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While RLC is gearing up to meet the challenge of creating a male paper doll for her blog this year (grin), I thought I would also likewise challenge myself to do something I've been wanting to do inspired by her Paper Thin Personas: draw a black & white doll that you can download to color.

Some background: from 1867 to 1907, a weekly periodical by the name Judy; or the London serio-comic journal was published. One of its regular cartoonists was A. Chasemore, who drew the "Fashion for the week". This illustration was generally a fantasy concoction; nothing anyone would have really worn except perhaps in a theatrical or masquerade ball. The costumes were sometimes allegorical, sometimes political, and mostly just whimsical. And since they were drawn in ink and published in black & white, sky's the limit on the color interpretations!

The model for the outfits was just an "everywoman" but I have taken the liberty of naming her after the publication. Judy the magazine, of course, was a competing journal to the much more popular Punch.

Since I am posting plates for Reconstruction every two weeks, I will try to post Judy in between. My access to the Judy journal is all over the map, so I am not drawing her outfits in any particular order. I started with Volume 26 by pure randomness. It was the first volume that I was able to absolutely confirm the "Fashion for the week" illustration, but I may find it started before. In fact, I skipped the January 14th issue by accident and will go back to pick it up in the next post.

Click the image to download the .pdf. I haven't decided yet whether I will build Judy her own gallery. We'll see how she goes.

 


Comments

01/17/2012 10:07

She's wonderful. I really like how her face looks very much like the style of the fashion illustrations of the era and with your shading, she could almost be an actual engraved image. Beautiful work. I guess this means, I really do have to draw a man, doesn't it?

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01/18/2012 05:57

thank you! i had to draw her face twice (the first go didn't look at all like the period and i knew she had to have a more 19th century expression to pass muster, so i am glad the effort paid off!

and yes, now you really have to do a man ~ hahahahaha!

: D

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Rose
01/22/2012 16:10

I love listening to you guys joke... I can draw a man about as well as I can build a jet with my eyes closed.

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01/24/2012 05:16

part of how I began to learn how to draw men was through comic books ~ although the proportions are exaggerated on superheroes, nice clean artwork of overly-sculpted bodies can help show you how everything fits.

: D

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Rose
01/24/2012 07:35

Thanks! That never occurred to me. ;D

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