As an artist who likes to MAKE things, I find documenting things really challenging!
It's not as fun to set up a photoshoot, take a pile of pictures, weed through all the shots to find some good ones, edit the colours and framing, jumble together a collage... it's just not my cup of tea!
But it is necessary. So here's some (way overdue) pictures of my Christmas present to a very sweet boy.
Love this doll, I think it turned out so well. The little velvety antlers are my favorite.
We've been working on LED components lately, and finished a 300+ LED hula hoop to film a bit of my hula routine in costume! The hula hoop is full of RGB LEDs, which means when we modify the controller inside the hoop, I should be able to obtain a spectrum of over 16.4 million different shades of colour, controllable to preset sequences or even reactive to inputs such as sound or oscillation or acceleration. Fantastic!
Can't wait to put together another hula video now that I've got a bunch of LED hoops to play with!
Thanks to a dear friend and a very quality DSLR, the Puppy officially has some fantastic headshots.
Some specs about this costume:
- The bodysuit is built to fit unisex, so it's rather baggy. I built it with the thought that both my studio partner and I would be able to wear it. It fits anyone between 5'8-6'2". The body comfortably fits between 145lbs-200lbs, though it starts to get tight around the tummy any larger than that.
- The materials used were for the most part unidentifiable. I haven't found similar fur to the body since! It's made of locally sourced 2" two-tone brown, 2" tipped beige (the kind that came with a faux suede backing), and some Monterey Mill's brand fox white.
- It has 2 sets of feet; one built on size 11 mens shoes & one pair on size 7.5 womens shoes. The feet are soled with an additional .75" rubber matting so the traction is great and they're very comfortable for long uses.
- The tail is carved foam with 2 belt loops, so it has a great wag and will always hold it's shape.
- The hands are 3 fingered, the paw pads are textured pleather and the pads are lightly stuffed with polyfill for a little extra squish.
- The nose is cast rubber, tinted with commercial rubber tint and a foam core. Solid and squishy yet very light! Read how I made it here.
- The head is hand-carved foam lined with a lycra balaclava, the ears are semi-rigid cold foam, and the eyes are CNC machine cut plastic with plastic mesh for vision. The irises are painted with high quality acrylics so they won't bleed or fade. The vision is great out of this head; even in low-light/night settings it's fantastic! This head is so light, it barely weighs 1lb!
November 5-6 was the much anticipated Comikaze Expo at the Los Angeles Convention Center. We were invited (along with the rest of the Video Game Reunion crew!) to speak at a panel about the series.
Me & Rainbow Dash!
The VGR panel was a rousing success; apparently fans of the show are quite die-hard, and eager for Season 2 & 3 to start! There was a fellow who flew all the way to LA from Australia just to hear the actors & crew speak! We're a pretty close-knit family of crew and fans, so everyone was excited to meet up at the Expo, and to party afterward. There was some excellent give-aways at the panel; namely custom artwork done by the Production Manager, a copy of the script signed by all the cast and key crew, as well as limited edition prints and other schwag.
We attended the Expo for one day, arriving Sunday afternoon. I can't speak for the rest of the Expo, or any other panels, for that matter, but I has a pretty good time! As a costumer, I definitely appreciated the air conditioning in the convention hall!
After the panel, I changed into my Dog costume (as seen on The Guild!), and went to make appearances & pose for pictures! Met up with folks like Team Unicorn, I <3 NerdGirls, some of the Guild of Extras personalities, someone dressed up as Kanye West as a teddy bear, and lots of other great costumers and cosplayers. They really packed the LA Convention Center full!
I'm certainly looking forward to the 2012 Comikaze Expo!
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Seeing as we were in Los Angeles anyway, we took a day to visit Disneyland and a day to visit the fashion district downtown. Exciting! Getting to see and touch all the new synthetic furs and fabrics is really a treat.
Filming of the new Batman Movie!
Goodbye LA, thanks for an excellent little holiday.
He's added on a few more ounces since rehoming, weighing at just under 3 lbs as of his vet visit last week. He seems to have grown so much, he's like a long wiggly noodle now. His new mom (my studio partner's cousin) has given him a wonderful new home. We miss him like crazy, but I'm happy to see him so content.
According to the latest tests, he's Feline Leukemia & Feline HIV negative. Which, while we hoped for the best, surprised everyone. Yay!
Sadly, the Vet suspects he might have FIP (Feline Infectious Peritonitis) which is fatal and almost completely untreatable. It's going to be a tough few months... The Vet has warned us all that FIP strikes fast, though if he survives past ~6 months the prognosis might be more positive. Apparently feral kittens who inherit/are born with FIP don't usually survive kitten hood, though if they do they can fall victim to it suddenly and swiftly. They just get sluggish and tired and then...
So, we're hoping he's somehow avoided that guillotine. Unfortunately there is no definitive test for whether a cat is positive or negative for FIP, so we won't know for sure.
He's catching up on all his vaccinations, which have been spaced out and given individually instead of by booster because the vet thinks he's still quite frail and weak. He still may have Feline Herpes, since he's got an infrequent sneeze, which means more lifelong meds. We've been advised to take him for a consultation at a veterinary ophthalmologist as soon as we can all afford it... His 'good' eye may be something an operation can improve (removing the film of scar tissue), and his 'bad' eye may still have to be removed. So far 2 different vets have given two different opinions on removing the eye...
Of course I'd love for him to not have to go through that trauma, but if it would make him more comfortable, or decrease likelihood of future injuries or infections, I'll gladly pay that bill. We've been very lucky, in that the Kitten's new Mom is helping us with his bills. I just hope that sooner rather than later we can catsit and be 'auntie and uncle' to a healthy & happy cat.
Not a lot of new adventures to blog about/report, as my partner has gotten a new roommate! Things have gotten quite busy as a result!
This lucky kitten was rescued from an appliance store Sept 7th, where the employees had found him under a car and were going to leave him in a box to be 'picked up later' by the SPCA. On a day of +100F heat. Of course we couldn't leave him.
His eyes were so swollen and incrusted with pus and infection, he was so emaciated his bones were sharp through his skin and he was crawling with fleas.
We immediately rushed him to the closest Vet, where his eyes were drained (which was so horrible), he was given subcutaneous fluids for the extreme dehydration, and we got an expensive bag full of goodies to try and nurse him back to health.
The last week has been full of anxiety and short on sleep. His eyes need to be swabbed and cleaned every few hours, with medicated drops instilled. He's on oral antibiotics, which apparently taste awful because he sure does fight against every mouthful. He's (thankfully!) quite litter-trained, so while it's a bit of a fight to get him to eat enough, his body is starting to work like it should.
A few days ago we took him for a 2nd checkup after his eyes appeared to be getting worse. It wasn't all bad news, though... He had gained weight, going from 0.6lbs to 1.2lbs, we had gotten rid of the fleas without any medications that would hurt his little body, and the ulcers from malnourishment on his tongue had healed.
His eyes, however, are still infected. The antibiotics have cleared up the initial infection... but now it seems he's got either the herpes virus or Calici's virus which is causing ocular trauma and inflammation.
It's been a tough journey for this little fellow. Even with a week of meds, he's still almost completely blind.
There's a chance he might be able to see again, someday, but we're not there yet. Despite everything, he is, without a doubt, the most sweetly affectionate little kitten. He's trusting and sweet, calling out in his squeaky little mew if he's left alone too long. All he wants is to be close to a heartbeat and cuddle up to a warm body. And chow down on mushy gushy kitten food.
The biggest battle left to fight is to find him a loving permanent home. We can't keep him, though I've fallen utterly in love with his tender little personality. Finding a forever home for a potentially handicapped kitten, even one as cute as he is, isn't proving an easy task.
I was asked to build a giant plush doll version of one of The Guild's main characters. My first human costume, a little out of my comfort zone but I hope it played well on camera! I had a lot of fun making her shoes, with big puffy bows on them.
It's so fun watching other people wear my costumes!
There's a really awesome cameo in the episode, but my favorite is still coming up... Can't wait to see!
