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A Stylish Paper Doll July: Another Little Summery Paper Doll with a Floral Dress
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Super pleased this with little paper doll. Originally, the floral pattern was going to go on her undies, but it was too large and looked weird. So, I put in on the dress instead.
Very happy with the dress. It was based on one I just bought for a trip, but then didn’t end up wearing. Oh well… I have a conflicted feelings about dresses. I love the idea, but never seem to wear them.
That’s kinda all I got today! Enjoy the printable paper doll coloring page!
A Stylish Paper Doll July: A Little Rainbow Weather Theme
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Like yesterday’s paper doll, today’s paper doll was inspired by some doodles I did of different “themes” for dolls. Once I started really thinking about this project as a project lasting 31 days (oh my) I thought to myself- Self, you need some dolls.
So, I came up with a few themes I liked- strawberries (originally cherries, but strawberries seemed more fun once I started drawing), rainbows and clouds, florals and geometrics. I managed to carve out some time over the weekend to get all of them done and ready, except the geometric one. That one is still in progress.
Today is weather themed and tomorrow will be flowers.
As always, I find it much easier when I batch my work. I tend to work on several things at once.
A Stylish Paper Doll July: Braids & Strawberries & Sundresses
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Inspiration:
- The Attempt to Make a Braid Brush
One of the cool things about Procreate is that you can build your own brush shapes. One of the things I wanted to try was building a braid brush. I tried to follow this tutorial which was excellent, but the results weren’t what I really wanted.
In the process, I became sort of obsessed with drawing a paper doll with box braids- hence how I ended up here with this cute little black paper doll with braids. Because once I get an idea in my head, I tend to try to push through.
Or I don’t. It really depends.
While there’s a few things I would do differently next time, I think the braids came out pretty well. I didn’t figure-out how to make a functional braid brush, but I’m not crying over that. I am not convinced that I like brushes- I mean, I like brushes, but some of the shaped ones are not as useful as I’d have thought if you’d asked me when I started with Procreate. I don’t love how they look and I sort of like hand-drawing things, because I like to draw. If I was working in color, I might feel differently.
I think playing around with the sizes of line gave me a lot of the texture I was looking for and, as a first try, the hair looks pretty dang good. So, I’m proud of it.
Today’s paper doll is part of a series of paper dolls I sketched out all the at the same time (I was in an airport), each of which had a single summery outfit (mostly dresses) and different patterns on their underwear. There will be two more that I’ll share tomorrow and the next day.
For this one, I designed a strawberry and polkadot pattern. There were also flowers, but the flowers looked way too much like the polkadots from a distance, so they didn’t make it to the final finished piece. One thing I am still learning is how thing scale and resize when working purely digitally. The ability to zoom in and zoom out messes with me.
Additionally, this paper doll did inspire me to work on a strawberry themed Lolita dress which I hopefully will finish before the month is out. I think I will. It’s nearly done. I wanted to practice ruffles and that seemed a great way to do that.
Happy Independence Day in the USA
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Sources:
- The jeans worn by a waitress in Indiana
Most years I try to do an Independence Day paper doll or paper doll outfit. I didn’t want to give up that tradition this year. So, here’s my Independence Day paper doll. (Halloween might be my next most common paper doll holiday.)
Last month, I found myself at the University of Indiana campus during their new student orientations. I was not there for student orientation, but the bustling atmosphere provided me with an opportunity to observe clothing trends among students, which I always enjoy. Cropped shirts paired with high-waisted jeans and frayed hems seemed to be popular.
The jeans are based on a pair worn by a waitress at a place where I was eating lunch one day. I don’t think she noticed me sketching her pants which is good, because that might be been kinda awkward for both of us.
On this Independence Day, I find myself wrestling with mixed feelings towards the United States. It’s a scary time for a lot of people and a lot of them are very close to me.
However, despite the current political climate, I want the USA to be better and I believe it can be. I think most people are basically decent. Unfortunately, I also study history, so I know that decent people can and will do horrible things to each other.
Anyway, I am desperately trying to be optimistic about the future. So, I thought I would do my 4th of July paper doll as usual. I couldn’t quite bring myself to be as patriotic as I sometimes am, so stars were my compromise.
I wish everyone a safe and enjoyable day in the USA today however you celebrate (or don’t) or a pleasant Tuesday wherever you may be.
By the way, I’ve started numbering these paper dolls to avoid the hassle of coming up with titles. This particular creation is number 4, for those of you who are keeping track.
I’ll need 31 if I get one up every day in July. We shall see!
Citrus in Color!
So, you might remember this Citrus Summer paper doll.
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.
Citrus Summer Paper Doll
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So, like what does it say when you share a piece with another artist and they immediately send you a tutorial and are like… you might want to watch this?
Personally, I think it says you have great friends who want you to improve and know you want to improve.
This is what happened when I emailed Julie Matthews all excited by my second finished digitally drawn paper doll where I proudly said I’d “varied my line-weight”. Julie nicely called my line weight variations “subtle” which I think is polite for “you can’t tell you did that, friend” and sent me this lesson from Proko on Line Weight which was really helpful.
Moral of this story, which I sort of told in this week’s email newsletter: If you want to get better at something, you need to have honest people who can give you informed feedback. So, become friends with people who are better than you at something and are kind enough to be willing to be honest with their observations. Be open to those things and improving your craft (whatever that is), becomes so much easier.
I am incredibly lucky to have Julie to help and her feedback consistently makes my work better.
I often think of this Neil Gaiman quote, “Remember: when people tell you something’s wrong or doesn’t work for them, they are almost always right. When they tell you exactly what they think is wrong and how to fix it, they are almost always wrong.” He was talking about writing, but the same thing applies to any creative piece of work. In art, there are “correct” things- like ‘hey, that foot is backwards,’ but once you get into choices that are purely aesthetic, then you need to listen to your own voice and your own taste. Make the art you want to see in the world. Not the art someone else wants to see in the world.
But as long as I am quoting Gaiman, I also think of this one a lot- “Remember that, sooner or later, before it ever reaches perfection, you will have to let it go and move on and start to write the next thing. Perfection is like chasing the horizon. Keep moving.” He’s talking about writing, clearly, but it is true of anything creative. You can endless edit. You can endlessly tweak.
I look at this paper doll and I see a dozen things I might “fix.”
That’s okay. Because there’s going to be a next time. So, the best thing I do can is share it here. Declare it done and make the next one.
There’s always a next one. Especially when you are, like me right now, learning new tools. You have to leave space for letting go and moving forward.
So, onto the next digitally drawn paper doll!
Nordic Winter Wishes: The February Printable Paper Doll
Download 3 Page Black and White PDF | Download 3 Page Color PDF | More 365 Paper Dolls
For those of you who have been following along in my newsletter, you’ll likely notice there’s a few extra pieces on this set (specifcally the winter coat and one pair of the shoes). I went back and forth about what to do with that coat. I’m not 100% sure it will layer over all the sweaters and I didn’t feel right giving just one of the dolls a coat (what if the other dolls get cold?). So, I thought- I’ll just keep it as a fun extra for folks when they get the whole set.
Another little detail I didn’t talk about in the newsletters was the coffee cups. I don’t know why I thought it was a fun idea to draw a mug for every paper doll with a different motif, but I did and so I drew one. To give a secret look at my process- I actually did all this layout and design work before I split it up for the newsletters. I’m very happy with how it turned out.
A few differences in these dolls and my usual stuff- I gave the dolls permanent shoes. I go back and forth on this a lot. I used to be strictly anti-attached shoes. But then I spoke with my 5 year old niece and she was deeply bothered by my paper dolls that didn’t have shoes.
So, I realized that shoes were more important than I had often thought. If you’re an attached shoes fan, you can thank her for showing me the error of my ways (though I still think I’m a bit ambivalent on the subject.) And I tend to think it depends on the paper doll- like mermaids SHOULD not have attached shoes.
That’s just silly.
Speaking of shoes- largely thanks to the shoes, there’s over 85 outfit combinations- well over 100 if you add in the scarf or the coat into the mix. So, that’s super fun!
Anyway, I hope you enjoy this collection of paper dolls as much I enjoyed drawing and sharing them all with you!
The Vivian Dolls Collection 1
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Tanya has a Formal Evening
Download the 2 Page Black and White PDF | Download the 2 Page Color PDF | More Talia Tuesday & Friends Dolls
Today, we have Tanya with some evening gowns. This set has actually been sitting on my computer for way longer than I like to admit. However, it’s done now, so that’s okay.
Tanya’s last collection was very fantasy themed, so I thought she should get some more modern things, but I confess now I feel like the poor girl needs some pants. I’m not 100% in love with how her afro-puff came out, but I can live with that. I think that angle is wrong…
I digress.
All right, so yeah, paper doll! I know for like Search Engine Optimization I should really try to write between 300 and 500 words per post, but I haven’t got that much to say here. It’s a cute printable black paper doll. That’s kinda all I got today.
Vivian: The Original Project
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The Vivian Doll Herself
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