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!