Watercolor Paper Doll

For a while, I've been thinking about traditional art. My very first experience with digital art was in high school with an early Wacom tablet that my art teacher had connected to her computer. It was neat but definitely not for me. I was going to be a "serious" artist. My next experience with digital art was about ten years later, when I was planning my wedding. I wanted to customize some things so I used some pirated software, a mouse, and a scanner to tinker with some hand-drawn art. It was fun, I enjoyed it, and I wanted to make more digital art while still drawing and painting. 

This is a long way of saying that I spent all of my childhood and almost all of my twenties in pursuit of traditional art long before I became interested in graphic design and digital art. At this point, I think I've been working at least as long digitally as I have traditionally! With the rise of AI and a cultural zeitgeist of longing for authenticity, I find myself wanted to get my hands dirty, literally. I also want to continue my "use it up" mantra from last year, so I'm using what I have.

And what I have is a truly stupid amount of art making materials! 

I have numerous sketchbooks, some I bought and some were gifted to me. I have at least 4 if not more brands of graphite pencils and at least two different colored pencil sets. I have watercolor paints in a variety of formats including: Cotman watercolor tubes and a travel Winsor-Newton/Cotman half pan set that is at least 25 years old, two different Sakura Koi watercolor sets (pans and tubes), Kuretake Gansai Tambi watercolors that I picked up on sale, and a set of Arteza gouache paints because I'd love to get on the gouache trend.

This is only some of my ridiculous supply. I also have three plastic palettes just for mixing watercolors.

It's a problem. Especially for a mostly digital artist! 

I thought it would be fun to take a Canson mix media sketchbook and create a paper doll. The doll and the clothing could stay nice & tidy in a sketchbook. 

 

I started with a couple of sketches. First, I tried to work out some proportions and then I tried a sassy little pose. Initially, I wanted to draw this with markers and that absolutely did not work. I traced my sketch onto the Canson paper with a Papermate Flair pen, started coloring with the markers...and it immediately smudged. Ok.  I tried the same thing with a Micron pen with similar results. Ok. Then I traced it a third time with some good old fashioned Crayola colored pencils, which also smeared. At this point, I was certain that the markers were the issue so I packed those up and took out the watercolors.

And I had more issues.

I finally decided to trace the doll into the sketchbook and paint it with watercolors, no outlines.

I traced my original sketch twice, once to line and once to play around with. I think I traced that sketch at least six times. This WHOLE process took up most of a Saturday. I was frustrated and annoyed and ready to walk away. Instead, I slightly enlarged my image in Photoshop, traced it yet again, and painted it.

Here it is! It's kind of cute but I was still not happy. The feet are too big. The paper buckled a lot and the paint was very streaky. Just overall, not really happy with it. I scrapped the idea of using the Canson sketchbook and grabbed some watercolor paper that I picked up on a whim at Blick. Is it good paper? I dunno. But at about a dollar a sheet, I was willing to experiment.

And here's the unedited doll, painted on actual watercolor paper. All total, this one doll probably took me ten hours. I don't have a workflow for watercolors any more! It was ALL trial and error. I'm much happier with this one. Next up, I'll edit it and start painting a wardrobe! 

Right now I don't have any direction for this - no name, no theme, nothing! So if YOU have any of those thoughts, feel free to share. Next week I'll have write-up about my Photoshop edited process. 

Sometimes I Hate My Own Art (and You Should, Too)

I told my youngest son the title of this post and he said it sounds like EVERYONE should hate MY art but that is not at all what I'm going for. Sometimes, I hate my own art and sometimes, you should hate your own art, too. 

Most of my creative life, I've been a solo act. Artist and critic, all rolled into one. Thankfully, I have creative people in my life now who help me work through my challenges but that drive to be my own worst critic never goes away. And it shouldn't. Being able to critique your own work is really important. 

I posted in January and most of February about a book I'm working on and I'm really struggling with the dolls. I have all of my reference material ready to go. I have a working title. The concept is totally ready for take-off. The dolls are not.

First, I tried drawing them. They were ok but stiff and lacking something, but I don't know what....

Then, I experimented with tracing so that I could learn about poses. And I learned a lot! But not quite enough....   

 

This has been languishing on my iPad for a couple of weeks. I thought maybe the head was too small so I modified it (that's the image on the right). It's a little better but it still feels odd.

Maybe it's fine. Maybe I'm too critical. There are things I like: the arms are both great. I worked really hard on the feet, the overall pose is fine. But it feels too long, too lanky, and just not right. I really noticed it after I did another drawing.

Here's the rough sketch from my little sketchbook - it's 8.5 inches by 5.5 inches.

I then traced my rough sketch using a light table with the idea that I might paint this one traditionally. Spoiler: I didn't.

Here's the line drawing from Procreate. It's going in the next issue of Paperdoll Review - the theme is Tea Party. You'll have to wait and see what I cooked up! 

The point is, I LOVE this little tea gal! It feels like me, like I'm not trying to hard. It just came together and I'm happy with it. I feel like maybe I'm trying to force a breakthrough or try to be something that I'm just not yet. So it's back to the drawing board, again, and I really think the third time will be the charm!  

Tracing and Creating Paper Dolls: Refining

I'm continuing on my tracing journey this week, although that's not quite accurate. At this stage, I'm sketching on paper then refining digitally.

For this, I'm using the tools I have - a color printer, tape, ruler, and a sketchbook. I printed one of the dolls with the heads measurement scale and added it to one side of my sketchbook. Using a ruler, I drew lines in the sketchbooks so that I could draw the doll with better accuracy.  

 Here's the drawing of my doll using the traced image on the left. 

 

I can already see that there are some issues. The tilt of the arm on the left and the tilt of the whole torso is a bit off.  The legs and feet are a bit odd. I'm not really worried about the face at such a small scale. 

At this stage, I'll scan it, tinker with it in Photoshop, and then draw it in Procreate. Is it a lot of steps? Yes. I really need to draw more. Some of this is because I've gotten a little rusty! 

 It's a little tough to see, but the image above has my trace (blue lines) with my transferred drawing (black pencil) over it. My stupid scanner keeps cutting the bottom of my drawings off!! You can see in this overlay that the proportions are ok but some of the angles are off. I could leave it like this and it would probably be fine. But let's go that extra bit and see what happens.

On the left, my adjusted sketch and on the right, the traced image. Now, it's ready for Procreate. I didn't spend long in Photoshop - maybe 15 minutes - but I think it'll make a difference in the doll.

 Here's the image from Procreate. I took the adjusted sketch and drew over it in purple. Why purple? I don't know. I just like it and it's an easy way to tell my sketch layer from my line layer. I kept the negative spaces between the arms a little bit larger than in the trace layer so that they better accommodate tabs. Her face needs some work! I really like drawing, taking a picture or scan, and then walking away and coming back. I see things differently. Once I sort out the face, I'll line this and work on the second doll, which will be the same process.

Feel free to drop me a note! Love it? Hate it? Wanna see more?? 

 

Tracing and Creating Paper Dolls

Last week, I posted a behind-the-scenes image of a book I'm working on. The more I looked at those paper doll sketches, the more I disliked them. They're stiff and awkward and I just feel like I can do better. I've had a bit of art block for quite a while so I've been drawing less - right now, it REALLY shows! To boost my inspiration and skills, I decided to trace some dress pattern cover illustrations that I found online.

Trace?! 

Yes, trace. Or, as I choose think of it, analyzing with line. 

I've been reading up on tracing. It's not something I usually do. I'm a bit of a purist and I think the best way to improve is through observation. Go to a figure drawing class, draw a 3D doll, set up a still-life...doesn't matter which, they all help! But sometimes, I need something more tailored, more specific. This is where tracing comes in. 

Let's first take a detour about tracing. 

Some say it's cheating. Some say it isn't. The truth, for me, is somewhere in the middle. I read a phrase that really summed it up for me - tracing is cheating if you're setting out to deceive. Are you learning? Trace away! Tracing your own art? Go for it! Using public domain or some other rights managed image that you legally have the right to use? Again, go for it! Is tracing a shortcut to a selling someone else's work as your own? Nope. 

So why tracing?

My drawings feel off lately. There's something missing and I'm not quite sure what it is. I don't feel like I'm growing or improving. I'd like to have a more vintage fashion illustration aesthetic and I've been collecting images for inspiration for a while. My eclipse paper doll is adapted from a vintage fashion illustration. Sure, I can sketch from reference all day long but I want to gather information a bit faster. That's where the idea of analyzing with line comes it...

First, I gathered a bunch of images I liked. Second, I opened Photoshop and created a sizing template. The images I found were different sizes and different resolutions and I wanted them all to be roughly the same size for ease of comparison.

I settled on an 8 head height. Typically, an adult is about 7 1/2 to 8 heads high and fashion figures are often drawn at 9 heads, with longer legs. I adjusted each image to be about 8 heads which looked good and felt right for these illustrations.

Once I had the figures all arranged, I imported them into Procreate. I didn't end up tracing every image, just a few until I tired of it! 

 

I focused on vintage pattern cover illustrations, mostly 60s and 70s. 

 

When searching for illustrations, I focused on bathing suit sewing patterns. They felt like the closest analog to a traditional paper doll.

I picked a variety of poses, sometimes similar poses and sometimes quirky poses.

When I like details, such as hair or face, I traced more of that. Some of the faces are great! 

 

Here's one pose and tracing isolated together. Feel free to download any of these images to see a larger version.

 

So what was the point? What did I learn?

 

A few things! Some of these faces are great and could really help me get over my "same face" issues. Breaking the poses down into simple lines also helped clarify the poses. I can see these as a jumping off point for more exploration, too, maybe combining part into new poses. I also think feet and hands are challenging for most of us!!  Maybe these will spark some new inspiration for my top secret book....

 

Behind the Scenes: Paper Doll Book Process

I didn't want January to end without at least one more post! I'm still working through a bit of art block/ennui/whatever. I'm not depressed, really, just more like unmotivated. Life happens. I'm working through it. 

I'm also working on one of several new books for Paperdoll Review. I'm not ready to share the titles or themes or any details, but I did want to share a bit of my process.

 

The book I'm working on will have two dolls but I'll walk through the process with just one. It's basically the same for both.  Drawing the dolls is the hardest part for me! Sometimes it just works (like the Timeless Teens book. That one just effortlessly worked!) Here, I found a pose I mostly liked and ran with it. The sketch on the right is from my physical sketchbook - I drew a body and a larger head, then smooshed them together in Photoshop. It's a VERY rough sketch.

Sometimes I'll manipulate the sketch a little with warping tools, sometimes I don't. Next up, I'll refine the sketch.

 

Drawing on my large screen can be a little clunky. Generally, I'll transfer my sketch to my iPad and play with it in Procreate. Could I do all of this in Photoshop? Probably. Could I do all of this on my iPad? Again, probably. However, my XP-Pen screen is more than double the size of my iPad and I like looking at my flaws and errors as large as possible!! 

At this point, I was frustrated and annoyed so I traced the reference.

WHAT?! TRACING?! Yes. I traced it because I just could not make sense of the pose. In fact, tracing is a tool that I will explore soon on the ol' blog. Stay tuned. 

 

The trace versus the reference. Doing this really helps me understand the pose. The tracing does not end up in my final art, ever. Tracing helped me simplify the reference image and understand the pose a bit better.

I kept refining the sketch, checking proportions, angles, etc. I'm still in the process of refining! I've found that it's best if I draw and walk away, as many times as it takes. I've been working on this on & off for about two weeks. I'm still thinking about it! The second doll (on the left) may or may not have a second arm! I STILL can't decide! If you have thoughts on how the dolls are coming along, feel free to share. As I continue to sort this out, I'll share more.

Also, I've been way less active on social media. I'm going to try to revive the blog & see what happens.
 

2025 Wrap-Up and Goals

Happy New Year to you all! We had a festive holiday with friends & family. December has always been hectic (we have two December birthdays along with all of the Christmas chaos) and this year was no different. We spent New Year's with friend, like always, and had a festive D&D one-shot campaign. Not my normal jam, but it was fun! 

Should I create some loose goals for 2026 even though I totally failed at hitting my goals for 2025? Maybe. First, let's look at last year... 

At the end of 2024, we had two medical emergencies in my house. Both people are doing just fine. But while I was chatting with an older & wiser (and more fabulous!) friend, she told me that although I think I'm ok, it'll probably hit me later. And really, I think that's how 2025 started - overwhelmed. I wanted to do SO MANY things in 2025 but I felt paralyzed by creative block and overwhelmed with the state of the world and the impact of 2024's chaos. I was equal parts bored and stressed. Not a great combination.

It was a weird year.

And so I took on a job. Wait, what?! Yup. I happened to land a very part-time job in a commercial photography studio/frame shop. It's fun! I'm getting out of the house, learning new skills, and interacting with a lot of creative folks. I'm not giving up the blog or any of the things I do in the greater paper doll community. I just needed a small change. This is all a long way of saying that I'm trying to sort out what my posting schedule will look like but I WILL be posting!  

Let's look at what I did in 2025.

Magazine

I'm lucky enough to work on loads of things for Paperdoll Review Magazine. It's an absolute dream-come-true working with Jenny and all of the folks involved in the magazine. Not only do I contribute art, but sometimes I get the chance to write articles, and I also am involved in the graphic design/editing aspect. 

For the magazine, I created a ballet page, a quirky Martian, and re-worked Emma McKay. I also wrote an article all about tabs that you get get in Issue 94. 

Blog

I only posted six paper dolls on the blog last year, but two were part of a small series: Bold Florals and Frightening Frocks with Rachel Cohen. 

I created two other Animal Crossing fanart paper dolls for friends of my kids, but didn't share them here. 

Books and More

That creative block I mentioned earlier hit HARD this year and I only released two books: a re-working of my Emma McKay calendar and an expansion of my Halloween flapper. I was also asked to create a souvenir for the Morgantown Think Pink party and a centerfold for Doll Castle News.

Other Projects

I really wanted to branch out into other projects this year but I just couldn't get the motivation. I tried out Bloomtober and completed 10 of the 11 prompts.

These were all created in a small, grey-toned sketchbook with Crayola colored pencils. Why Crayola? Because I had them! 

As for my goals, I didn't hit all of them. 

1) Try Something New. Um, not quite. I did tinker with Krita, which I highly recommend. And I grabbed Affinity when it became free but I haven't opened it yet. I did some hand-lettering, which was fun and different.

2) Use It Up. I did a bit of this. I'm reading books I already own. I'm using art supplies I already have. I'm dipping into my stash of cross stitch supplies and scrapbooking supplies and whatever else I have on hand. 

3) Spend Mindfully. This is the one I hit! I was much more aware of the art store dopamine hit this year and really, really avoided it. At one point my husband asked me if I was ok because our spending was significantly down. I just got cranky about the cycle of capitalism I guess!!

4) Pay It Forward. I mean, I guess? I wrote an article about tabs. I joined a Round Robin paper doll group. I had some lovely paper doll friends visit my home. And I posted several free paper dolls on the blog.

5) Create More. NOPE! I had a slow and small nervous breakdown instead. And that's ok.

I have several book ideas and the brain space to start tackling them. Ironically, I think getting a job has cleared my head a bit. It's fun, low commitment, active, and breaks up my week some while helping me feel like a contributing part of society. 

I think for 2026 I'll keep my goals as-is and see what happens. I know this was a long one but it was nice to see everything from 2025 in one place! 

Let me know if you made any goals for the new year and if you hit your goals for last year! 
 

 

Happy Holidays!

Did I mean to skip the whole month of November? No, I did not!! Things got a bit hectic and I just lost track of time. I've had a bit of artist's block, too, I guess. I don't know what else to call it.  

I also accidentally got a job. Long story short, I'm working a couple days a week in a commercial photography/picture framing studio. It isn't a huge time commitment but it gets me out of the house. I spent WAY too much of 2025 in my own head and this little job has been good for my mental health. 

 

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My plan right now is to put together my annual wrap-up in January and then see if I can create a little structure in my life! I grabbed three new mini sketchbooks, a couple of fashion illustration books, and several apps/programs that I'd like to experiment with for the blog. I'm also looking into an anti-AI glazing effect for my art. Maybe I won't feel so annoying about posting online if I add that to my images! 

Anyway...that's all a rant for another time! For now, enjoy the little snowy paper doll and whatever it is you might celebrate, I hope it's filled with delicious foods and excellent company!