I almost didn’t post this paper doll dress for the Lady of the Manor. I felt like I had left her alone for so long that I wasn’t sure it was worth finishing her, but then I felt like I had this last dress and it was scanned, so I might as well post it anyway.
I might have more to write about it in the morning, but I am very tired tonight, so I think I’ll crawl into bed. Enjoy the ballgown.
Drawing a zombie paper dolls was the source of some slight worry when I turned down a shopping invite because, and I quote, “I need to draw clothing for a dead chick.”
Of course, like any paper doll, dead or otherwise, the clothing is the most important printable paper doll bit, so here we have a nice set of clothes for the printable zombie version of Marisole. But no shoes. I couldn’t seem to get them right.
Truth be told, doing this Marisole set meant I could be a little messier then I usually am. I let myself have rough edges and I didn’t freak out when my inking went bad. It was okay. After all, she was a zombie and distressed fashion was totally all right. Sometimes, I think the absurd and the playful reminds me why I draw paper dolls to begin with.
So, since someone is threatening to color this paper doll series, I figured I better finish posting it. There’s another paper doll outfit, maybe two, after this. It depends if the paper doll dress I don’t like becomes one I do like. I think I’ll keep not liking it, but I might surprise myself.
It’s Mother’s Day here in the states. I called my mom, of course, but spent the day doing homework at the library. I miss being at home with family for the holiday. Last year, I had a ball taking my mom around Juneau, picking up dirt for the garden and helping her cook dinner. It was a blast. So, being far from home, I miss family more and more.
Florence is an interesting case of paper doll uncertainty. Unlike Marisole whose paper wardrobe is organized based on how I am feeling on any given moment or Curves who have no real trend either, Florence was always intended to end when I had finished a complete trousseau.
Of course, the site crash delayed that point, but I am forging onward trying to finish her, so that I can move on to other Fashion Doll Friday Ideas (like a regency wooden doll or a nineteen fifties hard plastic or a civil war era china head). The problem is that every time I think I’m done, I find another thing I want to make for her. Today, we have a re-print of two paper doll costumes I posted once before.
On the left is the Dinner Dress. Dinner dresses were deisgned to be more formal afternoon frocks and often had long sleeves. A dinner dress could also be worn to lectures or other evening entertainments which were not formal. Another evening activity which required a special sort of dress was the Opera. Opera toilette were intended to be more fanciful then dinner dresses, but still long sleeved. These dresses could be easily redone to be worn as dinner dresses or for other semi-formal occasions.
So, Liana of Liana’s Paper Doll Blog colored in my Regency Teddy Bear paper doll which it very exciting. You can find the black and white original paper doll here. I love what she did with it. Makes me want to start playing with my colored pencils… But I have too much school work right now.
If you missed the first post, than here is Florence, the paper doll whose meant to wear these gowns.
I’d like to say that when I draw things like these, it’s that I actually think wearing them in public would be a good idea unless, you know, you wanted to look like the head of a stud obsessed biker gang or possibly performance art. Still, I think they look cool. I tend to think if I wore them in public I would be asked nicely to go, you know, put on a real shirt.
But I’m perfectly willing to acknowledge guilty pleasure watching of shows like Hercules: The Legendary Journeys and the fact that it creates paper dolls. I mean, drawing paper dolls is a geeky enough hobby without worrying about to much other geekdom coming through.
Quick Announcement: As sometimes happens, real life is going to get in the way of my paper dolling. I try to make these announcements a head of time, rather then just disappearing for a few days. I only kinda succeeded at that this time. PTP will be on break until the 4th of April. Hopefully, not longer then that. See you all then. – Rachel 3/29/2010
I don’t usually think about what sort of stories surround my paper dolls. I rarely draw a paper doll and then think… Hmm… she’s a nice girl with a love of beets who has a long lost sister whose actually a hired gun for the mafia. These just aren’t really the way I work. I know people who do think this way about their work, but I am not one of them.
Except some paper dolls seem like they should have back stories, and the lady is one of them. She is not a princess. She is the lady of the manor. What are her days full of? Is she happy? Is she sad? Is she scheming to poison her husband and run off with a knight? I kinda want a soap opera complex back-story where people have multiple personalities and long lost time traveling children.
Hmmm… I think if there was a paper doll with time traveling children and amnesia and evil twin sisters, I would read it religiously.
Of course, I read most paper doll blogs religiously even if I am bad about commenting, so I guess I’m easy to please.
So, usually I carefully plan out my short run paper dolls. I know how many posts they are going to be. I calculate how much work I’m going to have to do. I do all of these things.
But I scanned this doll at nearly 10pm and it was a rush to get her up tonight, so really I have no idea how many posts she’s going to take up, but I like her and hope you’ll like her too.
Now, it is past my bedtime and tomorrow the library calls with the siren song of homework to do and readings to finish. Man… Graduate school is hard work sometimes.
Anyway, here is Curves in SPACE. I have honestly been wanting to use that title for a post since I came up with it which was…. well, a while ago. I’m still enjoying the Curves paper dolls. They get crazy things to wear in places like SPACE.
In my brain, the outfit on the left is the good space princess outfit worn by the heroine. It has a very 1980’s vibe, but I blame this on my Star Trek: The Next Generation watching childhood. The outfit on the right is the evil space princess outfit. You can tell it’s evil because of the thigh high boots and the slight dominatrix vibe.
Yes, I just used the word dominatrix on a post about paper dolls…
So, confession time: I actually had this done on time, but I put the wrong date into as the date to post. So, my template posted rather then my post and then I just noticed it like two minutes ago and now I am fixing it.
Yeah, I feel like a bit of a space cadet.
Still, here’s the paper doll which should have gone up at midnight and since it’s still the right day, I am not technically late.
I have mixed feelings about this paper doll. I like the lacing, the corset and the hair. I’m less sold on her eyes and face. I try not to be to down on my own work when it doesn’t turn out like I want it too. I draw all the time and it’s not like every paper doll is going to be perfect. The trick is to get back to the pad and do it again. I really do like some things about this set for Curves and I don’t like other things. This is okay.
I don’t think you should ever apologize for your art. Not that this stops me from doing it anyway.
