We’ve just debuted this month’s cover during at a panel during PAX Prime, and BioShock Infinite has all of our attention. This month we’ve got three covers, all of which have been designed to mimic media that would be found in Columbia, the sky city in where Infinite unfolds.

You can take a gander at previews of the three covers below, or you can check out the larger images here.

As for my monthly contributions to the magazine, I had a handful of reviews including Kane & Lynch 2 (already online, you can read it here), Comic Jumper, and Batman: The Brave and the Bold. Keep your eye out for those!

I can honestly say this was never a costume I intended to make. Crossplay (gender-bending cosplay) hasn’t been a priority on my list, and in reality I was interested in dressing up as Elika from Ubisoft’s recent Prince game rather than the Prince himself. However, one night while out with my friend Ashley, we came up with the idea of putting together a group for San Diego Comic Con featuring female versions of male video game heroes.

I tossed around the idea of taking on several different characters including Gordon Freeman, Dante, and Altair before settling on the Prince. The stunning art direction of the game was a major influence on my decision, but the Prince’s gauntlet pushed the idea over the edge for me. Having lots of practice making gauntlets for my Witchblade costume (and last year’s Witchblade group) I thought it would be fun to try a slightly more elaborate design.

Redesigning the Prince to be more feminine wasn’t hard. I decided to leave the shirt open as per the original design, but wear a bra underneath for modesty sake. I also made the pants significantly tighter and opted for long hair spilling out from underneath the turban.
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I started the costume back in January to make sure I had enough time to perfect it. The first step was securing the long coat. I spent hours and hours sifting through eBay results and hitting up thrift stores looking for something that would work.

After a few weeks of searching, I came across a leather duster with crochet accents that would work perfectly. I didn’t plan on keeping any of the needlework on the jacket, but by removing the ones partitioning the pieces at the bottom, it would mimic the worn and torn look of the Prince’s own jacket.

After receiving the jacket, the next step was to dye it, making sure not to stir it once fully saturated so that it would have a slightly uneven look to it. The Prince has a slightly mismatched and disjointed ensemble, and I wanted to mimic this. After dying and drying the jacket, I removed the sleeves (which I saved for later) and snipped out the crochet pieces holding the bottom of the jacket together. Next, I recruited some help to tailor the jacket so it fit tight around the waist. Lastly, I added a fringed trim around the arms and down the length of the coat to make it a bit more ornate.

Original Purchase

I nabbed the shirt at Goodwill – a lucky find since I was very specifically looking for something with embellished buttons. Not much needed to be done with it, other than cutting off the sleeves and taking it in a bit. I already owned the perfect brown bra, and simply added some of the same trim from the jacket to it to make it match.

I had no luck finding orange leggings, so I purchased white cotton ones and dyed them – again not stirring the dye bath to give it a textured look. Moving further down the leg, the sleeves from the jacket came into play. Instead of creating something from scratch, I used the sleeves as boot covers, attaching snaps to the leggings to hold them in place. Additionally, I used some brown fabric and silver buckles for extra detail. For the shoes, I opted for studded brown gladiator sandals.

The Finished Belt

Aside from the gauntlet, the belt was the hardest part. I sewed the entire thing from scratch with several different types of cording on the edges and in the center. I used a patterned felt for the diamond shapes that hang from the belt. To make the jacket fit slightly better, I attached a pair of hooks and eyes on the jacket/belt so that everything stayed in place. Lastly, I found orange and blue fabric and sewed it together in long, thin strips for the head piece, taking a second to fray the edges of both colors.

With the bulk of the costume done, all I had left was the gauntlet. I started with a leather gardening glove that was the appropriate color, and made it longer with Wonderflex covered in the same brown fabric as the belt. Next, I used paper to pattern out the pieces for the claw, then traced them on the Wonderflex and cut them out.

Glove Template

I made a point to cut and position the pieces so that the fingers would still articulate.  From there I heated each piece up and molded it to my hand, which was quite difficult considering one hand had to be in the glove. Once all the pieces were molded, I used Puff Paint to add the texture and patterns. Once finished, I sprayed them bright silver and then used paper towels to dampen the color with a less lustrous metal paint.

Before adding the pieces onto the glove, I sewed some chain on to the tips of the fingers and wove it in and out of the material. I then used hot glue to attach the pieces to the glove and added accents (metal fasteners and circular beads) to mimic the very detailed design from the concept art. Once everything was in place, I finished it off with a bit more paint – using darker colors on the joints of the glove.

I finished the gauntlet just one day before SDCC, so I didn’t get to see the entire ensemble together till I put it on the day of the convention. Just as with Velocity, my friend/makeup artist Hydred Makabali helped with my makeup the day of the show and did a phenomenal job. I asked her to make everything look slightly messy to give the impression that I’d been out in the elements. The best part, hands down, was the scar. Hydred painted it on using a special product that physically puckers your skin, and most people thought it was real. Hydred’s assistant Nesreen helped me tie my turban correctly – something I had been struggling with at home, despite lots of practice.

Makeup Prep

I am very happy with how the costume came out and even happier with how the group came together. All in all we had eight girls participate: Raychul Moore as Kratos, Ashley Hay as Starkiller, Christa Browning as Link, Emily Husley as Mario, Andrea Fries as Wario, and Candace Miller as Altiar. Also joining us was Jessika Malic as Elika from the Prince of Persia
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Right before we made our way to the show floor we snapped some group photos with our friend and photographer Chanh Tang, and then peppered in some individual shots as well. Check out the gallery below to see how everything pulled together.
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After walking the show floor as a group (and by walking, I mean standing in one place), Jessika and I met up with cosplay photographer LJinto for a more structured photoshoot. It turns out that the pool of our hotel – complete with waterfalls and a grotto – was a perfect location to snap photos. Jessika and I took solo and group shots, and the resulting images are some of my favorite cosplay photos ever.

Enjoy the gallery below!
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I’m stoked for this game, and it all started when I first saw the concepts for the covers below. Batman: Arkham Asylum was one of my favorite games of 2009, and adding Catwoman into the mix is the perfect way to make the game even more engaging in my eyes.

We had two exclusive wrap-around covers, one of which has a secret third character hidden in the art. You can see previews below, or the full size covers here.

I’ve been designing all the hubs for our cover announcements as of late, and this issue was no exception. Warner has a tight lip on their assets, so I had to get a bit creative with only the imagery on the two covers. I decided to play up the design motif established by the Riddler Challenges in the first game, but don’t let that act as confirmation of his return – that was my design decision! You can check out a screen of the hub below, or see it in action here.

As for my other contributions to the magazine, they are slim this month since I was out of the office for SDCC for over a week. Make sure to look for my review of Lara Croft and the Guardian of the Light, and you can also spy a photo of iconic comic artist Adam Hughes and I in the GI Spy section.

Hope you enjoy the issue!

My friend Ashley Hay and I recently did a shoot for an upcoming videocast that we are working on – Vinyl Monster. Ashley’s brainchild, VM will be a collaborative effort between the  Fancy Pants Gangsters and Game Informer. We’re still working out the details, but we’re looking at recording once every two weeks and will feature news and reviews as relates to designer toys, goods and geek merchandise. We’re also going to have tips and tricks for creating your own custom toys and will highlight videos submitted by users showing off their personal collections.

Our plan is to infuse as much personality as possible into the show, so Ashley and I set up a shoot with a distinctive urban/80s theme to use for promo material and whatnot. I recruited my makeup artist friend Corrie Sorensen to do our makeup, and my coworker Nick Ahrens took the photos. We shot after work one day, using a nearby building covered in graffiti for a backdrop. The photos are definitely fun and memorable. Check them out below!

I’ll have more information on Vinyl Monster as it becomes available.

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Velocity – the resident speedster of the Cyberforce crew – was the first character I decided to debut at SDCC 2010. I already had her in mind during the convention the previous year, even before finding out about her timely return to comics via a solo book releasing at the show.

The costume description for this one is fairly short, as I realized almost instantly that my meager sewing skills wouldn’t be enough to pull off the complex patterning in the spandex body suit. Making Elektra’s leotard was enough of working with that treacherous fabric for a lifetime. With this in mind, I had the cosplay experts over at Limebarb.com take care of the suit for me.

I’ll admit it was a nice change of pace to shoot off some money and have a completed costume returned to me. It was infinitely higher quality than anything I could have pulled off, and I had more time to focus on my other costumes.

Everything fit nicely – the bodysuit and the arm pieces – when they arrived. I eventually had to take in the bodysuit a bit the night before I left because I lost a bit of weight, but that was easy enough to do.

My additions to the costume were the wig, which I purchased overseas on eBay, the belt, and the shoes. The belt is made out of silver banding that I bought by the yard and custom button covers glued onto silver shower rings. This is one of those instances that I wandered around JoAnn Fabrics for an hour, not knowing exactly what I was looking for until I found it. The belt is held up with snaps sewn onto the costume.

For the shoes, I raided a few local Goodwill stores to find something that looked very athletic and streamlined. When I did, I used various fabric paints and glitter glue to match them to the outfit.

The look really didn’t come together until Thursday of SDCC, as the bulk of Velocity’s character comes from the Kevlar coated skin that gives her a white wash. Hydred Makabali, one of my favorite makeup artists who we hire every year to help us pull off our SDCC costumes, did a fantastic job on Velocity’s look. She started by painting the green lightning bolt across my face, then used a white cream to even out the rest around the sides. For the rest of my body she used a white spray, which made the process significantly easier and faster.

As far as costumes go, Velocity was one of the most comfortable I’ve ever worn. Considering that I worked out for months prior to slipping on the spandex suit, I wasn’t paranoid running around in it, and the sneakers were an unprecedented treat for walking the show floor. The only real catch was making sure I didn’t touch my face and smudge Hydred’s hard work.

I made sure to stop by the Top Cow booth to take pictures with Ron Marz and Kenneth Rocafort, and got them to sign the exclusive SDCC 2010 issue of Velocity #1. As I was walking back to the hotel to change, I ran into Marc and Bridget Silvestri, a funny coincidence as they were popping onto the show floor for the first time as I was leaving it. Some photos with them were the perfect way to wrap up debuting Velocity.

The costume itself got a decent amount of publicity. I ended up with a photo on the LA Times website, and in a video with Raychul Moore for USA Today.  You can watch the video here. Pay close attention for the amazing look Raychul gives me when I answer their question in an unbelievably nerdy way. It made my day.

The photos come courtesy of photographer friends Chanh Tang (unwatermarked ones) and LJinto. I expect some more photos in the near future, and will update the gallery below when I do. I’m not sure if I will shoot Velocity again unless I find the perfect location and a makeup artist willing to commit to the complex look. That, or unless I can find a Ballistic and Cyblade to recruit!

Enjoy the photos!

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Along with a slew of other updates, I’ve just added recent gift art contributions to my gallery! You can check out a preview after the jump, or the full-sized images and the entire gallery of gift art here!

(By Kevin Voith)

(By Cero Atomico Design)

(By Alfredo Lopez Jr.)

(By Dwayne Biddix)

(By Sadisticshiver)

Yes, San Diego Comic Con has come and gone, and I’ve failed to update my blog with even the smallest mention of the uber-event. Consider this retroactive post a first of many in the next few days, when I will update with full galleries of all the costumes I debuted, as well as images from the show floor. For now, you can get a peek at my week in San Diego via this feature I wrote for gameinformer.com, detailing what SDCC is like through the eyes of a cosplayer. Enjoy!

As always, I’m playing catch-up on some work related posts. In a bit of a fluff piece, but fun all the same, I found a slew of geeky t-shirts that won’t make design-focused individuals like myself cringe. Check out the goods here!

Update! Aphrodite IX 2.0 costume description and gallery added. Be sure to check it out below.

Aphrodite IX has been a favorite character of mine for a long time. What isn’t there to love? She is a hot android-assassin who forgets who she is after every mission. See? No baggage! Jokes aside, Aphrodite is one of many Top Cow babes who won my heart after I first set eyes on her. The fact that she doesn’t wear much was a plus, as it meant the costume wouldn’t be hard to make.

Aphrodite IX by Eric Basulda

And putting together Aphrodite IX’s garb wasn’t that difficult, but it required a large amount of time and effort in order to scrounge up all the right pieces. The torn shirt is a simple men’s tank, and the skirt I found at Goodwill. The bullet belt was ordered from eBay, and I already had the boots and holsters from my Lara Croft costume (which I still to this day have not shot). I used knee and elbow pads to simulate Aphrodite’s body armor, and topped the look off with custom sleeves made from striped socks and some aviator goggles. Being that Aphrodite IX is a sci-fi comic, the guns are always a bit out of the ordinary. I found a perfect Nerf gun to use as Aphrodite’s main firearm, and spray painted it black to look a bit more realistic. All in all the costume took me a month or two to finally piece together.

Aphrodite IX by David Finch

The wig was by far the hardest element. One of the biggest problems was that no two artists draw it the same color. After scouring the internet for weeks trying to find the perfect color and cut wig, I decided on a white wig and colored it myself. I had several options as far as dyeing was concerned, but somehow I ultimately chose to do it the hardest way possible – by hand with Sharpie markers. While it took weeks to finish, the color was close to what I imagined and was worth the effort. That is until I wore the entire ensemble for the first time.

I debuted the costume at SDCC in 2007, and was unbelievably stoked to show to the Top Cow crew. All and all the costume was a success, but by the end of the day my armpits and forehead were green from where the wig touched my skin. I guess some things you only learn by doing. Needless to say I won’t try that again.

Aphrodite IX by Marc Silvestri

I got some fantastic images by my friend Michael of Blanklogo Photography at the convention, but still wanted to get some studio shots when I got back to Minnesota. Shooting the costume after I got back from SDCC is a bit of an interesting story. A few months after my costume was finished I was standing in front of The Source Comics and Games – my personal one-stop comic-shop – helping to promote Free Comic Book Day in my Wonder Woman costume. All the costumed folk caught the attention of Chris Polydoroff, a videographer for the Saint Paul Pioneer Press. He became interested in learning more about cosplay, and thought it would be a good variety piece for the website and newspaper.

In order to get the full scope of what cosplay entailed, I set up a photoshoot for Chris to capture on film. He recorded the entire process, from hair and makeup to the photoshoot. I hooked up with photographer Vincent Van Nguyen of VVN Photography for the event – who I was very excited to work with. My number one makeup artist Masha Chebotayeva helped with the look to make sure everything was perfect for print and film.

We decided to shoot up at The Source, which the guys kindly let us use. My friend Ashley shot one of her costumes – a stunning gothic Lolita dress – at the same time. Strength in numbers right? I think we turned the place upside down for a few hours, but it was fun.

The video was edited and posted on the Pioneer Press website, in addition to being featured in the newspaper. The fantastic thing is that the small piece helped promote The Source as well as an upcoming local convention I attend every year. You can check out the video below.

All and all I am very happy with how the costume turned out, especially considering that it was one of my first official attempts at cosplay. Still, I think I am going to revisit Aphrodite in the near future. I want to get a brighter wig and fix up some of the smaller details on the costume. I also feel a bit bad that I wasn’t exactly true to Aphrodite’s top, opting for a full shirt instead of a cutoff one. The goal is to hit the gym and gain the confidence to crop it.  Also, I need to figure out a way to make a Gatling gun she can lug around…

The long and short is, you haven’t seen the end of Aphrodite IX! Now that Top Cow is bringing her back in some of the recent Witchblade and Darkness events, I have even more material to draw from.

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Aphrodite IX 2.0

This update has been a long time coming. As in over a year. Top Cow’s android assassin AIX was one of my first cosplay costumes I ever attempted, meaning that while I was proud of my work, looking back I wasn’t satisfied. Like Wonder Woman and Witchblade, I decided to whip up a 2.0 version of the costume to due it justice.

Revamping the costume wasn’t too much work, but the small details are what helped bring it together. I found a better skirt and shredded it appropriately. A pair of leather leggings was sacrificed to make better boot covers, and I remade the suspenders and the ammo belt to be more in line with the original art. I also picked up two Maverick Nerf guns, pulled them apart, and painted them for my sci-fi weapons of choice. I also was a bit braver with the length of the shirt, making it slightly sorter than my first attempt at the costume. Lastly, I swapped out my old wig (which as you read above, I colored in with a marker) for a better one with varying green highlights. It looked significantly more natural, at least for a neon green wig.

The bulk of the work went into the shoot itself. Scott Miron, one of my favorite photographers, whipped up an amazing gatling gun out of PVC pipes and the giant Nerf chain gun, something that took the shoot to a whole new level. I also talked my dad into stopping by with his sporty motorcycle so I could get some shots inspired by AIX’s hoverbike.

As with my Witchblade shoot, makeup was done by Katie Ballard. I’m extremely happy I took the time to pull together a second shoot for Aphrodite, as some of the pictures below are favorites in my entire cosplay portfolio. Scott also took the time to do some significant post-production work on three of the photos, as indicated by his watermark. One is our tribute to an AIX David Finch cover, which had me perched on the very edge of a stool for a good twenty minutes. I think the effort was worth it, however. Enjoy the photos!

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Another of the million reasons that this past month has left me in a tizzy is the massive amount of Gears of War 3 coverage we’ve been pumping out at gameinformer.com. I was lucky enough to be one of three to fly down to Epic HQ and see the game, and as such was responsible for the large majority of online content for the month that our June issue hit stands. Most of my time and energy was spent developing a visual identity for the 30+ days of coverage.

As part of the process I whipped up the Gears of War hub page (my favorite that I’ve worked on yet), six character profiles, weapon profiles, and enemy profiles. You can check out the gallery of art I created this past month below, or you can go and see them straight at the source via the following links.

Of all the written pieces, Fall of Man: An Intro to the Gears Universe was by far the most time-consuming. Good thing I had already read the Gears novels and comics, or I would have been in for an uphill battle. Enjoy all of our Gears content and feel free to provide feedback below!

Cover Reveal [Link]

Gears of War 3 Hub [Link]

An Intro To The Gears Universe: Fall of Man [Link]

Character Profile: Fenix, Marcus [Link]

Character Profile: Stroud, Anya [Link]

Character Profile: Cole, Augustus [Link]

Character Profile: Stratton, Jace [Link]

Character Profile: Santiago, Dominic [Link]

Character Profile: Baird, Damon [Link]

Writing Gears 3: An Interview With Karen Traviss [Link]

The Gear Of Gears [Link]

The Enemies Of Gears Of War 3 [Link]

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