The Pursuit of Cosplay Fame

The Pursuit of Cosplay Fame

tittybasket:

Interesting article. This is a relatively new phenomenon in NZ, but it is starting to surface – I know there has been at least one person recently who seems to think that entrants in the Armageddon contest don’t make their own stuff. Protip, babes: WE DO. That’s the point. Luckily, there isn’t a whole lot of ill-will in the NZ community yet, but it’s starting to get there. Comments like, “she’s too old” about our amazing judge, etc. It’s a hobby, guys. No drama plz.

Yeah, never mind tht at the start of each contest I spell this out, and at the presentation of the awards… the point of a contest is to test your skill level right? Or is this also part of the trend towards cosplay modelling vs costume making and thus the assumptions made about anyone participating in the hobby? Zero issue with either, just the assumptions that it’s all one or the other. 

Also if being too old means not show ponying the contest to my own advancement, making sure as much of the stress is bourne by me not the contestants, being relentlessly positive about the cosplay community and feeling insanely proud when “my behbehs” get work in their field of passion, having 20 years experience and continuously experimenting with techniques to make sure the judging is based on fact not assumption about difficulty  then put me out to pasture now. I’ll welcome the lack of stress.

Beeteedubs, this was around when I was competing, even circa 2003-04, definitely some feelings of ill will to winners for… winning. And the assumption that there was some fame that went along with it. Which there wasn’t.

Cave Dwellers Anonymous: Question #2 – Reaching for Weapons

Cave Dwellers Anonymous: Question #2 – Reaching for Weapons

anariazarrel:

kailexanra:

So playing my sentinel, K’Surda, I kept noticing that she would cross her arms to reach for her sabres. I wondered how viable that actually was and made the motions myself.

Guess what animators? My breasts are kind of in the way and it would be so much easier to just reach two inches down for the…

I believe it’s because in the films, jedi carry their lightsabers on the left side of their belt, they reach across with their right hand to grab their ‘main hand’ hilt. So if you carry two, your off-hand weapon would be on your right hand side belt, but held in your left hand. But you’re right, it’s awkward to grab both at the same time.

You carry your main hand weapon on the opposite side in western martial arts as well 🙂 When you are drawing a full blade it is easier to do so more quickly this way, you can hold the scabbard with your off hand and draw the blade with the main.

http://www.schoolofthesword.com/alfieri.html

Check plate two, figure on the left 🙂

And no you don’t draw main and offhand at the same time (offhand could be anything from a buckler to a dagger to a pistol). I mainly remember rapier and dagger as that’s what I had some training in but I am pretty sure the same is true for sabre and short sword. Not sure about Eastern, but I’m pretty sure I have seen this practice in film at least 🙂

But yeah, a light sabre is a different beast and only a hilt when worn so it probably makes more sense to draw it like a gun. 

http://www.fioredeiliberi.org/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=16896

Lots of info here about wearing a scabbard but you can also scroll down to the images embedded 🙂 Interesting stuff 🙂

palaven:

I started working on my Liara cosplay today! I’m making her outfit from the Alternate Appearance Pack.

I fitted the bodysuit I bought and started on the base for her legs! The picture on the left has the right leg fitted and the left how the suit originally was like.

oooh I hadn’t seen that one* 🙂 It may be time to break out the urethane paint and duo tone pearlX powder! Except I have committed to Nyreen for the time being. Sigh. 

Looking forward to progress pics 🙂

*I have been trying to avoid spoilers and such because I am not playing until I get the trilogy to play from go to woah without jumping between stories and the country seems to be out of stock.. sigh.

ornamentedbeing:

Circa 1873

This reminds me of the Janet Arnold pattern!

It is 🙂 The source page is at the Gallery of Costume in the Manchester Art Gallery which is as per the Arnold reference. Arnold’s stripes are closer together though which does make it look a little different.

Perfect example too of how often skirts were sewn in wrong. Note how the side front panels have the stripes angling inwards? Yeah not supposed to do that 😉 Gores were supposed to be sewn straight to diagonal not diagonal to diagonal.

This is the Arnold dress I most want to make. So much.

For those without the book (and no costumer should be without a copy!- that said I need to pick up two of the four myself…) the bodice is in multiple parts: faux neck fill, basque and belt and detachable undersleeves- main bodice ends at the waist and elbow ruffles as well as sheer neck ruffle (deep oval) . And there is an evening bodice too (ball bodice in fact due to the shape- very formal wide but shallow neck, bare arms). So this gown was mean to be able to be worn in every social situation the owner could possibly find herself.

Dinner? why I’ll remove the undersleeves and neck fill. Ball? I shall wear the off the shoulder bodice! At home? Sleeves or not, neck fill or not. Visiting during the day? Neck fill and sleeves!

Seeing it in colour makes me really want to find a good mimic of the actual fabric.

Backing up what Saf said – Thank you! I've always wondered what kind of products you used ( I definitely need to invest in a airbrush :o )

Thank you!

Oh I need a few more airbrushes. The big issue is the compressor actually. I really want one that will be low noise and travel. Tamiya had an ideal one for under $100 but i’m not sure if the hose would connect to my current brush. Also out of stock at the main supplier here. Imentioned on twitter that a good place to look for compressors would be make up specifc and cake decorating sites. The PSI involved will be low enough for skin. I use canned air, it’s ideal so I’ll see what the PSI is when I get to my brush in the next few days.

I recommend siphon feed dual action. (For anyone reading) this is where you have the ink in a sealed container under the main body and so less chance of a spill and the dual feed allows for line width and density variation. I have dual action gravity feed. And I splash a lot . It’s a good brush! And I can clean it easily (it does not like sticky pigments in some acrylic inks) but I would like to be able to self brush my face as a base as airbrushing layers the paint in droplets so you get a matter texture that also incidentally holds powder more easily.

You can get gravity feed brushes with containers on the top as well- they look like old film cannisters! So there is that as well.

Oh and I have a Sephora airgun. It is hideously gold and I had to get a new transformer type adaptor for it, but it works for a given value of work. If I was more patient I would use it as a final spritzing of paint to get that texture but I need to clean it as it splatters a bit.

Backing up what Saf said – Thank you! I’ve always wondered what kind of products you used ( I definitely need to invest in a airbrush :o )

Thank you!

Oh I need a few more airbrushes. The big issue is the compressor actually. I really want one that will be low noise and travel. Tamiya had an ideal one for under $100 but i’m not sure if the hose would connect to my current brush. Also out of stock at the main supplier here. Imentioned on twitter that a good place to look for compressors would be make up specifc and cake decorating sites. The PSI involved will be low enough for skin. I use canned air, it’s ideal so I’ll see what the PSI is when I get to my brush in the next few days.

I recommend siphon feed dual action. (For anyone reading) this is where you have the ink in a sealed container under the main body and so less chance of a spill and the dual feed allows for line width and density variation. I have dual action gravity feed. And I splash a lot . It’s a good brush! And I can clean it easily (it does not like sticky pigments in some acrylic inks) but I would like to be able to self brush my face as a base as airbrushing layers the paint in droplets so you get a matter texture that also incidentally holds powder more easily.

You can get gravity feed brushes with containers on the top as well- they look like old film cannisters! So there is that as well.

Oh and I have a Sephora airgun. It is hideously gold and I had to get a new transformer type adaptor for it, but it works for a given value of work. If I was more patient I would use it as a final spritzing of paint to get that texture but I need to clean it as it splatters a bit.

i just wanted to thank you for making those posts! gosh you are so wonderful!

It’s no worry at all 🙂 I have a few things I need to highlight and go back over (safety issues etc.) but it was nice to feel useful (it took that long to reply because I’ve been bed ridden for the last four days or so- basically food bug which meant I couldn’t have any medication to help my sinus and arthritis issues. Tummy is better and I am now working on the other two XD
So thank you for asking XD 

I don’t often do a specific link/promo of a particular product but if i do it’s because I have tried it and really like it. But we all have different needs. I need that permanence of paints. I know I find it easier to use non permanent paints (they blend much more easily for one) but I do move about so much and have to not worry about how people are bumping in to my lekku/pulling my tentacles and have the paint carry and transfer from people being silly.

I am also on a budget so I do use the best quality I can afford when I can. I do think the best option are the Reel Creation colour pots for sheer ease and number of applications able to be done. You need the paint and the solvent. You can buy setting spray but I have never needed it and for this reason it is not much more to invest in this than in water based paints and setting spray/powder.

I do want to use water based paints for a few photoshoots to have fun and blend and tone and do all that as well 🙂

I think I’m a a banana tree! Liara half pulled off but good view of the extreme use of paint shading.
You can see the seam line here, but I don’t shoop, never will unless it’s a camera issue (lighting, foreshortening etc).
Why is my chin so pointy! Lots of pink to shape the eyes and nose. pink over white for the eyes and a tiny bit of white down the nose, pink in the curves
how I keep my powders now. Much easier to find the right shade vs in regular eyeshadow palettes.
A travel kit for Liara. Latex, PA and paints to shade the appliance and face.

I do goof around a lot…

Alcohol Activated Paints

I kind of leapt right into here after playing with a little Aquacolour and Snazaroo. Both are fine, and in many ways are easier to apply and blend. However I wanted to paint my whole body red. Red in particular transfers badly in body paint. Really really really badly. No matter how well sealed and set. I found this even with PAX (might be because I did insist on added pure pigment powder and not mixing it fully…)

These have a bit of a reputation for being harder to use, but they aren’t 🙂 So long as you know a few tricks, as with everything 🙂

Prep:

First, they are solvent in alcohol (ethanol and Isopropyl Alcohol) but also in the industry standard cleaner Isopropyl Myristate. Which is super expensive in NZ. So it means once dry they are set. You would think this is all kinds of bad for tidy up but it’s not.

I set my work area up with my towels and plastic containers and plastic bags so I can just dump everything in my makup up kit at the end happy to wipe down the surfaces with rubbing alcohol and knowing it won’t keep transfering from cloth to surface to cloth like you get with a wet face cloth. or wastes paper towels. And knowing that the paint on the outside of my bottles/pots/pallets can be cleaned off later but won’t damage my kit.

Types:

There are several brands to use. The ones I use are:
NZ Airbrush Tatoos Mostly for my white based paints. So for Liara and Rachi. It’s a good product, with amazingly fast response from the owners and they pack the bottles nicely. And cost effectively. Also on TradeMe and I may use their auctions next time so I can leave feedback :)These are in liquid form, ready to airbrush. It’s fairly thin so you do need to evaporate off some of the liquid if you want to paint/sponge on.

Reel Creations  I live overseas so can’t buy their paints easily, but the liquid form is apparently already mixed to use in airbrushes as well. I buy their Large Color Pots as they are totally evaporated and so don’t pose a risk to shipping by air. Oh heck, I worked out how much they cost in NZ dollars. But it’s about $24 each including shipping? But one pot of red lasted multiple applications for Darth Talon including the lekku.

harder to remove than the above but still needs hot water and soap at least. IM is best and IA works. Just avoid the face.

Latonas which seems to have changed their bottles and maybe formulation? This is close to PAX as you can get without being PAX. It is/was half diluted, so you need to thin it for airbrush but works well as is to sponge on appliances. It is super durable. I did my underarms and butt/thighs as Talon and I looked like I had red boy shorts on the entire time at C6 and some way in to D*C. Even with IM to remove it.

Storage:

In all cases I prefer to pour them out into a flat container and evaporate them off so I can use them like a mix between cake make up and watercolour. But using alcohol vs water 😉

Colour mixing:

I like to buy the red as is as well as the black in all the above and use as is- my lekku are tinted vaguely transluscent within my own skin shades so it refracts light in a similar way to my skin. It’s not perfect but the red is slightly transluscent so is better than not.

I do however buy a lot of white and mix to make the Asari blues and pastel to mid tone shades where possible. This is because I can then be sure they are all equally opaque (some inks are opaque some are transluscent) and equally mixable in to each other.

To do this I have pure pigment from the art store. The skull and bones on the bottles is not because the product is toxic but is so finely milled you do not want to breathe it in! So I get my dust mask, and spriitz the top of the bottle with alcohol to keep stray particles from being breathed in and mix directly in my bottles/containers.

I use a col blue and warm blue, opaque yellow and a “red” that is actually pink and a true red. And also Titanium white as it is a base for cosmetics.

I check my mixes regularly and give a stir every so often after mixing and during the evaporation process as the colour pigments rise and the white/fillers sink. This is also why the paints can look darker once dry than in the bottle/pot.

I also mix street shadow with these pigments to intensify them as you need strong colours to shade with.

To use:

First prep the skin:

Shave/defoliate every hair from everywhere you can.I forget this as my hair is so fine and blonde but when I do it gives such a good result. So I will put my hair in a pony tail and use depilatory cream around my hairline and back of neck. These fly away hairs at the back are about 10cm long and can cause issues with gluing bald caps. But you might be suprised how fluffy you are near your hair line!

And then I use tweezers on my brows and upper lip and even my epilady if I am brave. I didn’t do my brows or lip for Rachi and in person you could tell, not so much in photos though! If you forget the hairs will get coated in paint and stick out like bristles.

Moisturise as usual but use a dry cloth after and wipe off any excess. Moisturiser and AA paint do not mix.

Application:

I have an airbrush but it is better for detail work and I rely on canned air so it’s not economically feasable atm. Also it’s toploaded so makes it hard to self paint faces! So I use a large filbert type brush. Starting on the cheeks and nose and working towards the jawline and neck then across the forehead and down to the brows, finally dabbing with the same brush with minimal paint and minimal alcohol towards the eyes. I do paint over my lids but it’s usually lighter than elsewhere and I avoid my brows as much as possible.

Shading:

For Talon this was pretty much it except some minor shading at the eyes and of course the painting of the tattoos… I only hand painted the face and lekku, my body tattoos were transfers. Very expensive, fiddly but if done right works really well. It’s about $50 an application atm. I hope I can get that down and also to get my tattoos a little more finetuned. I am not happy to share my graphics as I did use Jan’s work so much on this. However I will ask her permission once they are actually okay to convert to PDF as I know it would help a lot of Talons in the waiting.

 

For Liara and Rachi though I then got stippling with a sponge and the pallettes. Lots of white for Liara on the nose and jawline and cheeks and a little pink on the eyes.

I use a range of sponges. For liara I used the defolitaing side of the depilitory sponge as it is very open celled and very firm. This makes for a light freckly type of effect.

For Rachi I used a latex wedge for the cheeks as it lays down a lighter but more easily blended layer of colour.

For Rachi and Liara I also wear aggressive lashes! There is always a gap between lash line and lashes so once in place I use a very long pointed brush and use the very tip to fill in tat line. And then also top the lashes.

For the eyes I also use black to line under the eye and bend with a colour I use to shade. So for Liara this is a purple as well as pink. And use white abover the liner on my upper lashes before getting the pink/other pastel shader over it. And also a little white directly under the brow. Again i will over colour with another pastel if it is too stark.

I also paint in my brows with a fine brush and black paint usually. Twi’lek and Asari are reptilian essentially so their brows look painted in anyway.

The good news is you cannot go too far. Once you look painted you look painted. You may as well use every trick in the book to make your eyes look bigger, give definition to your jaw and cheeks as you can.

I basically use old theatre make up tricks in the alien colours to counter the flattening effect of opaque colour.

To remove:

I have used a few abbreviations so here they are all consolidated 🙂

Fill a basin with hot hot water. Put in your face cloth. Take out and wring then put on your face. This is like having a nice steam facial and helps by getting your face sweating. Do this a few times and be careful. You want that theraputic heat not scalding heat!

Next use same face cloth with a gentle soap. Gently use the cloth and soap on your cheeks and jaw and the less sensitive areas.

If this has been going well you won’t need to try the next but you may…

For my hands I spritz with IA (Isopropy Alcohol) or ethanol (“meths” in NZ though no methanol is involved any more thank goodness) and use a hot facecloth again and scrub. I kind of beat up my hands anyway.

I will also use IA/ethanol on my neck and arms etc. But I avoid my face and also any areas I have pulled PA from (edges of latex appliances). Well I do *now*. Lesson leart the hard way!

For the face I also use a good big dollop of Aveeno and work then in to the skin already cleaned and in to the edges of the paint to help lift it. The heat from the face cloth, the moisturiser and gentle buffing action will remove most. (I use this to remove street make up too).

But if you have some Isopropyl Myristate (IM) this is the ideal time to use it.

It is oily and mega effective so always keep it separate from your main kit and well sealed. IA/ethanol with dissolve the paint and then evaporate leaving the paint actually still usable (if you can get at it). IM does not. I suspect it joins to the binder like an emollient so one end is soluble in oil and the other in alcohol and even water. So a forever solution.

Baby oil helps but it is a mechanical action with massage and heat helping.

If you use IM or baby oil remember to also then clean your face with a gentle cleanser and use your moisturiser. They are oily so can clog pores.

 

Sorry for huuuuuuge wall of text! I could have broken this up as well 😉

|        

 
Photo by Stewart McKenny at Armageddon Sydney 2011
Photo by JudasNZ at Wellington Armageddon 2011

PAX attempts

I knew PAX to be essentially tinted glue, tinted medical adhesive grade glue. It is used for skin not just appliances, I just spoke to a Hobbit actor who recalled his days of PAX on LotR so… we both sighed about IM and how we each had lovely care packages in which it was contained 😉

Anyway, I am not part of the regulation of make up artists in the US or anywhere for that matter so DO NOT DO THIS TO SOMEONE ELSE! Unless you have their permission and everyone is fully aware of what it actually is.

Prosthetic Aide and Liquitex was the original formulation and used on Latex appliances. Why? Aside from durablility and endless colour options the chemical composition does not degrade the latex. It offers a lot of protection in fact. Cake make up may contain petro chemicals which will break down latex pretty quick smart.

PA is an acrylic based glue used for medical prosthetics. So it is water mixable when uncured but water-resistant at least when cured.

Galadriel

My first foray was for Galadriel up there back in 2003. I hadn’t got the tone right because I didn’t realise how red my hair had turned (it was two years into methotrexate therapy which is notorious for making hair grow back differently after it all falls out). And it was too late. It was better when I wasn’t surrounded by so much greenery 😉 The stage had red curtain from memory so my hair toned down visually.

Anyway. This wasn’t PAX but a much easier to remove alternative. J&J Clean and Clear moisturiser (still available) with some acrylic paint. The moisturiser is about the only one you can do this with as it is meant to not deliver a deep dose of oils or anything to young skin. But it does carry the pigments and thins them out nicely.

Samara

For Samara I used a very similar mix with a little Liquiset added in. And a little PA as I used it to hold the appliance on my head.

Full PAX

For Shaak Ti and Darth Tykhi it was full on PAX. And I wanted to tear my skin off. Also that is the same colour paint in both cases. Convention lighting can do weird things to colour.

In all cases I used a filbert style brush, foundation brushes are a kind of this shape (rounded paddle shape) and lots of careful layering. PAX takes a while to dry and it goes very tacky when it is close to dry. You need to powder to set at just the right moment or you get powder patches.

You can go swimming in the stuff.

As for wanting to tear my skin off? It’s like wearing an extra full layer of skin, dermis, epidermis and subdermis. I felt very very claustrophobic. Especially the paint around my thighs. The paint flexes but not as much as skin.

So recommended? Only if you absolutely have to and if PAX is genuinely cheaper than the newer alternatives. Which it may be where you live. Here PA is exceedingly expensive.

Cons: difficult to remove once cured (really hot bath with lots of soap, you will be sweating) some rubbing alcohol and if you can Isopropyl Myristate. This makes the glue break down permanently and gums it up so you’ll need your own towel and facecloth etc. at an hotel.

It’s messy to work with and tidy as you go. The slow cure and water solubility while curing makes it easy to transfer to everything. Also it’s glue.

Pros: it stays put. Stays put. Unless you say lie on the carpet and lean on your elbows and then you might transfer some from essentially scrubbing it off.

If you are using latex appliances it’s a once stop no wories about matching shop! It’s fantastic for painting detail over AA paint as you can wipe it off with a damp cloth when you make a mistake but once cured grips like a limpet!

|