brunette

Cogs & Gears: Steampunk Printable Paper Doll

So, if this paper doll seems vaguely familiar, that’s likely because I have done steampunk things before for Marisole and for Curves. I openly admit I think William Gibson’s Difference Engine is among the boringest books I have ever tried to read; however, I do love anything which lets me play with Victorian fashion and not have my natural need to research to overwhelm me. There might be better steampunk books out there. Suggestions anyone?

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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}

So, if this paper doll seems vaguely familiar, that’s likely because I have done steampunk things before for Marisole and for Curves. I openly admit I think William Gibson’s Difference Engine is among the boringest books I have ever tried to read; however, I do love anything which lets me play with Victorian fashion and not have my natural need to research to overwhelm me. There might be better steampunk books out there. Suggestions anyone?

I feel I should add, I love many of Gibson’s other books including the fantastic art work Agrippa which the librarian in me both loves and hates. Seriously, a mind-blowing piece of artistic work.

Okay, I’m done gushing now about digital poetics which technically have no place on this blog. This blog is about more important things like paper dolls.

So, speaking of paper dolls, today’s Marisole is considerably more brightly colored then my last foray into Steampunk. I like the brighter colors and though I tend to think of the Victorian era as sepia toned, I know the reality is that it was a horribly gaudy era of fashion since chemical dyes had just been invented.

Empire Elegance: Regency Paper Doll Printable

I love regency costume, though not as much as my Mother loves it. I find it simple and elegant and a little romantic, but it can get boring to draw after a while. I try to learn new things about the era each time I draw it- like I learned elastic actually existed (who knew?) and was being used for garters.

Never would have thought of that.

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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}

Days seem slip away quicker than I can blink and suddenly I am realizing time has passed. I suppose that’s the danger of having many commitments on my time- I’m always stretched thinner then I thought I would be. Working while going to school is incredibly forefilling and incredibly challenging. I love my program. I love my job, but my time is a premium. Fortunately, I paper doll to relax, so as long as I know what I am going to do, I can sit down on my couch with my clip board in my lap and draw away when I get home from work. Sure my dishes get neglected, but who needs dishes?

I’m still playing around with skin tones for Marisole, eventually I’ll get a set of them that I like on multiple computers.

Marisole Monday: An Elven Princess

So, a paper doll set! Yay!

I must confess that I didn’t think I would ever get these paper dolls done. The coloring of the clothing was hugely time consuming and I kept disliking how the schemes turned out. I’m still not totally pleased with the gold and red ballgown, but it’s much better then the blue and green version. (Trust me on this one.)

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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}

The original goal was to draw things with trains (because I need practice) and this evolved into a set of clothing a fantasy princess (in this case Elven cause of the ears) would wear over the course of the day. Working left to right, the purple gown with the corset and white blouse is her day dress. The red and gold dress with the cream under dress is her formal dinner gown or ball gown which she wears in the evening. Her short bed jacket is next held closed with a golden pin and that she wears over her long nightgown which is on the far right along with two pairs of shoes. The purple shoe to match her purple day dress and the red shoes to go with her formal ball-gown. She also has two necklaces, one to go with each gown though the gold one can be worn with either dress.

Considering the time it took to get all these paper doll clothes to fit on one image, I am glad I don’t draw dresses with trains so often. I do think I need to start thinking about color schemes when I’m designing rather then at ten pm on Sunday night when I realize “Huh… this paper doll dress has like five layers. Maybe I should’ve thought this out better…”

Planning never was my strong suit, but I like to think that I make up for it with a can-do attitude and a certain amount of gumption.

Edit 8/10/2013: There is now a a black and white version of this paper doll for coloring.

Jessica: City Girl

Today’s paper doll is named after a friend in middle school who always said she was going to leave Juneau and head off into the city down south (when you’re in Alaska, the habit is to call anything outside of the state “South”. It’s a matter of perspective I suppose). Eventually, I think she ended up at college in New York, so I suppose it worked out for her, though I lost track of her since then.

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

It’s funny how people we’re close with at one point in our lives drift away from us later. I hadn’t thought about Jessica until I was trying to name this paper doll and then for some reason she came back to me. Odd how the mind works.

Coloring the paper dolls is always a bit of a crap shoot. How they show up after converting them into PNG’s is always a bit of a shock. Colors are always more muted. Sometimes I like it, but it can play havoc on skin tone. I think I managed okay with Jessica’s coloring, but I wish the brightness of the coat had converted better. Oh well, I suppose I’ll just have to keep messing with formats.

She’s also the first paper doll to be posted in a vertical print format, not a landscape print format. Just something to remember when you’re printing out the PDF.

Marisole Monday: Ahoy Matey- Pirate 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}

So, I haven’t died. I promise.

My friend says to me: You know, if your blog were a child, Social Services would have been called by now.

And I said: If my blog was a child, there would be other more serious concerns.

And she said: Update your damn blog.

And I said: Meh.

And then about a week passed. And here we are. With a blog update. Proving to my mother, who gets concerned about me, that I am, in fact, not dead.

PS: The colors got messed up when I saved it into a web format, so I recommend downloading it.

Snow Day: Printable Paper Doll

So, sometimes I don’t know what to draw. On these occasions, I usually poll friends looking for ideas. In one night, I might get suggests ranging from “ballerina” to “mad scientist” or “snow day”. Obviously, I decided to go with the “snow day” suggestion and I was told that I “had” to add a snowball and a snowman, so Marisole gets her snowman and her snowball.

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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}

When I was a child, my favorite paper dolls had accessories. I don’t think I’m that good at drawing things other then people to do a lot of accessories, but even I can draw a snowball. I’d like to someday draw other accessories for Marisole. I think she needs a pet, but I can’t decide what kinda pet and drawing animals isn’t my gift. We’ll see.

Edit 1/6/2014: Get a colorable version of this paper doll to print here.

Pretty In Steampunk: Printable Paper Doll

So, steampunk is not something I know a lot about.

I tried to get through William Gibson’s Difference Engine and around page thirty I decided life was too short.

(Of course, I also feel this way about most of Charles Dickens and the entire Wheel of Time Series.)

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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}

Despite my inability to get through any modern version of the genre, I do enjoy the old scientific romances such as Time Machine and Tono-Bungay which is not a scientific romance, but I have been reading and enjoying at the recommendation of a friend. Though lesser known then others of Well’s novels, I’m enjoying it as much as I did Time Machine.

Anyway, this paper doll post is dedicated to a few friends who are very into Steampunk and without this flicker group, it just wouldn’t have happened. Thank goodness for that. Of course, knowing a fair bit about Victorian costume, it was hard to not want to draw everything to be actually period and that’s not the point. I did my best, but expect another post like this whenever I feel inspired again.

Oh, and you might want to cut along the sleeves of the blouses next to the dolls body to make it easier to layer her clothing with this set. The more I draw for Marisole, the more her arm placement annoys me. A perfect paper doll pose is such an impossible goal.

Prom Night 2010: Printable Paper Doll with Dresses

When I went to prom back in highschool, the dresses seemed to echo the movies of the time. Lots of Titanic-like high waists and layers of black net over red satin.

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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}

There was only one store to really buy a prom dress at and the women who owned it would only sell one of each style during the prom season, so that you could be assured you were wearing the only one of your dress at the dance.

These days, according to the internet, short styles are much more in fashion, but I had to draw a long traditional dress for my own preferences in that regard. All of these dresses are based on actual styles. Though I would never wear it, my favorite is the layer purple on with the strapless bodice. It’s very 1908’s which seems to be the decade that has come back to haunt us now. I’m not sure how I feel about this.

Princess In Pink: Printable Paper Doll

Today’s Marisole has her being a fantasy maiden, possibly a Princess, once more. I do love my princess fantasy gowns.

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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 know people have expressed some interest in seeing the process I go through to draw a paper doll. I never know how to show people what I do, but I scanned the dress on the far left with the blue in it during some of it’s stages of creation.

First of all, the dress was a simple pencil outline. And then I drew a detailed pencil version which had some pattern and folds and other things added. The version you see above is after it’s been inked and colored. As you might notice, the inked version is a little different then the final penciled version. Sometimes, I mess up while inking and just sort of go with it.

So, there’s a little look into some of the stages the paper dolls I draw go through.

Edit 3/28/2016: There is now a black and white version of this paper doll. Find it here.

Green Princess: African-American Printable 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}

So, funny story about this paper doll. I actually drew three dresses for her originally. I inked them, scanned them, colored them and even added my tabs. Then I noticed at one of the dresses seemed to be missing a sleeve. I thought- Nah, I can’t have forgotten to draw a sleeve for Marisole’s left arm, because not even I am that much of a space cadet.

Then I tried the dress on the doll and… well, apparently I am that much of a space cadet.

Needless to say, it was not easily fixable through the power of Photoshop, though I did try, so the princess paper doll version of Marisole only gets two dresses.

Moral of the story: Check for sleeves before inking paper doll costumes.

On an unrelated note, I’m pleased how Marisole’s hair turned out.