contemporary

Pixie: Zoe

It’s the New Year.

Time for changes, adventure, excitement and a brand new paper doll series. Yay.

pixie-paper-doll-zoe-150

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

The Pixie paper dolls will go up every Sunday. They are, obviously, full color printable paper dolls inspired partly by Marisole and partly by the desire for another full color series. There will also be a few other major changes for the new year, but we’ll get to those as we do. I don’t want to say things and then have them not happen.

Unlike Marisole (whose hair is redrawn each time but nothing else is), the Pixie’s have their whole heads changed each time and this lets me play with characters and expressions and things in ways I can’t really with Marisole (well, I could, but I don’t cause it feels weird).

The first of the new paper doll series is Zoe. Zoe is named for a girl who I played with when I was in middle school. Since I live in graduate and international housing, the paper doll was also inspired by a Chinese girl who sat across from me in class for a semester. I really doubt she knew I was examining her face for future paper doll fodder or even noticed. The resulting doll looks nothing like her, but the early doodles did give me the confidence to try to draw epicanthic fold (I think it’s called) on a paper doll.

New Year’s Party: Printable Paper Doll

I don’t celebrate Christmas, so there was never going to be any sort of Christmas paper doll from me though I have enjoyed other’s forays into that genre. But I do celebrate the New Year in traditional style which is to say, I get together with friends and party.

curves-news-years-paper-doll-150

{Click Here for a PDF to Print} {Click Here for a PNG to Print} {Click Here For the Rest of the Series}

I wanted to draw some party dresses for Curves and that meant sketching a pair of short flirty dresses. Though I must confess openly, that the dress on the left (with the puffed top) is not the most flattering thing I have ever drawn for Curves. Of course, I suspect it wouldn’t be that flattering on anyone.

In other website news, I’m excited to offer a preview of something coming starting in January. I’ll be starting a new paper doll series and here is a little preview of what they’ll be looking like. So, you can expect a new full color printable paper doll set starting January 2nd, which is a Sunday for those who are counting.

Oh, and as long as you’re here, why not vote in the poll on the sidebar and help decide the future layout of this little corner of the web?

Nautical Girl: Fashion Paper Doll to Print

nautical-marisole-150
{Click Here for a PDF to Print} {Click Here for a PNG to Print} {Click Here for the rest of this series}
There’s something very 4th of July about today’s paper doll. That wasn’t my intention for this paper doll, though I think she does have a red white and blue scheme thing going. I remember reading over the summer that nautical was in style, though I have to confess my interest in fashion extends as far looking for things to turn into paper dolls, much to the amusement of my friends who often make fun of me buying fashion magazines and then just looking at the pictures.

On a totally unrelated note, there is a new poll up- basically I’m curious to know if people like the comic press format or think I should convert back to a traditional blog format. I’m not promising to follow the results (since the level of technical difficulty to convert will be a factor in my final decision and I haven’t looked into that), but I am curious what other people think.

Update 8/11/2014: This paper doll is now available in black and white for coloring. You can find her here.

Black and White Printable Paper Doll from the Marisole Monday Series

Black and white printable paper doll Marisole Monday

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

I had a request from a regular commenter named Sara to do a Marisole as a black and white printable paper doll. I thought- Sure, I can do that. How hard can it be? I forgot what I learned from doing a Marisole post in two different color schemes (a gothic scheme and a pastel scheme) that it’s harder than you might think.

Still, I think the outcome is rather fun. I openly confess that I never thought of Marisole in black and white, but I think the paper doll is cute in that format. And it gives people a chance to color if they wish.

When I was working on it, I did think maybe I’d start regularly posting in both styles, but then I decided that was just too much work.

Want more paper dolls? Check out my Master Paper Doll Index. If you love the mod style of today’s paper doll, I have a few more paper doll forays into the 1960s that you might enjoy.

Modern Girl: Fashion Dress up Doll

paper-doll-marisole-modern-girl-150

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

Today’s Marisole paper doll started as an attempt to a modern take on some fun Mod clothes and then kinda turned into just a bright citrus based series of Marisole clothing. This is the sort of clothing I would never wear, but would admire and be glad other people wore it.

After all, I can live vicariously through my paper dolls.

Red Carpet: Printable Paper Doll with Dresses

 

curves-red-carpet-150

{Click Here for a PDF to Print} {Click Here for a PNG to Print} {Click Here For the Rest of the Series}

I’ve really been enjoying Liana’s posts over at her blog lately. I love that she’s making them more substantive. I always want to do that with my posts, but I also feel like I don’t have a lot to say. There is, also I suspect, a fair bit of general tiredness thrown in there. By the time a paper doll is ready to post, I am usually tired and not very interested or capable of writing intelligently.

It is something I am trying to work on.

On that vein, I would like to bring up one of my favorite websites which is Arabella Greyson’s site. Considering some of my other favorite websites are Go Fug Yourself and Jacket Magazine, it shouldn’t surprise anyone I have a soft spot for Greyson’s site which includes a selection from her collection of black paper dolls along with articles about her collection and about the question of race in relation to paper dolls. I remember reading about the famous baby doll experiment done by Kenneth and Mamie Clark in the 1940s and being fascinated by how children internalize the messages of toys. Though the more I read about it, the more concerned I become about the internal messages of my own paper dolls… then I remind myself not to over think these things.

Little Bit Geeky: Blue Haired Printable Paper Doll

I’ve been having some trouble with corruption of my PDF files when I save them. It’s not something I can easily test for, but I am working on a fix. Until I get it done, I’ll be correcting the problems with the paper doll files as I notice them. So, keep eyes open for answers. In the short run, there is a new PDF of the Curves paper doll post,Curves: Cute and Sassy for people to download if they want it.

marisole-bluehair-glasses-paper-doll-150

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

I almost didn’t get this up tonight. It’s actually like 15 minutes past midnight and I was about ready to say forget it, but if I keep letting myself not post than I start to feel guilty about not posting and then I just get more behind. It’s a cycle. Here’s to breaking it. I often wonder how other paper doll bloggers keep themselves from totally losing it over the amount of work involved in producing paper doll stuff every day.

Also, this is my first Marisole paper doll with glasses. So that’s kinda cool.

Cute and Sassy: Printable Paper Doll

Curves: Cute and Sassy

{Click Here for a PDF to Print}{Click Here for a PNG to Print} {Click Here For the Rest of the Series}

It’s been a long few days between work and classes, so Curves is a slightly late paper doll today. Her dress is based off one I own and wear all the time. (I never thought I’d love dresses as much as I do. It’s like one step dressing for work.) The tank top is based off an image in Anthropologie, but it was from a few years ago. I do love Anthroplogie’s clothing, but they are so expensive that I just admire from a distance.

Edit: I have removed the PDF file link for the moment, because for some reason the file seems to have a coding problem which is turning out to be too complicated for me to get fixed tonight (’tis late and I am tired). Thanks to Corissia who noticed it. I will get it fixed within the next few days. Until then, you can print from the PNG file.

Edit: The PDF file has been fixed. So good news on that front.

Spring: A Fashion Paper Doll to Print

I drew this paper doll three years ago. I was living with two wonderful roommates in college. It was a wonderful year. It brings back fond memories of my senior year of college. Also, of trying to teach my friend how to cook… or trying. I don’t know how successful I was. I’ve lived by myself for two years now and I find I miss the company.

paperdoll-spring-150

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

Whenever I draw a paper doll that I know is only going to be one page, I find I think carefully about what sorts of clothing she would need. I imagine Spring is a model or at least well enough off to afford beautiful clothing. She has her casual carpi pants, her afternoon dress for lunches or other more formal events and then her long evening gown for when she needs to go to some sort of paper doll black tie event. I like drawing evening gowns, so my paper dolls go to a lot of black tie evening events. My favorite is her evening gown, but what do the rest of you think?

Modern Girl: Marisole Monday Printable Paper Doll

ne of the challenges of drawing clothing for the Marisole paper doll is to make sure things seem to fit together thematically. It’s easy to do when the theme is zombie or fantasy or steampunk, but it is harder when I’m dealing with contemporary clothing. So, I try to do it with color. By making sure I use a consistant set of colors throughout the paper doll, I can make it look like an actual set of clothing that a person might own… if, you know, they were the most color organized person on the planet.

paper-doll-marisole-tailored-150

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


paperdoll-tailored-miniLiana has written before about how when she is paper dolling everything seems to fall into “paper doll” form. I find the same thing is true for me. When I am in the midst of thinking in terms of paper dolls clothing, everything I see becomes me wondering if I could draw it. I love the fall and spring when the big name fashion houses are putting out their new collections. Magazines are always full of clothing, so I can pick up one or two and sit on my couch looking for ideas.

As with last week’s Marisole paper doll, I ended up playing with the paper doll a little. I shouldn’t make a habit of it, because it just creates more work for me. And more work is not what I need when I’m trying to keep this site up and running. Still, it is fun to play when I have time. I’m fairly excited about this Marisole paper doll, because I think I finally got a caucasian skin tone I like which is fairly exciting. Skin tones are very difficult. I want them to be the same, so the dolls can share shoes among each other, but I also want to like the skin-tones.