Neo-Noir Threads: A Little Futuristic Fashion Paper Doll

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Maybe this is just me, but when I draw any cyberpunk fashion paper doll designs, it feels a little absurd. My paper dolls are playful and cute. Cyberpunk is neither playful nor generally cute. However, my art is and I like drawing cyberpunk fashion, so here we are.

Besides a free printable cyberpunk fashion paper doll could be a commentary on the capitalistic society we live in and the commodification of childhood… or it could just be that I wanted to draw improbable zippers. I’ll leave the art analysis to others.

I really do love the cyberpunk aesthetic. Maybe it’s the zippers that don’t quite make sense or the straps that also don’t quite make sense. Maybe I read too much William Gibson in high school. Either way, I’ll always have an affection for cyberpunk and neon. As I’ve gotten older, I confess that I find the whole thing more dystopian than I did as a teen, but then I guess growing up gives one perspective on these things. Truthfully, I don’t read as much of it as I used too, I think it hits too close to the actual state of the world sometimes.

This paper doll was made around the same time I was working on all my aliens (Galaxy GlamourInterstellar SeasStardust Styles, and Astro Allure), but she took a distinctly darker turn than they did, so I don’t consider her part of the series.

Bright Geometric Paper Doll Dress Up

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So, I wanted to try drawing patterns in Procreate and practice using some of the shape tools. Today’s paper doll dress-up brings the geometric patterns and some 1980s flare. She can dress-up in circles, squares, or triangles. Not literally… that would be a totally different paper doll dress-up experience.

(My concussion on shapes in procreate- I miss my plastic stencil. It was MUCH easier to use.)

Personally, I think today’s paper doll has a kinda 1980s vibe. Not super 1980s, just in the patterns. I was not very old in the 1980s, plus we were living in rural Alaska, so fashion wasn’t exactly making its way to me. However, when I think of the 1980s, I tend to think of really bold colors and graphic lines and geometric patterns. (Also big hair, shoulder pads, and excess, but that’s not really visible on this paper doll.)

By the way, have you seen Julie’s new 1980s paper doll? It’s great. (And I’m not just saying that because I think Julie is great, though I do.)

The older paper doll that inspired this paper was Candy Coated Couture which is a good name for a paper doll set, if I do say so myself. Normally, I stick with 4 to 5 colors for a single paper doll set, but this one is stretching that rule of thumb. I wanted a sporty vibe, so I did sneakers for the shoes.

I’ve been drawing more crop tops. I was in high school during the “belly-shirt” fad of the early 2000s. And therefore for years I’ve been staunchly anti-crop top; however, I’ve been sort of impressed by the newer high-rise pants and shorter tops. So, I am more open minded about it.

Vintage Vamp: Gothic Fashion with Retro Flair Paper Doll

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Today’s creation is a retro gothic fashion printable paper doll with a mix and match wardrobe. Her purple hair is rolled up in some slightly over the top victory rolls. Her wardrobe is a little more colorful than a lot of the other gothic paper dolls I created. I really wanted to expand to other colors that I tend to fall into with gothic clothing. Plus, I can only draw so much black clothing before I get bored.

All of the Ensemble Eclectica: Gothic Glamor Collection clothing works together, as do all of the dolls. You could easily borrow the short skirt from Haunting Couture and pair it with today’s lavender top or grab one of the tops from Dark Demigoddess and match it with the skirts in this set.

Vampira is one iconic figure who seamlessly embodies the ways in which gothic fashion is always a little retro. Vampira, famously portrayed by Maila Nurmi in the 1950s, epitomized the dark allure of gothic aesthetics with her dramatic black gowns, cinched waistlines, and bold makeup. Her macabre elegance and haunting glamour had a absurdist humor edge. There’s a wink and a nod going on, always. I only recently learned about Vampira, because the Addams family movies of the 1990s are what I grew up on.

Morticia who inspired Vampira which in turn inspired Elvira are all the reigning ladies of gothic for me. Of course, Mortica is ruling queen. I’m fascinated by the ways different eras interpret her distinct black gown. As you may have noticed, the first three of the Gothic Glamor Collection‘s contain a lot of mermaid skirt silhouettes all owing something to Morticia Addams.

Next Tuesday’s addition is a little different, so stay tuned for that one.

Yellow & Blue Medieval Fantasy Gowns

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Today’s fantasy printable dress-up doll has a pair of medieval inspired gowns with girdles, swords and books, of course. Because all paper dolls are happier with books.

When I’m in the mood for some “basic fantasy,” I tend to go back to medieval stuff. Not the actual medieval period, but rather what the Victorians thought the medieval period was. It’s all big castles, princesses in fancy dresses, dragons, and noble knights. In a nod to actual medieval gowns which were worn over kirtles or underdresses, I like to add the layers. You can see more of this sort of thing on my fantasy medieval Pinterest board if you’re curious.

I confess though that these aren’t the most unusual or inspired pieces for me, but I feel like I am stretching myself enough with the digital art thing without trying something totally new.

I chose the colors for these dresses from classic Norwegian design and old-fashioned children’s book illustrations. I used yellows, blues, and soft ocher shades to make them feel cozy and cheerful, like a sunny day or a calm, clear sky. These colors remind me of curling up by a fire with a big picture book.

And since I was thinking of books, I drew some books to be accessories along with swords. I like drawing books. It’s the librarian in me.

This is the first sort of fantasy set for the Ensemble Eclectica series. My hope is always that this fantasy printable dress-up doll will inspire imaginative play and storytelling. That’s the best part of playing with paper dolls, isn’t it? While I’ll admit that I have been on more of a modern clothing kick as of late, don’t worry. Eventually, I’ll come back to fantasy, sci-fi and other elements. I always do.

A Colorful Tropical Beach Printable Paper Doll

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I rarely get a chance to do something that has this many different outfit possibilities while also being just a one page set. This has 19 different outfits while also being only 10 mix and match pieces. Could it be more? Yes, I did the math once and realized that the most outfits you could ever get from 10 pieces was 25. That would be 5 tops and 5 bottoms which gets you 25 different clothing options.

I have a whole post about calculating clothing options if you feel like having some fun with math. There’s a formula. My best friend in college went on to become a math teacher and while I never will be a big math person, whenever math comes up I think of her.

I got some great name suggestions, but ended up deciding on Ensemble Eclectica, after trying out a few different options including “Wardrobe Wonderland Wanderings” or “Fashion Fantasy Frolics”. I think those two were a little too long.

Anyway, for technical reasons (and because I had a fantasy dress that I could not fit on the page), I ended up resizing these dolls down a bit and redoing some of the formatting. So, the next few after this one will looking a wee bit different. I already updated the PDF files and things from last week’s version.

Citrus in Color!

Citrus summer is a printable paper doll with tan skin and pig tails. She has a 7 piece mix and match summer wardrobe with three tops, a sun dress, capri pants and shorts. Her theme is citrus fruit and there's a lemon and an orange motif. Also on the image are instructions for printing and cutting out the paper doll and the Paper Thin Personas logo in bottom left corner above the artist's name- Rachel Cohen and June 2023.

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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-

  1. 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.
  2. 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… )
  3. 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.

Jewels & Gemstones: Floral Elves Paper Dolls

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Well, when I decided to shift to this newsletter and monthly update schedule, I did not consider the downsides. The biggest one being that it’s much harder for me to step away as might be needed from time to time. I need to think on that, but I am enjoying the newsletter most of the time.

This month has just been very busy with non-paper doll related tasks. The statewide library conference was in-person for the first time in years, so I went to that. And I have two more library related conferences I’m attending this year. Plus, I’ve been working on a side project that isn’t quite ready for prime time (soon it will be and I couldn’t be more excited). And I’ve been prepping things to become prints for the paper doll party in May. Any leftovers from the party, I plan to offer for sale on Etsy, so maybe that’ll be an interesting change of pace.

Anyway, about this paper doll set- I admit that I started on these paper dolls largely, because I wanted to work with an old Marisole Monday set- Fabulous Fairy that I’ve always had a fondness for. Originally, I had planned on drawing wings, but actually ended up running out of paper in a sketchbook and not having a back up one. Opps. I really didn’t want to deal with paper I didn’t like. So, needless to say, the wings never happened.

Influences were largely flowers and the fact that I like gardens. I’m not much of a gardener, though I keep thinking I should take it up. I rent, so I don’t really know if tearing up the yard would be okay. I do keep herbs on my porch when spring comes and I like flowers. Flowers are pretty, useful to insects, and smell nice. It’s hard to be opposed to them, really. Plus, you can eat some of them.

The other big influence over this drawing fantasy hair which I don’t get to do nearly as much as I’d like. I love complicated hairstyles. You can check out some of my influences on my fantasy section of my Hair pinterest board.

If you’re a patron, there will be a Vivian gown sometime next week (exact date depending on how life shapes up) and we’ll continue on from there.

Nordic Winter Wishes: The February Printable Paper Doll

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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!

Citrine Wearing Some 1950s Styles

A 1950s vintage fashion paper doll coloring page with four dresses and two pairs of shoes and other accessories.
A vintage fashion paper doll from the 1950s with four dresses and two pairs of shoes in color. This printable paper doll can share clothing with many other paper dolls in the series.

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This week is going to be quiet. It is Thanksgiving week here in the states and I am on pie duty. Personally, I love to bake, so it’s no trouble to dive into the world of pie. The only thing I don’t like is the crowds at the grocery store this time of year. I really dislike grocery shopping in general. Grocery pick-up might be the one good thing to come out of the pandemic.

Anyway, today’s 1950s vintage fashion paper doll is the first in large collection of 1950s dolls that I’ll be sharing. Citrine has a wide range of 1950s fashions from a pair of jeans with a casual blouse to a smart wool suit from Vogue. Her underwear is from 1955, but since the dolls all need to share clothing it doesn’t quite give the pointy boob effect that was popular in the era. Maidenform being the big name in that genre. Anyway, I don’t feel like linking every single source image. You can find many of them on my 1950s Pinterest Board.

Coloring these pieces are always a challenge for me, because my modern eye does not seen the same things in a black and white image as people at the time might see. So, I try to base the colors on the catalog descriptions as much as possible, especially because the catalogs are mostly produced in black and white. It’s tough for me, because I love color.

One thing I really wanted was to be sure to draw some trousers for these paper dolls. I tend to like drawing dresses more than trousers, but they were popular in the 1950s. I did some for my 1940s Jewels and Gemstones, but they never made it onto the blog’s version (they are included in the Etsy set). Trousers were still pretty strictly a casual garment in the 1950s. Never the less, I wanted to be sure to include jeans, shorts, and a playsuit. Stay tuned for more 1950s clothing over the next few weeks as I finish up the other sets.

Don’t forget, there’s an older Sapphire 1950s set which fits right in with the aesthetic.

Autumn Looks: Printable Paper Doll

Printable paper doll coloring page with autumn themed clothing. Nine mix and match pieces.
Printable paper doll with autumn themed clothing. Nine mix and match pieces.

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Very similar color scheme here to my November Vivian Gown. I really like purple, orange, and green together. Also, I realized I hadn’t done a doll with glasses in a long long time, so I wanted to fix that.

One thing I’ve noticed this year is a lot of maxi-skirts and a lot of cropped tops, so I tried to use both of those in this set. The other thing I’ve noticed is that pants are starting to veer away from the skinny jean to more of a straight leg style which I think is great, because I much prefer it. Sort of sad to see tunics being less popular as I also tend to prefer those.

Oh well, can’t have everything.

Meanwhile, I wanted try to do something seasonal. Though it was -3 outside this morning and I had to plug my car in (I live just below the arctic circle), so the battery would survive my work day and all I could think was, “Why do I live here?”

Also, it’s only November, she whined.

Still, I love Alaska and 90% of the time, I don’t mind the cold so much.

So, two little things:

  1. If you’re a patron, there’s a poll on last Friday’s post about the future of Vivian. Please vote. Thanks!
  2. If you want to get in on some Newsletter paper doll goodness, be sure to sign up for the newsletter. Next issue comes out Friday! And I am super excited.