Article about Us, Chattacon and Connooga!

Our friend Michael Crumb, who writes for the Chattanooga Pulse, has written an article about the great conventions that happen in Chattanooga and gave Paul and I quite a shout out. Here is a snippet and a link to the full article: “The poster for the upcoming Con Nooga (Chattanooga’s increasingly popular “other” multi-fandom convention happening Feb. … Read more

Starting to Chilly Down

So I know that many of you are aware that it takes some time for me to complete (or even start) projects, both costumes and artwork. Sometimes I need a little push, and with Missy working on her Junk Lady costume from Labyrinth, that got me going on my Firey costume. Finally!

Here are some early shots of the work on the head. The goal is to make a mask that is attached to a baseball helmet. I plan to wear a black hood, so that I can remove the head and if I stand with a dark background, it will look like I have no head!

I am building the framework for the mask out of 1/4 inch hardware cloth and Wireform sculpting mesh. I plan on sculpting over this with Crayola Model Magic.

I also made some eyeballs from ping pong balls. Missy and I had a eyeball painting session. We used acrylic paint as the base layer on ping pong balls. They were then coated with 2 ton epoxy to give them a creepy, realistic sheen. After coating with epoxy, I drew some fine details (veining, iris coloring) with Sharpie. I think did a second coating of epoxy over just the iris to create the bump of the cornea.

Being a Firey, I also designed a way to have the eyes light up.

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Interview with Costume Designer and Creator Krystal Messier

Steampixie in action.

Ever wanted to know what happens inside the strange mind of a costume designer? Well we got lucky enough to have our friend Krystal “Kudrel” Messier to answer a few questions. I first found her work on DeviantArt, but later found out we were connected through her company, Steampixie, which she runs with our mutual friend Lisa McGowan. After Dragoncon last year, we decided to post an interview, and are just now getting around to posting it (yes, I am always this behind on web work)!

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