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Click for larger version (PNG); click for PDF version. Click here for the list of dolls.
Now all of you born in different months are going to have some words for me, aren’t you? Or maybe some words with me. I don’t know which preposition makes it sound more severe. Well, green is a calming color, right? Look at the pretty green leaves, and the way the chartreuse fades into white on the edges of the fabric (a little more apparent in the original, sadly), and the wispy scroll pattern on the middle green layer. Don’t look, for my sake, at the long gap between this dress and the last one, or the missing blogroll that I never quite got around to putting back up after a server change, or the embarrassing state of my e-mail inbox, or all the increasingly heartwrenching comments on the last post. Green, right? Ooh, green.
Anyways, this is, of course, the May birthday dress… The May birthstone is emerald and the birth flower is lily of the valley, so I couldn’t resist. Plus, I guess I wanted to make something fairly ridiculous, since it’s been a while. I like to remind myself I haven’t forgotten how to use my colored pencils…
I took down the poll, because just thinking about it made me feel like a failure and a disappointment, both of which increase the odds that I’ll let the site go for another three months. I think I’ll probably be happier if I don’t revisit any of the things I never finished for a while. I’m sorry.
Liana is the hero of Paperdoll Dome!
Thank you, dear.
I love this dress. Green is one of my favorite colors and I’ve been yearning for spring. This dress totally fits the bill!
im just glad your back!
I voted for “The trilobite-festooned Magic Wiki Dress”, but I have dreams of the “Algae Fairy” making a comeback. :)
I have a May birthday and I love the dress!
You are Queen of the Ruffle! Not sure if the dress is green enough…
This dress is SO pretty!!!!!!
Beautiful! I am glad you are back, and the dress is absolutly wonderful!
Monica
thebestpaperdollblog.blogspot.com
Yay, this just made my day! Sooo pretty, and I’m glad you’re back! (My mom’s birthday was on the 1st, what a coincidence. ;-) )
Love the dress! Sweet!
Just do what you feel inspired to do! I am the SAME way with projects. Inspiration proceeds work. So nurture inspiration with a post, and don’t worry about other projects. You’ll get to them when the inspiration comes!
(P.S. I LOVE green and this is GORGEOUS. Too bad I was born in July…:)
Welcome back – I love this dress, totally worth the wait!
yay, perfect timing, by 16th b-day is in a week and 3 days!!! hurray for may i love your dress!!
omg me 2
yay! your back
Hi Liana,
I found your page back in March and was awed. (I try paperdolling myself, but never get it right that the clothes actually fit the doll :(
Is there a trick to it?)
Anyway Ichecked your blog once a while and was thinking thst it is sad, that there wont be any new dresses.
Today I came by, by pure chance (clicked on the wrong tab) an was delighted to see you are drawing again.
So thank you for comming back. I just love your art.
Best wishes from Germany :)
I’m so happy you’re back! I had so much faith in you when I discovered your blog. Your drawings are so amazing, and greatly appreciated!
thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou
this is BEAUTIFUL!
i sound pretty desperate, dont i…
Yay!!!!! Liana’s back!!!! I accidentally came onto the site- and I couldn’t believe my eyes! I am so happy! :D Thank you so much!
Liana I feel for you sister. I can feel the heartbreak in your writing. Thank you for returning. I just found your site a couple of months ago. My five-year-old daughter is in LOVE with your dresses. You are unique!
YAY!! Your back!!!
I am a May birthday, too, and the dress suits my personality! The whole flower-fairy look, with all those lovely greens and leafy-blossomy bits…
Plus, it is my birthday this weekend… early birthday present!
Dear Liana,
I found your site by accident while I was researching my geography hw just last week. (Weird isn’t it?) I love your designs and the colors you use. They’re all so pretty! I love drawing and painting myself but I’m useless at creativity. When I’m asked to design something during class, my mind just goes blank and I can’t think of anything. I wonder if there’s anything behind it or is it something that you have or you don’t? Can you tell me where you get these ideas from?
You know, for me, a major part of it is simply persistence. If I haven’t been drawing for a couple of weeks, then my mind goes blank when I try to restart, too, and I feel like I don’t know what to write about or what to try to draw. But if I’ve been drawing regularly and making it a priority in the back of my head, all day long I’m batting around ideas and I find it a lot easier to get something done. This goes for pretty much everything else I do, too – for example, I study Japanese and like to write diaries in Japanese, and when I was writing every day I had tons of ideas for other things to write… but if I get out of the writing habit, I can’t think of anything to write but “I had a boring day today” ^^;;
Besides persistence, I think familiarity with what I’m doing is another factor. If I’m really not into it, I can still put together, say, a square neckline, puffed sleeves, an empire waist and a long skirt with pretty colors and a design around the hem; it won’t be the best thing I’ve ever drawn, but it’s the sort of thing I can draw in my sleep, and it will put me back on that road towards drawing more often. What I mean to say is, when my mind goes blank but I still feel like I want or need to draw something, this is the sort of thing I come up with: http://www.joechip.net/liana/2011/03/22/blue-ballgown-with-light-blue-underskirt/ It’s nothing new, experimental or deep and the skirt looks sloppy to me, but some days that’s all right. It wasn’t an inspired idea: it came to me purely because of my knowledge of the underlying forms. It also helps that I have a rather confined theme. There are only so many basic necklines, after all ^^;; And in my daily life, I notice things like how movie costumes are constructed, why it is that certain things look shiny or textured, what looks interesting in clothes I see around me. Those two skills, again, are things that came from practice. (Don’t forget – I’ve been drawing paperdolls on and off for perhaps fourteen or fifteen years!)
If I was asked just to “design something” I’d certainly have trouble with it too – it’s too vague for me! If I’m asked to draw something that’s not a paperdoll, with no further direction and no particular ideas of my own, I end up doodling scrolls around the paper ^^;; I truly don’t believe it’s either something you have or you don’t: I think that practice, keeping your eyes and heart open to interesting influences and ideas and becoming familiar with the forms that are relevant to what you want to create are more important.
I hope that was helpful to you ^^ Let me know if you have any questions.
i love ur dresses it makes me want to draw my own dresses….. u inspire me alot