Monday, September 16, 2013

Emily as Seth Knightlord Part Two

      Emily visited for a weekend not too long ago for a photoshoot! I had wanted to do her makeup and take photos of her Seth outfit since I felt that I hadn't had a chance to capture it as much as I would have liked! Thankfully, she was able to make it down to my house (we live states apart!!) and we had quite a bit of fun for the weekend ~

    First we have the before and after! If you aren't amazed by how she got all that thick, long hair under that short wig, you should start being amazed!!

I didn't want to cover her beauty mark - the character may not have it, but I just never wanted to cover it or edit it out; I like it too much!
      All the photos for this set are taken right in my backyard. There isn't any commotion and no one gets in the way of the shot so I figured it'd be the best place to start! 

     I'm the editor and photographer of all the photos, but I didn't have to do much work - she already looks so good!
 I tried to have a mix of seriousness and playfulness with the photos to exhibit the characters personality and Emily went along with it very well! I didn't have to give much direction and she wasn't afraid to give me her ideas which I love in a model. 













    Examples of some of the more playful shots we took! We have blooper shots of course, but these I really loved her attitude and we had fun taking these ~
 

     This is probably one of my favourite shots out of all that we took. She looks stunning and I was able to edit my house out of the background so I hold a certain pride with it. I would really love a print of this one.

            I think this is one of the best looks at her eyes with the colour change - she had requested I edit her eye colour for Seth and that was easy enough, but it wasn't as prominent in other photos because the focus was her full body instead of her face. This is also a good example of the serious side of Seth!




A few of the more regal shots were she held herself very well and posed very nicely for me. I'm glad we got enough pictures of her with the hat because problems arose with that later in the weekend lol

A nice shot of the back detail on her coat - I was so excited when she showed me that she could wear the coat on its own - I'd be in it all the time if I were her hahaha















     Overall, I think this turned out to be a beautiful shoot and it was so wonderful seeing Emily outside of a convention!
For the rest of the photos, go to my deviantart

photos will be posted there soon!

Love you guys and thanks for reading!!

Hachi <3

Saturday, September 14, 2013

School and Things To Come

Hello Everyone




I've been in school .________. excited that I'm back but huuu no time for things!


Subjects to come are:

  • another Seth Knightlord appreciation post featuring my friend Emily - she visited one weekend specifically for a mini makeup trial and photoshoot - hopefully shoots will be a regular thing as I love to do them *^*
  • an art project with a few friends of mine that will be elaborated on later
  •  other jazzy things that I'll come up with eventually hahaha
  • HALLOWEEN STUFF AHHHH so excited


So! Short but yeah - I am still working!!!
 

Thanks for Reading
Hachi

 

Tuesday, August 6, 2013

HERe:NE = new musical love

I was perusing tumblr through the jrock tag and found this juicy morsel of a band. To be honest, I was expecting something that wouldn't sway me one way or the other, I wouldn't love it or hate it. I listened to [Zenesis] and was thankfully surprised! I have to admit, the vocals gave me chills more than a few times! The overall sound I enjoy, Wakiko's powerful vocals really luring me in. I say if you like exist + trace/Jyou's vocals, you'll definitely appreciate HERe:NE and Wakiko.

Now, here's an extra added something that got me revved up and excited: plus sized lead singer rocking that vk look hard and strong! Being plus sized myself, I couldn't help but feel elated to see a talent who was bigger in size and still went all out in visual kei! I hope to purchase the album and continue to be impressed with this band!

Friday, August 2, 2013

Seth Knightlord Appreciation Post - Ikasucon 2013

 This wonderful cosplayer had me so excited to be a Trinity Blood fan. I haven't really been able to talk to many Trinity Blood cosplayers, much less make friends with them, so I'm pleased that she was Seth and motivated me to be Ion.




I took a lot of shots of her outfit and of course there's always the mandatory, mouth open, middle-of-the-sentence shot that I seem to get with people.

 She made the earrings and choker - I found them to be nice touches.

She had other rings as well but one had broken sadly UoU still, the minor touches were nice.





















Thank you Emily for letting me take your photo! I loved hanging out with you and talking to you about Trinity Blood!!


Thanks for reading,

Hachi

Ikasucon 2013



            Ikasucon 2013 has passed and I've been able to showcase my Beelzemon cosplay, winning a judge's award at the Ikasucon Masquerade. There were quite a few mishaps at Ikasucon right before the pre-judging that caused me to break into tears. Two of the fingertips to the gauntlets popped off then a shoulder piece came off as well – on top of that I was sweating to beat hell from having to book it down there from our hotel room only to find the judging was running a little behind. MY SWEAT WAS IN VAIN! Some very kind cosplayers let Taka and me go ahead of them so I could get out of my costume more quickly, but when we got in there I began to cry even harder and told the judges about how poopy I felt about everything. They were so nice and let me leave to get a new judging time and come back later when everything was put back together and I was calm. After about an hour of cooling off and fixing myself and my costume up, we scurried back and I felt extremely better about it all – it felt even better to have won something in the end through all my frustrations and tears! 
                 
 the beginnings of the helmet - looks like a basket lol

 just derping around with the tape while working on the helmet UoU










            
          
The Friday and Sunday of Ikasucon, I was Ion Fortuna from Trinity Blood – the Iblis Desert outfit. I didn't use a wig, though I will if I ever reprise it. I was originally not going to make Ion's outfit at all until I found out there was a Seth Knightlord cosplayer going who was told that I would be Ion. I didn't want to disappoint her and I'm so thankful I didn't because she looked beautiful and we are now friends because of it.
I'm extremely proud of this costume as it's my first Trinity Blood costume – I've been wanting to create different outfits from this series for a long time and, despite wanting to tweak this outfit and add/fix some small details, I can say I'm thoroughly pleased with myself! I've received wonderful compliments as well which just inspires me to continue to work harder and learn even more.

    
    
Cosplayer Nation was there and my friends and I were stopped by them for photos a few times and Emily, my friend cosplaying Seth, was even featured in a video! I happened to be there by chance when she was and had some video time with her haha. Taka and I went to one of the Cosplayer Nation panels right before the masquerade – we had wanted to give an interview since it had been offered to the panel goers, but we ran out of time (~UoU)~

On the subject of panels, Taka and I hosted a jrock panel the Friday night with what I feel was great success! A bit of mayhem happened – the presentation malfunctioned a bit, her laptop died and we forgot her charger (a friend ran up to the room to retrieve it), and we were set right next to a karaoke panel where they were, for lack of anything nice to say, loud. Through all this, the panel goers stayed with us, seemed to have fun and a few even befriended us! We learned that we should definitely have an 18+ panel simply because language is a hard thing to control – most people who go to a convention, no matter how young, use “bad words” but it's still something you have to watch when you're at a panel that isn't 18 and over. All in all, the panel inspired me to come up with more ideas for different panels and that's something I'm surprising myself with as it's not something I ever saw myself getting into.

There's so much more that went on, so many people that I've met and had a great time with. I'm more than excited for next year's Ikasucon even though it's so far away! At least there are upcoming events to keep my preoccupied lol

See Ya Later Space Cowboy
Hachi

Thursday, July 4, 2013

More Absences But Work Has Been Done!

     I've gotten much done in the ways of cosplay - good thing too considering Ikasucon 2013 is next weekend! I ended up sticking with a last minute decision to do Ion Fortuna's "Iblis Desert" outfit along with working on my two commissioned costumes and Beelzemon for the masquerade.
     Beelzemon's helmet is finished, as is the jumpsuit; I have the jacket, gloves and tail to do (and the "steel toe" covers of his boots ;A; how do!?!?!) I hope to get a lot of pictures taken of all the work I've put into everything this time around!!!

Today, Taka and I are working on her jrock panel for which I'm a co-panelist. I wish I would have thought to print business cards earlier in the game, but maybe next time (and maybe next year I'll host my own panel and/or have an artist table? We'll see lol)


As of now, I have no photos, just listing things out for myself and giving a heads up as to why it's been so quiet!

Thanks for reading,
Hachi

Saturday, May 11, 2013

Apologies for Absence

     I haven't had anything interesting to tell you all thus no posts. I've been working on commissions and will soon be charging ahead with my own costume. I don't tend to post work in progress photos, but I'll do my best to give you some idea of the work that went into everything I'm doing.


My current workload includes:
Harley Quinn from Batman inspired hoodie and shorts
Panty dress from Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt (Yes. Another one! Different Panty cosplayer this time around but still a friend lol)
Gatomon from Digimon - gijinka - (same friend who is cosplaying Panty) 

 A fur suit didn't sound appealing to any of us so we went with a gijinka version based off this image - if anyone knows the artist, please be so kind as to inform me so I may credit them!

     The main difference in this design is the change in hair - we're going with a short, white hairstyle instead of a long blonde one. I think it was due to ease of care throughout the convention we're all attending and of course what my friend wanted lol

Beelzemon hasn't gotten any farther - I've started the helmet but have been too afraid to carry on with the foam for fear of messing it up. I do have more flexible cardboard though so I might as well man up and go on with it lol


I've been trying to do more writing and artsy stuff though I never post my writing anywhere since I feel uncomfortable with people reading it lol



To see my art though, you can check either of those links - I go through spells where I don't post anything, but I do try to get something up before a year passes lol

deviantArt
deviantart will have some cosplay photos as well *clap hands*
y-gallery  



Well that's it really, boring boring boring


hooray for summer though *shake maracas*


Thanks for reading,

Hachi




 


Saturday, March 2, 2013

exist†trace and signal boost

exist†trace

http://visualkeilolita.wordpress.com/2012/04/16/exist%E2%80%A0trace/



   Next week it'll be about a year since I went to my first concert - Exist Trace's special appearance at Tekkoshocon. Above is the link to the blog I made on my (pretty much abandoned) wordpress account. There are some pictures I withheld just for myself, but I got some pretty decent shots of the ladies despite being barred from photography at the actual concert. Even now I still get a little heartache thinking of this event and how much I would love to see them again (perhaps in due time this can be arranged).
   The only reason we went to Tekkoshocon was to see Exist Trace - of course we were excited to go to such a large convention, but we really were there for the music above all else. If there were to be another band of our liking performing there, I think we'd be willing to save up and take the six hour journey again - it would be worth it for a band we loved, especially if there were to be another meet&greet with said beloved band lol
   Needless to say, I'm suffering a little nostalgia and will be listening to Exist Trace a little more than usual this month lol

***

   AS FOR THE AFOREMENTIONED SIGNAL BOOST IN THE TITLE!
Taka finally has her wordpress up and running again - her posts this morning have inspired me to make a post of my own supporting her and our group FOAF in hopes you'll guys check them both out!

Taka's Blog - she'll also be doing a radio show, but her blog explains that ~

FOAF Productions YouTube


FOAF Productions Facebook


My Personal YouTube - I can't really access my personal account but have been thinking of trying out 30 second videos (I'd be able to post more often without having to wait for a WIFI connection). I could show costumes and do mini convention updates. Ahhh, I'm not sure yet and haven't had a chance to try it out so give me your thoughts!


Thank you guys for reading ~
See you later Space Cowboys,
Hachi <3

Tuesday, February 12, 2013

Murphy's Law Sort of Day

                                                                 (image (c) me)
     My mom dropped her tablet today and shattered the screen and my sister's radio and mp3 player took a pewp. The tablet still works (and I believe we can just get the screen replaced but I'm not sure where we could go in all honesty. We bought it from Verizon but don't use them as our phone service anymore due astronomical costs for very little service where we actually live), but my sister's main sources of music are gone so I am on a quest for a new radio/boombox/stereo whatever you may call it lol I think our best bet is going in store because I'm having a pain in the butt time looking online - oh dial up, you're so cute *glares*.


      In other news, in a previous post I mentioned being Wizardmon for Ikasucon 2013. This was before I really did any pricing and pushed back some confidence issues lol Beelzemon was the original plan but self esteem issues made me veer from him for a while until the urge to make the outfit came back to me. Before I truly decided, I went through the process of comparing material costs and somehow Beelzemon won in the end (even if I were to splurge $70-$80 on a pair of boots, the materials for Bee would still be less than Wizardmon. Strange isn't it?).
     I'm actually quite excited and have even begun doing his helmet prototypes in card stock - though any helpful tips on how to be successful in my endeavor would be glorious! Currently my hair is a decent color for Beelzemon, but I think I'll end up buying a wig once the convention date is closer since I have plans to change my hair as we speak. Nothing harsh and drastic so I COULD change back to the yellow tones if I wanted                      (image (c) Santiatier on deviantart)
but still something different than Bee's hair lol

   I'm excited for this as it's the first time I've tried anything with armour bits and even a helmet/mask piece (or even fur and leather for that matter lol) so I wish myself luck on this and hope I can show you guys something nice lol

Thanks for reading,
Hachi

Saturday, February 9, 2013

-clears throat- Oops

      Ahhh I never fully finished my vest project (I need to finish sewing the lining to the vest around the armholes and just haven't gotten around to it for whatever reason lol) and despite it not being an expansive amount of time, Ohayocon has already come and gone and I haven't even shown you guys photos!
    Ohayocon 2013 was January 18th through 20th; this is my second attendance, my first being 2010 for Saturday only, and this was Taka's first Ohayocon experience! For class and badge pickup that Friday, I dressed as Isabella Yamamoto from Paradise Kiss (Live Action) by raiding my closet and wearing one of my newer wigs while Taka did a thrown together Ruki of the GazettE look - we wanted to be comfortable but still feel personally cool lol. Saturday and Sunday were the days we wore our planned costumes, Flandre Scarlet and Patchouli Knowledge from Touhou 6: Embodiment of the Scarlet Devil. We would have had a Remilia Scarlet, but our friend who had begun to commission us for the costume (and even purchased the contacts and wig) couldn't afford the costume nor the badge price so the poor dear couldn't even attend. I think I would have enjoyed being Remilia had our friend not planned to, but I'm still happy that I was Patchouli.

    



  Despite enjoying the cosplay, I had some issues with it that had me panicking last minute and/or have me bothered even now. First issue I have is the stripes - the underlayer of the dress I did, I had sewn the stripes and skirt pieces together but found it to be too tedious so I tried fabric spray paint. Needless to say, it bled and caused me a lot of stress which led to taking the light pink fabric and dying it to a purple that was darker than the overcoat. I nearly cried because of how awful I thought it looked, but when I had it on the dress form and took a photo, the stripes didn't look nearly as bad (I recently acquired my dress form and am hugely thankful for it, especially after working with Patchouli's dress). The second issue is the sleep bonnet which merely bothers me because I feel it's too small (while Taka feels hers is too big lol). I've been thinking of ways I can make it larger with the fabric I have left and I have an idea in the works, but we'll just have to wait and see - the friend who attended the convention with us took these photos and wants to get better ones when spring comes around.



      Patchouli took 14.5 yards of lace, 11 yards of fabric for the bonnet, overcoat, capelet, and boots, 7 yards of fabric for the dress and a foot or so of ribbon (along with random bits of elastic and felt lol). Taka thrifted the blouse and already had the white skirt/petticoat beneath the red skirt from a previous project. I believe she purchased 6 yards of red, 3 yards of white and a yard of yellow? (I used to know, but now forget lol). The wings are set on a backpack harness and made of wire, Christmas lights [oh yes they do light up!], and glossed/painted tissue paper while the gems are made from plastic folders and acrylic paint. Her father helped her with the wings and I think they did an amazing job - so many people stopped her, even those who don't know the series.



      Some singles in which my face is covered because my wig and face were being goofy lol























     In more recent events, I finally went ahead and bleached my hair - I had decided on doing my hair and makeup but it took me a week or two to actually get around to it. The photo pictured was taken Thursday February 7th

FIT 110 and a mix of halloween white cream makeup were used for the foundation
Maybelline cream liner, black shadow and black pencil liner were used on my lips and eyes
a Maybelline palette was used for contouring my nose and brows

teasing brush and nylon brush with a flat iron to flip out some layers - my hair had slightly fallen for this photo but it was the best shot of the makeup




I'll try to get back into the swing of things and work on more projects <3
Thanks for reading,
Hachi