Blogger Templates
This blog has been retired. I won't respond to any inquiries but have retained it in case it is still of interest to anyone passing by.

Sunday, June 9, 2013

Meet Clarissa




I hope my friends in the blogging community will forgive me if I post something today but don't visit anyone in return. My PC will still not connect to the internet.  I've tried everything I can think of without success.  I'm borrowing my son's little netbook to do this - but have promised I will use if for just the time it takes to put up this post and not hog it completely!


The inspiration for Clarrisa

 This is the first of three paper dolls I am hoping to make based on the beautiful illustrations by Janet & Anne Grahame Johnstone.  I've decided to give my dolls names and chose Clarissa for this one.


  
 

The illustrations I've based her outfits on are all show here.  They are all taken from two books I've had since childhood - A Gift Book of Nursery Rhymes and A Gift Book of Enchanting Fairy Tales both illustrated by Janet & Anne Graham Johnstone.






Clarissa was my first submission to OPDAG (The Original Paper Doll Artists Guild).  The theme was Babies and Children.   At first I wasn't sure if it was OK to post dolls sent to OPDAG in my blog, but then I noticed Miss Missy had posted her lovely Heidi Fairy Tale Doll - one of my favourites from that issue of the magazine - so I felt it would be fine for me to do the same.

  

This is the version of the doll I submitted.  I realised afterwards it is a bit of a learning curve.  Because it was winter and just before Christmas I decided to experiment and use more wintery seasonal colours.  My sister and husband liked the finished effect, but I think for OPDAG it was a mistake and I should have stuck with the lighter more traditional colours like the alternate version shown at the start of this post.  In the magazine my dolls are allocated a quarter af an A4 page, so reduced down in size the darker colours meant a lot of the detail is lost.  

Still it was exciting seeing something I sent in printed in the issue!


If you want to colour in your own version here is the original pencil sketch.  (I actually always prefer the pencil drawings.) You will have to add tags to one of the dresses - apologies for that and I hadn't added the hat at the time I scanned it.

Maybe I should hold my own colouring competition with a prize for the best entry!
 



For this issue of the magazine members were also invited to send in outfits for a 'dress a doll' theme.  This one was called 'Dress the Kids'.  I sent in a selection of outfits for two of the dolls provided.  I won't be able to include the dolls here but you can see one of them on the cover of the magazine at the OPDAG Paper Doll Studio site.  Apparently there was an enormous response and although about 150 outfits were included in the magazine none of mine made the cut.  These are my dresses - I decided I'd put them up on my blog anyway as I was quite happy with them even though they were not selected. 
  




Putting a post together on this tiny little PC has been more tricky than I thought!  Hopefully I'll have something more permanent sorted out soon so I can get back to life in bloggyland properly.  I'm really missing the interaction with everyone!




 

13 comments:

Unknown said...

These outfits are way too adorable. You should make her.

earthen-magic said...

...(O:

Barbara said...

Hi Sharon, your dresses are all so pretty I’m having trouble choosing a favourite. I love the wintry ones, but then again, I love the pretty colours on the lighter ones. It was a brilliant idea to base your designs on illustrations by Janet and Anne you could build an entire collection around their books, and never run out of ideas.
Please thank your son for letting you borrow his netbook I was missing ‘chatting’ with you.

The Faerie Factory said...

Clarissa is adorable I love her outfits. Hope you're up and running again soon ... Sarah x

CraveCute said...

Both versions of Clarissa's dresses are adorable! The set of dresses you made at the bottom of your post are also just too cute. I love the almost garden theme, and the one that looks like a little daffodil,is so sweet.

Unknown said...

My gran-daughter just loves your site, when I sent her your last blog, she made a remark that I thought was very poignant at the time she said, Oh Grand-dad!
I'm sure this blog will thrill her to bits.
Welcome back, be well Agman

Darlene said...

I LOVE Clarissa, both versions. You are so clever my friend. How wonderful your son let you use his devise. HOpe you have your PC up and running soon. XO

Miss Missy said...

Your doll is lovely. I don't think OPDAG has a problem with posting your own work since you retain the copyright to it. I really love paper doll studios magazine and plan on doing more dolls for later issues. (Still working on the sports theme) look forward to see what else you send in to them as well!

GardenOfDaisies said...

Sharon, I love her!! LOVE LOVE LOVE!!! Super sweet little dresses for the dress-a-kid competition, too. Now that you are in it, I'll have to order a copy of the Paperdoll Studio! (I only have a subscription to Paperdoll Review at this time) I think I will print out your coloring page, so I can play with my colored pencils.

GardenOfDaisies said...

PS- Can I get permission to post your dolly on my pinterest paperdoll board? (with a link back to your blog post, of course.)

Stephanie@Fairday's Blog said...

You are so skilled! I love the doll clothing that you created. I can imagine how exciting it was (and is) to see your work in print! It was such fun to see where you got your inspiration from. :)

I am sorry to hear you are still having computer problems. Hope everything gets resolved soon. You did a wonderful job putting the post together from your son's computer!

Donna Heber said...

Hi Sharon,

Clarissa is so beautiful! I love both the winter and the summer outfits you designed for her. Congrats on having these amazing pieces published in OPDAG! I hope you are able to get your PC connected again soon.

Rachel McBride@ Online PhD in Psychology said...

My, those are really wonderful! You really an artist with a unique and stunning talent! Great job! I bet thousand of girls will really adore your works. It’s really cute and lovely! Hope to see more of your wonderful creations. I can’t wait to see it! Have a nice day and god bless!
My homepage | Online PhD UK Programs

Link/within

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...