Friday, December 1, 2017

Little Ladies: A Victorian Mix and Match Paper Doll to Color

Happy December!!

I LOVE making a December paper doll every year! If you're new to the blog (or just want to look at previous years) here you go: 2016 (an angel paper doll), 2015 (Santa and Mrs Claus), 2014 (holiday fashions in red and green), and 2013 (Kawaii Kids). I posted one in 2012, too, but it isn't my best and I've always wanted to revisit it.  Also, several of the previous December paper dolls are available as books. Check out Lulu.com and Amazon.com for all of my books.

And that's enough self-promotion for one day... here's the December set!

Years ago, I drafted a stylized paper doll that I wanted to turn into a steampunk set, but it never quite felt right.  There were things I liked about it, and things I didn't.  Ultimately, the sketch sat in a drawer until I decided to tinker with it.  I made some edits in Photoshop, redrafted and inked it in ArtRage, and suddenly, it was pretty good!

Right-click to download and print.  There will be a PDF at the end of the project! 

This whole project is loosely based on historical images.  These undergarments are less accurate and more my interpretation of several images I found. I envision the left doll as pale skinned and the right as darker skinned, but feel free to do what you'd like! I may get around to coloring this at some point....

These paper dolls are drawn almost entirely in ArtRage5.  I ported them into Photoshop for minor touch-ups and such, but really, ArtRage is doing the heavy lifting.  My sketches were created with the pencil tool and the final inks were done with the technical pen.

One more thing to note about this year's paper doll: I will be posting every other day instead of every day. I couldn't find a way to format these with just one set per page that I liked.  There will be two mix and match sets every other day and a PDF at the end of the project.  If you color these & you'd like to share, feel free! You can email me or follow me on Instagram (it's a mix of projects & personal photos - @juliematthews).

So tomorrow there won't be a post but there will be on December 3rd! Happy coloring :)   


5 comments:

  1. I always enjoy the December project, and this may be my favorite yet!

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    1. oh yay!!! I'm glad you like it :) Every year, I think it's my favorite. As long as I keep coming up with ideas, I'll keep making these massive December sets!

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  2. I look forward to your December project every year! It's always so much fun. Super excited. (I find by December, I'm usually pretty burned out, but I respect how you always have momentum!)

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    1. I'm pretty burned out by December, too, but I try to work through it!! I try to get ahead on this every year and this year I am definitely too far behind...With two birthdays, three Christmas celebrations, and school functions, December gets crazy. Guess I love crazy!!!

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