redhead

Boldly Going… A Star Trek Paper Doll

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Blame my mother.

This is all her fault.

She is the reason I love Star Trek and part of the reason I love paper dolls. When I was a child, I was allowed to stay up half an hour later with her to finish watching Star Trek: The Next Generation if my teeth were brushed and I was in my nightgown. When I was in middle school, I started watching Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Recently, I have begun to watch the original series on DVD from the library. In short, I am a bit of a Trekkie- though I like to think a fairly harmless one.

I am sure true die-hard Trekkies could tell me everything that I got wrong on these paper dolls, but I can’t really be bothered to care. I will say this though- finding a decent reference photograph for the shoes worn by those characters was a pain in the behind and I’m still not sure I got them right. Oh well, you win some and you lose some. Feet are not often shown in television episodes.

I heard somewhere (trustworthy source that) that there was a rule in Star Trek that you weren’t supposed to show any fasteners. I don’t really get why. I mean, lacing up clothing has been done for centuries, not to mention buttons. I figure people would hard pressed to invent a better system, but I suppose it does subtly convey the sense of “futuristic” in an interesting way.

Neapolitan Ice Cream: Steampunk Printable Paper Doll

I don’t normally start with a color scheme. I normally start with an idea and then worry about how to color it, but with this paper doll set I started with a color scheme. I knew I wanted to do something with browns and creams. The pink came from the desire to pick a contrasting color that was warm rather then cool.

marisole-napoleon-ice-cream

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I decided to name this paper doll set after that ice cream with the vanilla, chocolate and strawberry stripes that I always used to think was called Napoleon Ice Cream, but I realized later that it actually had nothing to do with short militaristic Frenchmen and was actually called Neapolitan Ice Cream after the city of Naples. So, I’m glad I found that out before I wrote this post and sounded like a total ditz. I take some pride in only being a partial ditz.

I’m actually quite pleased with how this paper doll came out. I really like the contrast of the red hair with the brown and pink color scheme, though I confess I originally tried her out with every other hair color since I felt like I have done a lot of redheads and then I gave up and decided didn’t care. I’ve likes redheads ever since I saw Anne of Green Gables on TV as a child.

Fantasy Printable Paper Doll Set in Black & Purple

Inspiration for today’s printable paper doll includes the Victorian era, gothic fashion, fantasy gowns, and playing with ruffles. I have been practicing my ruffle drawing skills lately and I think I am improving. Maintaining my gothic inspiration, I gave today’s Marisole paper doll piercings and some red hair to set off that purple. (I don’t know how I feel about the skintone though. I’m not totally keen on giving Marisole fair skin.)

There were a few more pieces of clothing for this printable paper doll then could be easily fit on the page, so I lost the title and just sort of went for it. I intended the white dress to be a slip to be worn underneath the other costumes, but, of course, it could also be a sun dress. I’m not totally pleased with how the ruching turned out on the hem of it, but what can you do?

A fantasy printable paper doll set with a redheaded paper doll and several pieces of black and purple mix and match clothing options. Free to print from paperthinpersonas.com

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

This Marisole Paper Doll came out of the same doodle session as my Tokyo meets Georgia paper doll, though I finished the Tokyo meets Georgia one sooner. I tend to do a lot of thumbnail doodling and then those doodles become paper dolls, but sometimes not until weeks later. Paper doll creation is actually a very slow, multi-stepped process and I am nearly always working on several things at once. I mention all this, because sometimes I think people assume that it’s a “one set” at a time kinda gig when, in truth, I am usually working on five or seven or nine sets at one time and they get finished when I feel like it.

This is mostly because sometimes I feel like drawing, sometimes I feel like coloring and sometimes I feel like doing layout work. (Okay, I never “feel” like doing layout work, but it has gotta be done.)

Perhaps not a perfect system, but it works for me. 🙂

Pixie: Flora

A flower fairy paper doll named Flora with a mix and match wardrobe. From paperthinpersonas.com
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When I was a child, I loved the work of Cicely Mary Barker who did wonderful illustrations of fairies and is now quite the commercial enterprise thanks to Penguin. When I was reading them, of course, they weren’t as big as they are now. She died in 1973. My neighbor had an address book with an illustration for each letter (all 26) and I remember being enchanted by them as a child.

Now, I confess I am well aware that actual fairy folklore is considerably darker then the short of cute little flower fairy which the Victorian’s brought us, but the flower ones are easier to draw. What does a Banshee wear anyway? Well… that might be a question to answer at Halloween.

And have I mentioned there’s a poll?

Zombie Chic- An Undead Paper Doll to Print

Like a zombie from the dead, PTP has returned.

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.”

It’s a good thing my friends know me.

marisole-zombie-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}

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.

Funky Fashion Girl: Printable Paper Doll

Unless, I am suffering from some sort of delusion (which is totally possible) I seem to recall someone asking for a redheaded Marisole. I originally just kept the dusky skin tone I usually use and gave her redhead, but it clashed and looked really bad, so I decided I better change her skintone too. I’ve had a thing for redheads ever sense I saw Anne of Green Gables on television.

marisole-redhead-artsy-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}

Sometimes, I can’t think of anything funny, witting or really happy to write here. I’m having a rough month. Still, there are always pretty paper dolls.

Oh, and this is one of those paper dolls that the websave photoshop feature kinda messed up the color. I do recommend downloading the pdf to get the full bright tones. I need to figure out a way around that… But not tonight.

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

Fashion Girl: Part 2

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{Click Here for a PDF to Print} {Click Here for a 150 dpi PNG to Print} {Click Here for The Doll to Dress}

So, I rambled on during the first post for this paper doll about the Pantone color trend books Spring 2010 and Spring 2009, so I will spare you that ramble. As I have said a lot of times, I have some trouble with colors. I think partly because I use the computer to color my dolls online, the colors tend to be hyper saturated and I don’t always like that, so getting to use the Pantone colors was a lot of fun.

Tomorrow, there shall either be steam or snow for Marisole… depending on which one I finish first, I think.