Month: February 2016

Star Wars Paper Dolls: Leia Organa No. 2

Star Wars paper dolls Leia OrganaOh Leia, so much white! You’ll probably be pleased to know that these are the last of the full white outfits for Leia and we’ll get to see some actual color next week. I think Leia’s Both-style hair was one of my favorites (she reprises it in Return of the Jedi and The Force Awakens). It’s a great look for her. I separated her Hoth jumpsuit from the vest and boots that she wears with them because she’s in the jumpsuit without the layers while they are escaping from Bespin and she’s got different shoes, so technically it’s a different look.

Yesterday I mentioned we were already hitting The Empire Strikes Back with Han, but I guess Leia too doesn’t really have more than those two dresses in A New Hope. That doesn’t stop her from still having twice as many plates as Han in the long run, though.

A lot of people have criticized that Leia is the only female character in Star Wars of any consequence. She only has poor doomed Aunt Beru for competition in A New Hope, virtually nobody in The Empire Strikes Back, and Oola the slave girl and Mon Mothma in Return of the Jedi. I guess looking back I can see how that’s problematic, but at the time it only emphasized to me how badass she was: in a galaxy dominated by men, she held her own.

Star Wars paper dolls Leia OrganaAnd I know there was/is a lot of kerfuffle about the female characters in The Force Awakens, but the people with their feathers ruffled can go pluck themselves: having amazing characters like Rey, Phasma, and Maz Kanata have enriched the Star Wars universe in ways that it needed–and which will keep it relevant long into the 21st century.

That’s all I have to say about the “feminist” agenda with regard to Star Wars (and my use of quotes there is completely intentional), though I suspect I’ll revisit this topic briefly when we get to Leia’s Return of the Jedi costumes. I think much of the discussion on this is overblown and fails to celebrate (or negates entirely) the very positive impact Star Wars had on girls of my generation (and I suspect others).

So just enjoy it. And play with with some paper dolls!

[Click on each image to download a printable .pdf copy of each plate]

To see all Star Wars related posts and plates, click the tag or the category at right. Click the Leia Organa tag to see all of Leia’s plates (this is the first).

Star Wars Paper Dolls: Han Solo No. 2

Star Wars paper dolls Han SoloTo go with Luke Skywalker’s stolen stormtrooper uniform from yesterday, here is Han’s. I won’t be redundant here about how hard it was to draw the helmet (though I think I just was ~ ha). I will repeat that however much fun drawing the stormtroopers were, I am terrible with straight lines, so I hope you will forgive all the wiggliness there.

Even more fun than the stormtroopers, however, was drawing the Hoth costumes. Snow + Star Wars = massive win in my book, so you can imagine how excited I was by the whole finale of The Force Awakens. I’m only sorry that Starkiller Base went supernova. I would love to see more snowy landscapes in the Sequel Trilogy going forward.

Han has so few costume changes that we’re already looking at his first look from The Empire Strikes Back, and it was a great look. I loved everything about Hoth as a kid: the snow, the tauntauns, the snow, the AT-ATs, the snow, the abominable wampa (did I mention also the snow?). And here’s a fun fact for you: all my life I believed Han’s Hoth coat was blue (like many others did), but as I was looking for resources to draw today’s costume, I came across a video that shows it was just a trick of the lighting.

Star Wars paper dolls Han SoloYes, the coat is actually brown.

I didn’t think it was possible to blow my mind on some niggling detail of Star Wars costuming, but consider it blown.

Well, I still colored it blue in the plate because that’s how I will always remember it. Even when I watch the movie now, I can’t see a brown coat (though admittedly, my color sensibilities are poor). Nevertheless, feel free to do as you like with the one you can color for yourself (that’s what it’s there for, after all!).

Sadly, I’ve only got one more plate of costumes for Han Solo! For a character so large, he occupies such a small space in this collection. I thought of ways of stretching him more broadly, but they were all just redundant. He wears what he wears and what he wears is all pretty simple in the end.

[Click on each image to download a printable .pdf copy of each plate]

To see all Star Wars related posts and plates, click the tag or the category at right. Click the Han Solo tag to see all of Han’s plates.

Star Wars Paper Dolls: Luke Skywalker No. 2

Star Wars paper dolls Luke SkywalkerSince I started last week with Luke Skywalker, we’ll just continue to go in order throughout the rest of the month. We have today Luke’s poncho, blaster, and his father’s lightsaber (gifted to him by Obi-Wan Kenobi). It’s the same lightsaber we see play a big role in The Force Awakens, which is interesting since it’s been lost since Luke got separated from his right hand in The Empire Strikes Back. We don’t know yet where it’s been since then, but it’s already become quite the Arthurian talisman since. It will be interesting to see where the lightsaber goes from here. It’s fun to watch a prop through its long history. And I really enjoyed making Luke’s lightsabers.

We also have Luke’s stolen stormtrooper outfit. Leia asks him “Aren’t you a little short for a stormtrooper?” when she sees him in this getup (and just a side bit of trivia, it’s when he reveals himself to her that we actually hear his whole name for the first time). I should note that when I drew these paper dolls, I accidentally scaled Luke to be too tall and had to modify him in PhotoShop. He’s still too tall (Mark Hamill is 5’9″ to Harrison Ford’s 6’1″). But I promised myself I wouldn’t get all bent out of shape about imperfections, so there you have it: in paper doll land, Luke and Han are about the same height.

Star Wars paper dolls Luke SkywalkerI’m not 100% happy with how the stormtrooper helmet came out (for Luke or Han for that matter), but I decided to quit fussing with them after a while. The original stormtrooper helmet design is actually rather difficult to reproduce. I like the new design better, frankly: it’s got cleaner lines and a less convoluted shape.

[Click on each image to download a printable .pdf copy of each plate]

To see all Star Wars related posts and plates, click the tag or the category at right. Click the Luke Skywalker tag to see all of Luke’s plates.

I realize I have way more plates than there are W-Fs in the month of February, but I haven’t decided what to do about that. I will barely have gotten through most of Luke and Leia (and all of Han). I’ve also gotten lazy about finishing the other characters in the series (eek!). I’m having particular trouble finishing Darth Vader at the moment. Seems like he should be easy, but he’s presented some interesting challenges.

Might have to make Star Wars an ongoing thing once a week through March as well, I guess. That’s not a bad thing anyway.

 

Judy : Vol. 25, 1879 Plate 5

Judy 19th Century paper dollFor Judy Tuesday we have the final plate for Vol. 25. I really enjoyed drawing these two (though that hand on the “Princess Royale” is a bit of a brutish paw).

I really try not to fuss too much about the Judy plates. If I get too hung up on perfection, they’ll just bog down (like some of my other series have ~ ha!).

My personal favorites of this series continue to be the ones with interesting patterns or detailing. Sometimes they can be a pain to render–I just finished one for Vol. 29 that’s got a lot of horizontal and vertical lines, which are hard for me to draw these days; just can’t draw a straight line to save my life anymore and I’ve never liked the absolute precision of a ruler.

But anyway, say goodbye to the 1870s! We’ll be mostly firmly entrenched in the 1880s from here on out with Judy.

As usual, to find all the plates in this series (and the dolls themselves) click on the Judy tag down below.

[Click this link or the image to download a printable .pdf of these costumes]

 

 

Clown Prince of Crime: The Joker’s Closet Plate No. 3

Joker_03_thumbMonday Mayhem continues with a new plate for Mistah J.  I’m pretty sue I’ve mentioned in the past that the 1940s were kind weird. Comic books with pretty silly and the wackier they were the better. Batman was especially infused with some bizarre concepts. It was an “anything-goes” era as editors tried to capture the zeitgeist (this got even worse in the 50s when science fiction was in vogue).

These two costumes are typical of Joker’s fare in the early days. He was always assuming crazy disguises and popping up in unexpected places. It became pretty much a schtick for Batman to be pursuing some criminal only for the baddie to be revealed at the Joker.

The artist gag actually made it into the Batman movie from 1989, though Jack Nicholson didn’t have a palette full of little guns, so it wasn’t nearly as cool ~ ha! And for heaven’s sake, put the smock over some other piece of clothing ~ we don’t want the Joker to catch a chill!

As usual: to find the doll for this series, click the Joker link in the tags or in the Category listing to the right.

[Click on this link or the primary image in this post to download a printable .pdf]

Star Wars Paper Dolls: Leia Organa

leia_01_color_thumbA long time ago in a galaxy very, very near…before George Lucas ever sold Lucasfilm, LTD for four billion dollars to make it “official”, Leia Organa was my Disney princess. I was never a girly-girl and though I enjoyed fairy tales, Princess Leia was far more interesting than those gown-wearing, hair flaunting blondes. She was whip-smart, sharp-tongued, and could handle stormtroopers herself. She was also an important leader in the Resistance. Take that, Sleeping Beauty.

In an era of not too many great female role models, Carrie Fisher gave girls a character to really admire. Of course she was beautiful too, but beauty was the least of her impressive qualities (even if the boys couldn’t see that sometimes). And I love that Carrie Fisher still doesn’t take any guff from anybody (if you’ve seen her Twitter @carrieffisher, you know what I mean).

leia_01_bw_thumbThis is the first of 6 plates I have for Leia (she’s got quite a few costumes, like Luke). I was never a big fan of her original “bun” hair style (had trouble drawing it too), but it is her iconic first-appearance look, so I had to include it, of course. Because Leia has a lot of different hairstyles throughout the Original Trilogy, she has lots of swappable heads. Like Han, she doesn’t have many accessories, though, so I gave her some weapons (which is she does use in the series).

Not much difference between the colored plate and the black & white plate on this one (even moreso on the next one). Leia does wear a lot of white!

Just as with Luke and Han, I will likely update Leia for The Force Awakens, so there may be an additional plate eventually. I was honestly surprised and delighted to see her in the new movie (I had no idea), though I think she’s gone from the strongest woman in the galaxy to the most tragic. She’s still strong, though. And I fully expect that strength to carry her through this Sequel Trilogy. And I have my fingers crossed that she ultimately has something like a happy ending. She deserves it.

[Click on each image to download a printable .pdf copy of each plate]

To see all Star Wars related posts and plates, click the tag or the category at right. Click the Leia Organa tag to see all of Leia’s plates (this is the first).

 

 

Star Wars Paper Dolls: Han Solo

Star Wars Paper Dolls Han SoloI originally planned to post Han late in the run because I couldn’t imagine writing anything about him without referencing his fate in The Force Awakens, but now I’m glad I can speak freely without worry about spoilers for Julie (ha!).

So yeah, Han Solo: Rogue. Smuggler. Rebel General. Scruffy-looking Nerf-herder. National Treasure. Harrison Ford created something wonderful in Han Solo and it’s only unfortunate that he was hell-bent on killing him ever since–especially after it could be argued that the role made his career (and he never got entirely typecast by it).  So even though I went into The Force Awakens almost 100% spoiler-free, I knew his time was up. There was no way Harrison Ford would have come back to the role unless they promised him he could die.

And what a death: like pure Greek tragedy. I’m going to miss Han Solo, but I do take comfort in the fact that he’ll never really die so long as there’s video recordings. I just hope they can salvage his legacy by doing something to save his train wreck of a son. For his sake, for Leia’s sake, for all their sakes.

Star Wars Paper Dolls Han SoloAbout the paper doll: Han has the fewest number of outfits of the three leads in the Original Trilogy. Part of the reason is that he spends a portion of the movies frozen in carbonite, but also his original look is so iconic there was never much need to embellish it. Even more than 30 years later, he’s still wearing the same belt and holster in The Force Awakens, and his costume is strikingly similar in style. So he’s got a mere three plates worth of options form the Original Trilogy and a few weapons for accessories, including the infamous blaster with which he shot Greedo first.

And in case you’re wondering, I do intend to draw Chewbacca, but I haven’t gotten around to it yet, so it will likely be a while before you see Han’s loyal sidekick here.

Like Luke, I have not yet updated Han for The Force Awakens, so there may be an additional plate eventually.

[Click on each image to download a printable .pdf copy of each plate]

To see all Star Wars related posts and plates, click the tag or the category at right. Click the Han Solo tag to see all of Han’s plates (this is the first).

 

Star Wars Paper Dolls: Luke Skywalker

Luke Skywalker Star Wars paper dollWelcome to Force February! All throughout the month I’ll be posting paper dolls and costumes inspired the Original Star Wars Trilogy (and eventually from the first sequel trilogy film, The Force Awakens.

I tend to think about Star Wars as an ensemble saga, but at the heart of it will always be Luke Skywalker whose journey from Tatooine farmboy to Jedi Knight enthralled my generation starting with A New Hope in 1977. So we’ll kick off Force February with Luke in his iconic Tatooine desert costume. I included his long rifle (though I think it’s a bit short). The design in the background is the symbol of the Rebel Alliance.

In the war of “who’s your favorite character in Star Wars?” Luke never won a battle in my book, but not because he isn’t amazing. I just always had a terrible crush on his father ~ ha! I can certainly say I appreciate Luke more now than I ever did when I was a kid because I can see all the things I learned from him throughout the Original Trilogy. And I recognize more than ever that even as a kid I always wanted to strongly identify with his empathy and unswervable moral goodness. Perhaps the fact that I loved his father is a strong indication that I actually identified more with Luke, subconsciously.

Luke Skywalker Star Wars paper dollAnd Mark Hamill is just an awesome guy (check out his Twitter @HamillHimself). He embraces the fandom with humor, humility, and generosity. What’s not to love?  It’s so nice to see him return to this iconic role after spending the last twenty some-odd years voicing the Joker for WB/DC cartoons and the Arkham video games.  That makes him a favorite character for me in multiple genres!

I drew Luke first when I began this series and I’m surprised at how many costume changes he ended up with (way more than I expected). I skipped the redundancy of his padded Hoth flight suit since it was so similar to his regular X-Wing costume, but I covered all the other pieces. He has six plates in all and comes with a variety of headgear and weapons.

I have not yet updated him for The Force Awakens, so there may be an additional plate eventually when I figure out what to do with the other half of that plate.

[Click on each image to download a printable .pdf copy of each plate]

To see all Star Wars related posts and plates, click the tag or the category at right. Click the Luke Skywalker tag to see all of Luke’s plates (this is the first).

Some general notes about this whole series:

  1.  The Heads: all of the characters’ heads are separated from their bodies so that they can be switched out. Ideally you want to place a paper backing on them so that they can be slipped on over the doll. It’s important that the costumes can be slipped under the chin as many of them have high necklines.
  2. The Process: I really wanted to try different things with this series. I wasn’t nearly as experimental as I hoped, but I did push myself a little to include more accessories than I normally produce for paper dolls.
  3. The Colored Plates: this is my first time producing both black & white and color variants. For coloring I opted to go digital because once I’d completed the linework, shading, and scanning I thought digital color would be quick and easy. Not only was I wrong, but I’m not sure I like how it came out. I wanted to try something new, though, so there you have it. I may yet go back and hand-color the original art.
  4. The Accuracy: I was generally pretty good about looking up references (of which there are plenty), but I still ended up fudging a bit. If you’re so super-geeky to recognize my flubs, you get major points ~ ha!

Judy : Vol. 25, 1879 Plate 4

Judy 19th Century paper dollJudy Tuesday brings you weird sporting wear from 1879! It’s highly doubtful anyone in 1879 ever wore anything so gaudy unless they were in the circus or doing burlesque, but if we think of Chasemore’s designs as poking fun of trends in fashion, who knows what hideous thing in Paris might have inspired either of these pajama-looking atrocities. Of course, to a modern eye they’re probably not so awful (or at least not shocking in any way).

Either way the Ladies’ Football costume strikes me as especially hideous with that crazy mix of patterns. I can only imagine Chasemore was also visually commenting on how ridiculous women in sports were by suggesting such an eyesore getup.

One more plate from this volume next week and then we leap forward (appropriately since this is a Leap Year and it’s Leap Month) to Volume 29!

As usual, to find all the plates in this series (and the dolls themselves) click on the Judy tag down below.

[Click this link or the image to download a printable .pdf of these costumes]

 

Mistress of Mayhem: Harley Quinn’s Closet Plate No. 3

Harley Quinn paper dollThis Monday’s Mayhem brings you a new plate of very teeny-tiny outfits for Harley Quinn.

Harley Quinn has been overtly sexualized since her inception, but the artists who draw her in her solo series (typically Chad Hardin and John Timms on interiors, and Amanda Conner on covers) know how to make her sexy without being ridiculous. Yeah, she sometimes wanders around scantily-clad, but it’s never truly gratuitous and many opportunities to make it so are avoided. So, if she moonbathes on her rooftop in her purple bikini, it’s because she’s crazy like that and not because it’s an opportunity to put her in compromising positions to delight 13 year-old boys.

I actually bet the majority of Harley Quinn’s readership is, in fact, female, and the type who don’t put up with that sort of thing. Which is my long-winded way of saying yes, this week’s offerings include some very teeny-tiny outfits, but what’s to come is more along the lines of the pirate ensemble from Issue No. 3 (2014)–complete with buckle shoes and epaulets.

My favorite thing on this plate is her flip-flops. Was loathe to draw them, but pushed myself–and in doing so decided to make her footwear mix-match. Yay!

You can find the doll by clicking on the Harley Quinn tag below or in the menu at the right.

[Click on this link or the primary image in this post to download a printable .pdf of this plate]

Also: it’s officially Force February, so expect to see all-new Star Wars plates to begin posting on Wednesday.  Guess that means I’d better go finish them!