100 Days of Paper Dolls - Set 1

We're cranking along at the #100daysofpaperdolls over on Instagram! So far, all is going well.  The black & white set has been fairly easy to keep up with and that's been great. 

I sort of accidentally developed a neo-Victorian aesthetic with this set.  If you follow me on Instagram (@julieamatthews), you can see these every day but I'm only going to post full sheets on the ol' blog.  I'm trying to keep it in the Victorian vibe but this is going to end up being about 20 pages at the end.  That's a lot of Victorian influence!!! We'll see how it goes.

Anyway.... check it out on Instagram.  Our tag is #100daysofpaperdolls and its all really great work!

100 Days of Paper Dolls

I've had a hard time settling into a project this year.  Don't get me wrong - I'm incredibly lucky! I've been working on paper doll projects every day but they aren't anything I can really share here at the moment.

That changes today!

Starting today, I'm doing The 100 Day Project! We're posting on Instagram every day.  It's me, Rachel of Paper Thin Personas (@paperthinpersonas), and Elizabeth Joy McDonald (@elizabethjoymcdonald).  I'm probably not going to post every day on the blog. My plan is to post each completed sheet here.  With the exception of today!

For this project, I took out a random sketch I had started with no real goal in mind. I had seen a model in an elaborate corset on Pinterest and I loved the pose. So I sketched it one day and waited for inspiration to strike.

Here's the final drawing.  I'm estimating 5 to 8 pieces per page so there will be about 20 pages total (give or take).  Feel free to follow along (or jump in!!) on Instagram every day with #100daysofpaperdolls

Paper Doll Collaboration - Sweet Treats Costumes

I swear - I haven't dropped off the planet!! Honestly, if you want to see the most current projects, follow me on Instagram (@julieamatthews).  Even that has been sporadic lately.  I just wrapped up two submissions to the souvenir packs for the 2019 Paper Doll Convention so that's been fun! A lot of the stuff I'm working on right now simply isn't ready to share.

I'm also heading to Morgantown! There's still time to register and join in on the fun.  This will be my first time to Morgantown and I'm really excited.  I haven't been anywhere alone in TEN YEARS so that'll be an experience....!

Ok, ok....here's a fun wardrobe sheet to print....

The theme for this month was sweet style.  I decided to go crazy with candy stripes and a bit of Rococo flair.  The dress on the left is supposed to be a bit of an ice cream sundae.  It may not entirely work but it's still pretty cool.

For more in the series, check out Paper Thin Personas, Miss Missy's Paper Doll, and Pop Culture and Paper Dolls.

Convention 2019 Drawings

Although I haven't settled on a proper project for the blog yet, I AM actively working on stuff! One of my projects at the moment is a convention souvenir.

That's a screen shot of the sketch I've been working on.  I asked my boys to pose for me - one kiddo loved it and the other....well, he wasn't thrilled. I promised him I wouldn't share the photo.  He's 9 and a bit self-conscious. I decided with this project to try colored lines instead of black and it worked out rather well.  Made inking it MUCH easier!

I recently got a tripod and remote so I'm experimenting with video.  That's an 11 minute video of me drawing on my Surface.  Admittedly, I have a lot to learn about video creation! I'm planning on creating a video that show my drawing process at some point but I'm not there yet. 

Paper Doll Collaboration 2019 - Awards Season

Let me start by saying I did not expect this to be the ONLY thing I posted in February!! I draw every day, but not all of it makes it on here.  And I haven't settled on a project for the ol' blog yet.  I'm still percolating...

So today is the next installment of the collaboration project. I'll admit, I have very little interest in awards season. Some people love it. I don't.  The dresses are always interesting, naturally.  If I have any interest in ANY awards show, it's probably the Grammys.  This year one of my absolute favorite musicians WON for the first time - Brandi Carlile.  I swear, she's been a big part of the soundtrack of my life since I saw her in Boston in 2007.  Love her SO much!

I feel like the older I get, the fewer people I know at these award things! For this sheet, I have Brandi Carlile in a fantastic suit.  Next, is Jennifer Lopez partly because I knew who she was and partly because I loved her dress.  Last is Meghan Trainor for much the same reason! I also have a love of women's suits!

You can check out the remainder of the collaboration project at Paper Thin Personas, Miss Missy, and Pop Culture and Paper Dolls.

Paper Doll Collaboration 2019

It's been a while since I posted. I had a list of administrative stuff I wanted to get done in January, so I've been focusing on that instead of drawing.  Most of that is done (including a little update to the appearance of the ol' blog here....!) and I plan on getting back to drawing & posting.

Today is the first installment of the 2019 paper doll collaboration project! The base doll was designed by Rachel Cohen of Paper Thin Personas.  I'm really excited about working from her base!!

My doll is a very slightly modified version of Rachel's.  The idea behind the collaboration paper doll is flexibility - in theory, every outfit will fit every doll across the project.  There may be exceptions, of course (like hairstyles), but we really aim for consistency.

The theme for this first installment is "trendy".  I will tell you that as a late 30-something mother of two sons "trendy" isn't really in my vocabulary! It's jeans & t-shirts most days. I'm also not much of a haute couture fan.  There was a time when I really enjoyed runway shows but it's become so much artifice and so little actual clothing that I just can't be bothered anymore.

All that said, many people who know better than I do defined a few trendy things for 2019. Statement sleeves, pleats, and jumpsuits are all considered trendy right now.  The blouse in this set is designed to wear with either the skirt or over the jumpsuit.

There are a few people participating this year and I'll update the links as they go live: Paper Thin Personas, Miss Missy's Paper Dolls, boots over at Pop Culture and Paper Dolls, and Cory Jensen over on Facebook!

Commission: Mary and Selina

Over the summer I had the privilege of getting to know a fantastic collector - Denise Bond.  She is terrific! She collects dolls, creates dolls, and commissions dolls not just for her own personal collection but to use as education tools. Her mission is to use dolls - 3D and paper dolls - to educated people about black and African-American women's history.  If you want a taste for just how awesome she is, check out this video tour of one of her recent projects.

The project scope was a bit outside of my comfort zone.  She wanted two portrait paper dolls featuring Mary Custis Lee (wife of General Robert E. Lee) and her slave Selina Gray.  It's tough subject matter, to be sure.  Denise had a very clear vision of the story she wanted to tell and I was happy to help her tell it.

First step was research and sketching.  I'll admit, my first sketches were not my favorite.  But that's the great thing about sketches - keep it up and something good will come of it!

My next set of sketches were MUCH better!  I studied (and sketched, and studied, etc...) the few images of Selina Gray and Mary Lee to get closer to a true resemblance. It is nothing short of a miracle that there are images of Selina Gray and I really tried to get an accurate representation. Portraits are not my specialty - although I really should try more!

One of the advantages of working digitally is the ability to keep what I like without starting over.  I know some artists will draw heads and bodies separately when creating paper dolls.  It's a great method but it's never worked well for me. I like to see the whole thing, all at once.  With digital art, I can draw heads on different layers.  That's what I did here. I liked the bodies but re-worked the faces after consulting with Denise.

At this point, we worked out what outfits would tell the story of these two women.  Denise wanted to express the friendship between the two. Mary taught Selina to read, Selina cared for her own children as well as Mary's, and Mary entrusted the family estate to Selina as she fled during the Civil War.  Working from these themes, I created a three page paper doll set.

The image above shows the final inking of the outfits. I created almost 90 percent of this in ArtRage.  I wanted it to have a very painterly feel to it and ArtRage really gave me that flexibility. I've found that the felt pen tool is my favorite. I "paint" with it in one color and then go in with another to blend & mix on the surface.  It's awesome!

Here's a close-up of the paper doll faces, my file structure, and the palette I used for coloring. I like to keep my files very organized. I name my layers and then group them into folders.  It's just a good habit and SO helpful - especially if someone else needs access to the files.

This is a screenshot of the folder where I keep all of my files. Sketches, reference images, etc. After working on the images in ArtRage I exported the images to Photoshop files for further manipulation. At this point, I added patterns in Photoshop as well as text and special effects.  Much of that could have been done in ArtRage but I felt more confident working with Photoshop.

Here's the final images.  I added watermarks to this - it isn't something I typically do, but this is a very special project.  Denise commissioned this as a unique, one-of-a-kind project and I respect that. There are only two sets of this paper doll - mine and hers! I printed them at 11 inch by 14 inch so they are LARGE! I used CatPrint to print them and they are beautiful. (As always, I'm sharing my tools & resources because I love them. I am not compensated in any way!)

And finally, me and my paper dolls. Denise likes to include a photo of the artist whenever possible.  I had my oldest son take this picture and I gotta say, it's not too bad!

It was really a terrific project.  I've worked on a couple more projects with Denise and probably will work on more. Process posts are something I love and I hope all of you do, too!