I thought it only fair that I share some humble paper doll beginnings with you (in the interest of posterity, I suppose). More often than not I tend to destroy the dolls I create. I couldn't tell you how many have wound up being torn up and tossed out. but I have managed to hold on to one or two (or at least the costume parts of them ~ sometimes I am less critical of the clothes than of the dolls themselves).
For your amusement, I have posted here one of the first dolls I ever made. I won't say it is the first because I can't quite remember, but it was certainly one of the first attempts I ever made. This doll was probably made in about 1990 and I was motivated to create her because I had just made the rather astonishing (to me at the time) decision to give Lewis Fletcher a wife. I wondered what sort of woman would marry a person like Lewis and I knew she would have to be a simple country girl without any pretensions, that she would be pretty, but not wise, and above all that she would not be self-conscious or fragile in any way.
I designed her with a rough country look (in the dress that would later become her school uniform, though here it hardly looks period-appropriate). I also included an outfit with trousers and a fringe coat which I later decided she would not wear ~ I didn't want her to be mannish in any way. The doll was made with colored pencils on plain cardstock with yokes instead of tabs and outer layers (like the jacket and coat) that wrapped around from the back. The whole set was laminated to preserve the colors and keep it from smearing. I made a few other pieces that I didn't share here, but nothing terribly exciting. Click the picture to see more details.
I hope it's clear, when comparing this post to the previous one, that my drawing skills have improved over the last 18 years!
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