Paper Doll Commission

I had every intention of creating a special edition paper doll for my birthday.  It didn't happen.  My birthday is Monday and I like to create a project just for me! I had a request for a Japanese fashion doll (which I am TOTALLY going to do....) but time wasn't on my side.

The truth is, this birthday is big one and I feel like I have a lot to accomplish.  I'm happily married, with a lovely suburban home, two amazing sons, and a close relationship with my extended family.  I have a lot to be happy about -- which I am -- but there are still days where I wish I had more artistic accomplishments behind me instead of ahead of me. I'm working diligently on a super secret paper doll that *fingers crossed* I'll send to an actual publisher.  It's been taking up a lot of my time but I'm convinced that this is going to be my year!

One thing that I am immensely grateful for is the time I spend working on paper dolls.  I've been lucky enough to stay home with my sons, which has given me an opportunity to take on the personal and professional projects I want to tackle.  And I've had a handful of paper doll commissions over the years.  Today I'm sharing a recent one.

Before I explain the project, I want to say a couple of things about this image.  First, it's a lower resolution and, second, it has a watermark.  I'm not a big fan of watermarks, etc, but I want to make sure that this image is clearly marked as mine.  Images have a way of floating around the Internet...

Earlier this year, I was contacted by a lovely shop owner in Dubai.  She was interested in creating promotional material for her children's clothing boutique and thought my paper dolls would be a good fit.  The clothing is utterly adorable and I was thrilled to work with her!

We decided on a sticker paper doll with two outfits based on actually dresses in the boutique.  The finished dimensions are roughly 5 inches square. I created custom brushes & patterns in Illustrator specifically for this project. I love everything about this project!  I'm so happy I got the opportunity to create it. And my client loved it, too.

I probably won't post anything on Monday.  I tried to draw at the playground yesterday but that didn't go very well... We're celebrating my birthday by taking the kids to the Lego Discovery Center in Boston (I'm a big Lego fan!!).  I'll put something together for Friday!