Meet Ivy, the first in my new paper doll series!

Click for larger version (PNG); click for PDF version.

Welcome Ivy to the paperdoll blog family! I’ll miss working with Sylvia and Iris, but they aren’t going anywhere, so you can always go back and look at them and their clothes. With the new scanner, I really needed a change, and I was getting enough requests for new dolls that I wanted to do something about it…

I have big plans for this model of paper doll. The base doll is actually bald and faceless – that means I can draw hair and faces separately and add them on with Photoshop, making it easier to have different options. I’m also drawing the doll itself differently this time. If you look at Iris, she was traced off of Sylvia, and that meant that it was easier to introduce mistakes – the paper shifted, it was difficult to see, and I drew some lines differently – so parts like the arms and legs are different. If I did a third doll from the same shape, she would be different from both Iris and Sylvia in some annoying way and it would be harder to fit even more dresses. This time, I have a very faint outline of the body, and the doll is colored right on top of that, meaning that there should be less variation between dolls. So the upshot: it should be easier to make different skin tones, hairstyles / colors and faces. I wonder if you can see where I hope to go with this someday? Well, there’s a lot of work to go between here and there…

The other big change is that I’m going to start offering PDF files of each drawing. For those of you who just like to look at the pretty pictures online, it won’t make much of a difference, but for those of you who actually print things out, using the PDF file instead of the PNG will guarantee that you’ll always have the right size, and the quality should be better as well. (It also means you can zoom in really close and look at all the flaws, but trust me: print it out and it’ll look smashing.)

I like her a lot, and I hope you all do too. I look forwards to making her many lovely outfits!

Aelinora the elvish princess from the Paperdoll Blog, Christmas 2004

I drew this paperdoll, Aelinora, in 2004, but she doesn’t show up on the page with all of my old paperdolls because of a mix-up with the tags. That gives me, then, an excuse to post her again! She only has these two outfits, but she is one of my favorites. Here is her story:

I don’t know too many elvish princesses who have part-time jobs during the holiday season; most of them prefer to do things like contemplate snowflakes, play elvish carols on absurdly delicate harps or linger poetically around frosty forests. Aelinora, it must be confessed, also has a weakness for picturesque frivolity, but more than anything she loves to bring joy to others. Every year since she was ten, she leaves her home somewhere around October and goes to apply for employment at Santa’s workshop. Naively believing she has concealed her identity well, she works feverishly alongside the others, making holiday toys for the world’s children. (Her specialty is designing patterns for stuffed animals; I myself own a stuffed dragon that she designed a few years ago which won her accolades from her peers.) She and the other elves work right up until Christmas Eve, but when it comes time for the pre-Christmas party, she is nowhere to be seen; she is already home, living the life of an elvish princess once more. One can’t miss out on all the snowflake contemplating, you know.

I am thinking about Aelinora because she has a cameo in the story I intended to post while I was on vacation, but I only finished two of the necessary dresses. So she, and that story, may yet show up again.

So, I’m back home, adjusting to Michigan time, and I will start posting new outfits for Sylvia and Iris tomorrow. Thank you for your patience during my vacation!

Hobbit Girl Paper Doll for my Mom

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I’m still on vacation (will be until Saturday) and trust me, I’ll have a lot to say about it when I’m back home! In the meantime…

I drew this hobbit girl for my mom a few years ago, I think for her birthday. My mom is a huge Lord of the Rings fan, and we both pretty much agree, if we were in that world we would make excellent hobbits. (Second breakfast? Yes please) So here’s a little hobbit girl with four outfits.

Anyways, I’ll be back home on Saturday, but between the red-eye flight home and the time zone changes, I might be too loopy to post anything for a day or two…

Iris, African-American Paperdoll with Lavender Wrap Dress

Click for larger version; click for the list of dolls.

So, I want to try to do more dolls, and here’s the first product of that! She doesn’t have a name yet, feel free to suggest one. (Edit: Thanks to everyone who suggested a name: I decided on one of Min’s suggestions, Iris.) Her hair is taken from one of Rihanna’s hairstyles, and she’s from the same base as Sylvia, of course, so she should fit most of the outfits I’ve already drawn — there may be some variations between the two, though, so let me know if anything using her REALLY doesn’t fit right.

As always, doing the people is always my weak point… I ought to practice more, I know…

Sylvia, my new paper doll, with green halter dress

Click for larger version; click for the doll.

I’ve been thinking of returning to paperdolls for some time now. There’s a lot to re-learn, but I think I did all right… the dress is somewhat quick and dirty, but as usual I labored over the doll for a few days. I hate doing the dolls!

She doesn’t have a name yet. I hadn’t thought that far ahead. But I think again the format will be the “paperdoll blog,” I really enjoyed doing that before. Maybe no one reads the words but me, but I like having the record of my temping days.

Edit: Sylvia is her name.

By the way, this is the start of the new paperdoll series with Sylvia and Iris (and whoever else comes next); if you want more of my paperdolls, click here for my old paperdoll blog!