Paper Doll Studio Issues 112 - 114 (OPDAG)

I've not yet received the latest copy of Paper Doll Studio (issue #114), the quarterly magazine published by the Original Paper Doll Artists Guild, but I believe it is on its way to me in the post. This was my contribution.  The theme is 'Celebrate the Holidays'.  Of course I went back to my own childhood for inspiration ...... but it was only after I had completed the first page that it dawned on me I had represented my sister and myself!   So I called the 2 little girls Sharon and Melanie.

I loved making this set.  I'm not sure yet where it will feature in the magazine but Jenny seemed to like it when I sent it in.   And as usual I'm including both the completed pages here as well as the uncoloured sketch pages which are not printed in the magazine,

I have slipped behind with a couple of previous issues so I will feature them here as well.

Issue #113 was 'Chanel'.  It took me a while to decide which decade I wanted to concentrate on .... but in the end I settled on the 1950's.  I felt there was no way I could make a Chanel paper doll without including her classic tailored suit.  

 We were also invited to 'dress a doll' in this issue.  The doll is copyright to Jim Howard and features in his 'Couture of the 1930s' paper doll book published by Paper Studio Press in 2012,  I'm including it here from the magazine just to put the dress in context:

I opted to make something a little out of the ordinary here and depicted Coco Chanel's revolutionary short 1920's wedding dress, using a studio photograph of a bride (or model) that I've always loved.

Issue #112 was 'Favourite Mysteries'.  We had just moved house when the deadline for submission was looming so I ended up with a doll that was a little bit simpler and more pared down than my usual efforts.   I'm a great fan of Grace Kelly, so it was a lovely opportunity for me to showcase some of the wonderful costumes she wore as one of Hitchcock's blondes.  My doll shows her in 'To Catch a Thief'  Portraiture is not one of my strengths but I did enjoy making the clothes.   And I was surprised to find my offering featured a lot more prominently in the magazine than I was expecting.

In the original sketch the dress on the right was going to include her legs (so I could give her matching shoes) but I decided they looked dreadful and removed them.

And finally to finish the last page I'm including here goes back to issue #108 - the Favourite Films theme.  This was the only issue where I sent in multiple submissions. All three were published and I have included two already in previous posts ...... Galadriel from the Hobbit and The Hunger Games - Catching Fire   I've not posted this page before - mainly because I ended up making poor Yul Brynner look like a rather strange alien.  But I was happy with the ball gown so I'll pop it in here.  It's the 'Shall we Dance' scene from 'The King and I' another very vivid childhood memory of mine.