How to make a Inner Critic Paper Doll

My Inner Critic is a little monster living inside of me. It’s that voice you almost can’t hear but that is still there all the time. It is best friend with low confidence and self doubt.

After months of having this exercise in the back of my mind, I sat down to draw my own personal Inner Critic. And out came this little monster girl. I finally saw what she really looks like. I feel I know her better now, and understand her actions. I see her wild, furious, depressed and dark self.

She is kind of cute but not worth listening to, because most of her talks are rubbish. Sure, she has fur, sharp teeth and yellow staring eyes. She really really wants to scare the hell out of me. She wants to be the boss of everything in the studio, and she hates glitter, paint, yarn and the mess that comes out of creating. But also, I think you can see it too, she is small and scared. She is my own fears of success – and failure.

I made her crazy, dark and mysterious. I then cut her out and drew the arms next to her and attached them to the body. I made a paper doll monster, a picture of my inner voice of fear and doubt. I will tell you more about my IC, what she tells me – and reveal her name next week.

Make your own paper doll IC

Now, it’s your turn! Consider this your creative prompt of the week, but no need to rush it.

Yours might look totally different, in fact it might be a man in a suit like Diana’s (she is working hard on taming her inner critic), or a dog, or a bird, or very similar to your mom, or…

1. write/journal
If you don’t know where to start, this is what got me going: I began with my journal (always a good road to take). I wrote out what “it” was saying, listening to where those ideas came from and trying to figure out why. In hearing that voice I guess I also “saw” the Inner Critic. She emerged.

2. draw a figure
Then draw/doodle your figure on white cardstock. Start with a form and then add eyes, details and then colour it in. I used watercolors, pens, and a pencil. Cut it out using sharp scissors.

3. Add arms
You can add movable parts like arms with claws (and maybe legs, tail, ears, hat, extra clothes or even a suit case for traveling?). I used metal brads (you can find these in the scrapbooking aisle of any craft store) to make the arms movable. My IC can lift her arms to scare me, but mostly she seams to want to hide…

4. Finish
Give it a name, tell her/him that you can’t be friends but that you don’t need to be enemies either. Tell her/him that YOU are the real boss of your life – and then show her the exit! Tell it to leave your desk/studio/head – so you can do something creative without being judged.

Please let me know how it goes! Post a link in the comments if you post pictures!