My Influences

Michael Lee Lunsford:

My first of two influences for my costume design is Michael lee lunsford he is a male free lance artist aged twenty seven who is currently based in the USA. His main drawing interest goes to making his web comic Supernormal-Step, he too does commission however he does not do as much as Elizabeth as he does not have as much time.
Michael Lee Lunsford who had recently given himself a challenge. He has completely redesigned some of Dc's (the comic company behind heroes like Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman) most famous heroines.

His aim was to design the characters outfits in a more realistic and appropriate manner. As many super heroines are known for wearing really quite revealing clothing. A problem which I personally believe he has solved.

I found Michael’s artwork really inspiring as I also feel that he has brought new ideas to their many costumes, which I must do agree can sometimes be far too skin tight.

Looking at this from a cosplayer or costume lover point of view it makes me have even more respect for these pieces because not only do I feel that he has been able to not only redesign the characters whilst keeping to their original themes but also I feel that if people were to cosplay the characters like this instead of how they do, it would be a lot more respectful.

Drawings are as follows: Zatanna, Supergirl, Wonderwoman, Power girl, Batgirl, and Phsylocke

Elizabeth Beals:

Elizabth Beales is a female artist who is currently a free lance illustrator who is based in Atlanta, Georgia, USA. She did go to an Art College though I am unsure which one as she has not disclosed the information of where it was.Elizabeth currently lives off of the money she makes from doing commissions and other pieces of art work.Elizabeth designs characters as if they were real people alive today based around their super costumes.


I enjoyed the concept behind her artwork and find her style of technique useful when wanting to do a subtle character inspired outfit. Where the clothes are concerned I think that she did a good job (some better than others) at portraying the characters concept.

Characters are as follows: Zatanna, Supergirl, Wonderwoman, Power girl, Batgirl, and Starfire. 

 I chose these two artists because I loved their approach to the characters. Michael Lee Lunsford not only makes these famous heroines fully clothed (unlike so many of the offical comic artists) but also makes them take on a more military style all wearing gloves and combat boots for instance, that i wanted to reflect in my costume. Elizabeth Beals take a more real world spin on the characters, as they all wear modern day clothing. This is another aspect of the characters that i wanted to show.

I found out about these two artists through the internet, as they were featured on a website that I follow.www.nerdygirl.com The first step I took in my research was to google them and go to their websites/deiveintart accounts, where I then looked futher into their art before continuing to find out some information about the two of them. Once I had done that I built up my research piece  

 These two particular artists influenced my art in the following ways: Micheal's artwork inspired me to take on a more miltary approach to my costume for example:my gloves, utility belt style and combat boots. Elizabeth Beals inspired me to take a more modern twist on the character for example:my t-shirt and leggings making for a more interesting costume.

I Guide The Guides

I guide the guides.

At first I knew I wanted to do something to do with my cosplay, I was unsure how this would work short of making an entire costume, which we obviously could not within an hour and a half period. I then thought it may be easier to focus on one skill. I made a list all the skills I had used before chosing the most important one: Sewing.

The the thing I thought about whilst planning was skill: was the activity i had chosen the correct skill level for the people attending the session. Once I had thought that through I began to think about the equipment I would need to commence my activity. Eventually I fished planning and I could get on with my lesson

I went to my usual Girl Guides meeting, to hold a sewing lesson where we did the activity I had chosen sewed felt designs on to plain t-shirts. 

After we said our promise and had greeted each other, we got the tables out and sat down. First I told the girls what we were going to be doing before getting out the equipment and handing each of them a t-shirt. After that I showed the anyone whom did not know, how to sew the basic running stitch. I then let them draw out their own designs out on to the felt before cutting it out. Then each girl was given a needle and some thread and began to sew their design onto t-shirt. I spent my time helping each of them in turn with their new skill until all the t-shirts were completed. We then went and got changed before having a fashion show

I personally feel that the lesson went rather well and based on this lesson I would defiantly like to do another one.

Before the lesson I felt rather nervous about what the girls may have thought but then once we started I gained more confidence and I had a lot of fun.

Through the feedback forms I gave them I know that the girls enjoyed learning something new and they loved to take home something they had made. We have even inspired the guide leaders to do a craft badge.

The three things that I feel went well are: The first thing that went well was everyone who took part in the lesson finshed their t-shirt, which was an achievement for everyone. The thing i found quite surprising was how focused the girls were, each of them worked really hard on the project. Lastly everyone learned something whether it how to sew, or that felt could by applied to t-shirts everyone left the meeting with a new skill.

 The three things I would change are: Firstly I would tell explain the activity to the girs the week before hand so they more time to think about their disigns. The next thing would be if i had more time time I would have invited the girl's parents to come and see the fashion show. Lastly i would have made the evaluation forms easier to understand, as some of the girls found the questions hard to understand.

There is no particular thing I would like to improve but one thing I will note is that it was quite difficult to give each of the girls one to one help. I did however manage this by working my way around the table and I spent time with each girl in turn.

As I have previously said I very much enjoyed teaching the girls and I can not wait to do another lesson.