Today was my day off and what did I do? Sit in front of the computer all day and make a croquis. Before today I didn't even know what a croquis was, let alone that I would be devoting my entire day to it.
It all started when, still half asleep, I stumbled on Stevie's post, which introduced me to the idea of making a sketch of your body traced off of a photograph, giving you a view of your actual body type and proportions. I was quickly drawn in by Mikhaela's amazing version on Polka Dot Overload, which is basically an awesome digital paper doll for all her projects. Nevermind that she's a professional cartoonist and graphic designer, has a pen tablet and probably a million more years of photoshop experience than me (compared to my no years of experience), at that moment I HAD TO HAVE my very own cartooned croquis/Meg paper doll. I HAD TO HAVE ONE.
I pulled myself out of bed for the second time, showered, and prepared to take my picture in my skivvies in the bathroom. I downloaded GIMP and Inkscape (free alternatives to Photoshop). I watched a YouTube video on how to crop around my outline in GIMP. I watched several more that didn't really help me cartoonify myself. I gave up and reverted to the poor (wo)man's editor of choice: Microsoft Word. After successfully cartoonifying myself in Word, I reverted back to GIMP, then, frustrated, switched to Inkscape (then back to GIMP), to color myself in a slip and even out my skin tone. I discovered some handy tools like spray paint, knowing I was just skimming the surface of all those wonderful tools that I needed. By 11pm, I was mostly satisfied.
Needless to say, I probably won't be editing myself into a digital version of the Macaron dress any time soon. And I kinda already knew my body shape (I would best describe myself as a beer bottle--not quite pear shaped, with a long upper body). But the croquis was fun to make, and I'll chalk it up to learning one more professional sewing tool. And if I ever do beef up my photoshop skills, I might just attempt playing digital paper doll.
I might also have a look at this croquis tutorial, which would have been helpful in the process.
Haha, I'm also "a beer bottle"- love your invented name for such a shape :)
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