash of vibrancy into the project, particularly with her love for the color purple. I found that I needed more than the four colors of the scheme, so added the pink in for coordination. Like many kids, she loves bright colors with strong contrast. She also asked for brown hair and blue eyes.
Any time spent with my niece and nephew are highlights of my trips. We played paper dolls, went swimming, and went to the theater.
While I thought of this paper doll as being autumnal when I drew her, I suppose she could also be a spring paper doll- transitional clothing for the warming weather. I did give her a rather autumn themed title. Anyway, she’s here and she can share clothing with all the other Ensemble Eclectica paper dolls.
The weather is warming where I live, but it’s still very cold. However, it’s above zero and that’s something to celebrate.
Today’s fantasy printable dress-up doll has a pair of medieval inspired gowns with girdles, swords and books, of course. Because all paper dolls are happier with books.
When I’m in the mood for some “basic fantasy,” I tend to go back to medieval stuff. Not the actual medieval period, but rather what the Victorians thought the medieval period was. It’s all big castles, princesses in fancy dresses, dragons, and noble knights. In a nod to actual medieval gowns which were worn over kirtles or underdresses, I like to add the layers. You can see more of this sort of thing on my fantasy medieval Pinterest board if you’re curious.
I confess though that these aren’t the most unusual or inspired pieces for me, but I feel like I am stretching myself enough with the digital art thing without trying something totally new.
I chose the colors for these dresses from classic Norwegian design and old-fashioned children’s book illustrations. I used yellows, blues, and soft ocher shades to make them feel cozy and cheerful, like a sunny day or a calm, clear sky. These colors remind me of curling up by a fire with a big picture book.
And since I was thinking of books, I drew some books to be accessories along with swords. I like drawing books. It’s the librarian in me.
This is the first sort of fantasy set for the Ensemble Eclectica series. My hope is always that this fantasy printable dress-up doll will inspire imaginative play and storytelling. That’s the best part of playing with paper dolls, isn’t it? While I’ll admit that I have been on more of a modern clothing kick as of late, don’t worry. Eventually, I’ll come back to fantasy, sci-fi and other elements. I always do.
This weekend was Rosh Hashanah, so I spent some time in synagogue, made challah, heard the shofar, and ate apples and honey. Rosh Hashanah is the Jewish New Year, so it is now the year 5784. I often get introspective this time of year, but I don’t know that I’m ready to share any of those thoughts.
I wanted to do something a little romantic and with a darker color scheme, but fairer skin, so I could see how the contrast worked with the dark linework and the added texture. I think it works well.
All this paper dolls clothing sort of reminds me of the clothing of Regina/Evil Queen in Once Upon a Time when not in the fairytale world. I never got through season 3 last time I watched this, so hopefully I’ll be more engaged this time. I honestly think the show works better when you can binge it and don’t so easily loose track of all the threads (there’s a lot of them.) I do really enjoy most of the costuming. Everytime I argue at the TV that there’s more ethical nuance than the show allows, my husband is like, “It’s fairy tales.”
And I am like, “Okay, fair.”
So, if you look closely at this set, you might notice one of the neat things about working digitally. Two of the blouses (the red sleeveless one and the purple button up) became the templates from which I drew the two other blouses- the cream and black one and the teal cropped one. This adaptation is much more possible, because of the digital nature of the art. It’s not something I’ll probably do all the time- because I honestly like drawing- but the possibility excites me.
Also, like how many ways are there to draw a pair of skinny jeans before it gets absurd? Really?
Oh, and I messed around a little with the layout to facilitate printing and getting more clothing onto the page. Not sure I love the thicker gray line, so that might change.
Let me know what you think in a comment! I love hearing from folks.
All right, so I spent sometime this week coloring my favorite of the July Project which was this rose ballgown.
One thing Procreate does really poorly is color management. It’s really frustrating. I keep thinking there’s a trick to it that I am missing, but after watching several tutorials and such, I am increasingly convinced that Procreate is just bad at color management. That’s it.
I’m still experimenting with texture as well and clearly experimenting with shadow, as well. My favorite artists don’t tend to do a lot with shadow… I dunno. I remain unconvinced that it works. More experimenting is clearly needed. But you don’t know if you don’t try, I always say, so trying matters.
Long story short: I’m not in love with Procreate for coloring things. I’m pretty happy with how this turned out, but I think I want more texture or maybe slightly different texture or something.
I decided to try flatting the paper doll in Photoshop and then moving it back into Procreate for details and shading.
(Side note: For those of you who didn’t develop your art-practice based on advice of web cartoonists in the early 2000s, flatting is how comics were traditionally printed. The color was printed so that it completely filled the page and then the black lines were printed on top of the color. I use a plugin in Photoshop called BPelt that allows me to “flat” solid black line-work and THEN go in an color it.
That process is explained in way more detail on this blog post from 2013. My version of Photoshop has changed, by the basic system hadn’t until… well, now.)
Anyway, after I flatted it and then added shadow and some other details, I imported it back into Photoshop.
My thoughts-
I still don’t totally love the eyes. I think they’re too tall and I’m going to work on the face of the doll.
Compared to the Newsletter Doll which she’s based off of, this doll has a less short waist which really does make drawing specific sorts of things much easier. (Proportions… am I right? I really should try to get better at figure drawing one of these days… )
I don’t know if I love shadows… I don’t dislike them, but they feel a little… I dunno. It feels very very digital… that’s not a bad thing, but I’m not sure how I feel about it.
I am thinking I need to break apart two different things I’m working on. One is learning to use Procreate and that is a matter of exposure.
And then there’s trying to tackle my intense fear of figure drawing and moving out of my comfort zone. That’s a matter of maybe taking a class and getting away from sharing things. So, that’s a totally different challenge. Fortunately my mom got me a sketchbook for my birthday this year and maybe that’ll be how I put that one to use.
Thoughts… thoughts…
Anyway, let me know what you think of this new paper doll. The flower in the background is just a stock one from Photoshop-it felt a little like a cut citrus fruit to me.
I’m going to keep this brief, since I wrote a lot of this up in the newsletter already (subscribe here) and I just don’t know if I want to repeat myself (or if anyone wants to read me repeating myself).
One of the weird/interesting things about creating the newsletter has been grappling with the transient/permanent nature of it. I’ve always thought of this blog as both an archive of my work and as a place where if I make a typo and notice three months later (which has 100% happened), I can fix it. However, the newsletters don’t work that way. Once they are sent, they are done.
And while there is an archive, they don’t feel as permanent as a series of blog posts.
Since the whole newsletter thing is an experiment to begin with, I am still trying to grapple with how I feel about all that.
Anyway, let’s talk paper dolls. So, her underwear is a generic set of short stays over a shift with stockings a shoes. My goal here wasn’t to reproduce anything specific, but to get to the basic idea of “generic underwear of this era” rather than getting into specifics. Her hair is a combination of portraits like this one and this one. I wanted a hairstyle that could easily be covered in bonnets or hats, which I knew I was going to be drawing with nearly every dress.
To start with the morning dress is from this November 1813 plate from La Belle Assemblee which, despite a very French sounding name, was published in London and aimed at the fashionable set. People thought all things French were more sophisitcated than all things English. Interestingly, a lot of places will credit La Belle Assemblee fashioj plates to France on the name alone. While many of the plates in the magazine are copies of French fashion plates, the publication was definitely English.
The morning walking dress is really just a gown with a pelisse over it. The pelisse and bonnet were inspired by this September 1813 plate from La Belle Assemblee, again. A pelisse was a coat that was cut the same style as the dress. They came in all different styles like this one or this one. Some were made from very lightweight fabrics, but others were warm and designed as coats. Sometimes it’s hard to tell from an illustration if you’re looking at a pelisse or a gown or something in between.
The first gown on the second page (working left to right, top to bottom) is a ballgown. Ballgowns were the most formal gowns women wore with the exception of court dress and court dress has never been a big interest of mine. Court dress was governed by all sort of rules and regulations- a realm I have never wanted to dive into. The ball gown is based on this one from the Museum at FIT. The turban is from this 1815 fashion plate. Turbans were super popular in the 1810s.
The dress with the spencer is basically a walking costume. The Spencer was a jacket version of the pelisse. Both were cut to follow the lines of the dress. Spencers come in all different styles. A few that inspired this one include this 1815 yellow silk version and this March 1812 version from Ladies’ Magazine.
The Ladies’ Magazine was published in London starting in August of 1770. If I am remembering my fashion history correctly, it was the first magazine to publish a fashion plate, though the idea was quickly copied by French and German publications. My understanding is that Ladies’ Magazine was less expensive than some of the other fashion magazines of the era and the quality of the fashion plates shows this difference. Still, it’s a pretty amazing document. I have digressed a lot from our paper doll, so let’s finish up with the dinner dress.
And that’s it! More, I am certain, than you wanted to know about Regency fashion and inspiration for this regency paper doll set. Tomorrow, I’ll share Vivian’s steampunk traveling suit for my Patrons.
One of my favorite things is taking a historical silhouette and just playing with it. It’s pretty much just a chance to draw pretty dresses for paper dolls. Don’t get me wrong, I love doing variety (like this Cybergoth Set), but I think anyone whose a regular here knows my first loves are the fantasy and historical stuff.
The fantasy stuff is easier than the historical stuff, because there’s no research involved. I simply am unable to call something historical if I haven’t actually done some research to back up that claim. And sometimes, I just don’t wanna do research.
Despite the research free nature of these dresses, they are based on Regency Era styles. In my head, the dress on the left with the yellow skirt is a ballgown, because it is the lowest cut and fanciest. The dresses on the left are a dinner dress (the blue one) and day dress (the one with the vest).
If you want some actual regency dresses, rather than these regency fantasy dresses, I recommend my Regency tag and as I was working on this post, I realized I do have other regency fantasy dresses- enough that maybe I should make a tag for that too, so I did.
I now have a regency inspired tag for all my non-historical forays into this silhouette, including my regencycore modern stuff which I think I’m going to draw more of. I really enjoy drawing romantic dresses. And yes, I am eagerly waiting for season 3 of Bridgerton.
Meanwhile, this is Newsletter week, so if you haven’t, sign up and get an extra paper doll coloring page in your inbox every two weeks.
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