19th Century Paper Dolls

Visit the Gallery to see the new plates. I have been really behind in the posting of updates, so there's not much new (James' outfit in four pieces shown assembled here). I have a coat and bonnet for Emmaline as well, but it didn't fit on the plate (so: next time).

The really good news is that I have been working on all manner of paper doll stuff for the last two weeks. The bad news is I haven't been sharing any of it yet! I am in the process of getting a new computer and scanner, so my world is a little topsy turvy at the moment, but presumably will run a lot smoother once everything is in place. Anticipating a new system in early February. It had to be done ~ I am rather tired of struggling with this poor old thing.

For whatever reason I have been struggling with these plates too. I think my mind is a bit unfocused, but that's pretty typical at the beginning of a New Year, so hopefully I will get into a groove. I am definitely getting better at letting go of some of my horrid perfectionism. Now I just need to work on my color palette (could I possibly use more yellow???). I may not have anything very bold for the next two plates, but I will try to splash a little more variation in color where I can (if I can). I am still apparently very myopic in the realm of color. I am working on a project to try to help with that.

Also, more Judy to come. Lots more! I will be sure to post her by Friday at the latest.

Emmaline's traveling dress, 1860 01/17/2012

Perhaps the best way to post these interim pictures (before the plates are uploaded) is to show the clothing on the doll as it is supposed to fit. I am still completely disorganized when it comes to posting, but I'd rather post disorganized than not post at all.

Emmaline's traveling dress went through about 187 permutations and I am still not entirely happy with it, but once again, it's an exercise in "get over it and move on". My goal since last year (and topping my list this year) is to quit over-thinking everything and reaching for impossible perfection; just create, pop things off into the world and keep on creating. So far this has worked wonderfully. I have been very productive despite my inner-critic.

After doing this for so many years, I can see measurable improvement and that is encouraging. Even if I am not 100% crazy about this dress, I like it 100 times more than the dress I painted for her the last time ~ and in another year or so, whatever dress I am working will be even all that much better.

Meet Judy; the London serio-comic paper doll 01/14/2012

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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.

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States Morse at Georgetown, 1860 01/08/2012

The plates I am making for plates I will post on January 22 include Morse, so I thought I would try to get ahead and finish his first bits of wardrobe. I made the mistake of posing this character in a way that makes it a little difficult to layer his outfits and alter the position of his hands, but I am working on ways around that. In the meantime, it's a typical pose for him, so it works, regardless what he's wearing.

This should not have taken me as long as it did, but I made some huge sloppy mistakes with the layers (despite my lightbox), so it required a lot of Photo-shopping to correct (alas). The good news is, the pieces should work together fine now.

The other difficulty with Mister Morse is his infernal collection of purple vests. Purple is the absolutely most wretched color to mix, keep consistent, and paint. Most pre-mixed purples are not very good (and look like no color known to nature), so I feel like I have to make my own. Fortunately the end result doesn't look nearly like I struggled with it as much as I did. Now let's see how many variations on the purple vest I can manage. This one is pretty simple because I was exhausted from just getting the color to layer.

The base outfit on the left, above, pretty much represents what Morse will wear for the rest of his life (ha!). We shall see how many more pairs of trousers I have to end up painting for him, though (certainly his war uniforms will offer some variety ~ at least for a while).

Plates 3-6 are posted! 01/05/2012

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I have been fighting mightily with my internet connection (hence the silence), but I finally managed to get the plates posted (almost up-to-date). So check out the gallery, download, and enjoy!

In the meantime, I am working on more stuff. The 1st Christmas Annual has been posted to the Reconstruction site (yay!), and the first issue is due to be posted this coming Sunday. I'm having a hard time coordinating the plates with the series at the moment ~ too many plates and not enough series presently, but I think it will gradually even out.

I'm excited about many new things to share very soon! Happy New Year!

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Fashion Plate Friday: October 1875 12/30/2011

I have been suffering from computer woes this past week, alas, but hoping things will improve shortly.

To tide you over, here's a lovely fashion plate of children's clothing from October of 1875 (source uncertain, unfortunately). I haven't come across a lot of fashion plates for children, which makes this one interesting. Mostly children wore rather amorphous dresses until they were about 7 or 8 years old, then they generally wore miniature versions of whatever was fashionable for adults.

Love the colors: the blue shiny stripes and the gold/coppery combination. It seems I have not posted much from this era, which is interesting since it's so smack-dab into Reconstruction-era America, but maybe I have just been saving this stuff for when I get there. I feel right now like I will never get out of the 1850s. Gotta move this ahead quicker!

Getting Organized (at long last!) 12/23/2011

These are the absolutel final final final plates (officially, I promise). These are the plates that are going to be attached to the series, so there will be no more dickering with them ~ they are done done done.

Right now I just have the two completed. I will be working on the others and rearranging them as I work on the series. I will always try to post the plates here before they are available for download on the Reconstruction web site, so that if you are visiting here, you will have them early!

New plates will post every two weeks regularly, but again, you'll see stuff sooner.

Additionally, the plates are only posting on the actual "production" schedule. I will continue to post drafts and work that I am doing ahead of schedule here ~ it's just the final plates themselves that will be on my fortnightly posting timeline.

I'm not 100% organized yet, but definitely getting there. Hoping by the New Year I will have enough of a routine to be at least semi-predictable with regard to this work.

So much to do in the meantime. Will try to post something for Christmas in the next day or so to celebrate the holiday!

This ain't your shepherd's angel ~ 12/18/2011

My Saint Nicholas idea wasn't inspiring me and I realized I was kinda jumping the gun with that since he doesn't even appear in this first Christmas story, so I abandoned that particular ship and painted this tonight: wings!

I was really debating whether I would since it's been a long time since I have thought about Razi-el as being a "traditional" angel-shaped thing, but after some consideration, I thought, well, why not. He would have been perceived as such contemporary to when the story is taking place and I do want to keep the whole bird/feather/wing leitmotif afloat, so voila. Enjoy. When I repost the plates (again ~ I know, I know, but I think I finally have them right this time), I will include these wings in their proper size, etc. In the meantime, you can click on them to see some of the detail (they are very basic, I guess, but not bad for a job done while talking on the phone and flinging paint on the page.

I need to remind myself more often how easy this is when I just relax and roll with it instead of agonizing over all the little details.

Okay, back to working on the story again. It's very nearly done and I have to admit I am rather proud of the noble thing it is turning out to be (particularly considering its surly, hideous start and its rather cantankerous journey into maturity. Expect it to be ready to download on Christmas Day ~ yay!

McLaughlin's Coffee Formal Wear 12/17/2011

This is a recent auction from eBay that shows a lovely solution for the problem of tailcoats on paper dolls. It's probably from either the late 1890s or possibly just over the jump of the century ~ either way, formal wear had undergone no special changes in the last half of the century. The sorta cutaway morning coat looks more English to me, but was definitely a style in America too.

I used to be a lot more adventuresome with my paper doll construction but that becomes difficult to translate into something that other people can assemble and enjoy and it can be daunting to see something on paper that requires some assembly. I know I have never been real crazy about those hats that require you to paste backing on them.

I am working on a St. Nicholas doll (of course!), but because of his very necessary beard, I am having a hard time deciding whether to make his head a separate piece that needs to be glued on. It's either that or he'll have to be in profile. I guess we shall see!