London Comic Con is fast approaching and that means a ton of great cosplayers will be gathering in east London for the biggest comic convention in the UK.
This month mayamada is making a return to Comic Con and to mark the occasion we’re bringing you another round of interviews with a fantastic group of cosplayers. Our first cosplayer interview feature included all UK artists, this time we’re adding an international flavour with six cosplayers from different parts of the globe!
Check out the latest interviews to find out what creativity means to these cosplayers, and just what goes into making their impressive costumes.
Christina
Who are you and what do you do?
I am a full-time college student from Texas and an International Cosplayer.
Besides cosplaying, I also a model, act, and sing. My favourites are Poison Ivy, Daenerys Targaryen, and Black Widow.
What does creativity mean to you?
What creativity means to me is to be completely being you and putting your whole self into something you love doing.
Creativity is something that inspires me, feeds my soul, and makes me get out of my comfort zone. It inspires me to do things I have never done before. Creativity is to do the unimaginable.
Describe your creative process?
I always do research when it comes to making a new costume. To me, research is very important. How can you write an eight page essay if you don’t do any research first?
But what inspire me are my friends. Seeing their great costumes inspire me to make something great as well. I definitely look up to a lot of my friends for that inspiration.
When are you at your most creative?
It depends. Sometimes I can be at my most creative when I am with my group of friends or when I am home doing research, listening to jazz music. Even when I am angry or upset about something silly, I can be at my most creative.
Who is the most creative person to you and why?
The most creative person to me has to be Meagan Marie. Ever since I have started cosplaying five years ago, she was one of the first cosplayers I have stumbled upon. I absolutely adored her work and still do.
I especially love her passion for it all because, you can see that in her costumes. Her costumes are incredible and her Warrior Wonder Woman left such a big impression on me. From her, I learned many great tips that I use on my own costumes today.
Facebook: Christina Dark Cosplay
Instagram: @christinadarkcosplay
Shermie
Who are you and what do you do?
I am Shermie. A Brazilian cosplayer who loves to create things.
Cosplay brings tons of happiness to my life and I’m really grateful for being part of this community.
What does creativity mean to you?
Being able to create everything I dream of. Bring fantasy to reality.
Describe your creative process?
It all begins choosing the character. I need to feel a connection with it! Then I focus on the outfit.
Tons of research and choosing the right fabrics are the most important steps to me.
My inspiration comes from everything around me! My video games, my comic books, my manga, anime…Everything can inspire me to make a new outfit!
When are you at your most creative?
It’s not certain like that. Sometimes inspiration comes at the most unusual moments.
Who is the most creative person to you and why?
I don’t have one person that I consider the most. A ton of people inspire me and everyday I meet a new artist. I can’t choose only one.
Facebook: shermiecos
Twitter: @shermie_cos
Instagram: @shermie_cos
Kay
Who are you and what do you do?
My name is Kay and I am a freelance artist, student, and a new cosplayer!
I started cosplaying recently, just about 3 months ago. I’ve been hooked ever since. My favourite characters to cosplay are League of Legends characters and Borderlands characters.
I enjoy cosplaying characters from some of my favourite video games and trying to recreate their costumes in real life as uniquely and accurately as possible.
What does creativity mean to you?
To me, creativity means finding new and improvised ways to create art the way you envision it with your imagination. It means looking outside the box and finding ways to make your artwork stand out from all the rest. It means never giving up and never taking no for an answer.
Describe your creative process.
My creative process begins with me drafting out the characters image itself and each part of the costume on paper; next listing all of the materials I need for each specific part of the costume.
Once I have all of the materials needed for each part, I put on my favourite band (The Knife) and get right to it! In order to keep myself organized, I do have to do a bit of planning before I start crafting. Music helps keep me focused.
When are you at your most creative?
I am at my most creative right after I wake up from a nap and right after I’ve eaten a pizza.
Who is the most creative person to you and why?
The most creative person I know is Kamui cosplay. She is my cosplay inspiration and is such an amazing artist. You can tell she puts many hours into her work coupled with lots of dedication. Her work shines out to me more than any cosplayer I’ve seen so far!
Facebook: kaythomascosplay
Instagram: @kayyybear
Twitter: @kayyybear_
Megan
Who are you and what do you do?
Hi, I’m Megan Golden! I’m a cosplayer, model, and actress.
I love to entertain, inspire, and motivate others. I’m most known for Croftplaying,” which is what I call cosplaying the many versions of Lara Croft I’ve put together.
What does creativity mean to you?
Creativity means self-expression in its most productive form. It allows you to search your mind and heart for something that makes you happy and proud.
Describe your creative process?
I’m a very visual person. Most of my cosplay inspiration comes from what I see in video games, comic books, and movies.
I like exploring different ways to make fictional characters come to life and making the costume look realistic on myself.
When are you at your most creative?
I’m most creative when I’m fully invested in something. For instance, if a scene in a movie captivates me or the melody in a song moves me, my imagination starts working.
Who is the most creative person to you and why?
My sister. She’s an an artist, and I admire every piece she draws because they’re all unique. They range from whimsical to dark, inspiring to silly. I’m a big fan of versatility.
Instagram: @meganxgolden
Facebook: megangoldencreates
Kayla
Who are you and what do you do?
I’m an Australian cosplayer who has been in the scene for just over three years now. I’ve cosplayed characters from Akame Ga Kill, Rooster Teeth’s RWBY, Pokemon and many more.
Cosplay is my passion, it’s who I am and I absolutely love it!
What does creativity mean to you?
For me, creativity is everything. Since I can remember all my hobbies have revolved around being creative. I love to paint, draw, do photography, create clothes, sculpt and much more.
Since I could hold a pen, I would constantly draw. Instead of taking notes during lessons, I would just doodle. I always took the more creative classes in school.
When it came to homework / assignments I would have to try to make it be as creative as possible for me to actually be interested in what was going on. Letting my imagination run wild and being creative is one of the best feelings.
Describe your creative process?
I like to look at the character’s look and personality. I relate to Yang from RWBY or Leone from Akame Ga Kill because of their personalities.
If not, I usually pick characters that I have an interest in and have an interesting outfit. I try to imagine what that costume looks like on a person in real life. Sometimes outfits look strange depending on the body shape. If I think it wouldn’t work on me I probably won’t do it.
When I want to start making the costume, I plan out the pattern shapes I will need to make and how I will create the props in my head. After I will put it on paper, then head off to the fabric store.
When I lack inspiration I watch music videos from conventions. Usually that puts me in a creative mood. Often half way through the costume I will become lazy and be tempted not to finish it however when a con is around the corner, I force myself to finish.
When are you at your most creative?
Usually when it’s 1am at night and everybody is asleep.
Who is the most creative person to you and why?
Probably Sangz Lamez Cosplay. She’s another Canberra cosplayer. She has her own store where Sang and her family make everything in it. She makes beanies, anime key chains, draws posters and all these other cute things. Not to mention her costumes always look fantastic. Especially her Weiss from RWBY which was in a cosplay group with me.
Facebook: KaylaErinFanPage
Instagram: @itsKaylaErin
Twitter: @itsKaylaErin
DeviantART: kaylaerinofficial
Kathy
Who are you and what do you do?
Hi, my name is Kathy and I am a 26-year-old Costume Artist – also known as “Cosplayer” – originally from Germany, but currently living in the UK.
When I first discovered cosplay at the age of 14/15, I was instantly fascinated by this seemingly strange kind of arts. Being a big fan of Japanese comics and culture at that time resulted in higher acceptance and tolerance towards – for the Western world – unusual things and habits, which slowly but surely made me establish a great interest for this particular special hobby.
Seeing that one of your favourite characters (of which you knew they were fictive) could actually come to life, felt like a thrilling close encounter
of a different kind, so that I had to try it myself . And I’ve become so passionate about it – the process of research, crafting, sewing and wearing the exact outfit one of your favourite characters is wearing – that I am still doing it!
What does creativity mean to you?
Creativity has always played a big role in my life. I love and try to include it as much as possible – may it be through my job, my hobbies or even the way how I organise colours and elements in my own home (my fiancé always said: “I love how you picked our kittens fitting to the corporate design of our house!”, haha).
I do generally cosplay for its artistic approach as opposed to receiving recognition or anything like this, seeing every single step and every finished costume as a piece of artwork. Exploration and experimentation whilst crafting the next project is my main object and my source for fun (not only when it comes to cosplay).
Describe your creative process
I can spend hours and days even with the simplest costume such as a school uniform. I always try to involve new techniques or materials and generally aim for the “Wow, if this character was real, that’s how I’d imagine her to be in real life!”- effect.
Usually, a new project starts with a big kick-off-session where I try to source as much material of the character itself as possible, so I get a good understanding of shapes, colours as well as stylistic elements I can make use of when it comes to buying material.
To make a character “become real” you can’t always use plain cotton – a princess needs shiny fabrics with a royal touch and an iconic heroine needs fabrics that represent her strength.
Once my material has been sourced, which includes fabrics as well as patterns, I will have a look at various techniques I could make use of and if there is anything I haven’t tried out yet…And then it’s time to start the crafting process!
When are you at your most creative?
To be honest – being a creative is my job and also kind of my life! I am a Graphic Designer by profession, so during the day I have to be creative there.
Once I get home, I like to pick up any sort of creative work, may it be a new costume or a complete re-design of my living room!
Unfortunately, there is not always as much time as I would like to have, so I have to do most of the things on the weekend… and there is always loads of stuff to do!
Who is the most creative person to you and why?
There are so many wonderful and creative people out there, so I couldn’t name you “the most creative” one. I look up to different people for different reasons: one’s strength might be sourcing insanely amazing materials, the other might be a complete sewing ace and someone else might be really professional when it comes to posing.
Therefore, I’d rather have a “pool of creatives” as my source for inspiration and motivation rather than following one person only. To name a few of these people:
- Zan – My Sailor Moon idol.
- Laura Sindall – Insane craftsmanship.
- Speckles Cosplay – Because she is such a great friend and a living Wikipedia when it comes to techniques and materials.
Twitter: @cosbabe_cosplay
Facebook: cosbabe
Instagram: @cosbabe
