Category: Paper Dolls

Judy : Vol. 27, 1880 Plate 1

JUDY_Vol27_01_thumbFor the month of December, we’re celebrating Judy Tuesdays, with a new plate of Judy costumes every second day of the work week in addition to whatever else I’ve got going on (haven’t quite figured it all out).

This week’s plate includes costumes from August, but we’ll be coordinated with the season by month-end. I really wanted to do an advent-type costume-a-day thing but I’m nowhere near prepared for something like that, so it’ll have to wait for next year (hopefully!).

I love drawing the Judy series because it’s easy and always full of fun weird things. The reference pictures are simple to render because they are already black and white line work and so I’m not struck in a morass of attempting to figure out complex patterns, brands, colors, etc. Much as I love doing the TV stuff, I definitely have moments where I just fudge it because I can’t be hacked to study some article of inscrutable clothing. Shoes are especially death because we don’t typically look at people’s feet much in television.

I hope you enjoy these costumes from Volume 27. I’m missing Vol. 28, so we’ll be skipping to Vol. 29 next. That will, again, put us out of sync with the season, but I’m not going to worry about it going forward.

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

 

All-new Judy : the London Serio-comic Paper Doll

judy_2015_thumbTaking a break from The Walking Dead as I promised I would have new Judy dolls going forward and here they are. These dolls are the same size as the Judy I made for Volume 30, but they can’t share costumes. They will, however, be the regular on-going dolls for the remainder of this series. This is why I wanted two models; to keep a little variety in the mix.

Plates will be numbered sequentially, but I’ll likely skip around a bit. I like to try to match up the season with the outfits and sometimes that doesn’t quite make sense with the way the serial originally ran.

I’m stepping back to pick up Vol. 27 to begin with, and then will just work through the 10 volumes that I have available. It’s a lot of costumes and it should be a lot of fun.

Of all the dolls I am working on currently, these are the easiest for me to render, so I might actually set aside a special day just to post Judy plates in addition to whatever I’m posting on Thursdays. We’ll see how far ahead of the game I can get in the coming weeks.

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

Also:

thanksgivingHappy Thanksgiving all! Thank you for your kindness, consideration, and comments!

The Walking Dead Paper Dolls: Michonne

twd03_michonne_thumbMichonne is quite the formidable character on The Walking Dead. But of the three characters I’ve done for this series, she was probably the easiest (though, again, drawing her head took me three tries).

I appreciate that she’s a character we haven’t really seen in television before (at least not to my recollection), though she’s a stretch to the credibility overall (because how many people do you know become expert katana-wielders overnight?). But I digress. She’s was fun to work with and I used her for my initial coloring experiment, which was likewise a hoot.

I have a plate of additional costumes for her (I have additional plates for each of the characters), which I will maybe post on some off-days through the rest of the year or alternate with other things in the works. I want to get other stuff rolling and if I only post Walking Dead dolls, that’ll fill the schedule until Christmas.

[Click here or on the image to
download a printable .pdf]

Note: once I’ve posted the additional costume plates, I think I’m done with this series.

I know the show has tons of other characters, but these were seriously hard to do for me since I’m not a devotee of the series–and finding clear, usable source images for the costumes was surprisingly difficult. Maybe I can be convinced to do more if Season 6 stops sucking or someone gives me a compelling reason to pursue it.

If it’s any consolation, I am making paper dolls of the characters from the spinoff show, Fear the Walking Dead (more on that later). So there will be plenty of zombie fun in the new year to come.

The Walking Dead Paper Dolls: Daryl Dixon

twd02_daryl_thumbOf all the characters in The Walking Dead, drawing Daryl’s given me the most overall fits (and that’s saying something given how much trouble Rick was). I had to draw his head three times before I settled (once again), but I had to draw his body three times too. And then there’s the matter of that crossbow. I drew two different pieces with the bow (only one of which is on this plate). Let me just say I don’t ever want to have to draw another crossbow so long as I live, if it can be helped.

Both of the pieces I included on this plate are early costumes before the vest became ubiquitous–but don’t worry, I’ll include that too on a subsequent plate. I also tried to give him a sort of middle-ground hairstyle between the short crop he had at the beginning of the series and the crazy long greasy thing he’s got going on nowadays. The first two versions both showed his ears, but neither of them looked right–I just couldn’t get it to work, so I had to cover them.

I do like Daryl as a character, though he kinda hasn’t had anything interesting to do on the show for a while and there’s rampant speculation that he’s on the chopping block to be killed. As he’s not a character from the original comic book source, he’s a bit of a wild card, but he’s also a fan-favorite, so I’m interested to see which way he goes.

[Click here or on the image to download a printable .pdf]

Judy : the London Serio-comic Paper Doll : Volume 30, 1882

Vol30_01_thumbAnother volume of Judy, the London serio-comic journal. This is Volume 30 from 1882 and includes an additional plate not originally posted to 19th Century Paper Dolls (yay, something new!).

Note: for reasons I can’t explain (nor comprehend, frankly), I reduced the size of the first Judy doll and clothes when I plated them, so even though this one is drawn exactly the same size, the two aren’t compatible. Sorry, I’ll be more mindful going forward.

Volume 30 of the Judy serial has some very strange things in it, but I tried to pick out a balance of costumes that caught my fancy (like the foresty-looking dress) or challenged my ability to reproduce patterns and textures.

Chasemore, the original artist, not only had a vivid imagination, but an true gift for inking. Sometimes his costumes are weird, but mostly they’re a joy to behold and even more fun to render. I can’t do all his designs justice, but the Judy series is fun to work on.

As mentioned previously, I’ll be posting all-new Judy dolls around Thanksgiving. There’s plenty more where these came from!

[Click to download a complete printable .pdf of this doll (6 pages)]

The Walking Dead Paper Dolls: Rick Grimes

twd01_rick_thumbI almost feel like this one’s a cheat: Rick Grimes and his sheriff’s uniform. But it kind of had to be done, I guess. I also feel like I have to reiterate that I am making The Walking Dead dolls to amuse fan friends, which has been really interesting for me–typically I only ever make dolls for myself and so I feel passionate about the subjects. A very strong ambivalence can be passion, I suppose. Let’s just say the challenge has been good, but definitely a challenge.

At any rate, I hope the results please you. One of the nice things about these being black and white is that you get to dirty Rick up to your heart’s content: go ahead: splatter some blood on him, make him good and filthy. Also, be sure to draw lots of bruises and band-aids on his face if you feel so inclined.

I’ll tell you what, though: it took me about seven stabs to get that face to look anything like Andrew Lincoln. To be honest, I think it’s passable, but I really just gave in to “close enough for government work”. I can occasionally capture an actor’s likeness, but it’s definitely not one of my strong suits and something I am really working on. I don’t want to be a perfectionist too much about it, though, or else I’ll never get anything done. I struggled similarly with Daryl and Michonne. Everything is a learning process.

I’m also aware that the pose is a little weird. I had in mind a reason for putting him like this (so that he could shoulder a rifle and hold a pistol), but I admit it looks funny. The crooked way he’s holding that pistol is intentional, however: the character can’t seem to hold his gun straight in the series ~ which is the subject of many very silly memes. Again, at some point I just had to stop fussing with it and cut bait if you know what I mean.

[Click here or on the image to download a printable .pdf]

 

Judy : the London Serio-comic Paper Doll : Volume 26, 1880

Vol26_01_thumb

In an effort to collect my work here, I am reposting some dolls from from my previous sites. I want all my Judys in one place, so this is the first from that series. I’ll post the second one next week (probably on Tuesday), and I have an all-new series coming that should be ready around Thanksgiving.

And don’t worry: I’ll still post an all-new doll tomorrow, as per the schedule.

About Judy: Judy; or the London Serio-comic Journal was a weekly periodical published from 1867 to 1907 as a competitor to the much more popular Punch. One of its regular artists was A. Chasemore (possibly a pseudonym), who drew the “Fashion for the week”. These illustrations were fantasy concoctions; nothing anyone would have worn except in a theatrical or masquerade ball. The costumes were allegorical, sometimes political, and mostly whimsical. And since they were published in black & white, the sky’s the limit on as far as color interpretations!

The model for the outfits was a nameless and idealized “everywoman” but I have taken the liberty of calling her Judy after the publication. There actually was a character named Judy associated in the paper, but she was a comical, unglamorous frau.

These costumes are from Volume 26 of the series, published in 1880.

[Click to download a complete printable .pdf of this doll (6 pages)]

Halloween Masquerade Paper Doll Collaboration

halloween_rr_masqueHappy Halloween!

Some years ago, we did a Halloween Paper Doll Round Robin that was so much fun that Rachel decided to throw another one ~ and this time open it up to the readers as well.

This year Julie from Paper Doll School created the doll and Rachel from Paper Thin Personas did the heavy lifting on the wrangling and organizing.

We had so many great submissions that it was decided to split them into three pdfs. Thank you to everyone who participated. It’s so awesome to see this level of engagement!

Visit each site below to get the complete set (it’s just like trick-or-treating, but on the internet!)

 

halloween_rr_masqueradeIn the batch you download from this site, you will find: the Masque of the Red Death (my own contribution, shown above), a gown from Corpse Bride by Gena, Spider Queen from Irma at Papernukublogi, Cat and Pumpkin costumes from Melinda (in color!), a Vampire by Melissa Smith at Miss Missy Paper Dolls, and a Sun/Moon gown from Liana at Liana’s Paper Dolls.

If you’re staying in this evening and want to watch a scary movie, I recommend you pick up The Changeling (1980) with George C. Scott, or The Innocents (1961), with Deborah Kerr. Both are classics. If you want something a little more modern, get yourself An American Werewolf in London, or The Thing (1981 & 1982 respectively ~ and classics in their own rights). Something more obscure? Try the underrated Dolls (1987).  If you can’t bear to watch anything made prior to the turn of the last century, then pick up Pan’s Labyrinth (2006), Orphanage (2007), or the excellently terrifying [Rec] (also 2007 ~ the Spanish version, not that silly American remake). These are all movies that prioritize story over gore and are full of genuine frights. Not for the kiddies, though. Best to stick with the old standbys like The Great Pumpkin.

Enjoy all of your Halloween treats! And the tricks too, if they are good and fun!