Lovely Complex Photoshoot (Part 2)

And so Brian finally got around to editing the rest of the Lovely Complex Photographs. Apparently editing night lights in these pictures killed him xD

Koizumi Risa: Zephyus
Otani Atsushi: Kaika
Photographers: Brian & Lynweh
Helpers: Maria

Poor Risa… look at her double bend xD

* Moar Photos after the cut! *

Special thanks to Sochii for lending us her precious School Bag ! Couldn’t have completed the student look without that xD!

Hope you guys enjoy the pictures! Sorry I didn’t say much, I don’t know what to say. Remember to leave me a comment and tell me what you think about our cosplay xD

Cosfest ( which costume should Reika wear?)

The mega event of the year; Cosfest is just around the corner ! This year, Singapore Cosplay Club has invited the highly popular Japanese cosplayer, Reika Arikawa!

Tell Reika which costume you want her to bring to Singapore by leaving a comment at the official Cosfest fan page !

Pop over to tell Reika now ! Link here !

Cosfest is happening on the 7th and 8th of July at Downtown East, The Marquee. Pop over to www.cosfest.com for more information.

More guest announced for STGCC 2012 (Mark Landwehr, Sven Waschk & Leinil francis Yu)

And the organisers of Singapore Toy Game and Comic Convention (STGCC), the premiere western comics event in Singapore (duh) has sprung yet another pleasant surprise for the fans here!

“ Renowned artists, Mark Landwehr and Sven Waschk of coarse famed for their legendary vinyl creations coveted by collectors worldwide, will be making their debut appearance in Singapore at the upcoming Singapore Toy, Game and Comic Convention (STGCC) 2012. Fans’ favourite Marvel Comics illustrator, Leinil Francis Yu, will also join this year’s guest line-up at STGCC. Fans will be able to come up close and personal with Mark, Sven, Leinil and many more well-known artists, illustrators and Japanese pop culture personalities as this year’s STGCC brings together the latest in comics, toys, games, anime, manga and cosplay to Singapore.

Mark Landwehr and Sven Waschk, Coarse Artists

German artists, Mark Landwehr and Sven Waschk, are the creative minds behind coarse, famous for their distinct style of sculpting that looks as if they had chiseled figures from rock. Cast, handcrafted and finished in the coarse workshops in Hamburg, Germany and Hong Kong, their works are available in art toy stores and galleries across 32 countries. Focusing primarily on statues ranging from small resin pieces to life-size fiberglass creations that blend both Eastern and Western aesthetics, Mark and Sven’s original sculptures are transformed into vinyl figures that convey an alternate reality.  Their works have become admired and highly covetable by art and toy collectors around the world, usually available as a single piece or in small runs, In 2011, coarse took home the first prize at the Designer Toy Awards for “Outstanding Production”. The artists will be designing STGCC exclusives for their fans. Watch this space for more details in August!

Leinil Francis Yu, Marvel Comic illustrator

Marvel Comics illustrator Leinil Francis Yu will also be joining the pop culture personality line-up at this year’s STGCC. Best-known for his work on the Wolverine comic series, Leinil’s graphic style can also be seen in other popular titles including Uncanny X-Men, New Avengers and Superman: Birthright, Ultimate Wolverine vs. Hulk and Marvel’s 2008 Epic: Secret Invasion. Leinil is currently collaborating with Wanted and KickAss writer/co-creator Mark Millar on Ultimate Avengers and their creator-owned projects, Superior and Supercrooks. ”

STGCC 2012 will take place on the 1st and 2nd of September 2012 at the Sands Expo and Convention Center, Marina Bay Sands, Singapore. For more information, go to www.singaporetgcc.com. 

Should Cosplayers be paid?

So recently, this certain status update by Jaroukasama from Philippines kind of triggered a passionate discussion on Facebook.

I'm here to share my opinions and also to give objective reasons why I feel Cosplayers should be paid if they are invited or recruited to 'work' for an organisation/club/ any form of Media.

The 'work' discussed here can be defined as menial tasks such as giving out flyers , being a Party Entertainment or  appearing on any form of Media for interviews or as background decorations.

In case you haven't sensed my drift. I am for it. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not against Commercialism, I’m just against exploitation. I believe labour should be paid regardless of who the individual is. Unless of course, if it is for a charitable cause.

My points below.

1) Making costumes is expensive

Costume making in Singapore is expensive.

 
Photo by Brian Lim

While it's not hard to see how those elaborate costume with yards of cloth can cost a lot. A lot of people will justify not paying the cosplayers by assuming that since the costume is already made, it doesn't make any difference to them. No extra cost is induced thus the cosplayers have no right to be paid.

Following this theory, does it mean if you own a car and paid up all the instalments, you should just lend it to someone (you don't personally know) for free ? Would you?

Cosplayers paid for the costumes with either cold hard cash or through their manual labour. To deprive someone else the rewards of their hard work is unreasonable. Especially if you are earning through them.

2) Cleaning costume is expensive/troublesome

It's easy to understand that costumes don't come easy but few understand that these special costumes require maintenance too.

Some costumes require dry cleaning while others need to be hand washed. Regardless of the way it will be cleaned, we can all agree that every wear will contribute to the “withering” lifespan of a costume.

And if the work requires entertaining a crowd or walking near slippery mud. There is a fair chance some nasty strangers will help spoil it.

While some can argue that the diminishing of a costume is inevitable, oxygen and dust alone can help break it down. But please bear in mind that cosplayers wear their costumes to have fun and fulfil their own desires. Why should they risk their costumes to promote you?

Food for thought?

3) Wearing a costume is exhausting & time consuming

While I agree, not all costume is uncomfortable. But I'm sure most seasoned Cosplayers will agree with me that no cosplay is ever really comfortable.

 
Kira shot this omake shot of us which really reflect our personality. Zeph = enthusiastic, Me = always tired xD

Even if it's not the bulky armour or heavy sword, it's the skimpy bust line. Even if it's not the 4 inch killer heels, it's the winter boots in tropical climate. Even if it's not the heavy hair piece, it's the skull constricting wig net. Even if it's not the 1059837551 spikey accessories, it's the dropping ribbon on your thigh.

I don't know about you, but it takes me an average of 2 – 3 hours to get everything on. And that few hours is always a panicky and stressful period for me.

 
“Srsly, fu*k ruffles. Not only are they difficult to make, they are a pain to iron too”

Each of us is given 24 hours per day and the recommended sleeping hour is 7 hours. 3 divided by 17 (24 - 7) hours in a day is more than 17% of your entire day. Below is an estimation of the time a cosplayer would need to dedicate.

• 0.5 hour – Packing, prepping and ironing costume
• 1 hour - transport time to and fro
• 2.5 hours - prep time
• 2 hours - work time

A whooping total of 6 hours ! Effectively , that is half a work day and 35% of waking time. And after the cosplay, more time wasted on cleaning the costumes.

Why should anyone go through the hassle of dressing up to fulfil the desire of an organisation they don't personally know ? Would you exchange 6 hours of your time for someone you don't know ?

4) Time is money

Firstly, time is precious. People always tend to undermine the importance of something they cannot see. But really, if there is one thing you should cherish in life, then that is time.

 
Photo by Brian Lim

Time is an appreciating asset that grows more and more important as you realise you have lesser and lesser of it. The cruel fact is, everyone was born to die. When the ending is the same for everyone, the only difference comes in the way you live it.

And time, unfortunately is something a lot of people assume cosplayers have a lot of. And henceforth, cheap.

Many people assume all cosplayers are teeny students. Which is not entirely wrong because the majority of the Cosplayers Demographics are student. But as the hobby progresses and mature, many of the teenagers have now become young adults with a job. Even if they really are students, their time is better spent revising their textbooks.

I have mentioned many times on different accounts that maintaining this blog, this youtube channel and my own cosplays has been very challenging. Writing this entry alone has taken me well beyond a few days because I mostly only have time to blog a few hours a day.

I'm not mad busy but I'm not exactly keen to volunteer my time to insincere individuals/organisations either. I don’t know how to put my honest opinion across more politely but no, I’m not interested in helping out in your event and “ Promote Cosplay to the public” for free.

That said, if both parties can come to an agreement that benefits both sides then all’s great. I don’t know how a cosplayer can benefit from a commercial organiser in any ways other than cash and products but you get my drift.

5) Someone is earning through you

Probably the one most important and teeth grinding point. The event/ TV station/ media parties are paid big bucks to create entertaining content. Depending on the time slot and channel, a single 30 second advertisement can easily cost more than 6 digits!

If their content includes you, shouldn’t you get some sort of compensation for your involvement ?

Event organisers are paid by their clients to make sure everything for the event runs smoothly and there is sufficient attention on it. To put it simply, Event organising companies are also paid to create hype for the event.

And some times that hype is you, shouldn’t you get some sort of compensation for your involvement?

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I’ve once again exhausted myself writing >,< . How do you feel about this topic? Comment and share with us =)

Kingdom Hearts Figurine Giveaway results !

Sorry for the delay guys but I’m here with the result for the giveaway! Yes I am giving away the very cute chibi Axel above!

 

Congratulations to xAoiSora for winning chibi Axel ! Please email me at elpheal @gmail.com and let me know your mailing address and recipient name soon ^_^.

Otome Yokai Zakuro (Photoshoot with Kira hokuten)

And I realise, I have not uploaded any of the photos from this set, well, except for like 2 pictures.

This set of pictures was taken by the awesomesauce Kira Hokuten when we visit Philippines last Cosmania 2011. It was an awesome experience and I’m very thankful to Sese & Kune for being my Ganryuu and Agemaki <3!

Read about my experience here & here !

Alright less talk, more photos!

Photos by:   

Zakuro: 
Agemaki: 
Ganryu: 
Hanadate: 

“Ther… there are spirits floating around!!”

“ Please accompany me to the toilet ~~ Don’t gooooo~~~”

“ I didn’t know which you prefer so I got the plain ones. I read that Yokai likes to eat Candles, right?”

I hope you guys enjoyed the pictures! Remember to leave a comment and tell me which is your favourite!

Homura Akemi Make Up Tutorial

*updated with more photos of the products used and some explanation

In this entry, I share with you guys a video on how I draw Homura Akemi’s Make Up for cosplay.

As with most Cosplay Make up, this is a look that focus very heavily on the eye. It is a dramatic yet subtle look.

Surprisingly, this dramatic makeup is actually suitable for characters that are supposed to look like they don’t have much make up on. I know that sounds weird but trust me, the moment you put your costume and wig on, this loud makeup will mute itself.

Make up is really more than just adding colours to your face. To me, it's all about using it to augment my facial structures and features to appear closer to the society's definition of beauty. Some might say that's shallow and I should embrace my true beauty or whatever nonsense , but yeah I prefer to stick to the norm in this case.

Personally I think it is important to change your makeup according to the personality of each character you portray. For Homura’s case, I would describe her as a melancholy, wise, matured and youthful (she is after all, only in high school!) looking girl. To help me portray that, I focus on making my eyes look long and sharp. I then used a combination of bright pink and coral blushes to present youthfulness because light colours always make the wearer look younger.

You don't necessarily have to do what I do here because it was designed for my face. But if it works for you, awesome

Like I mentioned , I wanted to make my eye look long and sharp to give the impression of someone matured and graceful. If you notice , I also deliberately pull my eye liner slightly downwards. Instead of a cat eye, I pulled the line out and down. Pulling your eye liner down gives a doe like effect and makes the wearer look a little  more sympathetic. 

For Homura's case, despite wanting to portray her as a matured, stoic and graceful character , I also wanted to portray her tragic and sympathetic side.

Shading and highlighting is important to help bring out the dimension that Flash and cameras always takes away. But like I mentioned in my video, you really don’t have to do exactly as I have. Change according to your own facial structure.

Base, BB creams and foundation

Main brushes used

Eye stuffs used

Concealer and Highlighter

Lipstick

Above are most of the products I used, click on the picture to view full size. You don’t have to use the same stuffs as me, just use whatever you have.

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I am not a Make Up Guru neither am I awesome at applying MU. But since it was so requested, I thought I'd give a hand at making one. I'll have to say, this is probably going to be my first and last MU video X_X

Getting pass the fear of appearing on the internet without makeup is something I’m not quite sure to label as courage or stupidity >.<; And yes, I am just an ugly Asian girl without makeup ||||||||oTL

And OMG, I took so long to film, the Sun went off his shift before me and caused the light in the video to keep changing. I  apologize for making the video so fast! There was just so much to cover and I didn't want to bore you guys with too much details so I sped up the video. The speed made recording voiceover for it a real challenge though x__x

I have so much to rant about and I know I did a pretty weak job at blending and my symmetry is horrendous =(. But please forgive me as I don’t frequently wear such dramatic makeup so my hands are not practiced enough. It was really hard to do your own makeup and film without getting poked in the eye. Henceforth, I have new found respect for all those Youtube Makeup Guru who made it look so easy. Remember to comment and share your thoughts!