cos culture magazine december 2015
kelto n. i n t e rv i e w a n d s t e p - by - s t e p l o o k at h o w h e b u i lt h i s k e r r i g a n c o s p l ay +
tutorial: c r o s s - p l ay m a k e u p t i p s by p o m p b e r ry
photographing vikings with
ca r r i e h a m p t o n photography DECEMBER 2015
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Cos Culture Magazine is owned and operated by NH Creative Inc. EDITOR-IN-CHIEF/ CREATIVE DIRECTOR: Nikko Marie FRONT cover image:
Kelton as Kerrigan, Starcraft Photography by Alive Alf Photography
back Cover images:
Vikings Photoshoot Carrie Hampton Photography
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ISSN 2368-2582 Disclaimer:
Copyrights of all included text, photos and other material used in this edition of Cos Culture Magazine are the property of their respective owners, and have been graciously provided to us for use in this magazine by the legal owner of each work. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact us at info@ cosculturemagazine.com.
CONTACT: info@cosculturemagazine.com www.cosculturemagazine.com FB: cosculturemagazine Twitter: @cosculturemag PUBLISHER:
NH Creative Inc. Ottawa, ON Canada December, 2015 info@nhcreative.ca www.nhcreative.ca
TA B L E O F C O N T E N T S 4. 26.
cosplay feature: kelton.
photography feature: carrie hampton photography
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tutorial: cross-play makeup tips by pompberry
Kelton as Mileena (Genderbend), Mortal Kombat X Photography and editing by Alive Alf Photography Custom Sclera contact lenses by Samhain Contact Lenses DECEMBER 2015
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KELTON. 4
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Kelton as Kerrigan, Starcraft速 Alive Alf Photography DECEMBER 2015
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Kelton as Morrigan, Darkstalkers Photography by Trevor Toma 6
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KELTON. LOS ANGELES, USA
CC Mag: Tell us a bit about yourself. Kelton: My name is Kelton, I’m a freelance makeup artist based in Los Angeles. I was born in Greensboro, North Carolina but moved to Singapore at age 4 and I lived there before moving to LA in early 2014 to pursue a career in FX makeup. I have a Diploma in Painting and besides making costumes and doing makeup, I play video games, read comics and HP Lovecraft. CC Mag: When did you first get into cosplay? Kelton: When I was about 14-16 I was very into Japanese Visual Kei, Industrial and Goth bands so when I saw that people in Japanese magazines were dressing up like their favourite band members, I wanted to do the same. I didn’t know of the term ‘cosplay’ until I was 16 and then when I was 18 I made my first actual cosplay which was Pyramid Head from Silent Hill 2.
fabricating. I still see it as a way to add to my portfolio and I’m always making a new costume when I get the chance (and have finances to do so!). CC Mag: Tell us about some of your earlier cosplays. Kelton: I taught myself how to sew when I was 14 and my earliest costumes involved a lot more fabric than they do now. My Pyramid Head costume was made from a canvas fabric for the texture I wanted and I made it all dirty and grimey with acrylic paints. The helmet (now looking back is a little too large for my frame) was built out of cardboard and duct tape and I used paper mache to create texture over the top. My first foam armour costume was Gan Ning from Dynasty Warriors 6. It was made in 2008 in three weeks and there was so much detail in that costume. I also messed up because I used PVA glue to seal my foam and living in Singapore at the time it was super hot and humid all year round so after the first photoshoot, it completely fell apart when the glue melted. Now I use Mod Podge if I have to work with foam! So before there were all these online tutorials I just sort of had to do as much research as I could into constructing props and then adapt that to fit my project. With the wealth of knowledge available online now it’s much easier to learn how to make specific things.
“I’m an artist, so I’m always creating things. I saw cosplay as an outlet for me to practice fabrication and recreate characters that I love.”
CC Mag: What drew you to the community? Kelton: I’m an artist so I’m always creating things. I saw cosplay as an outlet for me to practice fabrication and recreate characters that I love. Before I did Fine Arts, I was in Fashion at art school but felt it wasn’t for me so I switched majors and then I realized how much more I enjoyed sculpting, painting and
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CC Mag: Tell us about your studies and some of the stuff you’ve been working on in special effects! Kelton: I finished the Master Makeup Program at Cinema Makeup School and since then I’ve been doing freelance work. I’ve done a couple short films and student films and sometimes I assist on labwork for commercials. The eventual goal is to be working on set for film and TV and doing lab work for that too! CC Mag: Which came first for you: Special Effects Makeup or Cosplay? Kelton: Cosplay came first. I started out doing fabrics and prop construction and it wasn’t until I was 21 or so that I realized I really enjoyed doing FX makeup. I always employed the use of makeup in my costumes because it just really transforms you and helps you feel more like the character. Later when I was done with art school I knew I didn’t want to be a fine artist and I wanted to make monsters and do creature makeups.
Kelton as Dracula, Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 Photo by Vaxzone 8
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CC Mag: If you could choose one character that you’ve cosplayed to become permanently, who would it be and why? Kelton: That’s a really tough question. I tend to always choose dark, brooding characters with tragic backstories but I like being happy so I don’t really know! I don’t think I can choose just one I’d like to become permanently. CC Mag: Your Kerrigan at Blizzcon was AMAZING. Tell us about the process you went through in making it. Kelton: Thank you very much! It was really a ton of work creating my Genderswapped Kerrigan/ King of Blades costume. I had about 5 months to put the costume together so I spent about a month doing research prior and budgeting - but of course we all know how that went!
The forehead piece was a silicone appliance I sculpted and had to create over 50 individual spikes that were painted and glued into the piece. CC Mag: How long did it take to put on and get ready? Kelton: The makeup application takes about 3 hours to put on because of all the detail that goes into it contouring, veining, gluing on the silicone piece and blending the edges also the glitter that goes over the purple veins to make them pop in the light. Getting into the bodysuit and putting the wings on takes about a half hour and I am completely reliant on a handler to get into my costume.
“... so many people from all over the world can come together for a mutual love of costuming. ”
The first thing I constructed were the wings which were built out of PVC pipes and screws for the rig. I later added the expanding foam and carved them down for detailing. The most difficult part of the costume was of course the body suit. I had to sculpt over a mannequin that was padded to fit me (looking back I would have done a life cast so it would fit perfect but it was out of my budget) and I used about 150 pounds of clay for that. I then had to make a two part fiberglass mold and I ran the body suit in polyfoam. I also weaved EL wire with a fader module into the bodysuit so it would create a pulsing effect like the one seen in the game. I also put Christmas lights with a fader module on the wings to create the same effect. The hair was also all sculpted and cast - about 10 different dreads were sculpted and molded in silicone. I cast them in polyfoam - some with armature wire to pose them and they were glued onto a fiberglass cap.
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CC Mag: What are some of your future cosplay plans? Kelton: Right now I’m planning on an original design for Nightwing! I am also planning to make Arthas the Lich King from Warcraft/Heroes of the Storm and Zeratul from Starcraft II.
CC Mag: What is your favourite thing about the cosplay community? Kelton: I love how people share their builds and how they made things because it really goes to show there’s more than one way to get something done and everyone has a preferred way of crafting. I also enjoy the feeling of the community being a big diverse family that so many people from all over the world can come together for a mutual love of costuming. CC Mag: If you could go back in time and give yourself some advice while working on your first cosplay, what would it be? Kelton: I think the only advice I would have for my Pyramid Head cosplay would be to learn how to scale things better! I was pretty happy with how the overall look of the costume, Great Knife and mottling on the bodypaint for the skin looked.
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Kelton as Mileena, Mortal Kombat X Photo by Alive Alf Photography Custom Lenses by Samhain Contact Lenses 12
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Kelton as Jackie Estacado, The Darkness Photo by William Tjhin DECEMBER 2015
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Kelton as Elsa, Frozen (Disney速) Photo by Boon from When Was This Taken Photography 14
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CC Mag: Any collaborations planned with other cosplayers for the future? Kelton: Right now I’m planning on doing something with Vampybitme! I really admire her as an artist and I can’t wait for us to do something amazing together. Other cosplayers I would love to work with are Lightning Cosplay and Yaya Han! You can find more of Kelton’s work here: www.facebook.com/kerukeruuu www.twitter.com/keltoncos www.instagram.com/keltoncos keltoncos.wix.com/keltoncos Photographers: Alive Alf Photography www.facebook.com/AliveAlfPhotography
Vaxzone www.facebook.com/Vaxzone-201600289869176 Trevor Toma www.facebook.com/tomatrevor www.trevortoma.com William Tjhin When Was This Taken? Photography www.facebook.com/whenwasthistaken www.whenwasthistaken.com Retina Productions Photography
Kelton as Scar, The Lion King (Disney®) Photo by Trevor Toma DECEMBER 2015
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The Making of Kerrigan Kelton’s Gender-swapped Kerrigan/King of Blades cosplay is one of the best cosplay renditions of the character we’ve seen to date. His attention to detail is breathtaking, and he implemented many unique techniques when crafting the costume, including hand sculpting, molding and casting. The project took Kelton 5 months to complete, and achieved 4th place in the 2015 BlizzCon® costume contest. The following few pages include a few samples images of Kelton’s incredible Kerrigan build.
Kelton as Kerrigan, Starcraft® Photo by Trevor Toma 16
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TUTORIAL DECEMBER 2015
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WINGS 1.
The wing ‘bones’ were first created with PVC piping and sections were cut out and connected with nuts and bolts to create the movement for the wing rig.
2. Once attached, the PVC piping was sprayed with insultation foam, ensuring the PVC pipes are covered at all angles with the foam. The foam was then allowed to dry fully before shaping.
3. The insulation foam was then carved with a box cutter creating the rough final shape of the wings. The joints were left thicker to reference the ‘bone joints’ in Kerrigan’s wings.
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4. The wings were mounted onto a fiberglass plate which acted like a backpack and made them more comfortable to wear. Additional layers of insulation foam were sprayed on to create more detailing and they were carved and sanded to the desired shape.
5. The wings were ‘skinned’ with layers of packing foam glued down with Super77 adhesive. The packing foam holds it all together, adding extra reinforcing to the wings and prividing a nicer base to paint.
6. The final wings were painted with acrylic paints, to match the original character design.
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head pieces
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The forehead piece (top left) was sculpted in Chavant clay, using a lifecast of Kelton.’s face as the base. The raised detailing and setting holes for the spikes were carefully sculpted, with the edge line smoothed to create a seamless line where it meets the face. The sculpture was molded in stone and the final piece was cast in Dragon Skin Silicone from Smooth On.
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The dreadlocks were sculpted individually from Chavant clay as well. Each deadlock sculpted as an individual element with a desired curve to replicate the appearance of Kerrigan’s ‘hair’. The clay dreads were then molded with tin silicone to create a two part mold. The final dreadlocks were then cast in self skinning polyfoam and individually painted, seamed and patched and then glued to a fiberglass headpiece.
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bodysuit
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Creating the Bodysuit: The entire bodysuit, apart from the hands and feet, was sculpted in one piece over a mannequin that was padded out to fit Kelton.’s body. This ensured an accurate fit once the suit was complete. The padding also had to include the space needed for the fiberglass plate for the wings to sit underneath the suit. The bodysuit was sculpted in WED clay over the mannequin. Reference photos from the official Blizzard renders as well as Steve Wang’s Kerrigan sculpture were used to recreate an accurate pattern on the suit. A variety of sculpting tools and techniques were used to achieve a variety of different forms and textures, giving the suit and organic and character-accurate appearance. Once the sculpting was finished, Kelton. then created a spandex bodysuit and fit it onto the fiberglass body mold to create a fitted ‘base’ for the polyfoam to adhere to in the following steps. Due to the scale and proportion of the model, the sculpture was molded in fiberglass to create a rigid mold to create the final bodysuit. A two part mold was created as it fit within the time constraints as well as the budget. Once the two part mold was completed, the mold was pried open and all the clay had to be cleaned out of the mold. This process took about two or three days due to all the details that were in the mold. The mold was also patched with epoxy putty in areas that had air bubbles or cracks. Once the mold was clean, layers of slip latex were brushed into the mold to create a ‘skin’ and the bodysuit was ran in polyfoam which bonded to the spandex suit. The mold was demolded and the suit came out in one piece. The resulting product was a full scale flexible bodysuit created out of a composite of spandex and polyfoam with a latex skin. The bodysuit was then seamed and patched with cotton, latex and bondo to clean up all the detailing.
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Lighting Kerrigan’s suit was detailed with EL wire lighting, which was weaved into the bodysuit. In total a length of over 30 feet of EL wire was weaved into the bodysuit and patched with cotton and latex to secure them and break up the lights. The fader module and battery were hidden in the shoulder on the back of the suit. The lights on the suit and the wings were visually broken up with black acrylic and latex paint to create a more organic look.
Purple LED lights were installed on the wings and were adhered with super 77 spray. Similar to the suit, the lights were visually broken up with acrylic paint and latex mix.
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PAINTING Not all paints adhere to silicone or polyfoam so research needs to be done before painting. Materials such as rubber or silicone require flexibility so issues such as cracking and bonding issues can arise. The bodysuit was painted in rubber cement paints and the highlights and contours were airbrushed with alcohol based paints.
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HAMPTON CARRIE PHOTOGRAPHY DECEMBER 2015
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photographing vikings WITH
CARRIE HAMPTON Photography BOISE, IDAHO
CC Mag: How long have you been doing photography? CH: I have been doing most types of photography and most genres for almost 5 years. Cosplay is very recent, my first cosplay shoot was only a few months ago. CC Mag: What first drew you toward cosplay photography? CH: The costumes, outfits, props and possibilities really appealed to me. CC Mag: What’s your favourite thing about cosplay photography? CH: The Mad Max shoot was my first foray into Cosplay and being able to shoot with a large group that Cosplay allows (since there are so many characters), letting the models really be themselves and create their own look, that has to be my favourite. Creating freely something otherworldly. CC Mag: Do you prefer in-studio or on-location shoots? Why? CH: I do have a studio, the 4 Corners Photography Studio in Boise that I share with a few colleagues. But on location is preferable to me. I am someone who loves and needs a lot of space, and some sets
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and backdrops simply can’t be moved in studio, like incredible buildings or mountains and so on. I am also a natural light lover vs. flash and strobes. CC Mag: Tell us all about the Vikings photo shoot! CH: It was a brainchild of mine and Krista Vanden Bosch from Five & Five Photography. We had been talking about admiring each other’s work and we wanted to work together in some way, while involving others. I have experience in group concept shoots, she has experience in photography workshops, so we pretty much jumped in with both feet to create a bang of an experience and put our heads together. After hashing around several different themes, we deciding on the Viking theme mostly because it hadn’t been done and would be original, but also because it fell with the look of where we’d be hosting the Valhalla retreat, in the winter and snow of Stanley, ID. Once we laid the bones of the theme, we went step by step in putting wardrobe together. Shawn Sick (Mailed.It.Etsy.com) who hand makes unreal chain mail pieces let me use some of his creations and weaponry to add even more to the authenticity, and 4 male and 4 female models signed up to participate. And they went above and beyond in the freezing cold to bring the Vikings to life.
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CC Mag: Any advice for people wanting to get started in cosplay photography? CH: Think of a movie or TV show’s look that has always appealed to you, or a comic character’s look. (For me it was Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome). Once you have that vision in your head, start step by step in creating it. Just start. Then think of who you see as those characters, as far as casting the shoot goes. Always go step by step, checking off the ‘completed’ boxes along the way.
CC Mag: Which artists or photographers have been the greatest influence to you? CH: The late Herb Ritts. Period. CC Mag: How do you prepare for a shoot? Do you study the characters, or just wing it? CH: Both. I do a lot of pre-analyzing, discussion and prepping, story board creations on the day of the shoot, but 50% of it is also winging it and doing what I want in the moment. Making it work. Carrie Hampton Photography DECEMBER 2015
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CC Mag: What would your dream shoot be? Which characters would you shoot? Where would it be? CH: As far as cosplay goes, my dream shoot would be the cast of X Men, especially Wolverine. I obsess on X Men and Wolverine. Where? Oh I could make that work anywhere! Carrie Hampton Photography 32 COS CULTURE MAGAZINE
For traditional photography, my dream shoots would be 4 people: Stevie Nicks, Josh Todd, Lisa Bonet, and Bob Marley. If I had to choose on less than one hand 4 people in the world to have a photo shoot with, that would be it.
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CC Mag: What do you have lined up for the new year in terms of shoots and photography plans? CH: In the new year I will be doing much more in studio work, like fashion photography and Gil Elvgren style Pin-Up, and basically just experimenting more with new ideas and looks that strike my fancy. More cosplay, as well, once I narrow down the characters, and I may be co-hosting another retreat like the Vikings Valhalla 2015, as well, but a different theme in a different location, with different models. CC Mag: Where can we find more of your work? CH: You can visit my webpage at carriehampton. com which holds all my work and collections, or follow me on Facebook!
You can find more of Carrie’s work here: carriehampton.com facebook.com/carriehamptonimages 500px.com/CarrieHampton1 carriehampton.blogspot.com Models: Victorio Piva, James Nash, Bryce Johnson, Derek Little, Laura Mason, Jordan Ganschow, RyAnn Lantz, Jenny Meeker MUAH: Unique Irish
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CROSSPLAY Makeup tips for gender-specific cosplays! by Pompberry Crossplaying is something a lot of us will most likely try to tackle at some point, but it can get pretty tricky when trying to transform your facial features. Our love for a specific character, no matter which gender, is often the reason we decide to cosplay. I’ve got some little tips and tricks that can really make a big difference when doing your makeup. It’s all in the detail! Find more of Pompberry’s work here: www.fb.com/ pompberrymakeup
contouring
Male Character: Men often tend to have stronger jaws and sharper features. A bit of contouring can help define your features, but don’t go overboard so it’s not too apparent. Contouring your nose to make it look sharper can also be a good touch.
feMale Character: When contouring your face, position your cheekbones a bit higher than your own for a more delicate, feminine face. Depending on the character, don’t be afraid to add colour!
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ey eb rows
Male Character: Make sure your eyebrows aren’t perfectly groomed and shaped. Draw in little individual hairs if you need to. You can use a tiny flat angled brush with eyebrow products (powdered, pomade, gel) to draw them on.
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feMale Character: If you don’t want to groom your eyebrows, you can do a brow cover with glue stick or nose wax and draw on new brows. Make sure to really define the shape and the arch of the eyebrow - arches give a more feminine aspect. You can also shave off the ends of your eyebrows so you can have more freedom when creating a new arch and shape to your brows.
li ps/fac i a l h a i r
Male Character: Men typically don’t have a defined lip contour, so you can blur yours just a tad with some foundation, but don’t apply it all over the lips! Men have colour to their lips, too!
Male Character: If creating a beard, you can use a textured sponge to apply a stubblelike texture with grease paint. Just be careful not to make it look too muddy, you don’t want to drag the sponge on the skin, just dab it on.
feMale Character: To conceal your beard, use some orange concealer under your regular concealer and foundation, to counteract the blueness of the stubble.
feMale Character: Creating a defined cupid’s bow will really help you feminize your features. Don’t be afraid to over-line your lips, either. Fuller lips tend to be more feminine.
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