Doodle-a-Day Project Wrap-Up

Happy New Year!! 2018 was a crazy busy year for us... 

For those who don't know, my grandmother moved in with us October 2017.  So I went from stay-at-home mom to caretaker as soon as my youngest started kindergarten.  Over the course of 2018, my grandmother fell 4 times and broke her pelvis after one of those falls.  On top of that, she's nearly blind (macular degeneration) and has lost much of her hearing.  So I shuttle her to doctors appointments and, in general, take care of whatever she needs.  Overall, she's in reasonable health for an 88 year old but some days are busier/harder than others.

We also found out at the end of 2017 that my oldest son has executive functioning issues and anxiety. Executive functions are everyday organization skills, things like remembering to do all the steps required to take a shower or remembering homework everyday.  It's been a relief, honestly, just knowing that there WAS an underlying issue and helping him work through that. It's a process and we're all learning together. We're also trying to help him with his anxiety and that, too, is an ongoing process.

On top of that, I've been volunteering at the school once a week, which I love! AND I've been doing a little freelance graphic design. I only take the projects I really want to do!

And I managed to do three projects for a collector, joined a paper doll group here in Massachusetts, and published my first book with Paper Studio Press. I also completed 12 black and white sheets in the paper doll collaboration project as well as 63 sheets in the Doodle-A-Day paper doll project.

I'm tired just writing all of that down!

So the next few posts are going to be a recap of 2018.  I want to share some of the projects I've worked on as well as the process for creating them.  After that, well, I'm just not sure! I'll think of something....!

In the meantime, let's talk about this HUGE project I just finished.

This is a screen shot of the entire Doodle-A-Day project as I have it laid out on Pinterest.  It's pretty amazing to see the colors transition throughout the year! I definitely became more bold as the year went on.

Each month had a five-color palette along with black and white.  There were four dolls that rotated throughout the year.

That's all four dolls together. One thing I'd like to do is give each of them a more neutral base outfit.  I tried to stay fairly neutral with the shoes but totally did not with the outfits!

Each set started out as a drawing in ArtRage.  I find that to be my go-to drawing program lately.

I drew everything digitally - from the base dolls to each and every outfit.  The image above shows essentially what I did for each set.  There's a base doll, then a sketch layer, and then a line layer. I used the pencil tool and the ink pen tool in ArtRage. At this stage, I exported to a Photoshop file and worked on it in Photoshop.

Next, I added tabs and a white fill on everything.

I created an action to speed things up a bit.  An action in Photoshop is a recording of several steps in a process that can be played over and over as needed.  My action consisted of 1) select outside the lines 2) inverse the selection and 3) contract by one pixel so that all of the color fills land inside the lines with no bleeding outside of the lines.  This saved me a few seconds on every individual item which added up to HOURS over the course of the year.

Once the tabs were placed and everything got a white fill, I added the text. I used one font and one size (in most cases) for the entire project.  I saved the black & white sheet and went on to coloring.

Honestly, coloring should be a post all by itself! I'll show you a bit of the way I do it but I may go back for more in-depth demonstrations.

In this image, I've circled the layers used to color the doll.  That's JUST the doll - not the layers used to create the background, the clothing, none of that....just the doll. 

After creating the doll - which is always the longest step - each drawing and inking session in ArtRage took about 2 hours. Sometimes more but that was the average.  Creating a black and white sheet took another 2 hours or so.  And then a fully colored sheet took anywhere from 4 to 8 hours depending on the complexity.  So each post took from about 8 to 16 hours.  Each post. Conservatively, I have over 500 hours into this project! Or, put another way, I was spending at minimum 10 hours a week on this project.  That's huge!!

The next step is to figure out what to do with this project.  Should I make it a calendar? A massive book? A series of themed prints? I don't know yet. 

This ended up being a huge write-up!! Did you love the project? Did you have a favorite doll or month or themes? I'd love to know!

The next post will be a summary of a really unique project I did for a collector. So look for that soon.

December Paper Doll - Set 5

BOOM! It's done!

I wasn't sure I'd manage it, but I did! This is the last page of the December paper doll and the last page of the year-long paper doll project.

In January, I plan on writing a proper wrap-up of 2018.  It was a busy year & I have a lot to share.  But for today, enjoy this last page in the series.  There are 63 sheets in this year-long set - so PLENTY of fun to be had!!

The final set of themes are here! First up "peace" - I went with an angel.  "Log" is leggings that match the fireside top from a previous sheet.  "Snow" is a fur trimmed, snowflake patterned dress. "Swan" is a simple sweater. "Deer" is a patterned skirt and boots. "Coat" is a fur coat with satin bow.  And finally, "ring" is a large, bright diamond ring and a red silky top.

So that's it. Did you love the project? Did you hate it?! I fall a little bit in both categories! I enjoyed making all of these but it was a much bigger project than I should have tackled. I don't think I'll ever take on such a big project again.  Next year will be a bit more compact here on the ol' blog.

Happy New Year to all of you - I'll be back in January with more!

December Paper Doll - Set 4

There is ONE more sheet to go after today and I am really, really hoping to get it posted on the 31st and be done with this project! It's been fun and I have learned a TON but I'm ready to move on.

I didn't get this posted in time for Christmas.  Our December is always incredibly hectic (as it is for most people, I imagine) but it's done now! The first theme is "wreath" and I went with a sort of Victorian inspired blouse & skirt with a wreath brooch. For "lights" I created a festive Hanukkah sweater - even though I know it's long since happened.  "Winter" is a blue leather and fur jacket with matching hat.  "Cookie" is a top that matches the gingerbread leggings from a previous sheet.  "Stocking" is a bright skirt.  And finally, "Santa" is a hat & fur trimmed top.

Enjoy - now it's back to drawing the last sheet!!

December Paper Doll - Set 3

Happy Christmas Eve! I'll keep this short - we, like so many, still have lots to do! I'm still shooting to wrap up the doodle-a-day project by the end of the year.  We'll see!!

This set has loads of holiday themes! "Fireside" is a cozy sweater with a yule log necklace. "Gingerbread" is some fun patterned leggings. "Tree" is a patterned dress with a wide tie. "Ornament" is an ornament patterned skirt.  "Frame" is an ugly sweater.  And "nutcracker" is a jacket, hat, and leggings set. The leggings could probably mix & match with other things.

I won't be posting again for a few days.  Have a merry Christmas to all those that celebrate! Look for the last two doodle-a-day sheets after Christmas!

December Paper Doll - Set 2

There's a point in December where there's a little bit of a lull.... After the chaos of Thanksgiving, holiday shopping, and an early December birthday, things calm down a bit before ramping back up for Christmas.  I'm trying to fill this lull with the December paper doll!

The first theme this week is "letter" and I made a graphic tee.  "Giving" is a festive red top with a little present. "Bake" is a holiday shirt, apron, and a tray full of cookies. "Gold" was tough - it's a short party dress that works really well in color but less so in black & white. "Rabbit" is a short shirt with rabbit leggings - it might match the April rabbit top but I didn't test it out.  Finally, "sparkle" is another party dress. There's also a denim jacket and a pair of pants to mix and match.

I'll keep working on the next set.  I'm also starting to think about next year.  Any projects you'd all like to see?  Let me know!!

December Paper Doll - Set 1

Halfway through December and I'm just getting to the December paper doll set! I'm going to finish this - in between holidays, parent-teacher conferences, half days, doctors appointments, two birthdays.... It's going to happen!!

How cute are these kids though?! They're the best!

So here are the themes for December. If you'd like to follow along, I'm using the drawing suggestions from @ellolovey on Instagram and she's on Facebook, too. This is the last set of the year and it'll fit the April doll.

I wanted to make sure I had some flexible color choices for both winter and Christmas.  I was inspired by retro Christmas cards to use bright green, red, pink, blue, and a bold yellow.

The first theme is "tiger" and that was tough! I went with shiny tiger print pants. "Peppermint" is a sparkly striped skirt. "Warm drink" is a cozy sweater and a cup of coffee. "Bed" is a super comfy robe over pajamas. "Holly" is a skirt with matching hat. And finally, "bell" is a bell trimmed, Santa inspired jacket.

Not all of the pieces on this page mix and match as well as I'd like, but more pages will create more options.  Look for more- I WILL finish this!

August Paper Doll - Set 5

Finally wrapped up August!! I'm hoping to post all of September IN September but I'm not making any promises....

First up is "magazine".  I wasn't sure what to do for magazine and then it came to me - she's a photographer for a well known nature magazine! For "tile" I used a vector tile pattern as a fabric pattern.  "Countryside" is a set of cowboy boots and leggings.  "School" is a bright plaid skirt and sweater vest.  "Greeting" is a graphic tee - and, honestly, if I'm out of ideas, I go to a graphic tee. That's just the way it is! "Dairy" is a dairy farmer in overalls.  And, finally, "prize" is a medal winning tennis pro.

I'll get started on the September set.  The doll will be the January doll & September will be the last round for that set.  I recently cut out the January and May sets and it was MASSIVE!

I haven't counted the pieces yet but it's a lot! I have a Silhouette Cameo cutter and that did all of the cutting for me.  I'd like to create something out of this whole year's project - a book, a calendar, both??? I dunno yet! But I'll keep working on it - look for more next week!

August Paper Doll - Set 4

Almost caught up on August!! One more set to go and then I'll move on to September.  If you want to see a cool overview of the project so far, check out my Pinterest board for it here.  It's kinda neat to see all of the color schemes together and see themes pop up again & again! Maybe I'll put together a calendar....

This is far & away the biggest project I've ever taken on.  Some weeks, I'm ready to go & excited about drawing.  Other weeks....Less so.  I'm tired on my screen, tired of the dolls, tired of the color schemes.  Just a whole lot of "blah"

I hate to admit it, but this was a bit of a "blah" week.  I found the themes tough. Sure, I could've skipped it but then it would have nagged at me!

So the themes this week were: "into the forest" which is a pair of pants and a tree patterned jacket, "makeup" is a bright pop art inspired dress with lips on it, "catch" is a fishing vest with a rod and hat, "kitchen" is a cute apron, "combination" is a patchwork dress, and "bus" is a bus patterned dress.  Those last two are my favorite.  The patchwork dress was inspired by a denim dress but after I colored it, it reminded me of Sally from Nightmare Before Christmas -- which I love!! And the dress for "bus" was inspired in part by Ms Frizzle from The Magic Schoolbus cartoon and in part by the teachers who dress up for the first day of school.

One more sheet to go! Given that I have a doctor's appointment and 4 days of soccer this week, I'm HOPING to get it up by Friday! I'm not happy unless I'm busy! 

August Paper Doll - Set 3

I'm going to try to wrap up the August set this week if I can find the time.  The kids have Labor Day off and then Tuesday is voting day, so they have that off, too.  They're loving these short school weeks!!

I found when I laid out the page that I had room for a little bit more, so the top & leggings on the right are a bit of a bonus! First up, "begins with D" is a dress with dots.  "Diner" is a retro style waitress uniform.  "Tiny" is a black leather miniskirt that would mix well with this set. "On my wall" is a t-shirt inspired by a painting I made years ago from a photo I took in London.  "Piano" is a sparkly dress.  And "trip" is another map-inspired outfit - a jacket and comfy pants for traveling.

Have a happy & safe Labor Day if you're in the US!! 

August Paper Doll - Set 2

I'm back from vacation! It was a *true* vacation - I packed my computer but never opened it.  No drawing for me! Just fun times with the family.

Tell me that isn't beautiful?! We spent 9 days on vacation - my parents, one of my grandmothers, and the four of us.  Our boys had a blast! Tennessee was gorgeous and fun and I would visit the Smokey Mountains again.

And then school started two days later!

AND because I'm on a roll.... There's a teaser for my first book with Paper Studio Press!

I had two big projects that I was working on this summer & this was the bigger of the two! It's a mix-and-match retro inspired book featuring two dolls with 104 (!!) individual items.  It was a real labor of love! And working with Jenny Taliadoros was fantastic.  Normally, I work alone without much of an editorial process. Having a guiding force was a really nice change.  It's not out quite yet, but I'll be sure to post when it is.

So forgive me for falling behind on the blog a bit!!

Today I have the second sheet in the August set.  I know I won't be caught up by the end of the month but I'll get through it anyway. And there's a collaboration post going up on Friday.

This set ended up very blue! First up is "horizon" and I made a sort of abstracted mountain scene on a skirt.  "Pillow" is a pair of cozy pajama pants.  "Rain" might be a duplicate theme - this time I went with a retro raincoat and bright floral umbrella. "Worm" is a bookworm on a back-to-school inspired mini dress. "Mug" is a comfy top & travel mug.  Finally, "row" is a duplicate theme - in January I created a rowing uniform.  This time, I went with knit stripes or rows!

Come back Friday for more in the ongoing collaboration project!

August Paper Doll - Set 1

Finally started on August! We're heading out on vacation (woohoo!!) so I probably won't get another sheet up between now and then.  I'm torn about bringing my computer with me. Hopefully we'll be too busy for me to draw but then again, there IS rain in the forecast...!

For those of you following along, here's the theme set for August from @ellolovey ( Instagram and Facebook).  This post will cover 1-6 with more to come soon. You can find the doll here.

I wanted some bright colors this time around instead of the pastels from April.  First up is "camp", a tank top with a camper and some roll-up hiking pants in bright colors.  "Dragon" was tough - I wanted a Chinese inspired gown and I'm still not totally happy with it.  Next is "face" and that's a cat face on a t-shirt. "Rose" is a mix-and-match top and skirt.  "Peach" has an embroidered collar.  And finally "bag" is an oversized knit shoulder bag.

I've been printing off the January/May set - I might even get a chance to play with my paper dolls over vacation!  Once we're back, the boys start school again.  Enjoy the rest of your summer - we sure will!

April Paper Doll - Set 5

I realize it's the first day of May but I had ONE more April sheet to share before moving on! This one is a bit haphazard.  If you view all five sheets as part of a whole, it's not too bad.

The themes this time were TOUGH! First up, "technology." I went with a futuristic metal and soft feminine dress with purple spiky hair.  For "fierce" I went with a gold animal print gown.  "Astronomy" is a purple jacket and telescope.  "Your day" I interpreted as a way I would spend my day - ideally, in a floral peasant shirt, jeans, with a book. "Progress" was another tough one. I made a dress that looks like stairs or a rising bar graph.  And finally, "rise" is a mod sunrise inspired dress.  The white boots/skirt combo would fit under that sunrise dress to complete the mod look.

Now it's on to May! I'll shoot for Friday.  I have a busy week ahead of me so I'll do my best. FOUR months behind me!! Pretty amazing!

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!