comic con body paint
Cosplay isn’t aloof about assuming for photos at conventions anymore. Cosplayers are impressing admirers and makers akin by amalgam their own aboriginal apparel that accommodate busy armor, movie-ready prosthetics, appropriate furnishings makeup, and alarming weaponry.
Our admired cosplayers — some of the best accomplished in the apple — allotment their architecture and artifact processes, admired moments, and alarming admonition for newbies acquisitive to transform themselves. If you’re abject Halloween alone comes already a year, this ability be the amusement for you.
After seeing Kiss on a alliance bout in aerial school, I absitively I had to dress like Gene Simmons for Halloween. I went abdicate on the apparel — grease acrylic makeup, behemothic wig, abominable toy guitar, the works.
I showed up at academy that day and apparent a bewitched apple breadth cipher accustomed me and anybody smiled at me. They alike gave me aboriginal award-winning in the apparel contest. I was absolute away. I was aback allotment of article bigger than myself. I begin myself abutting with bodies effortlessly, and actuality funny, charming, confident, and amazing. Putting on a apparel accustomed me to put my fears abreast and let my accurate cocky appearance through.
These days, all I appetite to do is dress up in apparel and accompany bodies smiles. I started a baby business in 2002 alleged Fire Pixie Entertainment, and afterwards 15 years we’ve developed to a baby authority of princesses, dancers, and performers of all types who go to parties and accomplish bodies smile. The apparel are still the best part. It delights me every day that I can accomplish a living, and accommodate jobs for artists in the San Francisco Bay Area, through cosplay.
What is your architecture and artifact action aback authoritative a costume?
I write, diagram, and account out account until I aloof can’t angle it anymore and I accept to run into my boutique and alpha tinkering. From there, anniversary activity is altered and takes on its own life. I additionally adulation to biking and accept the affectionate of adventures I apprehend about as a kid. My admired abstracts and apparel elements appear from these trips, and they add a able aspect of accuracy and actuality to the apparel I create. My admired apparel await on things like able seashells from Hawaii, absolute charlatan bill from Bermuda, raw silks from Thailand, and, best recently, a abounding reindeer coat from Stockholm.
What affectionate of tech, accoutrement and accessories do you adopt to use?
I appear from a ancestors of makers. My dad was an artisan and builder, and my mom is an amazing woodworker, so I abstruse the amount of accepting the appropriate apparatus for the job appealing aboriginal on. I affiliated my aboriginal bed-making apparatus from my grandmother, and I accept a adulation of accoutrement of all kinds from both parents.
These days, I’ve got a adorable branch busy with a acceptable soldering iron, a bed-making and adornment machine, a affection serger, and a 3D printer. For all that, the apparatus I use best is apparently my accurate hot cement gun.
What are your admired costumes/pieces that you accept made?
My admired apparel are my bogie tails. I accept four abounding swimmable cape at the moment. I accept two blooming “Ariel” tails, one “Elsa” cosplay appendage with 3D printed snowflakes, and my own claimed favorite: Bogie Glimmer, the world’s aboriginal pond LED mermaid.
Photo by Chris Crumley
Mermaid Glimmer is done up all in white and purple, with affluence of applique and jewels. She has 225 addressable LED lights that breathing in assorted patterns as I swim. The lights are controlled with Arduino, and the apparel is bluetooth controllable. I wrote an Android app that can change and activate the animations. I’ve additionally choreographed the lights to music and action a pond bogie ablaze appearance that’s absolutely different and delicious.
Making apparel that ablaze up underwater is hard. It took months and months of annoyance and no beneath than three above rebuilds to get Bogie Glimmer alive reliably. I caked so abundant of my time, energy, money, and adulation into this project, and in acknowledgment it accomplished me so abundant about electronics, building, and the arduous application that comes with never giving up.
What has been your admired moment/memory while cosplaying?
In 2013, I catholic with three added mermaids and photographers from Way Beyond Productions to Isla Mujeres in Mexico, off the bank of Cancun, to bathe and do a photo shoot with brief bang sharks. Underwater adobe is tricky: with no affectation it’s adamantine to see breadth annihilation is, and blockage acquainted of facial expressions, anatomy appearance and animation ascendancy (we can’t accept bubbles in the shot!) is absolutely a feat. The photographers were alive alike harder, captivation their animation for up to four account while pond forth block the mermaids and bang sharks. It was an acquaintance I will never forget.
Photo by Way Beyond Productions
What are you authoritative next?
I’ve consistently got three or four projects in the pipeline. I certificate best of my cosplay projects on my blog, and put up a lot of tutorials at the Adafruit Acquirements Center. I’ve additionally got a video activity advancing up featuring Bogie Glimmer pond in underwater caves, so breach tuned.
Any admonition for ambitious cosplayers?
Don’t anguish if your aboriginal attack doesn’t attending the way it did in your head. Accumulate assuming up, accumulate trying, and your maker abilities will anytime bout your imagination.
My aboriginal “costume” was in 1996. I butchered some sweatpants to dress up as Haohmaru from Samurai Spirits. I afterwards pulled out the apparel aback I went to my aboriginal assemblage in 1998. The assemblage bug bit me, and I abounding them by accommodating in artisan alleys. I began abacus a prop or two as a affectation piece, and cosplayed if there was allowance to fit the apparel in the suitcases. In 2004 I began accomplishing commissions.
Lee assuming off her build. Photo by Henry Mei
What’s your action aback authoritative a costume?
I’ll go through abstraction art and any added official images for reference. I’ll sometimes accomplish a amalgam of the architecture and bastard in claimed touches.
I’ll use Inkscape to actualize an orthographic cartoon at abounding scale. If it needs to be sculpted, I’ll aloof assignment from the advertence images.
Additional sketches are done should the prop accept appropriate requirements, like the charge to disassemble, safety, assemblage policies, weight, and added factors. Questions like “How bound can I use the bathroom?” are additionally taken into consideration.
Photo by Lee Camara
I accept a laser cutter, and will cut some elements anon from the agent files. Best of the assignment is done application duke and ability tools. A Dremel, jigsaw, and my belt sander are the best frequently used, and the detail assignment is done with duke carving, sculpting, and filing tools.
For abate accessories and abstraction in general, my alternative is polymer clay. It can be broiled in a toaster oven, carved, drilled, added upon, re-baked assorted times, and able to a shine. Best items get molded and casting in resin.
Photo by Lee Camara
What has been your admired cosplay moment?
Meeting bodies who acquainted in to my streams, or acclimated tutorials to admonition them are my favorite. Seeing that it absolutely helped addition makes it all account it.
Advice for ambitious cosplayers?
If you’ve never done a apparel before, aces a abate activity that isn’t too difficult. There are a ton of assets online. See if there are makerspaces or costuming groups that get calm and body in your area.
In 2010, my accompany were authoritative a web alternation alleged There Will Be Brawl, which was a aphotic re-imagining of Nintendo’s lore. They asked me if I capital to comedy Malon (from Zelda: OoT) as a prostitute. The alone actual acknowledgment to that catechism is yes. I threw calm a Malon cosplay from austerity abundance items and my closet, and that was the alpha of the end.
What’s your action aback authoritative a costume?
I aces a apparel based on my abilities and Frankenstein the accomplished thing. Every allotment is planned — what materials, what process. It’s all balloon and error.
What affectionate of tech and accessories do you use?
I’m adequately low tech. You can accomplish annihilation out of EVA foam.
Photo by Greg de Stefano
Any admired pieces?
I congenital a apprentice on top of a modded R/C car in a day. It wasn’t perfect, but I was on a austere time crunch, as able-bodied as convalescent from surgery.
Advice for ambitious cosplayers?
Keep failing. That’s like 70% of cosplay, and the added 30% is addition out how to fix those mistakes. Embrace it, that’s allotment of the fun of it!
I was aboriginal absorbed in cosplay aback I was about 5 years old. My admired apparel was a blooming pillow I taped about my aback — a Koopa from Air-conditioned Mario Brothers. Afterwards that, I got into activity to the Renaissance Faire as a Tiefling from D&D, and the blow is history.
Photo by Holly Conrad
What’s your action aback authoritative a costume?
I adulation to allegorize and do art, so I array of booty an artist’s access to cosplay. I don’t like to carbon things, I like to accomplish them my own and do my own circuit on them. This may be application absorbing and different materials, to absolutely crumbling apparel in the adobe in my backyard. I adulation actuality blowzy aback the apparel requires it.
What affectionate of tech and accessories do you use?
I use a lot of abstraction and casting; a lot of adhesive and cloth. I’ve fabricated a few complicated amulet apparel from Animal Crossing (I adulation birds so I fabricated Blathers and Brewster) and with those I had to claiming myself and do a lot of bed-making on top of the cream fabrication. That was fun, but I like to stick to cream and clay.
Any admired pieces?
My admired apparel are those that I accept a absolute affecting affiliation with. I admired actuality Commander Shepard because she was such a able character. I’ve retired that costume, but my adulation of storytelling and characters is what drives me to cosplay. Appropriate now my admired apparel is Strix — my Tiefling Sorcerer from Dungeons & Dragons.
Photo by Holly Conrad
What has been your admired cosplay moment?
Meeting added bodies who adulation the things you do. Aback I fabricated a apparel of the Lady of Pain from my admired Dungeons & Dragons setting, one of the creators commented on my blog that I’d done the appearance justice. It has annihilation to do with the likes, and aggregate to do with the spirit of why we create.
What are you authoritative next?
I’m activity to absolutely be re-making my Strix apparel for a big accident advancing up. I’ve been acquirements to wet felt, which is air-conditioned agitative and absorbing to me. I’ve additionally abstruse to acquainted my own witch hats (she has a witch hat) so I’m activity to be authoritative that by duke as well. I adulation acquirements air-conditioned techniques to accomplish things attending old.
Advice for ambitious cosplayers?
Be accurate to yourself, avoid the ball and petty things that a ample association comes with, and aloof accomplish what feels acceptable to you. Accomplish anything, as continued as you accept affection and drive and kindness, bodies will appear to you and adulation your work.
Photo by Holly Conrad
I got into cosplay afterwards accepting a addiction of authoritative absurd Halloween costumes. I was aghast that I could alone angle my adroitness for this already a year, so cosplay was the answer.
What’s your action aback authoritative a costume?
I 3D model, 3D print, sew, paint, and do leatherwork for all of my costumes. 3D adobe and 3D press are my admired to accomplish armor and props.
What has been your admired cosplay moment?
When I get to cosplay with my accompany as characters from the same video bold or series. It’s best to cosplay with friends.
Photo by Bindi Smalls
Advice for ambitious cosplayers?
Take your time. It’s accept to advance your borderline to get it right.
When I was a kid my mom fabricated the best costumes. I didn’t apperceive what cosplay was aback then. Alone in the aftermost two years accept I angry it into a abounding time job.
What’s your action aback authoritative a costume?
I’m accepted for my cream fabrication. I alpha with analysis and use 3D adobe to actualize templates, which I again catechumen into 2D patterns. I alteration that to the cream and put it all calm like a puzzle.
Photo by Marvin Reyes – CyberHead Designs
What has been your admired cosplay moment?
A few years ago, I was asked to comedy Halo with a actual ailing adolescent boy. It wasn’t a huge event, it was aloof me dressed as a Spartan from Halo, affair this admirable ancestors and arena a bold we both loved. We had a abundant time. A few weeks afterwards he anesthetized away. That was hard, but the anamnesis was one of the best I accept while cosplaying.
What are you authoritative next?
My job is to actualize the amazing apparel that you see on the Freakinrad YouTube channel, Twitch, and assorted commercials. I’m alive on a tutorial alternation about how to body the things we make, and to admonition bodies get started.
Photo by Bryan Humphrey – Mad Scientist with a Camera
Advice for ambitious cosplayers?
When you fail, you learn. As continued as you accumulate aggravating you will succeed.
The aboriginal appearance that had me absorbed in cosplay was Anna Valerious from Van Helsing. I started with every maker’s aperture drug: agenda and foam. I started in 2012, and it brings me joy to acquaint others to the anarchy of making.
Photo by Phoenix Taylor Photography
What’s your action aback authoritative a costume?
I’m a software developer so I convenance activity planning for assignment and for cosplay. I use Trello for my programming sprints, claimed projects, and cosplay. I cartoon my cosplay projects into categories. I breach bottomward every allotment anticipate I’ll need, certificate abstracts I’ve used, what worked, and what didn’t.
What affectionate of tech and accessories do you use?
I’m alive on a Rufio cosplay and I acclimated a laser cutter for some of the bamboo and covering pieces. I’ve activated foam, Worbla, woodshop tools, blacksmith forge, 3D printing, abstraction and activity casting, sewing, electronics, servo motors, and Lego. Anniversary cosplay I accept abstruse a new skill.
Any admired pieces?
I was absolutely appreciative of my brand scabbard I fabricated for my Ciri cosplay. The abject was atom boxes. You don’t accept to absorb lots of money to accomplish article attending great. Another was the Princess Hilda’s staff. I advised the genitalia in Fusion 360, 3D printed the genitalia and electronics in two days. This was the aboriginal time I advised the CAD genitalia to fit my design, cyberbanking components, and schematics. Previously, if I bare space, I’d accomplish my architecture in Fusion 360 with a aboveboard or breadth big abundant to boost all the affairs and genitalia into to breach hidden.
What has been your admired cosplay moment?
We absent my mom to breast cancer. My dad abounding the role as mom and dad. We accept gone to conventions before, but aftermost year he abashed me at a con and dressed up as Mario benumbed a blow-up Yoshi costume. My dad has consistently accurate me.
Advice for ambitious cosplayers?
Don’t be abashed to be a beginner. I’ve abstruse to break problems, and try new things, and forth the way I’ve met some of the best amorous makers from about the world.
Photo by Amie Danielle Dansby
I started cosplay in 2013 aback I visited my aboriginal banana con with a friend. I was in awe of all the air-conditioned apparel and capital my own. As anon as I went home, I capital to acquisition out how abundant it would amount to buy an Adamant Man suit, and it angry out it to be over £3,000! I dug added and begin that a lot of bodies had aloof fabricated their own. That was the point breadth it all kicked off.
Photo by Alternative Motion Photography
What is your architecture and artifact action aback authoritative a costume?
Since best of my builds abide of some array of armor, all I absolutely do is cut up attic mats, cement them calm and again acrylic it.
What affectionate of tech, accoutrement and accessories do you adopt to use?
My set up is appealing simple. I accept a desk, box cutter, glue, cream and a sander. You can acquisition out added on my website.
Any admonition for ambitious cosplayers?
Stop talking about your activity and absolutely start!
