Commission the First and Winter Personal Project

So the ubershed stands nearly ready to go, am waiting on a guy to come install a worktop in the near future and working out all the noxious substances I need to order for it to be complete. 

And that means my first commission head is around the corner. 

I'm not a stranger to that kinda stuff, having done some art dolls, writing and a bit of art on commission, as well as having worked in theatre, but even so it's breaking new ground for me to some degree and is really exciting. This one happens to be for a friend, a fellow LARPer and committed werecat Nivissa for whom I made a half-mask some time ago when I was bad at it and who now wants something better. 

And better means a full resin head, moving jaw and necomimi integration. 

After 'viss is done, assuming it goes well and we're still on speaking terms, I'm hoping to open up for general commissions.Heads only, maybe tails at a push, but that's all I'll be doing right now as I don't feel like I've done enough in ways of paws and body-things to guarantee a good level of service. Most everything I do I like to seriously crash test myself before I think of unleashing them on the general public. My previous head got sustained wear for both a theatre production and a whole weekend fest event before I decided that it would be of sufficient durability for the discerning animal-person. 

That does however bring me onto my potential winter project. I spent a recent weekend in September as a warg. Wearing a resin head and a fluffy tabard all weekend and entertaining/annoying/fighting various other medieval characters at a LARP fest. It was a very hot, tiring and mouth-filled-with-shed-fibres-from-head weekend, but it was a LOT of fun. People had a laugh over my character running after sticks, the warg got stolen by several other groups, and kids thought it was practically magic and when I was in camp kept showing up to ask me when 'the dog was coming back'. It was a lot of fun, but the costume was a real throw-together and I know I can do better than that, and having thought a little about what I want to be next year, I've decided I want to try and convert one of my old text-RP characters, a norse-themed werewolf, into a full LARP character costume. This means two things...

- I am going to have to do press-ups and burpees all Winter.

- I am going to be making a full suit over the next few months.

This is good for me as it'll be fun and a great chance to practice. It'll be good for others because it'll give me the experience I need to produce other parts, and also the resin parts I make (base, claws, maybe jawset) can go up on my Etsy for others to share in the werewolf love. 

It also means I have to make a human costume too, which I've still got to figure out. I'm guessing learning leathercraft over the winter too is a little optimistic, huh?