Tell us about your first cosplay experience, when, where, who,etc.

My first cosplay experience was pure hell! Otakon 96 was my first con and after seeing people dressed up in anime costumes I knew I had to try it out the next year! Unlike a lot of people, I had no idea what anime cons were all about before I went to my first one, I didn't even know cosplay existed. So for Otakon 97 my mother started to teach me how to sew and I made my first costume, Super Sailor Neptune. *grimaces* Yes, yes, I'm guilty of the Sailormoon character as my first costume stereotype too! I had never really sewn anything before then so it was a total learning experience. I learned another thing when I actually entered the competition at the con too, there were skits! My best friend went up with me in a Sailor Mars costume, I said my first line of the little thing we were going to say ( we figured out a short speech last minute in line *hangs head*), waited for her to say hers, and she just started crying and ran off stage. Leaving me there to go “Uh...nevermind.” and run off! I had never been so embarrassed in my life, something that bad would make you think I'd wanna quit and run away. But no, silly me I decided I just had to do something better the next year to make people forget about our faux pas >^_^*<

How does money factor into your costumes? Explain ways you save dollars or where money should be spent during construction.

Money...is something I never have enough of! I’ve gone months living off of ramen and pop-tarts to fund costumes so I'm probally not the right person to talk about conserving money on costumes *L* Actually that's not true, for the most part I try to save money, it's just in the end when something is perfect for the costume, more often than not I’ll spend the money and regret it later when I'm noshing on dried noodles. In the beginning when I'm looking for fabric, I try my best to find it as cheap as possible, I like to hit Wal-Mart and fabric warehouses near me, a lot of people overlook these places thinking the fabrics are all ghetto there, but I totally disagree, the best gems are always found in amidst the worst junk! Another way to save money, that perhaps I apply more to my wardrobe than to my costumes, is to dig thru thrift shops. The Goodwill has lots of things in it that can be altered or torn apart for fabric or notions, half the time its cheaper to buy a coat at the Goodwill and salvage the buttons for your costume than it is to go out and buy the same amount of buttons at the fabric store. Never overlook a place because you think it wont be worth your time, its always the one place you don't look that has exactly what you need! Sometimes if you want to go the extra mile its just about biting the bullet and shelling out the money. No one’s going to fault you if you don't have the same eye color of the character your cosplaying as, but if you do, people will notice. That's the kinda thing that's totally optional, but is also a total money pit!

As costumes become more diverse and complex, how do you recommend masquerade contests adapt to keep people coming?

Masquerades have changed a lot. I remember things that I saw (and did!) on stage a few years ago that would probally be laughed off stage now. I think the main change is that the emphasis has been moved from just “how pretty is your costume” to “ yeah your costumes pretty but are you going to entertain us?”. I’ve been in numerous masquerades over the years, but I've also been on the other side and judged and helped run one too, so I know the difficulties that both sides face in putting on a masquerade contest. Ideally I would love to see more options given to the performers to allow them to do more on stage. I can't count the number of times I would have killed for a lighting cue in one of my skits, or wished that we were allowed more freedom of movement in the areas of stage combat and such. I would also like to see a more professional theatre handling of the skits and presentations, but I also know how impossible that is. I was a theatre major in high school, and quite a few other cosplayers I know come from a theatre background, however that can't be said for all cosplayers and therefore the allowances could lead to someone getting hurt, stage combat is as dangerous as real combat afterall! Right now I think cons are realizing there are more and more choreographed skits, more dramatics skits, and more with pre-recorded tracks, and are doing their best to accommodate them in amongst the normal comedy skits that we’re all accustomed to.

What's your thought on costumers who choose characters to cosplay when they haven't watched the series, read the manga, or played the video game?

Sometimes image is everything. Being a comic artist myself I totally understand how the image of a character has to sell the character without a word being spoken. Sometimes character designs are just that cool that you feel you absolutely have to make that costume or your going to explode into bitty little cosplayer-chunks. I can dig it. However whenever I am enticed into doing a costume of a character I know nadda about I always make sure to research the character and actually find out about them and the series/game they're from. Nothing is worse than cosplaying a character THEN seeing them in action and finding out you hate them *L*

What is your source of strength in life?

I'd love to say something poetic about my friends and family, and while I do think they give me a lot of support and help me to keep going, I think what really keeps me going is my imagination. Cheesy? Yeah, probally, but if I wasn't able to work on my comics, and to write, I think Id be the most miserable person in the world. I think it's something only other artists can really appreciate, but thru art you can create anything, and that's a wonderful feeling.

How do you cultivate inspiration?

If you mean in cosplay, I have to admit I’ve never really hit a dry spell where there weren't any costumes I wanted to do. I always wanna make something *L* If you mean in general I think the best way to inspire yourself is to simply keep experiencing everything you can. Inspiration can come from the strangest places, I think if you keep exploring life you’ll always find something that will stir that creative part in you. I think its part of human nature, the desire to learn>^_^<

What are some tips you can share for taking nice photos of one's costumes?

Be aware of everything. If you want to take good photos its important to be aware of the setting. Does it fit your costume? Accentuate it? Compliment it? Be aware of the lighting. Is there enough light? Too much? You can always play around with the lighting and setting as much as you want, but it's better to not leave too much up to chance. If you can afford to, take a lot of pictures, that way if one doesn't come out you always have another chance with another photo. Also I think its important that your comfortable with your photographer, it’ll let you loosen up and be more natural in the pictures. If your too embarrassed to act like a fool in front of the person taking the pics, where's the fun in it?

What costumes WON'T you do?

Well I used to say I wouldn't do any bikini costumes, but then I did Yunalesca and Peorth, and kinda went against my own rule there. I try to stay away from any uber-breast-intensive characters, cause frankly I'm not built for that! *laugh* I think it's safe to say you won't see me doing any Star Trek costumes, EVER, that's a rule I don't plan to break!

Where will you be 5 years from now?

Hopefully I’ll be working in the comics industry by then! I'm drawing a comic for a writer right now that should be published by this time next year. Usually I write my own work, some of that I hope to get published soon but if not it's off to self-publishing land with me! So yeah, in 5 years I'd love to be doing my own book... and dating someone mad sexxy....hey it's my little dream of where I’ll be in 5 years *L* Don't spoil it!

See all of Nyanko's great costumes on her profile page

Rumors to dispel?

I think a lot of people think I cosplay just to win, like that's my only goal and that's why I try so hard. I admit, winning something is a great feeling, who doesn't like winning? But that's really not the main reason I work my butt off as much as I do. It's not like this for everyone, nor am I saying it should be, but to me cosplaying is like a theatre performance. You do your best to make sure the audience likes what they're seeing. You do your best to be proud of your actions on stage. And you do your best to make sure what you're putting up on that stage is the absolute best you can do. Afterall you only get that one shot to share your vision with the audience. After years of being on stage under that philosophy, it's hard to not still follow it when I get on stage now. >^_^*< Yeah, it sure is nice to win something, that's something everyone will agree on, but to me, the best reward I can possibly get is a good audience reaction.

Nyanko, probably the biggest question that everyone is wondering is where do you keep all of these costumes? I guess we'll have to leave that to the imagination. You have a vast array of styles in your wardrobe as well, and I can't help but be inspired to broaden my horizons as well. Thank you for sharing and good luck with your artistic endeavors. You are truly talented, so keep your eyes on the goal of success you're sure to achieve!

Prof.Tomoe