Saturday, December 12, 2015

December Paper Doll -- Santa Claus, Outfit 6

One of the goals for this project was to stretch a theme as far as possible.  I didn't want a bunch of boring variations of red & green and call it a Santa Claus series.  So I researched. A lot.  I'll open up my Pinterest inspiration board when the doll is complete.  Showing everyone my inspiration in advance is no fun :)

Today we have a Renaissance themed Santa Claus.

Another one of my goals was to create as much from scratch as was reasonable, from patterns to brushes to shapes.  All of it if I could.  I sometimes rely a little too much on awesome patterns I find out in the world.  The pattern on the coat started as a drawing on a folded piece of paper (for symmetry).  I took a photo of it, opened it in Illustrator, and drew directly over it with the pencil tool.  Then, I fiddled with the drawing, reflected it to get the right side of the tree (I had drawn the left), merged it together, and created a repeating pattern.  That *sounds* like a lot of work.  It really only took about an hour and now I have a nice little tree pattern forever.  Totally worth it!

A note about the hat: I haven't done a test cut of these.  I'm pretty sure it'll work.  If it doesn't, let me know and I'll tinker with it.

Also, Mrs Claus will have a fantastic Renaissance gown tomorrow.  Just so you know :)

If you're looking for the dolls, you can grab them here.

6 comments:

  1. I think this might just be my favorite so far. I love the Renaissance period. =D

    Now if only "Renaissance" weren't so hard to spell...

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    1. Thanks! Yeah, I'm not always sure if I spell "Renaissance" correctly :) I like this one a lot, too!!

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  2. i'm glad to know i'm not the only one who doesn't always do a proof of concept cut before putting stuff together ~ ha!

    love the Father Christmas feel for this one. looking forward to seeing how you use that pattern for Mrs. Claus!

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    1. I need to make more of a habit of test cutting these. Sometimes the fit is bad and then I fell bad and it all becomes a spiral of bad!!

      This costume specifically made me think of a lot of depictions of Christmas Present in productions A Christmas Carol. I saw a production of it at a theater in the round once. It was great & has stuck with me!

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  3. I love the fur trim. That's fun! (I've really enjoyed this series. I think I've said that already, but it is still true!)

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    1. I'm so glad you like this series! It's one of the most ambitious projects I've ever taken on. I don't know how I'll top it next year. But then again, I felt that way about the Kawaii Kids, too.

      As for the trim, I figured out a great way to create fur in Illustrator so I draw it all the time now! There will be more as the series continues.

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