Cosplay 3: Viper's Scars

3rd and final tutorial on Viper's makeup! We don't know how Viper got them, other than the fact that she blames people like Captain America for them, but Viper's scars cover the right half of her face and are the reason why she wears her hair the way she does. Until after the Wolverine divorce of course! but that's for another discussion completely!)
I knew that were I to do Madame Hydra I couldn't just gloss over the scars. The scars are a main part of Viper's character, and helped mold her into the kick-ass villain she is today.  I looked up Halloween stores, and special effect make up, and tutorials on the subject. I think the subtle skin-toned scars are most like Viper's which you don't need to buy anything for if you already have concealer, powder, and eye lash glue (I use DUO, but this tutorial would be easier if you had one that applies with a brush.) Isn't this mad-scientist make up stuff crazy? If you have a day to just watch special effect make up with just drug store product videos....do it. Mind = blown.
After trials of this tutorial, I strongly recommend shaving any peach fuzz you may have off, because this may feel like waxing the secret hairs off the back of your neck...ouch. This type of makeup can be done on all skin, however, I strongly caution against any joints which will stretch and wear on the glue and make up.
How -to:
Map out the pattern you want ahead of time, then apply even rectangles of the glue where you want your scars. Wait for the glue to become tacky, then carefully and slowly roll one side of the rectangle towards the other side (think rolling a snake out of play-doh.) Leave a little room on the side you are rolling towards so that side stays smooth, then apply a little more of the glue on the rolled "raw" side to either build it up (thick line) or smooth it down to your skin (thin line.) Once that is dry, pat your concealer on, followed by your powder. Now leave it alone! NO picking!

For purposes of time and surprise for WonderCon, I will only be doing one for practice. Here are the step by step pics:

Start with your face clean or with a bb cream like I have on.

It's easier to apply eyelash glue with a brush or q-tip

After the glue becomes tacky start rolling it, slowly and evenly is key. Start to shape it if you want it jagged.

I wanted a jagged thick line for one of the many scars on Viper's face so I squeezed on a thick line of glue and waited forever for it to dry.

After a touch of concealer and powder it looks pretty good.

 My version of Viper will be at WonderCon Saturday March 30th! See you there!
For updates check out the Facebook Page: Nerd Rendezvous

Steampunk Wedding DIY

Hey steam heads! I'm taking a momentary break from all of the comic related crafts in my life to bring you a curious wedding indeed. I think instead of making a tutorial for each little thing on here I will present you all with the pictures, and if there is an interest for any particular project I will totally tell you how they were made.
Let's start with the when/where/why/who and maybe at a later date how...
When: The year was 2011
Who/Where/Why: Two friends who were graciously given the right to be in love/get married even though they lived in different countries, it was a nerd smack down between Canada and the USA! They met online, oh yes...the glory of online gaming bringing people together. I wanted to bring whatever amount of help I could to the wedding process (being a florist and whatnot) but I knew they were not boring wedding people. I knew this had to be nerdtastic and fun like the couple....I can recall the first thing out of my friends mouth when it came to their interests, "steampunk." Bless you. No...it's a thing. A really awesome and amazing blend of sci-fi/Victorian/magnificence. I fell in love with it immediately. I had already loved Tesla's work, the Victorian age, and reading sci-fi, this was simply the next step. I wish I could've had a ridiculous budget for their wedding, because there could have been so many more projects and wonders for them. Since this was my wedding gift to the both of them it definitely had to stay in my budget. These projects will last forever, (like their love for each other D'awww) are not as expensive as hiring a florist, and a wonderful way to stay classy while incorporating a nerd theme into your wedding!

 The first thing I knew I wanted to do was a robot cake topper, my fingers where itchy, my mind was buzzing, It was 6 months before the wedding (haha.) And I knew I wanted tails, tentacle skirts, and monocles!

Such splendid derrieres!

 And though it would be almost a full six months before I figured out how to make a wedding cake, I knew it had to be similarly themed, behold cake layer 1:

There is a metallic food spray you can use to make this look like metal!

 I have already shown you how to make the paper/coffee filter roses of which I am so fond, in case you missed it, find it here: Steampunk Rose I used those, as well as spray painted versions of those, to be the focus/main flowers of the arrangements and bouquet.

There are hints of cogs, springs, compasses, clocks, coils, and other baubles hidden throughout the bouquet, as well as a wire wrapped handle to look hard-core machinist, this also makes the handle uber-comfortable.

The mothers of the bride and groom wore corsages of the corset variety, what's that you say? well:

The roses can be set into a wire coil and glued into place to make the stems more steamy, like to one in the pic above.

The boutonnieres were a little more tricky. No flowers, just metal, clocks, compasses, chains, and lots of super glue.

Ok Thistle. I wanted to incorporate it thanks to my own heritage, besides the groom's should be extra special.

The glue wasn't dry yet!

Well I seem to be lacking photos of the day itself, but I can assure you it was the best wedding I had been to, especially when they showed everyone the actual server they met on. That is love. Maybe one day I will be lucky like them. If I find more pictures I will certainly post them! Ciao!

OH WAITAMINUTE! I almost forgot...I am definitely going to do Viper AND Spoiler at WonderCon Saturday and Sunday see me at the SuperHeroStuff booth (I will post the location when they put it up!) So..I hope to see you there 29-31st Anaheim Convention Center! WonderCon!!!!!!!!!! CIAO!!!!!!!!!!

Cosplaying at WonderCon

It dawned on me last night that I could be different characters each day at WonderCon. That was quickly followed by, "Well if I'm going to do this, I'm going to have to get in gear." Ivy? Been there. Harley? Done that. How would I be able to disguise my black/green hair, or what character already has it?  I definitely liked the idea of a hood or mask, also purple is my all time favorite color, and I'd like to be a character with that for a change. SPOLIER! I hope you've heard of her, but just in case you haven't here she is: Spoiler I haven't followed Robin (Tim Drake) or Batman at all for that matter in a really long time, and it took a lot of comics /time to catch up. Thanks to those shoes, and Miss S introducing me to Batgirl #3, aka Spoiler, aka Stephanie Brown, I now have a purple cloaked figure with attitude to hopefully cosplay as. The most difficult part will be getting a costume done with in 6 weeks. So come see me as Viper or Spoiler over at the SuperHeroStuff and try to win a free shirt in their daily drawings.
On that note, I gotta run back to crafting and such to get a decent post for you guys soon, be sure to check out the weekly superhero/villain eye makeup once a week on the facebook page: Nerd Rendezvous Last week's eye was my take on DC's Cheetah!

Rediscovering Older Comic Characters

I'm going to do a non-project related post. *Gasp* I know.. If you passed out from shock...please pick yourself up off the floor..or desk...and breathe for a minute.
I have been reading articles and comments about the upcoming film "Guardians of the Galaxy." Mainly the articles are about who is being cast, what possible plots they could come up with, etc. When I heard about Guardians, I thought, "meh...no big." It just wasn't in my comic interests at the time.
(But then...DUN DUN DUNNNNNNN)
I watch "Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes" (think what you will, I enjoyed the two season show, despite the character flaws.) In an episode during Season 2 the Guardians appear, and I fell in love with Rocket Raccoon. That happens a lot, me falling in love with characters...I think it's a good thing.
Back to the original reason why I am writing this post: Rocket Raccoon had a self titled comic series in the mid 80's that I never would have given thought to if it hadn't been for the recent articles about "Guardians of the Galaxy," and the mention/quick scenes on "Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes." It sent me straight to Marvel's website to find out more about the Guardians/Rocket. What I found was magnificent. Rocket Raccoon's profile had very little to do with the Guardians, in fact, when I began to read it, after a couple paragraphs even Rocket hadn't been mentioned. The back story of how Rocket came into existence, the place he is from (known as Half-World,) was FASCINATING. Sorry to just throw all caps in your face like that. I am a big fan of behavior studies, so when I read about a place where all the psychologically challenged (I'm putting it nicely...) people were placed to get them away from the "normal" beings (just like we'd put them in an asylum of sorts) and build robots to keep them there and try to fix them...I was completely bitten by the "must-read-bug." Oh hey...what does this have to do with a talking raccoon, you might ask? No...he is not conjured up by a schizophrenic being...he was made by the robots. That's right, the robots grew tired of their post protecting/helping the Loonies. What would you do? If you say cross breed humans and animals and give them cybernetic enhancements...you just may be a robot...BAM Rocket Raccoon is born...er....made?
There are adventures aplenty on Half World that anthropomorphic cross breeds and robots partake in...and toys, did I mention toys? The best part? A device is made (a helmet of sorts) that *SPOILER ALERT SPOILER ALERT* alters the brains of the loonies, freeing them from whatever psychological problems landed them on Half World. What a magical idea. If only we could do that. Anyways...Rocket actually didn't join the Guardians until later on in Marvel history, you can see/hear him in Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3, Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes S2 Episode 6, and if I'm not mistaken Ultimate Spider-Man (tv series) Season 2 (I'm not sure the episodes the Guardian's appear in.) You'll see why I like him so much. Cockney English accent, brilliant, and above all...kicks major butt.

Even if you don't like Rocket (why wouldn't you?) I highly recommend revisiting old comics, taking a closer look at the smaller characters, or guest characters. Who knows? You might just fall in love with another comic series. Off to find Rocket Raccoon 1-4 Happy adventures ya'll!

Redecorating Comic Style (Part 1)

I have made a serious effort to kick out a whole mess of projects before WonderCon (don't forget to get your tickets!) Sadly I get side-tracked by bigger projects, like a certain closet organizer that has been getting in my way for two years. It needed to get fixed/redesigned pronto. Realizing I wouldn't get my list of projects for here done this weekend, I decided to make it a comic-themed redesign.

Mission: Fix that *^%*^%*%  ^%$%%$# thing in my closet
It looked like this:

It also had this funky door covering half of it which has been broken forever,  I decided to just scrap the door.

This &%$^%$%&#%$ was supposed to take about one day. It took three, and still needs some touch ups and a coat of sealant, but I ran out of down time. I ran into several problems, was beat up by it, and even though it looks awesome now, I still am surly towards the whole affair.
The problems were based on the fact that this wasn't real wood. It was a cheap pressed board with a laminate covering deal. I would not recommend trying to do this to fake wood %^$#$#$#$ things. It would have been done in one day had it been real wood. The paint beads up on the fake stuff, even after sanding it down really well. In fact, even after sanding it down and using a plastic primer, it still beaded. Also, you want to be clever, use more than one color, and have straight edges, right? Why not use some painters tape? HA! You'd try to remove the tape and lift everything, including the primer, off the sanded surface. I managed to sand/prime/paint my way to a mockery of a finish line and came up with this design:

I wanted a comic strip effect with the white outlining the black

Mod Podge came in to save the day and didn't challenge me at all. One bit. No siree Bob. I will keep lying to myself so this project doesn't push me into the insanity pile. On the plus side it actually fits in with my room's theme now, and is a mighty fine shoe display as well. I may eventually try to fit some lights on it. Or maybe I will just leave it alone so as not to ruin it.

I can see a touch up on the white that needs to be done and it is driving me crazy!!!!!!!

Upcoming projects: Viper Part 3, Car Accessory Revamp, Redecorating Comic Style Part 2 (the madness!!!!) Hair candy -both steam and comic, a comic belt, Steampunk Bat Signal, and flat shoes ;) Stay tuned! See me At WonderCon: WonderCon Website Meet up at the Facebook Rendezvous Point: Nerd Rendezvous

Steampunked Comic Character Decor

Let's just do it. Why not? Let's just mix my two nerd-ons. Steampunk AND Comics. Better yet...steampunk and Batman. I know...it's been done, but not quite like this. As an artist who can't draw humans very well...I had to think of a way to steampunk Batman for decor purposes (and technically gifting purposes, you know who you are, and the mask better not be damaged) All that came to mind was a tutorial I found on Steampunking Darth Vader...which was AMAZING. It can be seen here: Steamy Project Reveal at EPBOT (Geeky girls!) In the tutorial this lady takes a Vader mask, trims it down, alters it and presto, it hits me: do the same thing to a bat mask. Which was of course NOTHING to the scale of the Darth Vader Mask (although for about five minutes I had delusions of grandeur, a gas mask function...glowing lights....) mainly because I didn't have all the materials she had, but I made do.
What I used:
A bat mask from Target (or any toy store)
A Dremel Tool (you don't need one, you could punch holes with a punch or a hammer/nail combo)
A thin sheet of craft foam
hot glue/glue gun
Clock pieces and cogs
Spray paint in silver/gold/whatever you want to use
brushes and acrylic paints for details
puffy fabric paint (for the welding dots)
What I didn't, but should have used: Plastic primer paint. I highly recommend starting with this. I bought some for the next project.

I had this mask to start:

I wanted a few breather holes in the ears, so I drilled them with a dremel. You can do this with a wide nail, or a punch if you don't have a Dremel. For welding lines I used thin strips of craft foam cut to the shape I made on one half of the bat mask. You can also achieve this by globbing hot glue in the same lines, the foam is just a cleaner edge. To get the rivets, just dot on the puff paint and let it dry. Make any holes/welding lines/rivets you want now so the primer (or in my case paint) covers everything.

What I should have done next: PRIMER
What I did: weeeeeeee spray paint weeeeeeeee
And I ended up with this:

It doesn't look half bad at this point, but the primer would have ensured maximum sticking ability so the paint wouldn't chip off, bubble up, or peel away. Which it does if you bend the mask. :/
I didn't like the clean edge on the welding lines so I took hot glue and smeared  it along the edges. (do not do this with your finger...) Which means: more spray paint!!!!!! WEEEEEEEE

After the spray paint dried, I took a dry brush and gold paint over it to tarnish it up. I scratched a few places and filled them in with a gun metal paint:

Next I super glued  on some chains, clock pieces, and gears to the welded side of the mask, and I took some honeycomb looking chicken wire and molded it to the opposite eye with hot glue, which also covered any raw edges that may scratch your eye out if you plan on wearing something like this... This is one of those projects like many of the ones I have done that is only limited by your design.

Hang it on the wall....wear it....make a stand for it... or give it away to never see again :(

Keep in mind this was my first attempt. I rushed it, as I do when I am excited about a project, and it could have been sooo much better. But I learned my lesson and as always I will get better if I practice....When I revisit this project, I will share it here with more tips on how to get better details! Wolverine next time? Spider-man? Magneto? The world is mine!

P.S. Wonder Con tickets went on sale...Wonder Con I hope to see you all there. Remember, I will be Viper and you can almost assuredly find me at the Superhero Stuff Booth (I will post the # as soon as they update the exhibitor map) Go team SHS! Can't wait to see all my friends!

Keep updated: Nerd Rendezvous on Facebook

Cosplay Time 2

Madame Hydra or Viper lips. How does she get that green/black quality? Venom and toxin! We will NOT be using those in our portrayal of Viper! We WILL be using a super cool technique that you will love for future cosplay! All you will need is a sharpened black pencil eyeliner (preferably kohl,) black lipstick, flat black eyeshadow, and a metallic green eyeshadow.

I used the lime green (purple arrow) which is in the ELF $10 palette

They look black but shine green which is hard to capture with my camera! Fear not...I will post the complete Viper look from Wonder Con!!!!

You can choose to use the same fishnet scales technique from the Viper #1 tutorial if you want green scaled lips, you'd need a spare bit of fishnet.
I highly recommend using a lip scrub or exfoliating your lips and moisturizing them at least once  a week, it makes them softer and fuller and provides a better canvas for any lipstick look, this one being no exception. And I use these: Skin Noms they are 100% natural sugar scrubs that come in sinfully delicious flavors...mint chocolate chip, snickerdoodle...even chocolate orange! Also..why not support small businesses? They leave your lips soft and deliciously ripe for this tutorial.
Take whatever foundation or concealer you use and pat it over your lips so you start out with a nice blank canvas. It will also make sure the lips last longer.

Apologies for the darkness.

 I know...this is a scary look! Don't worry it gets scarier!
Line your lips with the eyeliner pencil. then take a flat liner brush and pat on the black eye shadow over the liner, this ensures that no feathering or crazy bleeding lines will occur later on.

Notice it's semi thick? I lined my lips in a thin line then with the liner brush and eye shadow, pulled it in towards my mouth to fade it in.

 Now fill in your lips with black lipstick. Don't worry if it doesn't look perfect quite yet, the next step will smooth out and fix any spots or smudges.

 If you want the scaled look lay the fishnets over your lips, and pat on green eye shadow. If you just want the green sheen over black, pat the green eye shadow directly on the black lipstick.

 Use the black pencil to touch up any areas that may have been smudged, or a concealer pencil to touch up your skin, and voila! Pucker up ladies, your lips are now dangerous weapons of doom. Next on the Viper list: facial scars using eyelash glue. See you next time. Hail Hydra!