Paper Doll Collaboration 2018 - Flowers

Here's the fourth installment of the 2018 paper doll collaboration project! The idea was to create something featuring our favorite flowers.  I don't really have a favorite flower but I came across some amazing Victorian trading cards featuring flowers! It's kinda weird that they were used to advertise a meat extract but hey, they're cool anyway!

I chose the rose and aster cards as inspiration for this set.  All of the flower cards are really beautiful and it was hard to pick just two!

For more flower inspired fashions, make sure to visit Paper Thin Personas and Miss Missy's Paper Dolls!

April Paper Doll - Set 4

We finally have spring!! Yay! Although I saw that next week it'll be nearly 80F so maybe we're skipping spring and going straight to summer....

I'm posting this a little early.  We should have our collaboration pages ready to go Friday.  After that, there's one more April sheet and then it's on to May.

Some weeks, the themes are easy and some weeks, it's a little tougher.  This week came together fairly well.  I have a slouchy shirt for "bridge", a dress with rad headphones for "music", a silky maxi skirt for "spots", a sort of tie dyed t-shirt for Earth, some practical twill pants for "walk", and a reusable canvas bag for "groceries".  I found I had some room on this sheet, so I added some mini black shorts that could easily be layered under dress & skirts as well as a mini denim skirt and a gold top.  The gold top goes with the maxi skirt but could easily work with other things. Apparently I really wanted things short this time around! All of the dresses and skirts are tiny!!

As I said, collaboration set goes up Friday and the last April sheet is next week.  For May, I'm going back to the January paper doll with a new color scheme especially for May. Should be fun!

April Paper Doll - Set 3

I managed to get a sheet ready for this week.  After tinkering I discovered that I can still draw in Photoshop if I hold down the button on my pen.  That's an ergonomic nightmare and I'm not sure how long I'm going to be able to do that.  I tried out some different software and it just didn't have the capabilities I need.  Right now I'm so deeply entrenched in Adobe products that I'm stuck. If I change to something else, I lose a lot of assets and capabilities that I'm built up over the years.  Guess I'll muddle through for now til it patches or I come up with another plan!

For this week, I tackled "chart" with a pie chart skirt and a mix & match top.  "Villain" is a sleek black gown with a skull choker.  The hair that went with that was so fun that I did it with and without sunglasses.  "Gratitude" was a challenge - I found a symbol that represents gratitude and made it a pattern.  Then I made a top & skirt that was very slightly influenced by Tibet.  For "mountains" I made a well-worn mountain t-shirt and fur-lined jacket.  "Bed" is a set of pajamas.  And "ladybug" is a polka dot top.

There will be another set on Friday so look for that!

April Paper Doll - Set 2

So....we're all friends here, right? Good. We need to chat. (If you don't want to read my rant, just skip to the end - the paper doll sheet is there!)

First of all, I am having an amazing year artistically. I'm more productive than I've ever been and I love it! My art has gained a little traction & a wider audience - all good news.  I was also asked to contribute to the 2018 Paper Doll Convention souvenir pack. (if you want a set, you can order it here.  I probably should!!) Pretty great, right?!

Anyone who has read this silly little blog over the years has contributed to this and I am forever grateful.

(Sounds like I'm quitting, right?! Don't panic. I'm not!!)

This week, I've been having some tech issues that have really affected my productivity.  I use a Surface Pro 3 with the full Adobe CC suite...and I pay about $800 a year for that "privilege".  Recently, Microsoft rolled out a Windows update that broke the way my digitizing pen works in Photoshop.  Adobe has not fixed it yet - I'm not the only one having trouble - and has not fixed it in the last six months or so that people have been complaining about it. It just hit me yesterday.  So basically, the only way I can draw in Photoshop is if I hold the button down on my pen while using it.  It's an economical nightmare. My wrist aches.  I may not be able to draw again until Monday!!

Essentially, this means my current year-long series is on hiatus until either 1) Microsoft fixes the pen software that it just rolled out (it probably won't) 2) Adobe patches the problem Microsoft created (more likely but not immediate) or 3) I find software to replace Photoshop, Illustrator, and Adobe Acrobat (not Reader, the full version - I use it to format prints and books). 

The good news is that this does not affect the collaboration project.  I mainly use ArtRage for that and I think I can do everything in ArtRage that I would do in Photoshop.  It also does not affect new projects because I can plan to do those entirely in ArtRage at least for the time being.  And I may be able to get this all back up and running in no time.

I'd LOVE suggestions for professional-grade software.  Really not happy with Adobe at the moment. If I find a suitable alternative, I'll share that, too.

Til then, here's the second sheet in the April set.  I'm hoping to get back up on track soon!!

April Paper Doll - Set 1

It's April and I'm on doll #4 of this doodle-a-day series.  This is the final doll and then I'll start back with the January doll in May. Hopefully I can shorten my production time by re-using dolls! I like all of the dolls and re-using them throughout the year will be fun. I'm also hoping to fall into a more consistent posting schedule.  We'll see how that goes...

For April I knew I wanted two things: a dark-skinned paper doll and a bright, pastel color palette. The first theme for this set was Easter, so I went with a floral dress and hat.  Next was rabbit - a bunny applique sweater.  Garden is carrot patterned leggings.  Rain is a bright yellow raincoat.  Picnic is a plaid shirt with a basket and capri pants.  And finally, logo is a farm logo in pastels.

Also, I just thought I'd share that I have a paper doll in the 2018 convention souvenir packet! You can find out more here or here.  I am truly lucky to be part of such an amazing group of artists!