Talleg, Makeup and other sh....stuff..

So it has been a few weeks. I have actually been sort of productive. Along with working full time, trying to get my household sort of settled, studying to take the AZ 100 exam, and trying to finish my schoolwork, I have also been inspired to work on my Talleg cosplay.

If you remember, I kind of was at a standstill for a while. I am struggling to make the spoon maille work. I am struggling to make the chaine maille work. The breastplate was a travesty.

So...I was watching a Twitch streamer make some of her EVA foam armor, and I got inspired. I also got inspired to pull out the makeup and play around with it.

I have never been good with makeup. As a teenager it annoyed me, and as an adult I just never got it. This does not help with doing cosplay makeup. At this point all I do IRL is some coverup from time to time and lipstick. To be fair I love dark lipstick. But that is about all I do.

So this is the 3rd time trying to make it work, and I think I am getting a bit closer to ok. Here are some before and after pics of this time.

Better. Not great yet though. I went a bit too heavy handed with the dark blue for contouring. Under the eye is supposed to be a bruise. Yeah....noooo. Looks like blood though, so I may use that technique. Just not for a bruise. I think it needs more yellow and purple, maybe. And a little less heavy handed. My lips are also very lopsided. That is because they are. Looks like I have had a stroke or something. It is waaaay more pronounced in the makeup. I need to learn how to make that less obvious.

And the worst thing...the eyes. I have always reacted badly to eye makeup. I finally found stuff that will be ok, and I have no fucking clue how to apply it appropriately. The blue face makeup needs to get closer, and I need to learn how to do eyeliner.

I have a blue wig that goes with this, but I could not find it before I took the pics. I am still unpacking moving boxes and hadn't found that particular box yet. I did last night. I guess I need to try this again so I can see the full effect. I also need to get finishing/fixing spray and face primer. Those are both easily doable though. Just not till the next paycheck, as I am still trying to get my Pod outta hock. Well, not hock technically, just out of storage. They are expecting way more than they quoted when I first started storing it. I am hoping to get it and have all the contents by the end of this month.

SO the next thing I am working on is redesigning and redoing the breastplate. Because she is water genasi, everything in her armor is nuatical/water themed. I was watching this Twitch person making her breast armor, and got inspired to try something new. I found this stuff :

The stuff in the bucket is Foam-Mo, a moldable foam that dries to the same texture and weight as regular EVA foam. So my idea is to remake the boob pieces and sculpt kelp leaves out of Foam-Mo and glue them onto the new boob pieces. Then twist some armature wire and cover it with foam to make a base for the whole breastplate. I only need to cover the top half. From under the boobs to the waist it will be spoon scale malle.

I have already rebuilt the boobs. It isn't as imperitive that the seams be invisible, as I will be covering them with kelp leaves. I also decided to reinforce the inner seems with hot glue. Hopefully this will make them more durable. I haven't decided if I am going to try to add the wave trim. The white blob there on the table in the upper left hand corner is Crayola Model Magic. I am currently using that to experiment with my leaf shapes. I clearly suck and need the practice.

Here are my initial attempts. I haven't figured it out yet. It looks like bacon. :/ The Model Magic is cheap, and it is also less durable than the Foam-Mo. Kitty has already torn one of them apart. I will keep trying until i figure it out. My goal is also to make enough to glue to bracers. The green in the upper left hand corner is my draft of a bracer.

That is all for now. I will update as things progress. Which is slowly right now as I work through a ton of life stuff.