SMASHWORKS - Footwear, Illustration, and Costume Design: SDCC

Showing posts with label SDCC. Show all posts

Saturday, July 20, 2013

Ghoulia Yelps Comic Book Club Cosplay - SDCC 2013

In honor of San Diego Comic-Con 2013 being on right now, I thought it would be fitting for Ghoulia Yelps to get to enjoy her love for Dead Fast in her Comic Book Club outfit! I hope everyone who is attending got to check out the amazing Monster High panel today and I'm looking forward to seeing pictures of all the Monster High cosplayers :)

All the costumes pieces I created myself, including digitally illustrating the artwork for the full-size comic cover so I could create a real-life version, and the t-shirt graphics and intestine print on the skirt which I also silk-screened. Ghoulia really has fabulous style!

Thursday, April 11, 2013

Monster High - Cosplay Teaser

Something I've been working on. This garment piece is entirely finished.. Can't wait to wear it! I may be premiering this cosplay at SDCC this year ;)

Monday, January 07, 2013

Frankie Stein, Home Ick - Monster High Cosplay

The second cosplay I debuted at San Diego Comic Con 2013 was Frankie Stein in her Home Ick outfit. I immediately loved this outfit when I first saw it because of the multiple textile patterns in all her clothing pieces, especially the apron. This outfit has great accessories too.

I had already constructed my wig back when I did my Frankie Fearleading Cosplay and was happy to wear it again because it was super comfortable. I drafted and constructed the tunic, using butcher's paper to create the stripes and "stitches" down the center front. The apron was also created from scratch, silk-screened with a pattern that I digitally illustrated that referenced the original doll version.

I didn't have time to trek out to a fabric store for more white cotton jersey so I picked up a pair of white leggings, took them apart and screened the plaid pattern I had digitally illustrated on to them. This part was not very fun as my screen was pretty busted up while I was doing the leggings and it was a very hard pattern to match up for the repeat. I tried my best to connect everything so it would look as cohesive as possible but did have to fix problem areas with butcher's paper. This was the first time I'd attempted such an intensive repeating pattern!

For her cuffs, I actually sewed a functional pincushion and placed real pins (although I had cut off the sharp pin tips) that coordinated with the ones on the original doll.

The other cuff was made from felt which I then used butcher's paper to created the "stitch" pattern on it. The bolt ring and earrings were both created using a combination of Sculpty and metal hardware/findings. The shoes were originally black Mary Janes that were spray painted white (except for the heel). The straps were made using red vinyl.

I didn't get too many photos during SDCC so the following photos are from Fan Expo 2012 where my friend wore the costume and attended with me :)

I got interviewed by Vanity Fair in this cosplay which was an amazing experience!

Friday, January 04, 2013

C.A. Cupid - Monster High Cosplay

C.A. Cupid is one of my favorite new characters from Monster High. The first time I saw an image of her I fell in love, I mean she's got a split RIB CAGE for her wings... That is seriously bad a** :D Her style is lovely and distinctive, I especially love the black dripping ink pattern coming down on the waist of her skirt.

I started working on this costume in January 2012 and it took me a few months to get all my patterns done, the supplies collected, construction, and finally putting everything together. I premiered it at San Diego Comic-Con 2012 and was very happy with how it all turned out (and that nothing got destroyed to the point of no repair on the plane ride there!).

I digitally illustrated the textile patterns on the bottom of the skirt and the stockings using reference images that the few lucky people who had this doll when it first came out were nice enough to post online (this was back in January/February 2012). This was actually one of the first times I attempted to silk screen a pattern. It was very stressful, particularly because there are two colors on the repeating heart pattern of the skirt that intertwine with one another! I also dip dyed the bottom of the skirt fabric pink but due to the type of fabric I used (upcycled peau de soi) it did not take too well to the fabric and ended up going lighter more than I hoped. I felt that was better than making it bright fuchsia though :)

I created the head band, sculpted the earrings and ring, transformed vintage ballroom gloves with a butcher's paper stencil and screen ink, drafted and sewed the skirt and corset from scratch, created the arm guard, screened the stockings, broke down a pair of shoes and sculpted the footwear embellishments, and created the wings. I don't have detail shots of the accessories right now but I will try to photograph them to post them soon.

Below is a picture of me posing with the C.A. Cupid doll at the Monster High booth at SDCC 2012 which MH featured on their Tumblr. I got to meet the amazing team behind MH and was blown away by how lovely they all were :) It was the first time I ever saw the doll in person too! I also got to chat with Erin Fitzgerald, the awesome voice actress of C.A. Cupid who was totally adorable. She actually does six of the characters on the show and during the Monster High panel it was hilarious to hear her and the other actress switch so easily between their character voices and "normal" voices. The panel was amazing, I could not have been happier with all my MH experiences at this years con. I had a blast cosplaying C.A. Cupid and can't wait to see what other outfits MH designs for her!

Above two images are property of Monster High / Mattel

Hopefully I can win the grand ticket battle for SDCC 2013 and make the journey again. I'm pretty sure I know who I'm going to be working on next ;)

Thursday, July 19, 2012

SDCC 2012 Cosplay Preview

What a crazy week and a half! I attended San Diego Comic-Con for the second time last week and was able to actually cosplay this year. I designed and constructed some of the most technically difficult costumes I have made to date which was challenging but also very gratifying. I wasn't entirely done when I flew out so there was some extra gluing and sewing in the hotel room but everything worked out great! My three costumes were:

Thursday - Home Ick Frankie Stein cosplay, Monster High

Friday - C.A. Cupid cosplay, Monster High

Saturday - Duela Dent cosplay, Ame-Comi

Many amazing things happened at SDCC this year, one of which is I was interviewed by Vanity Fair which is HERE.

I hope to do photoshoots of these costumes and show all the details very soon!

Saturday, October 08, 2011

Monster High Fearleading Cosplay - Frankie Stein

The final costume of the Monster High cosplay trio that I designed was my own character Frankie Stein :) As with Draculaura and Deuce Gorgon's costumes, I designed mine from scratch, hand screening all the trims, body coverings and using a vector rendering of the MH logo I'd drawn for the chest. I had never modified a wig before this project so that was a HUGE accomplishment. I'm so happy with it I think I'll likely do a post just to show it close-up :) I made it stable enough that it hasn't changed since I first put it on! This costume between the uniform, arm and leg coverings, and the f/x makeup was a huge amount of work and I couldn't be happier with how it turned out!

I made the earrings from scratch using my long-lost childhood sculpting skills with Fimo/Sculpty and created Frankie's skull earrings. My ears are stretched larger than a normal gauge plus a normal ear piercing wouldn't be able to handle the weight of these so I opted for the clip-on earring backs. They were nearly impossible to find in the city! I could not believe the amount of store employees that gave me brain dead stares when I asked if they carried them. Who would have known they were so rare!

The f/x makeup was done by myself. I made the cheek stitches from scratch, actually sewing through the semi-completed prosthetic while it was on my face. It turned out great! I loved being able to incorporate some authentic elements into something like this.

Monster High Casketball Cosplay - Deuce Gorgon

Ah, Deuce Gorgon. Putting the Deuce in seduce ;) This year I was very excited to have my partner join me for his first time cosplaying! After debating which Monster High character he wanted to be for Fan Expo Canada we decided on Deuce Gorgon. I had a heck of a time figuring out how to translate his snake hair and initially planned on doing an insane f/x prosthetic. In the end there just wasn't the time to execute it so I came up with an alternative plan and it worked beautifully. I designed a hat and hand screened a gradient print that was a larger scale pattern to what Deuce's hair looks like. Instead of opting for the Casketball hair version where his snakes are sticking up, I opted to go with the flipped down style of his Dawn of the Dance hair. This was more fun anyways since my partner got to flip it from side to side and put a snake in front of his eyes like a loose curl when he felt like it :)

I made the uniform from scratch, hand screening the trims and drawing a vector MH logo for the chest. I also made the socks and hand screened the pattern on them. The glasses were painted with stained glass paint to make them green.

Monster High Fearleading Cosplay - Draculaura

After attending SDCC (San Diego Comic Con) this year and meeting Garrett Sander, creator and design manager of Monster High I knew I HAD to do this group cosplay for Fan Expo Canada 2011. Initially the friends I usually do a group cosplay at Fan Expo Canada were all going to join in this Monster High epicness (I'm the official costume maker for the group) but a large number of them couldn't attend this year! Regardless of that, we represented with a group of 3 and I don't think it could have be more epic :)

This is the lovely Draculaura in my original Fearleading uniform costume design. I made the uniform from scratch, even hand screening the trims. Many many many yards of trim! I also created a vector logo in Illustrator for the MH logo on the uniform chest. Draculaura made her own wig and did her own f/x makeup, all for her first time. I think she looks great!

I made the earrings from scratch too, free-handing the design on shrinking plastic and then making them into earrings. If you've seen my blog before you know how much I like to play in the area between 2 and 3 dimensional props so I liked the idea of using these for her costume instead of real safety pins :)

Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Monster High Cosplay - Fan Expo 2011 PREVIEW - UPDATE!

UPDATE! I've now published three new posts about my Monster High Fearleading (and Casketball) cosplay designs for Frankie Stein, Deuce Gorgon, and Draculaura! Check them out :)

I can't resist posting this one..

(ORIGINAL POST)
I attended SDCC (San Diego Comic Con) this year and one of the many highlights was meeting Garrett Sander, creator and design manager of Monster High at the official MH booth! The experience along with all the amazing doll prototypes pretty much decided it for me.. I was determined to cosplay as Monster High characters for Fan Expo Canada 2011!

I'll be doing a long post for these costumes but this is a sneak peek! I designed the entire costumes from scratch for Frankie Stein, Deuce Gorgon, and Draculaura (minus her wig which she did herself). So excited to do a post on these, they were a huge amount of work but I am so happy with how they turned out! Can't wait to do more ;)

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