Ragdoll Prints: Arts and Crafts and Commissions!

       So I have a facebook page dedicated to my art and sometimes cosplay, photography etc; I originally wanted to use this blog for that but haven't kept up with the art aspect very well soooo....if you're interested in my art or commissioning me or what have you, please have a look around!! Depending on the day, I may take requests as well since I'm trying to build my portfolio!

     Currently, I'm working on Strength from Black Rock Shooter for Ikasucon 2014 and I'm hoping I can get those ogre arms done in time! I'm planning a Biker/Street Fujimoto from Ponyo that Friday with my friend as NuGoth/Biker Granmamare because we're cute! [We also have a friend planning on Biker Kiki if she has time lol]

     Soon I'll have a Choji Akimichi cosplay blog post BUT that'll be a bit because last time I tried to do it, I got so gosh darn frustrated because the photos weren't doing what I wanted them to ha! So sometime, sometime soon!

Come visit the Ragdoll Prints page and enjoy some art and puns!


See ya later Space Cowboys
And Thanks for Readin'!

~ Jack "Hachi" Hallow ~      

Sakuyamon Summer 2013 - cosplay photography post -

     This is so long overdue. I took these shots around the same time as the Seth Knightlord photos and had them edited for the longest time - I just never got around to completing watermarking/signing so to speak. Some were finished at different times than others hence the signature change. "Jack Hallow" is a new pen name of mine and I was testing it out on one of the photos. I'm uncertain of the feel of it yet.

character: Sakuyamon
              Digimon Tamers
cosplayer: Taka Kagaku

 

      To be truly honest with all of you, I don't feel the best about these photos. I feel like the quality could be better and I have much to improve on. If I thought they were completely terrible, I'd never post them and just apologize to the model. A few months of letting them sit has definitely made me uneasy about them though. Here's to future improvement at least!

These were shots I played around with in attempts to add the spirits Sakuyamon has in the series -  I don't care for them in the slightest, but it's what the cosplayer wanted me to do with these particular poses. 

    Here, a detail shot of the gloves and what I suppose you could consider leg warmers. The yin yang symbols are painted though embroidery was considered at one point in the construction process. The shoes and trim were also painted to better match the armour.

Typical Hotel Shot the Morning of the Masquerade

This costume was debuted at Ikasucon 2013 with my Beelzemon costume. Overall, I feel alright with these photos and I believe the cosplayer is pleased with the costume.















     There aren't many shots of my Beelzemon cosplay, I don't think there are any of just myself so there won't be a post just for him - maybe a combined post with that and another costume of mine - but I hope to revamp him and get many photos so I can have a cosplay appreciation post for my own work haha

Thanks Space Cowboys,

Hachi

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

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