Showing posts with label Comic-Con. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Comic-Con. Show all posts

Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Costume Creations: Doctor Who's Amy Pond

Hoo boy, I do not look like Karen Gillan. Not even slightly. Of course, like every other female Doctor Who fan in the world, that doesn't stop me from absolutely coveting her hair, makeup, and clothes on the show. Amy Pond is entirely gorgeous, but in that accessible, girl-next-door kind of way. I know that some of you out there might be considering an Amy costume for Halloween, or possibly as cosplay for a convention (I'm getting excited for the New Orleans Comic-Con, myself). To help out, I recreated the look Karen Gillan is wearing in this photo. I can't find where it was taken, but it looks like a press junket. This, out of all the photos I found online, struck me as the most typical "Amy" look (which is odd, since she's not in character in this shot, but whatevs):

Photo Credit
And here's the recreation. You have no idea how badly I want her photographer and lighting and hairstylist and retouching program and genes...
I have to say, I'm pretty happy with how it turned out! The colors are pretty close, and I finally figured out how to do the "Amy Pond Eye". So, here's what we're doing:

First, prime your face, then apply a medium to full coverage foundation. I used Tarte Clean Slate and Urban Decay Naked Skin. You can use whatever you want, of course. If you're doing this for a con, where you're going to be walking around and getting sweaty, but will still be photographed out the ears, Ben Nye cream foundations look amazing and were built for that kind of wear (see the princess tutorial from a couple of days ago, because that's what I used. Heck, see it anyway, 'cause we're going to be reusing a lot of those techniques, here).

Next, prime your eyes from lid to brow with a flesh colored base. I used Urban Decay Primer Potion in Eden, but NYX or E.L.F. would work well, too. After I primed, I went into my NYX Crimson Amulet palette and used the matte pink eyeshadow all over the lid and on up to the brow. Next, I took the lilac satin finish and applied it at the crease, then went over it with the purplish-blue color. The white shimmer went just at the brow bone. To line the eyes in that distinct Amy Pond fashion, I used a black gel pencil (Buxom's Insider Eyeliner in Black Onyx) on the top lashline, then brought it down to the bottom lashline, and ran it halfway across. It doesn't wing, but the two lines do connect. Then, I grabbed a waterproof black liner (UD 24/7 in Zero) and used it on the waterline, but only in the very outer corner. I cleaned up by lashlines by running black shadow on a flat brush across them. A white liner (NYX Jumbo Pencil in Milk) went on the rest of the waterline and in the inner corner. The look's not difficult, but there are more steps than I ever thought for. Finish up the eyes by filling in your brows and applying copious amounts of black mascara to your top and bottom lashes.
The Eye. Thrilling...
Back to the skin! Grab your concealer (one shade lighter than your foundation, please), and draw a V shape from the inner corner of your eye, down the side of your nose, and back up to the outer corner of your eye. Fill it in and blend it out. This will create that cool "Kim Kardashian" highlight, and it's the same technique we used on the princess look. In fact, go ahead and highlight the center of your nose, your chin, and your forehead while you're at it. I'll wait...

Alrighty. Now, if you're not totally sleep deprived, like I was, this is when you'd want to set everything with a transluscent powder. If you're me, you'll remember that after you have a pain of a time applying your blush. Going back to the NYX Crimson Amulet palette, use the matte pink blush only on my outer cheekbone. The apples are left bare. Then, take the matte red blush and go over the pink, to create a berry color. After that, use a light bronzer to contour the cheekbones and nose. Then (even if you set with a transluscent powder earlier), grab your HD powder and give the whole look a good once over.

Next, take a berry lipliner (mine was the Night Villain color from the E.L.F. Maleficent palette) and line your lips, bringing the color in on the outer corners. Then, fill in with a berry lipstick. I used Buxom's Lip Tarnish in Scandal, but MAC Chic works well, too. Finally, if you're me, and just feel like being sparkly, grab the pretty highlighter out of the NYX palette and go over the already highlighted areas. I don't recommend it, since it photographs weird, but I was on allergy meds and punchy, and it seemed like a good idea at the time. It wasn't.

In person, you are going to look like you have on more makeup than a Norma Desmond-wannabe, but it photographs really well. Have fun exploring time and space!!!

Thursday, July 12, 2012

I Left My Heart In San Diego

I am not at Comic-Con right now, and I'm not particularly happy about it. Nope. Not happy.at.all. Luckily, I can keep up with the shenanigans and goings-on by checking out my friend Aaron's posts over at Paranormal Pop Culture, and I encourage you to do the same. It's a fun read, and a great way to stay in the loop.

We're filming this weekend, actually, so even if I could be at the con, I really couldn't (if that makes any sense). On the plus side, I'll still get to see my fair share of undead creatures, aliens, and mini-skirts. Heck, I'll even get to wear a costume...that includes a mini-skirt, come to think of it. And while I don't have a "con bag" this year, I will have a "set bag", and oh, what a set bag it is!! I am so excited over this stupid tote bag, it's ridiculous. I'll do a full review on it and take pictures once I get it all stocked and ready to roll, but here's a teaser (how very Comic-Con):

Photo Credit: Open Sky
If you're at the big show, have a wonderful (and safe, please!) time! If you're not...well, you're not alone. 

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Comic-Conned

Thomas and I took a little road trip to New Orleans this past weekend. A friend of mine mentioned on Facebook that she was thinking of taking her little girl to New Orleans Comic-Con to see the Batmobile, which led to this:

Me: Hey, did you know New Orleans had a Comic-Con?
Thomas: WHAT?! WHEN?!
Me: This weekend, it looks like. Apparently they're getting the Batmobile, and Adam West will be there. Oh! I think they're getting Billy Dee...
Thomas: WE'RE GOING!!!!!!!!!

A few minutes later, we had online tickets in hand, and a schedule of Saturday's events. We thought we'd leave around 9am, get there around 11, grab a quick lunch, and get in line for James Marster's noon panel. Immediately following was Billy Dee Williams, then Nicholas Brendan (the Con was Buffy-centric this year). After the panels, we'd check out the exhibitor's floor, try to snag some Supernatural or Doctor Who t-shirts, ogle the Batmobile and DeLorian, then head back for Adam West and Burt Ward's Batman panel. We'd finish up around 5pm, grab some beignets at Cafe du Monde, and get home at a reasonable hour.

It was a good plan.

You know what they say about plans...

Here are some things I learned during NOLA Comic-Con:

1) Closing two out of three lanes of interstate during peak tourist season (Mardi Gras, football) should be a punishable offense.
2) Never believe the price on the parking lot sign. That's just the fee for turning into the driveway. The real price will be much, much higher.
3) Buying your ticket online doesn't just ensure admission, it also ensures a much longer wait for wristbands than just walking in and buying a ticket. Those people just waltzed up to the front, then breezed off with a band. I got to wait so long that I started a game of "count the cosplayers".
4) James Marsters is awesome (okay, already knew that). Also, in a pinch, he makes a great chauffeur*.
5) Billy Dee Williams is getting up there. His moderator answered a lot of the audience's questions. That said, he's still worlds cooler than I could ever hope to be.
6) Bring snacks. Also, Lysol.
7) Advertisers lie. There was no Batmobile. There was no Ecto-1. There was a DeLorian, but it cost $20 to take a picture of it with your own camera. In fact, there was pretty much a charge to take pictures of anything. I can understand that with the celebs, but displays? Really?
8) Ernie Hudson still looks fabulous in a Ghostbusters uniform, and Chekov is the most adorable little guy, ever.
9) The middle of a crowded exhibition hall is no place for an impromptu Mardi Gras parade, complete with floats. It's a wonder the fire department didn't step in on that one.
10) Batman and Robin are still the dynamic duo, even after forty years. Of course, you'll have to trust me on that, as I was not allowed to photograph any of the panel. Blast!

Now, I really wish I could leave this list at ten, but after I got home, I learned another important lesson: Sometimes, people steal.

No, nothing of mine was taken. Truth is, I almost bought some hot property from a vendor. There was a really cool print for sale in one of the booths--a Doctor Who caricature collage, with all eleven Doctors. It was only $20, but at the time, I couldn't think of a place to hang it in my apartment. It wasn't until Sunday night that I really started to regret my decision, and started an online hunt for a copy.

As it turns out, that's exactly what it was: a copy.
Photo Credit: Jon Pinto
The artist is Jon Pinto, an illustrator from Clermont, FL, and he is not happy about people selling his work. See, up until a few months ago, folks could download and print copies of his paintings free of charge. Unfortunately, instead of hanging on walls for personal use, copies were showing up for sale at cons--and Pinto, himself, caught one of the thieves. From then on, a watermark has gone on every image, and the downloads have been stopped. I'm so glad I didn't (unintentionally) contribute to intellectual piracy, but I'm also saddened that I can't buy a copy of my own. For now, I'll just keep checking his blog and deviantART site, in hopes of one day seeing a "buy now" button pop up.

So, it wasn't the best con ever. At least I was able to grab some beignets for the ride home.

*So, there was a fun story at the Billy Dee Williams panel (told, of course, by the moderator). Seems that the driver sent to pick Mr. Williams and Mr. Marsters up from the airport was...um...incapacitated. Story is, he was okay enough to ask everyone for autographs, but then started driving erratically. Amid the screaming of "I'sh omkay! I can drivesh! I promish I'mmmokay!" the two gentlemen (plus another passenger I can't recall) finally persuaded him to pull over to the side of the road, where Mr. Marsters took it upon himself to play designated driver for the remainder of the trip to the hotel. The End.

Monday, November 22, 2010

Comic-Con FAIL 2: Fail Harder

I think I need a drink.  Is this going to be a regular thing until July?  For those of you who are totally lost, here's a little recap for you.

Comic-Con is an enormous comic book, sci-fi, fantasy, movie and television convention held in beautiful San Diego, CA.  The con is in July, but tickets go on sale...well, technically at the previous year's con.  For those of us who were unable to attend, online registration--the only way you can register, now--started three weeks ago.

Sort of.

Registration is open from the official start time until they run out of passes.  In other words, about 45 minutes.  Not really, but they do go fast, so it's important to try to get yours as early as possible.  You can only order one badge (ticket) at a time, and there's no on-site registration, so this is it.  People take off from work and school to get their badges as soon as they're available.  Three weeks ago, the Comic-Con site was over-run with users trying to register (myself included), and the site crashed.  Hard.  They said to check back for new instructions in a week.  It annoyed me, and I wrote a blog about it. 

A week later, the new instructions were to come back this morning at 8am.  Awesome.

So, today, I attempt to log on and get my badges and...crash.  And burn.  The site has gone down in flames again.  I'm assuming that it'll be another week or so before they have things up and running, and I'm wondering what it's going to take for the servers to stay functional.  Will we need to know the air-speed velocity of an unladen swallow?  Does someone need to bring the Comic-Con techs the broomstick of the Wicked Witch of the West?  Perhaps there are Nargles to blame.  Whatever the case, I just want my darn tickets.

I'm starting to heavily suspect those Nargles.

IF, and I do mean if, we're able to get to Comic-Con this July, I may be forced to wear one of these cool error message shirts.  Knowing how irritated people were today, I'd bet money that the error message we all saw this morning will be on a shirt by the weekend.  Until then, here's one that tickled me.  I have a feeling Thomas wouldn't mind a bit if I wore this through the convention center.  $15.95, errorwear.com.


Photo credit:  errorwear.com
The text reads: 
Forbidden
You don't have permission to access /girl on this server.
Apache/1.3.9 Server at www.errorwear.com Port 80

Did you have Comic-Con issues today?  I'd love to hear about them in the comments.  Misery loves Company, afterall.  

***EDIT***
Can I call 'em, or what?!  The Error Message shirt now exists on CafePress!  Here's a peek:
Photo credit:  CafePress.com
It's hard to read, but it says:
Registration System Error
The web system has encountered an error while attempting to service your registration process.

epic
Event Planning International Corporation

FAIL

Found on Twitter:  @shpider



Thursday, July 22, 2010

CON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am not upset that I'm not at Comic-Con. Nope. Not at all. I am not scouring the Internet to find out all the exclusives I'm missing out on, all the celebrities I won't get to meet (BRUCE!!!!), and which movies are going to be heavily promoted. Nope. Not at all.
I am a big fat liar. I am DYING to go to Comic-Con!!!! Thomas and I went last year, and it was one of the coolest experiences I've ever had. Neither of us had ever gone before, so we had no Earthly idea what we were in for. Oh. Good. Lord.

Somehow, through a total fluke (okay, through me bouncing up and down like an idiot, waving my arms for attention, wearing a practically day-glo t-shirt, and, honestly, being a girl--and one who happens to know too much trivia on Galaxy Quest), we ended up getting into the Wrath of Con party at the Hard Rock Hotel. That is, apparently, THE party to get into. Joss Whedon got turned away. That's right. We got in, but Joss didn't. Daughtry was the entertainment. I had a drink at the same bar as Robert Englund. Thomas waited in line behind Brandon Routh to play X-box. The TNA Wrestling Ring was set up in the middle of the party. Zack Snyder accepted an award. Harry Knowles rode around mingling. Stan Lee made a walk-through appearance. Kevin Freaking Sorbo was there. The cake was good. We were horribly underdressed. I'm still mad that I didn't get my gift bag. It was a magical, magical evening. Personally, I would have loved it if Mr. Whedon had been let in.

Throughout the weekend, we saw panels for Burn Notice (with Bruce!!!), Family Guy, Doctor Who (and I still have a massive crush on David Tennant--sorry, Thomas), and about a million other things. I got to meet John Barrowman and totally embarrass myself. We saw Leonard Nimoy from a distance. Lou Ferigno was in a booth selling t-shirts.

Outside the convention center, we had lunch in the SyFy cafe, went to a Heroes carnival, and tooled around gorgeous San Diego. I can't wait until next year when we can actually go back. We would have gone this year, but scheduling conflicts didn't allow for it, hence the mini-break to Atlanta.


Photo by Converse


However, if I could go, I've learned from last year, and there are a few things I would have to have in my convention-going arsenal:
1) Really comfortable shoes. With insoles. And a team of hunky men to carry me around like Cleopatra. And a pony. Seriously, though, the convention floor is massive, and you will cross it several times a day. Plus, the transit system decided it didn't like running when it was supposed to, so we got to walk the two miles from our hotel to the center and back a few times. These are my pick. They're Converse, so they're good, and the Dr. Seuss design screams Comic-Con. Converse.com, $55.


Photo by Target

2) A big, roomy bag. I've had a Mossimo bag for years, and it's still in fantastic shape. My only problem with it is that it's black, and tends to get mixed up with other people's bags rather easily. The gray color and fuscia stripe on this one makes it a little more distinctive. Oh--and it mostly matches the cute Converse shoes! Target.com, $19.99


Photo by The Body Shop
3)Foot Relief. Because no matter how fabulous your shoes, your feet are going to hurt like the Dickens by day's end. By week's end, you'll be grateful the airports have those little conveyor belt walkways to ride on. While sitting down. And possibly sleeping. This Peppermint Purifying Foot Mask is some of the best stuff I've ever used. It relaxes, soothes, detoxes, and even clears your sinuses. No kidding. The Body Shop, $17

Okay, 2011, you'd better be worth the wait.
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