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!!

March Paper Doll - Set 5

This is it! The last sheet in the March paper doll series.  I loved the colors this month & although I wawsn't crazy about the doll at first, it really grew on me over the course of the month.

The themes for this set were fun, too.  For "icing" I made a drippy cake-inspired top.  "Can" I decided to go a bit more abstract - I went with a "can-do" attitude with a Rosie the Riveter inspired overall set.  "Stretch" is a basic pair of leggings.  "Hair" is a fur vest.  For "house" I went with a 1930s inspired house dress. "Dance" is a ballet inspired outfit.  And then "fruit" is a pineapple colored dress. Finally, there's a random skirt just for fun.

April will have a new doll, the last of the new dolls. I'm eager to get started on the new set and I'll have the first one up sometime next week! 

March Paper Doll - Set 4

Every post I seem to start off with: "I meant to work on this but didn't......"  And I guess that's true today.  My posting has been a bit sparse but it's because I'm working on a bunch of stuff.

Today is set 4 of the March paper doll. I have one more sheet after this. Then I'll draw an April doll and cycle through the four dolls through the end of the year.

Right click to download and print

This doll was not my favorite, but the more I work on it, the more I like it!

For "roll" I made rolled up jeans.  "Spring" is a bright green sweater with a flower motif that coordinates well with leggings from the first set.  "Lettering" is a book lover's dream jacket.  And "treats" is a sweet shirt with cupcakes and ice cream.  "Space" is a star covered dress and solar system necklace.  And finally, "desk" is a business suite perfect for a corner office. I also included an orange skirt for some mix-and-match flexibility.

The next sheet will be the last sheet in this set.  I'm amazed that I've kept this up so long!! It's been a tough project.  I spend more time on this than I've spent on any other project for this blog!  It's worth it!!

March Paper Doll - Set 3

So Saint Patrick's Day is tomorrow.  I'm Irish on my mother's side but we've been here so long I don't know if that even counts! I live north of Boston in a traditionally very Irish place. Saint Patrick's Day is a big deal around here.

Because of this, I went a little more Irish inspired with this wardrobe sheet.

Once I finished with the themes for this set, I realized I had a bit more extra space on the page.  I threw in a couple of mix-and-match pieces (the green top and white skirt).  Aside from that, there were some fun themes! For "screen", I went with the silver screen and chose a Marilyn Monroe style dress.  "Jewel" is a bold statement necklace and that matches the "butterfly" shorts.  For "make" I created an artist (naturally!!) and for "green" I made some green jeans.  "Rainbow" is a shamrock and small rainbow. Finally, for "fresh" I thought of gardening so there's a nice basket of fresh veggies.  With that top, I'd suggest NOT cutting the interior spaces. It won't fit the doll correctly if you do.

I'm hoping to post Monday but with yet another Nor'eastern on its way, I'm not sure about that. Stay tuned! 

March Paper Doll - Set 2

For those of you who don't know, I live in Massachusetts. We had two nor-easter storms causing major flooding and power outages.  We were lucky - we lost power for about an hour.  Most of my town was not so lucky! And we're preparing for a third storm tonight.

It's been a messy March!

Today I have the second doodle-a-day sheet.  The sheets this month have slightly fewer pieces. I can't keep the pace that I attempted in January and February - it was just too much! I don't think March is any less fantastic, however, and I hope you agree.

Right-click to download and print

This set was fun! I had to think outside the box a bit. For "fragrant" I went with a lemon patterned top.  "Throwback" is a retro skirt and plaid top with a '40s hairstyle.  "Begins with C" is a bright, modern coat.  And "female" I interpreted as feminine and made a neo-Victorian blouse.  "Morning" is a sunny yoga set.  And finally, "blooms" is a brilliant orange floral gown.

The shadows on the gown were tough and I'm not entirely happy with it.  And the black & white pattern was tough.  Overall, though, it's a set I'm happy with!

And the next set should go up Friday....depending on snow days, etc.  March has been brutal!

March Paper Doll - Set 1

Welcome March! My baby just turned 6 this month.  I don't know where the time goes....

How did he get so big?!

I started this blog shortly after he was born.  So I guess this is almost six, too!

Anyway....

I have the next doodle-a-day set ready to go.  I'm still working from the prompts at @ellolovey ( Instagram and Facebook). 

Follow along with me! 

I made a new doll for this month.  I think I'll make one more in April and then start cycling through. That means that doll #4 will also be the December doll - I'm taking this project through the whole year.

Right-click to download and print

Right-click to download and print

For this set, I went full-tilt Saint Patrick's Day.  She's a redhead with a green palette. I was debating about how to color this set.  I almost went with a tawny skin tone and dark hair but my February doll was sort of like that so I decided not to.  I can tell you that April will feature a dark skinned doll.

So this sheet covers days 1-5.  For "early" I made a dress with a crocus motif for early spring.  "Creature" is a graphic monster shirt. "Food and drink" is a beer on a green shirt.  "Compliment" was a bit harder - I decided to create a denim skirt and a pair of jeans since denim compliments everything! And for "woods" I used a stump and flower motif with matching leggings.

I'm trying to pare down these sets so they're a little less overwhelming for me and a little more regularly scheduled. So look for more sheets soon!