Gift Giving Idea Number 3!

Bite Me! as Performed by Potatoes

Books! Graphic Novels! Comics! Give the gift of reading – it’s the gift that keeps on giving!

‘Drawn Books’ that I recommend (based on what I have in my collection):

300

Bite Me

Castle Waiting

Louis Riel: A Comic Strip Biography

Never Learn Anything From History

The Baby-Sitters Club: Kristy’s Great Idea

The Three Musketeers

Watchmen

and (while not graphic novels, these two are very near and dear to me) Dragonfeathers and Tatterhood.

You can find most of these at your local bookstore or comics store (and there’s always online).

Telsa: The Celibate Scientist (by Kate Beaton)

Bite Me! as Performed by Potatoes

A good thing about having a recovering right wrist is I have a lot of reading (sigh, yes, and TV) time. One of the books/graphic novels I have been enjoying as of late is Bite Me! by Dylan Meconis. It’s a funny vampire tale of epic proportions and chickens and I just got my printed copy in the mail last week. You can read it online or buy the printed version; it has a very nice shiny cover, real pages and it gets rid of the complications that are involved in reading a webcomic. Instead of clicking a button, you turn a page! No need to worry about your Internet connection if you do it old school.

As for the image above…well…there was a contest for Bite Me! that I just had to enter. A friend introduced me to the comic long ago and I felt that spending a weekend dressed-up* with painted potatoes and eggs was the best way to show my respects for it…as can be seen here. I must add that later the potatoes were made into mashed garlic taters. (The scene is from this page by the way)

*is it really dressing up if the clothes are from your everyday wardrobe? sigh.

Blue Girl Epilogue

I just realized that I never took any photos of the actual headpiece itself so here is one final page to the Blue Girl collection. This realization happened when I woke up and discovered that people other than my Nana or a lone wandering lost soul had paid a visit to my site. To those who have come (mainly from the Mass Effect Forums) I am honoured by your visit and thank you for your comments and emails. I can only hope that you found the costume/comic informative, pleasing or inspiring. I wish I had taken better photos of the full Liara ensemble; maybe one day I shall try to arrange a ”photo-shoot” and get some decent photos that are not taken when I am feeling and looking rather tired and grouchy (due to sitting down for 3 hours for makeup, 45min on the  sky-train to the concert, 2 hours at the concert and 45 min back on the sky-train).

I am currently working on two other costume/mask projects that are not related to ME, but I am hoping to tackle one (or two!) more Mass Effect costume in the future. Tali’Zorah is the next costume in mind but an ultimate costume goal would be a completion of Wrex. I have Krogan ‘blueprints’ laid out, the only problem is that it would be expensive, and heavy. We shall see; I’m not sure why I make them because I don’t really attend that many conventions and I don’t really “cosplay” (I “just dress up”).

I’ll just have to hope that a costume designer position opens up for a production of Mass Effect: The Musical! Family fun for all with songs like ‘Even Earth Isn’t Safe’, ‘We Will Hold the Line’, ‘Basso Profondo: My Secret is Out’ and ‘Big Stupid Jellyfish,’ With Colm Wilkinson as Wrex performing his famous song ’40,000 For a Whole Set.’

…Are the new viewers gone yet?

Red and White, 1 of 4

Pencil drawing coloured in Photoshop.

This postcard features a character, The Ally, from one of the three comics I have been working on. Red and White is a emotional and personal story that I have been trying to write and draw for the past year or so, and I think it’s finally going somewhere. I originally had the comic set in ancient China (with a mythological twist), but I was drawn to the different clothing, artifacts and architecture of so many different ages that I decided to create my own world influenced by selected dynasties. This card was done a while ago, and I don’t have any others made up, but I have many thumbnails and roughs of the story to work through so hopefully in the months to follow Red and White will begin to unfold.

Blue Girl Page 15

And so ends the ‘Blue Girl’ comic. I really loved Mass Effect – definitely one of the best games out there, with fantastic music and a rich storyline. Making the costume was a great experience (though I don’t know when I’m going to wear it next!). I think I managed to pull off a pretty convincing Liara T’Soni. Hopefully this “mini comic tutorial” gave you a idea of how (slush) latex masks are made. If you want to read the comic in its entirety, just click here. Try making a latex mask yourself, it’s fun, easy and cheap! Well, maybe not those last two things. And sometimes not the first thing.

Blue Girl Page 14

Video Games Live was fun. I wish they had played Mass Effect and done a few things differently, but overall it was a great experience. If they come back to Vancouver, I think I’ll go again (but not as Liara T’Soni).

Blue Girl Page 13

Tomorrow, the conclusion!

Blue Girl Page 12

Painting T’Soni’s head was an interesting experience, as I had never worked on latex before. Just like everything else, do some tests and miniatures; we did and it really payed off.

Blue Girl Page 11

The worst incident that occurred during the construction of the headpiece.