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Disneybound Snow White Outfit with Yellow Tulle Skirt

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A shimmery dark blue camisole with a scoop neck tucked into a knee-length golden yellow tulle skirt. There's a light blue bolero jacket over the shoulders with lightly puffed cap sleeves. Each sleeve is ringed with a red ribbon and a small red bow.I recently got a book about drawing Disney princesses, “Learn To Draw Disney’s Enchanted Princesses” and although it’s ostensibly for ages six and up, I pity the poor six-year old who gets it for her birthday, sits down with her brand new sketchbook and tries to draw her favorite princess. The very first exercise is how to draw Snow White’s head, and if you’re wondering how to draw her eyes, well, here’s step 1 and step 2…
A picture of an oval next to a picture of a fully drawn cartoon eye.Looks like they’re missing two or three steps there to me!

That’s to say nothing of the later exercises: once you get to Tiana, who’s near the end of the book, they don’t even pretend to be holding your hand anymore.
Step 1: A circle for the head and a long curved line indicating the way the body will move. Step 2: A simplified body and large bell-shaped skirt drawn over the previous image.

“How To Draw The Tick” was a joke, but the difference between steps 1 and 2 here is no joke at all. This book either should be a lot longer, or should focus on only two or three princesses; either way I think the steps should be broken down a bit more for the benefit of readers who might not have several years of drawing experience to back them up.

However, I’m glad I bought the book, because of the very complexity that makes it so frustrating. If you have patience and drawing skill, it teaches you how to draw the princesses — not simplified approximations, but the princesses everyone wants to see more of, princesses that will make you the Queen of Buzzfeed for a day if you master them and pick some pop culture reference or art style to mash them up with. All you need is to be stubborn enough to draw the same thing over and over and over. There’s a movie about a tour of the Disney studios, The Reluctant Dragon, in which the man taking the tour meets with animator Ward Kimball, who dashes off a sketch and, when praised, answers that the first 100,000 drawings are the hardest. Even if the book broke down every step properly, it can’t do those 100,000 drawings for you. I’m starting to feel like I really will need to do that many drawings just to produce a Snow White head that looks like Snow White, because the slightest mistake is so noticeable.

So I’ve been spending a lot of time with Snow White lately, and I’m not even particularly all that much of a fan of Snow White unless she’s the Snow White in Castle Waiting. As with so many other expressions of femininity, like ballet and applying natural makeup, it takes a lot of hard work to produce a princess face that looks natural, simple and attractive. Trying to draw Snow White reminded me of a blog post by Andreas Deja, who worked as an animator at Disney for 30 years, where he wrote about Cinderella that “if you are off by the width of a pencil line, this character would look like an alien from outer space.” In my quest to draw Snow White, I’ve fallen right into the uncanny valley several times, and you’ll note that I’m not posting any sketches here! (You can see some if you stalk my Twitter account, but I’m not helping you out with a direct link.) But hey, I’m much better at drawing Snow White now than when I first started.

Today’s outfit is inspired by Disneybounding, which is putting together casual outfits that are an allusion to a Disney character. Here’s an article about Disneybounding, the Disneybounding tumblr that started it all, and a cool Pinterest board with examples of real-life Disneybounding. For my take on a Snow-White themed outfit, I started with a trendy tulle skirt and added a subtly sparkly blue camisole and a blue bolero jacket. (In my imagination the bolero jacket belongs to a bridesmaid’s dress ensemble, and the wearer added the ribbons later.)

Next week… well, you may actually see that fourth doll, who’s coming along nicely! Until then, you can download combined color and black and white PDFs of all of my 2014 dolls and outfits for free! (I’ll add the 2015 ones soon…) Also follow me on Facebook, Twitter or Pinterest for sneak previews, fashion plates and malformed sketches of Snow White’s head. If you enjoy my work, I'd also appreciate your support through Patreon.

Otohime’s Coral and Blue Undersea Gown from the Japanese Fairy Tale Urashima Tarō‎

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A blue gown with a stylized wave pattern in a darker shade of blue. There is a vest and overskirt with uneven, coral-like edges in shades of orange and coral with a golden scaly pattern all over it. The vest forms a large V over the top and is held in place by a wide belt in an aqua and teal wave pattern with gold accents. There is a thin dark blue ribbon tied around the belt. It is held in place with a brooch made of polished green and blue abalone, and the two ends of the ribbon extend almost to the floor. Underneath the belt is a short overskirt in a semi-transparent white fabric with a subtle shimmer. The collar is formed by several overlapping robes in shades of blue, dark where it is in contact with the vest and progressively lighter until it reaches the neck. The sleeves are wide and bell-shaped, and at the shoulders there is another layer of the shimmery semi-transparent white fabric. There is a wide white ribbon that floats over the dress in a large circle and slips under the arms, its edges curling around the skirt.I’m sorry to have made you wait for this one! I just had some kind of block about it, but now it is done and I can go on to something else. This is my version of a dress worn by Otohime, who is a figure from a famous Japanese folk tale, Urashima Tarō‎ (浦島太郎). In the story, the young fisherman Urashima Tarō saves a turtle from some kids who are tormenting it, and as a reward, he is brought to the undersea palace of the Dragon God and meets his daughter, Otohime (乙姫), who was that turtle that he rescued. He stays there for a few days, but soon wishes to return home. Before he does, Otohime gives him a box, warning him not to open it. When he gets back, he finds that everyone he knew is long dead and his village has greatly changed. He opens the box, but in it was his old age, and he turns to dust and blows away. Some versions have happier endings, like this illustrated retelling. If you’re studying Japanese, give this version a shot.

Urashima Tarō‎ is a story that pretty much every Japanese person would know, and Otohime is a famous figure. As it’s a very old story, the way she is usually depicted is in a gown like this (with obvious Chinese influence) and not usually a Japanese outfit. As it’s a famous fairytale, though, the depiction varies with the artist.

Thank you for all of your fun entries in my contest! I really just need a post to enter someone in the drawing, but it’s more fun for me to read about whose costumes reign supreme. (The cast of Downton Abbey would triumph over the cast of the Titanic, according to my readers.) The winner, although I hate to admit it because he was talking about his plans for what he’d do if he won the other day and I know what I’m in for, is my husband Brian.

Come back next week to see what ridiculous design Brian will choose for my 1912 gown, and for a new poll! Follow me on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest for site updates, complaints about Facebook and gowns with interesting details. If you enjoy my work, I’d also appreciate your support through Patreon.

Masquerade Gown in Yellow Damask and Orange With Yellow Lace and Blue Bow

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A masquerade gown with a bodice with a yellow damask pattern. The neckline is off the shoulders and slightly V-shaped, and is trimmed with a line of orange ribbon. The sleeves are three-quarter, and their edges are trimmed with more orange ribbon. There are long ruffles attached to the edges of the sleeves, and they are yellow and decorated with a lacy pattern. The bodice extends over the top of the skirt and is gathered at one hip, decorated with a light blue bow. From the bow, four rows of ruffles fall towards the base of the skirt like a waterfall. Each one is made of yellow lace. The skirt is orange, and falls to the floor. It is decorated with a leafy branch pattern in light orangeClick for larger version (PNG); click for PDF version. Click here for the list of dolls.

Sorry, I said you had seen the last of this one for a while, but Sarah, who won my previous contest by guessing that Milo’s favorite blankie is white, green and blue, didn’t get her request in until after the Sparkly Masquerade Gown week, so here it is now! (No sparkles, though.) She wrote: “Anyways, could you color that dress with a very pale yellow on top with darker orange on the bottom?” So here we have it. I hope you like it, Sarah! The damask is from Pixels & Ice Cream, and the lace, pattern on the skirt and white trim are from Obsidian Dawn.

Masquerade Gown with Rainbow Ruffles and Black Rainbow Sequins

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A masquerade gown with a black bodice, covered with sparkling sequins which subtly shine in blue, red, green, purple and yellow. The neckline is off the shoulders and slightly V-shaped, and is trimmed with a line of white ribbon. The sleeves are three-quarter, and their edges are trimmed with more white ribbon. There are long ruffles attached to the edges of the sleeves, and they are a gradient of green to blue, decorated with a pattern of mist and stars. The bodice extends over the top of the skirt and is gathered at one hip, decorated with a white bow. From the bow, four rows of ruffles fall towards the base of the skirt like a waterfall. The ruffles form a rainbow gradient, and are decorated with a pattern of mist and stars. The skirt is black, and falls to the floor. It is patterned with abstract swirls of glowing dots, some of which subtly sparkle with rainbow colors.Click for larger version (PNG); click for PDF version. Click here for the list of dolls.

There we have it: ten days of digital coloring! I’ve learned a great deal, and I’m ready to start doing some different things next week. I’m going to shoot for Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Luckily, my husband, parents and even my baby are all quite cooperative. Milo recently started letting me put him down for naps in his crib, instead of requiring hours of rocking while he snoozed. So if you’re happy to see me back, thank that little baby!

After ten days of digital coloring, I have basically nothing to say, except for that I’m enjoying myself very much. I have a lot of plans for cool things I want to try, such as making my own patterns (thanks to Julie’s repeating pattern tutorial).

Anyways, I have a site redesign in the works so I’ll have a better link to this at some point, but in the meantime please consider liking my page on Facebook or following me on Twitter. I haven’t quite gotten in the habit of using these things effectively, but I have plans for them. Oh yes. Plans…

For now, which masquerade gown was your favorite?

poll by twiigs.com