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

Click for larger version with gown (PNG); click for PDF version with gown. Click for larger version without gown (PNG); click for PDF version without gown.

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!


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!