Today, I am sharing a pair of Abigail dolls to dress up. Abigail has a warm brown skin-tone. Just like my other two doll sets, I wanted the two different versions of Abigail to be pretty different.
So, Abigail on the left has a natural hair style and Abigail on the right has pastel purple hair. Personally (in my head) the left paper doll is a modern girl and the right paper doll is maybe from the future where pastel hair is in style?
Unless pastel hair is in style now and no one told me. I mean, I’m not usually on the cutting edge of hair trends. Clothing trends I do keep pretty good track of. Hair is harder.
As always, a big thank you to my Patrons and if you’d like to help out the blog by making a donation, you can do that over on the Patreon page.
The first two Bridget paper dolls were both red heads. I do love red headed paper dolls. I blame it on reading Anne of Green Gables as a young child.
Anyway, I felt like poor Bridget deserved a non-redhead version, so I designed these two dolls to a a blond and a brunette.
Also, the other two Bridget paper dolls both have fairly straight hair. Therefore, these two have curls. I am trying to increase paper doll diversity after all and I can’t exactly do that if I just draw the same style Bridget paper dolls every time.
What I don’t have yet is an “unusual hair color” Bridget, so I guess that’s next up for her someday. Maybe blue or green hair… I’m not sure. I haven’t crossed that bridge yet.
What hair color would you like to see for Bridget? Let me know in a comment! I love to hear from you.
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Today, there are two new versions of Akiko, my Asian A pose lady paper doll, to be dressed up. A pair of dress up dolls, if you will.
For me, a paper doll you can’t dress up has no interest. Don’t get me wrong, there are some beautiful jointed dolls made from paper out there. I’m in awe of the engineering that goes into these creations, but for me the whole point of paper dolls is that you can dress them up. It’s the ease at which a doll goes from being a princess to a ninja to a post-apocalyptic warrior that engages me.
I mention this, because I regularly sacrifice variety for versatility. I chose, when I began the Dames and Dandies, that I would focus on four skin tones for each pose and three poses to begin with. That’s not the end, of course, but I made that choice knowing I was limiting the whole glorious spectrum of human beings to 12 skintones, two genders and three bodies.
Sounds pretty limited when I put it that way, doesn’t it?
But within those limitations (chosen in part for my own sanity as much as anything else) I wanted to create as much versatility as I could. By choosing just three bodies, I thought I would be able to create a variety of roles for those bodies to take on from steampunk to goth to flapper.
And within the limitations of those three bodies, I wanted variety as well. So Akiko has gotten to visit the 1920s and wear Lolita street fashion. And here are two more versions of her to be dressed up. There’s a blond version and a glasses wearing brunette. My second paper doll recently with glasses.
If I have one major regret about my three bodies, it is that none of them are plus-sized. As a curvy woman, I regret that I didn’t start with a curvy figure as well. However, I’ve been on a curvy figure drawing kick lately and I have three curvy paper dolls in the works. One will be my model for Inktober. The other two… I’m not sure yet. None of them are to scale with the Dames and Dandies, so they won’t be part of that series. What will happen to them, I don’t yet know.
My patrons are usually the first to know about my activities, but I have been posting some to Instagram Stories when I’m sketching and inking. So, join Patreon or follow me on Instagram if you want the latest.
Meanwhile, let me know what you think of today’s Akiko paper dolls in a comment if you have a moment. Love to hear from you.
When I was working on these double doll sets, I realized I hadn’t done any paper dolls for the Dames and Dandies with glasses yet. That seemed like a serious omission given that I wear contacts and can barely see without them. So, I knew I wanted a doll with glasses. The doll on the left has a hairstyle based on how a student who worked for me wore her hair and the doll on the right has blond highlights. That’s actually her second hair style. I really didn’t like the first one I designed, once I saw it on the doll.
That happens sometimes, because I draw all the hair separately and sometimes once I get it fitted to the dolls head, I’m not sure that I like it as much as I did in theory. Fortunately, it’s not hard to draw another one and through the “Power of Photoshop” there’s a lot of options.
Coloring wise, these versions of Beatrix have, of course, the same skin-tone as the other versions of Beatrix. I did however choose to match the paper doll’s glasses to her toenails, like you do.
Meanwhile, I posted a few progress images over on Patreon if you’d like to see some work in progress and my #100dressesproject continues on Instagram. Almost done! I’m in the 90s.
And, as always, I’d love to hear what you think about today’s paper dolls.
Happy Friday! Today, I am super pleased to share Batari, a new B pose doll. Batari is an Indonesian name that means Goddess. Batari went through a few different versions and face lifts before I was settled on her. I don’t want to share things I don’t like, so I sometimes that means revisions are needed. I am very happy with how she came out in the end, even if the process got a little messy.
There might have been some cursing. I’m just saying.
As you might have noticed, there’s not just one Batari paper doll today, there’s two!
I realized I could fit two of any of the dames dolls on a single page and I decided that I would create double doll sets for all the Dames. That’s Abigail, Aisha, Akiko, Alice (in the A Pose) and Beatrix, Benedita, Bridget (in the B Pose). Since I was working on Batari at the time of this realization, her first sets is not one Batari, but two.
Maybe they’re identical twins.
I wanted to do two very different feeling paper dolls. So, the doll on the left has a casual hair style and the doll the right as a fancy up-do and painted nails.
Just like any of the other B Pose paper dolls, Batari can wear any of the B pose clothing, of course. I personally think the casual doll on the left might like some boho clothing while the doll on the left seems more like a gothic fahion girl perhaps. Of course, either could wear this super fantasy kaftan or this armored fantasy gown.
My paper dolls lead interesting lives based on their clothing options, I like to think.
If you love the blog and want to keep it ad free, than consider supporting it through Patreon. Meanwhile, did you know I have been working on drawing 100 dresses and posting the designs on Instagram? It’s been a super fun project and you can check it out on my Instagram feed.
This is the second Abigail paper doll. I tend to draw my new dolls in sets of two, so that there’s at least two of them to start with. I want there to be lots of variety on the blog, but also mix and match options. It’s a constant balancing act between my urge for “all the skin-tones” and the reality that there’s literally millions of them out there and I can’t possibly achieve that.
So, I drew Abigail, because I didn’t already have a black paper doll for the A Pose girls. Her skintone was chosen, because both Cameron and Beatrix (my other two black paper dolls) had the same skintone and I wanted some variety.
As always, I try to give my contemporary dolls three shoes and those shoes are ideally versatile enough to go with evening gowns or fantasy dresses, depending.
As always, a big thank you to my Patrons and if you’d like to help out the blog by making a donation, you can do that over on the Patreon page.
I am super happy to be back! I was traveling and wrapped up in work. I got to go to New Orleans which was so much fun. It was a work trip, but I ate plenty of beinets, gumbo and red beans over rice. I do love a good bowl of gumbo.
As fun as it was to be in the city, it is also so very nice to have returned home to Alabama.
Anyway, today’s paper doll is a new face for the A Pose dames. I think this will be the last new A Pose face for a while. I had a mental goal of getting four faces for each pose (A, B and C) done before I let myself work more on versions and less on faces. There is another version of Abigail already done. It’s a contemporary version with sandals.
I chose the name Abigail for today’s paper doll, because I’ve always liked the name. It’s a Biblical name, for those who aren’t aware, and was the name of King David’s third wife. I’ve known several Abigails in my life and liked them all, so I figured the name was a winner.
Her fantasy dress was inspired by togas and Ancient Greece. Not actual historical Ancient Greece, more like Xena: Warrior Princess. I loved the idea of a loose, graceful, draped garment. Originally, I imagined it would be white (there is a white version over on my Patreon page you can go print), but I thought the white wasn’t as interesting as a color.
Yes, I colored the paper dolls lips to match the dress. Don’t judge me.
Her micro braids were fun. I always feel like they get a bit lost when I color them black (black on black being a thing), I made them purple in the Patreon page version. So, if you think you’d rather have a purple haired version, pop over there and you can download and print that version.
Can I level with you? I like you all, so I think I can level with you.
I drew two Aisha paper dolls when I created her. I figured one contemporary sorta neutral design and one fun cyberpunk design would be handy. I did not plan to post these two one a week from the other. I really didn’t.
But somehow between classes ending and homework (so much homework) and real work and travel, I kinda got way behind on my paper doll drawing habits. So, I have four B Pose paper doll outfits, a new A Pose doll (Maybe named Abigail? Still deciding) and two A Pose outfits all in process, but none of them are done yet.
Some will probably be done tomorrow, but they aren’t done tonight. I figured I could stay up for a few more hours trying to get them done and then posted. However, that tends to lead to mistakes and sleep deprivation.
So, I am sharing cyberpunk Aisha a little sooner than I had planned to. But no harm in that, I do love my cyberpunk. The white and pink strappy top was the first thing I drew for this outfit and then the rest of the design kinda followed. For the record, I think I wouldn’t mind living in a world where one could painstakingly match your hair to your outfit.
Also for the record, I am super lazy when it comes to dressing and if this was an option, I would probably never do it.
The first version of Bridget was made for St. Patrick’s Day. I knew though that I wanted a second version of Bridget with sandals as I have done for all the other Dames and Dandies paper dolls.
Why sandals? Well, because sandals show off a lot of skin. Skin-tone is the one thing about paper dolls that limits some of the mix and match possibilities. I call this the “shoe problem” and its an issue I’ve never really found a good solution for.
So, until I figure out a better way to solve it, I try as much as possible to make many shoes for my paper dolls. That way, the paper dolls will always have a shoe that matches the outfit.
These are the problems those of us who draw paper dolls really dwell on. I talked at lot about this a few years ago when I wrote this post on Playability. It was part of a series I did on drawing paper dolls, mostly from a theoretical perspective.
Anyway, Bridget has her white sandals and brown sandals for casual wear and her fancy black dress shoes. She also has a pair of sneakers from the St. Patricks day set
Love the paper doll? Not sure about the paper doll? Let me know what you think in a comment! I love to hear from you.
Somehow, I’ve managed to finish up all my homework for the semester (yay!) and now I have a few weeks off before summer classes rear their ugly head. I am not looking forward to another batch of classes, but the end is in sight and I can only hope I’ll get there soon. As much work as grad school was when I was working part-time, it is so much more work when I was working full-time.
But none of that has anything to do with today’s paper doll. Today’s paper doll is an A Pose girl named Aisha. Aisha is an Arabic name meaning alive, according to Behind the Name.
All right, so as I often do, this is first version of Aisha as all contemporary shoes. Eventually, I’ll add some more specialized versions of Aisha. I actually already have a cyberpunk version in the works.
Years ago, I collected a bunch of photographs of people from around the internet to try to create a skin-tone palette. I ended up with seven colors and you can see that palette here. I recently discovered the work of Angélica Dass. She’s been photographing people against the Pantone color background that matches their skin. You can see her work on the National Geographic Website. It’s really amazing.
I don’t think I’ll be creating 4,000 skintones to use on the blog. It wouldn’t be very mix and match shoe friendly, but I do find her project super neat and work checking out whenever you have a moment.
Meanwhile, go grab some clothing for this poor naked paper doll. She needs something to wear. After you do that, leave me a comment and let me know what you think of today’s paper doll.
