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.

November Paper Doll - Set 5

FINALLY! The November set is finished.  I feel like I've been behind on this project since it began.... It was a much bigger project than I anticipated but I WILL finish it!

To that end, here's the last set.

First up is "layered" and I went with a tee shirt, flannel, and vest. "Something new" is a retro mini dress that looks like a present. "Scarf" is a vest and scarf.  "Row" is a theme that has come up a few times - this time, I went with a striped sweater. "Sign" is another repeat - I tried to make a ski patrol/rescue type jacket. It's a stretch..... And finally, "cozy place" is a sweater with leggings & booties.

I have five pages to post for December and they will all get posted as soon as I actually draw them!

November Paper Doll - Set 4

As promised, I'll posting the remainder of the November doodle-a-day wardrobe sheets this week. Today I have set 4!

I ended up rounding out this sheet with a few mix & match pieces.  And the themes were difficult for me this time around. Maybe it was the themes, maybe it was the rush to get these done.  I'm not sure.

First, "family" is a skirt with a little bird family. "Pie" is a sweater with a pie graphic. "Turkey" and "thankful" are a shirt & skirt with the same motif.  "Mountains" is a dismal attempt at an all-over graphic dress. And "shop" is a comfy, casual sweatshirt for all of the Black Friday shopping frenzy!

One more set to go!! Should be up Friday.

And if you're looking to order my book in time for Christmas, go grab it here or here!

November Paper Doll - Set 3

Yes, it's December.  But I NEED to finish the November paper doll set! So this week, I'll crank out the last of the wardrobe sheets and then move on to the December set.

And then take a break in January!

For "brush" I used a brush script font. "Jewel" is a jeweled neckline on a fuzzy sweater. "Recipe" is an apron. For "product" I went with math (as in, the "product" in multiplication).  "Big and Small" is a retro dress with a large and a small pattern.  And "luggage" is a vintage inspired coat & suitcase.

Look for more this week - I'm diligently working to finish these up!

November Paper Doll - Set 2

The holiday craziness has already begun.... I'm really hoping to get another page posted next week. Not a great time to fall behind! I'm writing this just ahead of our first snow storm of the year so I'm not sure if the kids are going to school or not. I'm hoping they do!!

My layout is all over the place and doesn't actually follow the list in order.  First is "glow" which I turned into a sort of glowing, bright ball gown.  "Book" goes well with the "handwriting" jacket from March.  For "gadget" and "shoes" I went with a little bit of a steampunk feel -- what says "gadget" more than steampunk?! "Veteran" is a Marine Corps woman's uniform - my grandfather was a Marine, so that was the branch I wanted to illustrate. This uniform is based on an illustration on Wikipedia from the 1980s so I'm not sure it's current.  But I liked it and I followed the illustration faithfully!! Finally, "begins with M" is a maxi dress with a pretty pumpkin print.

I'll get to work on the next set -- stay safe & warm if you, too, are dealing with snow!

November Paper Doll - Set 1

Happy November! The end-of-the-year spiral has begun.... November & December are always crazy months around here. Holidays, birthdays, school activities....It's nutty but fun.

November also means that the doodle-a-day paper doll project is starting to wind down.  There's this doll and December and that's it.  I plan on finishing strong!!

Here are the November themes. If you'd like to follow along, I'm using the drawing suggestions from @ellolovey on Instagram and she's on Facebook, too.

First up, the theme is "sky" and I made a shirt with a sunset color and cloud motif with a sweater vest.  "Theatre" is a dramatic pantsuit perfect for a night out. "Camp" was tough - I went with a buffalo checkered jacket (I have a vintage one that I love) that made me think of hunting camp.  "Market" is a repeat theme and this time I made a mustard colored cozy sweater and canvas bag.  "Breakfast" is another cozy sweater with a t-shirt that has a tea graphic. And finally, "inspiration" is a graphic long sleeved shirt with "New England" on it because I draw a lot on inspiration from my very beautiful part of the country!


I tried to make the background on this one a little lighter than October.  I've been posting these on Pinterest & it's really cool to see them all together!

July Paper Doll - Set 5

YAY! July is a WRAP! I'm going to try to get a couple of sets done this week (maybe) but we're heading out for a family vacation & I'm not sure if I'll get to it. 

I've said it before - some themes are harder than others! One thing I love about this whole project is that the ideas are already there for me.  Some of these are themes I never would have picked for myself & that's part of the fun.

First up is "boat" and I went with a nautical set.  "Signs" was a little trickier - not sure if it's obvious, but the long skirt is covered in zodiac signs.  "Float" is a cover up and pool float.  "Lion" is a blouse with a lion pattern.  "Friends" was tough so I added a title & a cat and dog sketch (not mine).  Finally, "sunset" really only works in the color version. 

I haven't looked at the August themes yet so that should be interesting. 

Anyone from Tennessee or been recently? That's where we're heading and it looks fun!!

July Paper Doll - Set 4

Woo hoo! I have ONE more July sheet to go! And then I can get cracking on August.  Not too bad...!

I won't delay  - here's the set:

This week's sheet wasn't as full as I wanted so I added in the sweater and leggings to round it out.  First up, "moon" is a short dress.  "Slice" was tough and I went with a box pleat skirt with color accents in corduroy.  "Shark" was fun - I went with a toothy graphic sweatshirt.  "Market" is a jean jacket and shopping bag. "Van" is another graphic tshirt.  And finally, "star" is a tunic top since I already made a star covered dress in March.

ONE more!! I'll get that up as soon as I can.  Have a fantastic weekend!

July Paper Doll - Set 3

I'm slowly working through the July drawing prompts.  It's been hot and humid here in New England so, aside from a few trips to the lake, we've been stuck inside. Might as well be winter!!

All of my back to school shopping is finished, thankfully.  We scheduled a family vacation (2 cars, 4 generations, a cabin in Tennessee, and LOTS of fun!!) and we will be back one day before school starts! I think we're all just about ready. My kids may be feral.

First up is "dachshund" so I made a poodle skirt with a puppy on it. And I think I spelled it wrong in my images.  Oops.  Then there's "ice cream" with a graphic tee and sprinkle covered skater skirt.  "Hug" is a repeat theme from January - I used the same heart/hug image with this month's colors.  "Grill" is a picnic inspired grilling apron.  For "movie" I didn't know what to do so I created a red carpet gown perfect for a Hollywood star.  And finally, "yard" was another tough one so I made a floral striped top with green pants, maybe for gardening. 

I have two sheets left to wrap up July and I'll be getting those up soon!

July Paper Doll - Set 2

Happy August! July was crazy busy but things have definitely slowed down some.  Should be able to get back to normal.  Hopefully!

My plan is to crank out the July paper doll sheets and then get into the August set.  We have a vacation coming up so that may impact my posting a bit. We shall see.

Enough of that! Let's get the paper doll up!

I tried to look at the themes before I chose the color scheme.  I knew I wanted red, white, and blue, but I also knew I'd need yellow specifically for this set.  First up is "flashback" which is a 1980s inspired dress.  "Lemonade" is a summery dress.  "Book cover" is a skirt with book spines and would be super cute with this lettering jacket here. "Beach" and "state" are meant to go together - they're very Cape Cod in my opinion! "Fairy tale" was a tough one for me so I went with a Red Riding Hood set. It's somewhat fashionable anyway, so feel free to mix and match it with other things!

I recently discovered that I can print these out and cut them on my Silhouette cutter.  Haven't actually done it with any of these monthly sheets yet, but I'd like to soon! I did do a test cut of a commission that way and it came out great!

So I'll post the next set ASAP.  Look for it!

July Paper Doll - Set 1

I finally got started on July! Don't expect daily posts like this - I got lucky this weekend.  My husband took over pretty much all of my tasks on Sunday which allowed me 4 uninterrupted hours of drawing! I should say, too, that each of these sheets takes me about 8 hours to pull together between the drawing, inking, coloring, and composition!!

First up, the themes for this month.

I'm working from the July prompts from @ellolovey ( Instagram and Facebook).  This is the whole list if you'd like to follow along.



I try to read through the whole list before I select colors.  For this month, I knew I wanted red, white, and blue for the 4th of July here in the US. I also needed green for watermelon and yellow for lemonade.  So I settled on two blues, a green, a yellow, and a red, along with black & white.

I'm not entirely happy with how the text looks but I can live with it.  Overall, though, I'm happy with this set! First up is "desert scene" on a maxi skirt.  Next, "hot dog".  And then "watermelon" is a fun dress with red shoes.  "Fireworks" is supposed to be a sparkly dress but I'm not sure if it reads.  "Splash" is a vintage bathing suit and sun hat.  And "chocolate" is a graphic t with smores on it.  Finally, "firefly" is another long skirt.  And then a pair of jeans for mixing.

I'm hoping to get another post up this week since I'm finally a tiny bit ahead!!