Worbla is one of the newest craft materials I have had the joy of working with! It's super versatile and easy to use. Great for making props, armour and costume details. It's very durable when it's cool and very flexible when warm.
There are a few different types of worbla and they all have their different uses. I have gotten to use Finest Art, Black Art and Transparent Art. Using the Finest Art or original worbla was definitely the easiest to use. Heats up nice and evenly, molds nicely and is super easy to work with. It has a rougher surface though, so if you want that smooth armour like finish, you will have a lot of sanding to do. And sometimes it's not really worth all the work on it. The last item I made with this was the arm guard for my Evie Frye costume. I ended up covering it with gesso and sanding it with an electric sander, and it still had a rather rough finish. The Black Art takes a little bit longer to warm up and mold making it a little harder to work with, but it has a nice smooth finish to it so you don't need to sand it down. I used this when I made my mask for Skull Kid. Because it was such a large piece it was definitely a two person job to get it to mold to the mask shape properly. The Transparent Art was the hardest to work with. It took a long time to heat, and a lot of effort to get it to take form. We used this for the eyes in Majora's mask. It looked great in the end but it was a lot of effort to work with. So have lots of patience if you are working with this one! There are multiple other types of Worbla as well: Mesh Art, Pearly Art, FlameRed, Crystal Art, Deco Art, Kobracast Art. The pearly art is one of the more used worbla's for nice smooth details. Crystal Art are small jewel like pieces of worbla. I would love to try and use the Kobracast art. It acts as an adhesive so you can attach fabric and appliqués to concave or convex surfaces! I would highly recommend that if you haven't gotten a chance to work with worbla, to get your hands on some and try it out! Check out the amazing resources and tutorials here on worbla.com
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Have you ever looked at someone else's work and thought...I will never compare, I'll never get to that level? It can be super defeating.
I experienced this for the first time after the craftsmanship contest at Fan Expo Vancouver this year. I don't even know where it really stemmed from, but it just snuck in there and now I'm really trying to figure out where to go with my cosplay. After seeing so many talented cosplayers, and also seeing someone walk around the convention grounds in the cosplay I would like to make for next year, I have been feeling this overwhelming insecure feeling. Like my costume will never measure up or be good enough. It's lead me to think should I really take that particular costume on? Should I be planning costumes that will lead me into the next 5 years? Should I think about taking a long term break? How have you dealt with feelings of insecurity? Fan Expo has definitely had it's ups and downs over the last few years. I feel that this year, the convention has finally gone back to it's roots. It was much better run, more things to see, better layouts in the convention centre and all the events and contests ran like clockwork.
We had such a great time over the weekend, we are still feeling tired and trying to catch up! We went down to the convention on Saturday at 11am, just one hour after opening, and all dressed up raring to go. The line up to get your wrist bands was super long but moved relatively quickly. Once we got in we made a bee-line to visit CG Master's, 9_Flame creations, Miguel Molina and 501 legion to visit our friends. We went and met Levar Burton, such an incredible person. It made our day getting to meet him, and I had brought a photo of him from Weird City for him to sign, which absolutely made his day. At 4pm we took part in the cosplay couple's contest, convincing a couple of our friends to join in as well. It was lots of fun walking across the red carpet and getting in character as the crowd cheered. Right after I took part in my very first pre-judging. I felt pretty good about how it went. I was surprised though that there weren't more questions for me, or that they didn't really want to take a closer look at he costume. I had to tell them they were allowed to get out of their seats to take a look at my seams. We did a bunch of shopping, bringing home a few figures, statues, dioramas, a cutting board, monster box, artwork and drink coasters. We left the con on Saturday at closing, taking back a ton of purchases! On Sunday we came later in the day right before the cosplay craftsmanship contest. My husband did a bit more shopping while I gathered my nerves and got in line for the big show! The amount of talent that was in this contest was nuts! Most of the contestants were in the novice or journeyman category, but I know when I was a novice my costumes weren't nearly as impressive. The craftsmanship contest ran super smoothly. Everyone lined up on time, we made our way to the stage and everything started at 4:30pm sharp. We only had 3 contestants in the master's category, but I felt that there was some excellent competition this year! Even though I didn't come home with a prize or a mention, I certainly learned a lot! It was a fabulous experience! We were so tired from all the fun and excitement that we didn't make it to the final day of con, but we certainly don't feel like we missed out! We are both really looking forward to Expo next year! I am so excited for this year's Fan Expo!
I know I say that every year, but this year I truly am really excited! It's not so much about the celeb guests, or the programming, but I'm truly excited mostly on the cosplay aspect. This will be my second year entering the cosplay contest, first year in the couple's cosplay contest, and I have a good friend who has a booth in artist's alley that I can't wait to help promote! So even though it's my second time entering the cosplay contest at Fan Expo, this is the first year that it is being run by the same rules as the Calgary and Edmonton expo's, which means I have my work cut out for me. This year, it's not a cosplay contest...it's a craftsmanship contest. I've had to create a build book, explaining every detail of how I made my costume along with progress photos and reference. I had to write blurb about myself as a cosplayer that will be read as I walk across the stage. I have to show up at a specific time to a specific booth so that the judges can check out my costume well in advance of the contest. This way they can look at all the seam work, fabric choices, paint work etc. up close. I'm so excited to be able to show off all the hard work I put into this costume, and honestly, when I decided to make this costume I totally had pre-judging in mind! This is also the first contest I've been in where the prize is monetary, which I'm going to be honest, would be amazing to win :D The couple's cosplay contest is going to be just for fun. It's my husband's first time in a cosplay, so I'm excited that he is taking part and we will get to walk the red carpet together. This contest is mostly for fun, as the fans will decide who has the best costume. No pressure, just walk, pose and wait for the cheers. My only worry is that I will have to run off from the contest right at the end so I can make it to my pre-judging time for the craftsmanship contest! Lucky for me, both things are happening in the same area. My talented friend 9flame creations is hosting a table in the artist's alley! She will be selling her monster boxes as well as artwork and jewelry, please go give this talented lady some love! I'm also looking forward to visiting my friends at CG Masters, who I am thrilled to say is a Show Partner this year!! WAY TO GO!! Lastly, I'm looking forward to meeting Levar Burton. There isn't a time I remember in my growing up years that we didn't watch Levar on TV. Whether we were watching Star Trek or Reading Rainbow, he was a big part of my childhood! So as an adult I have to say how thrilled I am to have gotten to work on Weird City which he has a starring role! This is a going to be a good Fan Expo! I can just feel it :D Fan Expo Vancouver is located at the Vancouver Convention Centre from Feb 15 - 17. This week I wanted to share with you the progress on my Husband's impromptu cosplay of Jacob Frye!
Now, my Husband isn't a cosplayer (at least not yet). This will be the first time he has worn a costume outside of Halloween. I found out that Fan Expo was hosting a couples cosplay contest and thought, this would be the perfect way to introduce him to cosplay and there is some incentive. Since Evie has a brother, this works out perfectly! He is super excited to cosplay for the first time, but also really nervous. We’ve been trying to make his first costume as awesome and accurate as possible to make him feel better about walking around in it all day! Here are some progress photos: |
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