Chelly's Books, Doll Makeovers, Doll Play Videos, Romeo & Juliet, Selling Your Crafts

Which Romeo and Juliet do you like best? Please VOTE! #GraphicNovel #LiteraryClassics

This is the front cover of a graphic novel of Romeo and Juliet. The cover art includes images of two dolls: Ken dressed as Romeo and Momoko Doll dressed as Juliet. The two dolls hold hands. They wear bright cobalt blue costumes that are Renaissance period-correct. Their faces are blurred somewhat and the details of their clothing is obscured by the smooth painted look of this comic book style.
This is called Smooth Style.

As some of my regular followers already know, I’ve created three acts of Romeo and Juliet in stop motion, but the fourth and fifth acts have not yet been completed. (My shortened version didn’t do well on YouTube, so I removed it.)

And many of you know that I’m both a school librarian and a writer. As such, I’m aware that schoolteachers all over the world are seeking digital resources to share with their students, but most English teachers are completely unaware that I have these videos available for free on my YouTube channel, ChellyWood1.

So I’ve decided to re-create my Romeo and Juliet production as a digital graphic novel and offer it for sale on my Teachers Pay Teachers store. Doing so will help generate funds for this website to keep running, and it will also offer a reasonably-priced text of a literary classic for teachers who are working from home during the pandemic.

But I could use your help, my faithful followers! Which of these images do you like best? Which one is most appealing? The first image (at the top of this page) adapts the photo of Romeo and Juliet using Comic Life’s Smooth Style.

The second (just below) uses Retro Scope style, to imitate the old-fashioned comic book look.

Here we see a Ken doll dressed as Romeo and a Momoko doll dressed as Juliet. The two hold hands. The image reminds us of an old-fashioned comic book, with a watercolor look that has been outlined in pen.
This image shows Retro Scope style.

The third image (right below this sentence) uses Paint2 style.

The image shows a Ken doll dressed as Romeo and a Momoko doll dressed as Juliet. The image has been altered using Paint2 style in Comic Life, to give it a soft, painted look to the photograph.
This image uses Paint2 Style.

Of course I’m having to alter these images because my Romeo and Juliet photos and video clips feature so many different dolls from different companies, that I’d have to get permission to use these trademark product images from about 8 or 9 different doll companies (which is virtually impossible).

So instead, I’m going to alter the images using Comic Life digital tools, to really make them unique in an artistic sense. That should make it legal for me to use my photos — as long as the images themselves are not recognizable as trademarked toys.

And then I’ll sell the final graphic novel as an eBook in my Teachers Pay Teachers store, so teachers can use it as an educational tool in their digital classrooms.

Please vote on which style looks most appealing, using the Polldaddy tool at the bottom of today’s blog post. I look forward to seeing your opinions!

This is the front cover of a graphic novel of Romeo and Juliet. The cover art includes images of two dolls: Ken dressed as Romeo and Momoko Doll dressed as Juliet. The two dolls hold hands. They wear bright cobalt blue costumes that are Renaissance period-correct. Their faces are blurred somewhat and the details of their clothing is obscured by the smooth painted look of this comic book style.
This is called Smooth Style.
Here we see a Ken doll dressed as Romeo and a Momoko doll dressed as Juliet. The two hold hands. The image reminds us of an old-fashioned comic book, with a watercolor look that has been outlined in pen.
This image shows Retro Scope style.
The image shows a Ken doll dressed as Romeo and a Momoko doll dressed as Juliet. The image has been altered using Paint2 style in Comic Life, to give it a soft, painted look to the photograph.
This image uses Paint2 Style.

5 thoughts on “Which Romeo and Juliet do you like best? Please VOTE! #GraphicNovel #LiteraryClassics”

  1. Just voted! Thank you again for your generosity and wanting to help out teachers during such difficult times😊🙏💐

    Reply

  2. I voted for the retro style even though it may be too late.
    Just wondering if getting permission to use someone else’s doll is necessary. With your talent you could make your own fabric dolls with bendable wire in the legs, arms, neck and back giving you more options in posing for your stop action. You could also pose them and photograph them for books. I remember Davey and Goliath books being like that.
    Thank you for the website. I will be making towel toppers today 🙂
    God Bless you,
    Susan

    Reply

    1. Your advice mirrors that of my family members, who also suggest that I make my own dolls.

      I’ve begun a cloth doll project, but I’m not as enthusiastic about making dolls as I am about making doll clothes. So my doll-making projects tend to stay locked in a closet for months at a time!

      Maybe it’s time to dig them out and get busy making them again. Thanks for the encouragement!

      Reply

  3. I voted for the smooth style. Thank you for being so kin hearted and ever so talented!

    Reply

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