New Year, New Projects!
It's been a little while, but I've definitely been busy!
The last leg of the 2018 year went by really quickly, but I enjoyed quite a bit of cosplay experiences along the way!
Since my last update, I've had the pleasure of working on some wonderful skits, and focusing on the core of storytelling again by adding details to both my costume and our set work to develop each concept. At Anime California, I took the challenge of creating a storytelling skit from Majestic Majolical, which was more difficult than I thought.
There's a lot I took from the experience that helped me go into my next project for PMX 2018. I had a wonderful masquerade partner for PMX, and we won Best in Show with our Tanabata Madoka and Homura from Madoka Magica!
Shortly afterwards, we began developing our next skit for ALA 2019, which had initially been a duo skit from a totally different series, but while revisiting the project, we began to notice some issues with the storytelling aspect of it.
We'd talked about a Nutcracker-themed story for a few years now, and it finally hit us how we could combine aspects of the Nutcracker with Cardcaptor Sakura. Part of our inspiration also came from the fact that two of my friends, Shii and Emi, have wanted to cosplay as Sakura for a long time, and with the variety of outfits, we realized that we could have multiple "outfits" by simply retelling the story with the same characters.
Our friend Ali also played the role as Yuko, with elements heavily inspired by Drosselmeyer, and Lyric was our ninja. We designed a Christmas tree setting inspired by the ballet, and tailored a lot of our skit's design and costume fabrications based on each corrsponding character.
I had the amazing experience of also getting to help work on Emi's dress for this skit besides my own. We reinterepreted her fairy Sakura through a variety of inspirations, from jellyfish to Valentino's spring collections to create a romantic silhouette to suit her idea. We experimented ith draping and finishings to see what would help create that floaty effect on her bodice without us attaching the ruffles separately.
We worked consistently together for the weeks up until the convention, and we had the opportunity to work more closely than any other skit before thanks to the 118 Cafe, who provided us with ample space to drape, sew, cut (large pieces of fabric!), and have some amazing snacks and drinks along the journey. I seriously can't begin to describe how much their space and support helped us with this skit, and also to revitalize the cosplay-making experience.
I didn't realize until we finished the skit how many props and sets we actually had with us on stage: 3 boxes, a Nutcracker, 3 staffs, a large Clow card, two additional collapsible present boxes, two mini-sets, and one set with a Christmas tree and presents. I can't help but remember if we had additional ones designed that we cut out, but I kind of shudder now thinking how we could fit all that in one skit. We didn't go in thinking that we'd have that many!
That being said, these elements played into our storytelling. We wanted our details to connect our cosplays and props together, so we incorporate details with butterflies, snowflakes, stars, and holiday motifs in our trims. My headband has butterflies to pay homage to Yuko, and bells to add to the Christmas theme.
Overall, we had a fun time on stage! Since it was Emi's first masquerade, it was also amazing to watch her light up on stage and enjoy the experience. I personally loved several aspects of this project, particularly with how many details we included in our entire skit, and how we developed this from a simpler idea. I also can't get over how much fun it was to sew my cosplay, both at the cafe and at home, and worked super hard to make sure that I could deliver a pristine cosplay for this skit.
Our group took home the award of, "Excellent in Storytelling through Craftsmanship", which, as we're storytellers, made us really excited. There's nothing better than to have people tell us afterwards that they felt something from our stories, and we always hope to inspire others to tell their own.
I have a new project I've been working on for quite some time that I'll be devoting another post to shortly. I didn't feel like I could start talking about it without divulging what I'd been up to. I know I don't post as often, but I'm doing my best. I also think that as someone continuously working on not just cosplay, it can get a bit crazy at times to update about everything that I'm doing. At the end of the day, I do my best, but I like letting my work speak for me too.
And overall, what's in store for 2019?
For starters, I got tickets to Heaven's Feel Part II, so I'm excited to be living out my HF daydreams again.
For my career, I've mentioned here and there that I'm a student, and I'm working my best to further develop my opportunities while still in school. 2018 was a year for me to explore more of my potentials and to start being communicative about what I would enjoy in a career. I've maintained a 4.0 my entire year, but more importantly, have worked on developing my skills in all areas as much as possible. There's a few projects that have since then taken me further, and others that let me learn about how to preserve my own voice too.
For my art, I'm always working on new things. I am involved in underground game work still, and I stay as consistent as I can with it. I've been also practicing more digital art. I know I haven't really shared much artwork in some time, but I've hopefully improved since the last ones. I'm working more on character cgs, and polishing up details. My art also has tied in closely to other projects, so I've been working on fashion illustrations, designs, and graphic design work as well to expand my skillset, and just enjoy learning new things and trying new mediums.
For cosplay, there's a lot of plans on my mind that I'm toying around with, and I generally want to really expand on my skit experiences and continue to improve my craftsmanship. I currently have some projects that focus more on the performance aspect, and others that explore both, and some that are just fun cosplays that I've wanted to do to just enjoy being silly at conventions. My goal is to definitely elevate my skits, and to also collaboprate with fellow cosplayers on more creative projects.
The 2019 season has been off to fun, colorful start, we here's to even more experiences!
The last leg of the 2018 year went by really quickly, but I enjoyed quite a bit of cosplay experiences along the way!
Since my last update, I've had the pleasure of working on some wonderful skits, and focusing on the core of storytelling again by adding details to both my costume and our set work to develop each concept. At Anime California, I took the challenge of creating a storytelling skit from Majestic Majolical, which was more difficult than I thought.
There's a lot I took from the experience that helped me go into my next project for PMX 2018. I had a wonderful masquerade partner for PMX, and we won Best in Show with our Tanabata Madoka and Homura from Madoka Magica!
Shortly afterwards, we began developing our next skit for ALA 2019, which had initially been a duo skit from a totally different series, but while revisiting the project, we began to notice some issues with the storytelling aspect of it.
We'd talked about a Nutcracker-themed story for a few years now, and it finally hit us how we could combine aspects of the Nutcracker with Cardcaptor Sakura. Part of our inspiration also came from the fact that two of my friends, Shii and Emi, have wanted to cosplay as Sakura for a long time, and with the variety of outfits, we realized that we could have multiple "outfits" by simply retelling the story with the same characters.
Our friend Ali also played the role as Yuko, with elements heavily inspired by Drosselmeyer, and Lyric was our ninja. We designed a Christmas tree setting inspired by the ballet, and tailored a lot of our skit's design and costume fabrications based on each corrsponding character.
I had the amazing experience of also getting to help work on Emi's dress for this skit besides my own. We reinterepreted her fairy Sakura through a variety of inspirations, from jellyfish to Valentino's spring collections to create a romantic silhouette to suit her idea. We experimented ith draping and finishings to see what would help create that floaty effect on her bodice without us attaching the ruffles separately.
We worked consistently together for the weeks up until the convention, and we had the opportunity to work more closely than any other skit before thanks to the 118 Cafe, who provided us with ample space to drape, sew, cut (large pieces of fabric!), and have some amazing snacks and drinks along the journey. I seriously can't begin to describe how much their space and support helped us with this skit, and also to revitalize the cosplay-making experience.
I didn't realize until we finished the skit how many props and sets we actually had with us on stage: 3 boxes, a Nutcracker, 3 staffs, a large Clow card, two additional collapsible present boxes, two mini-sets, and one set with a Christmas tree and presents. I can't help but remember if we had additional ones designed that we cut out, but I kind of shudder now thinking how we could fit all that in one skit. We didn't go in thinking that we'd have that many!
That being said, these elements played into our storytelling. We wanted our details to connect our cosplays and props together, so we incorporate details with butterflies, snowflakes, stars, and holiday motifs in our trims. My headband has butterflies to pay homage to Yuko, and bells to add to the Christmas theme.
Overall, we had a fun time on stage! Since it was Emi's first masquerade, it was also amazing to watch her light up on stage and enjoy the experience. I personally loved several aspects of this project, particularly with how many details we included in our entire skit, and how we developed this from a simpler idea. I also can't get over how much fun it was to sew my cosplay, both at the cafe and at home, and worked super hard to make sure that I could deliver a pristine cosplay for this skit.
Our group took home the award of, "Excellent in Storytelling through Craftsmanship", which, as we're storytellers, made us really excited. There's nothing better than to have people tell us afterwards that they felt something from our stories, and we always hope to inspire others to tell their own.
I have a new project I've been working on for quite some time that I'll be devoting another post to shortly. I didn't feel like I could start talking about it without divulging what I'd been up to. I know I don't post as often, but I'm doing my best. I also think that as someone continuously working on not just cosplay, it can get a bit crazy at times to update about everything that I'm doing. At the end of the day, I do my best, but I like letting my work speak for me too.
And overall, what's in store for 2019?
For starters, I got tickets to Heaven's Feel Part II, so I'm excited to be living out my HF daydreams again.
For my career, I've mentioned here and there that I'm a student, and I'm working my best to further develop my opportunities while still in school. 2018 was a year for me to explore more of my potentials and to start being communicative about what I would enjoy in a career. I've maintained a 4.0 my entire year, but more importantly, have worked on developing my skills in all areas as much as possible. There's a few projects that have since then taken me further, and others that let me learn about how to preserve my own voice too.
For my art, I'm always working on new things. I am involved in underground game work still, and I stay as consistent as I can with it. I've been also practicing more digital art. I know I haven't really shared much artwork in some time, but I've hopefully improved since the last ones. I'm working more on character cgs, and polishing up details. My art also has tied in closely to other projects, so I've been working on fashion illustrations, designs, and graphic design work as well to expand my skillset, and just enjoy learning new things and trying new mediums.
For cosplay, there's a lot of plans on my mind that I'm toying around with, and I generally want to really expand on my skit experiences and continue to improve my craftsmanship. I currently have some projects that focus more on the performance aspect, and others that explore both, and some that are just fun cosplays that I've wanted to do to just enjoy being silly at conventions. My goal is to definitely elevate my skits, and to also collaboprate with fellow cosplayers on more creative projects.
The 2019 season has been off to fun, colorful start, we here's to even more experiences!
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