Birth of a Kitsune

I got the honor to build a realistic fox/kitsune fursuit partial to Stanfar. The character is called Saki and I was excited to make the head when he asked me. I've never built a fox before so I started my work with a few quick realistic sketch studies. I used some Google image search results as references. Unfortunately I lost the sketch paper so I couldn't take a picture of it. xD

Character (c) Stanfar, Picture (c) Nautilusta

This time too I started to build the head in a slightly new way, and I think this is the best way I've built a base so far. I think I'll stick with it in the future too! At first I couldn't find the right shape at all, but eventually I had a fox base in my hands.

I had fun with sculpting the details, those are my favourite parts when making fursuits. I used resin eyes from my earlier cast (the same eyes were used for Lei's head) and hand painted them with acrylic Game Colours. I love the result and the colour! It stands out so nicely from the black fur. ^_^ The nose was a bit harder for me to sculpt, but I think it looks nice anyway. I used Apoxie Sculpt for it - a very handy material that dries in the air. And I also sculpted something I'm really proud of - a realistic canine jaw set! The upper jaw is only partial because the teeth won't be visible despite the front teeth and canines. I think they look really nice and they match perfectly! The brown paint around the gums make them more realistic. I also added some gloss to them for the effect of saliva.

I glued the sculpted parts on the head with hot glue. The ears are not yet attached.

I have now figured out how furring the head is easiest to do, and I thought about sharing pictures of the process in case you are curious how I do it!

1. First I wrap the head in cling film. Many other fursuit artists don't do this, but it makes things a lot easier! It prevents the tape from tearing the foam and when you cut out the patterns the tape won't tangle with itself and all the fur. Remember to leave the mouth open, especially if you are building a moving jaw!

2. Next wrap the head with duct tape. I've found it's the best tape for this since it stays in shape and is easiest to attach evenly. But in this case, as you can see, I run out of duct tape and had to use packing tape for the rest of the head. It works just fine. :) You can also leave the nose and the eyes without tape, but I find it easier to cut those part out later.

3. Draw the fur patterns on the head. I draw lines for different coloured markings and also different fur fabrics (in this the slim pieces on the cheeks are for long pile fur, the rest for short pile). Also draw the fur direction with small arrows. You don't want the fur to go to the wrong direction or the head will look funny! If you're not sure which way the fur should go, look at pictures of real animals. They'll help you out! :)

4. Cut out the patterns! They don't look like anything after you've cut them out, but believe me, this will work out.. :D

5. Now you have to copy the patterns on your faux fur fabric. I usually use chalk for this. Because the base is not flat you will have to make small cuts to the round parts so that the pattern will lay flat. For this head I had to cut the face pattern in half for the best result. Remember to check the fur direction on your patterns and the fur fabric before drawing!!!

6. Check for the 10th time that the fur is going to the right direction before cutting out your pieces of fabric! Carpet knife is the best for this. If you cut with scissors you will damage the fur and get some ugly edges.

7. Time to vacuum-clean! At the factory they cut the fur fabrics and leave a lot of loose hair on them. If you look at the edge of the fabric you can see how damaged the edges are. That's why you don't want to cut your patterns straight from the edge.

8. Next you should sew the patterns together. I know everyone doesn't do this, but believe me - you'll enjoy your fursuit head a lot longer if you sew the parts together instead of just gluing them down. The end result is a hood that you can just pull over your base. I usually leave the hood open from below the jaw so the fur is easier to get on the head.

Finished hood, all patterns sewn together.

I tested the hood on the base before gluing.

9. Use hot glue to glue the fabric on your base. Be careful around the edges (lips, eyes and nose). By folding the fur just a little bit and gluing it down doubled over makes the edge look nice and clean.

10. Time to trim! I use a simple pet trimmer to get fur on the face trimmed down. I see many artists trimming with scissors, but I don't find the result as smooth as with a trimmer. If you have not trimmed before, you should try it on a small piece of fur first before attacking the head. If your trimmer goes to the wrong angle it might damage the fur and leave bald spots on your fursuit - no one wants that (but it does happen even after some experience with the trimmer..)! The trimmers have different kind of blades for different lenghts of furs, so you can switch them as you trim shorter and shorter. I only have one metal blade with mine and the plastic ones just won't work with faux fur, so I start with a 1-3mm blade right away. It only means you need to be more careful. :D I usually trim the head 4-5 times.

After the first trim.

Trimming in progress. The fur hasn't been glued down around the edges (eyes, lips and nose) yet because it's easier when the fur is shorter. And yes, you'll need to keep your vacuum cleaner close by!

11. This is optional, but I think it makes the head's features more expressive - time to airbrush or paint! I use acrylic paints and paint brushes for small details. For lighter fur colours I would add more details, but for black fur the amount of details is quite limited. In this case I can just make the line between white and black smoother. Later, after I took pictures just before shipping Saki to his new owner, I noticed I should have added more shadow to the white part of the fur. The white part stands out so much that the muzzle looks really long even when it's not, oh noes! ;__;

After this I added the neck piece and the head was finished! I realized the snout is too low and the head is not completely symmetric. I think the head looks more like a wolf than a fox because I underestimated the thickness of the faux fur fabric (again). This means that even though the base looked good, the fur made it bolder and the more delicate look of a fox disappeared. I like the over all look of this head, but there are still many things I'd like to change. Maybe I'll do those little changes when I see the head next time in a fur meet. ;)

If you have some other comments or critique, feel free to write them! I'm always looking to improve and receiving critique is the best way to notice my mistakes. ^_^

The insides of the ears and the tongue are made from fleece. I dry-brushed them with acrylic colours.

When the head was finished all I had to do is make hand paws and a tail for the partial fursuit. :)

Close up on how the paw pads are sewn on. It's not the prettiest option, but more durable than other techniques I've tried.

Doesn't the paw look adorable in this picture?!

This is the biggest and fluffiest tail I've ever made! I love it so much I wanted to keep it for myself!

Have fun with your first fursuit, Stanfar! ^_^

Olia just had to photobomb this time too. "Rawr! The kitsune has little dogs for breakfast!" 

NordicFuzzCon 2014

To sum up my experince at NFC'14 I can just say this: THE BEST CONVENTION EVER. The overall atmosphere and all the fantastic people made this year's NFC even better than last year's. Last year was just amazing and I didn't even think it could be better than that. The moment I arrived to the convention hotel I felt at home!

Gaikotsu Fursuits is about pissed-off creatures.Lei is my 3rd finished head while Gaikotsu is 2nd.

My journey towards Quality Hotel Winn Haninge in Stockholm started at 5am on Thursday the 27th of February. My plain departed at 11am, and it takes 3,5 hours from my home to get to the airport by train. But there I was on the train at 5am, super excited and not minding the early hour at all! It took only 40 minutes by airplane to get to Stockholm because the winds were on our side. :)
I knew that couple of Russian furs were arriving to Arlanda around the same time, but when I tried to look for their gate, I noticed it was in terminal 5 and I was at terminal 2. I would have had to take a bus to get there so I had to give up on  meeting them and headed to Stockholm C by Arlanda Express (it cost 130SEK).

I knew my amazing Swedish friends Lei and Dipped are waiting for me at the station and when I walked in I heard a loud "IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII". I knew that was Lei right away and there she was running towards me! xD We hadn't seen each other in almost a year! I think she screamed one more time when I gave her new partial fursuit! ^w^

The crazy cat lady a.k.a. Lei and her new partial made by me at the station.

From Stockholm C we took a local train to Handen where the convention hotel was. When we arrived we registered right away and got our room keys which also worked as convention badges/tickets. Then we hurried to our rooms and went to eat at the very same Chinese restaurant we ate at last year too. When we got back to the hotel Dipped's friend Tinna had arrived too and we started to wait for the opening ceremony.

The theme for this year's NFC was "Steampunk Murder Mystery" and I was happy to see many people having steampunk related clothes and accessories. I put together a complete outfit for the theme and now I'm in love with steampunk! I also loved how the convention staff had taken the theme into account: when we walked out of the opening ceremony, there was a dead body! And indeed, Waldo, was lying outside... We got a notebook with hints and solving the murder mystery began! Unfortunately I was too busy with Dealers Den and security to work on the mystery. :(

Noooooo, Waldoooo!!! Waldo was cosplayed by WolfKendo. Photo (c) Nocteumbra

So yes, I was busy with security, because I decided to volunteer for this amazing event! We had only 8 members in our security team which was not enough in my opinion, but we managed. Huge thanks to our Head of Security Clover for making our schedules work out! And special thanks for those who took more shifts when some of us wanted to join fursuit related programme. You're the best! :) It was really fun to work with all these people even though it was pretty hectic at times (on Saturday I worked 12 hours with only one short break). Luckily Clover gave us permission to have fun even while on duty!

Nocteumbra the dark dragon and me in my steampunk outfit. Sadly this is the only picture I have of the whole outfit. I must have been the most convincing security team member with my short skirt and high heels..

In the evening I hit the dance floor because a  Finnish furry, Fuffy, was DJ'ing for the first time. I was on duty, but I actually ended up dancing with my HoS so everything's alright. xD That night really killed my feet and I had to avoid wearing heels on the next day. My feet were so sore!

Some disco art by Lei, me, Max and Dipped. Photo (c) Trax.

It was amazing to start Friday with the hotel's wonderful breakfast buffet. I ate too much because I just had to try everything from bacon to smoothies and from pancakes to blueberry soup! Much love to restaurant staff <3 And also to the hotel staff, who became furries just for our convention and wore cat ears, tails and painted whiskers on their faces while working. It was really cute and I loved how they were a part of our event!

Friday was kind of exciting for me because it was my first time at Delears Den/Artists Alley in a furry convention. I wasn't very well prepared and concentrated more on taking commissions. I had my old prints and postcards with me and I have to say people didn't buy them that much either. :P But I got 19 commissions during the convention! Most of the commissions were custom pins that I offered, because I had my amazing Super Badge It -toy with me I bought from Minroea. :P

I shared my table with the talented MaxHaibane who did that lovely fluffy badge for Dipped. I made small custom pins of people's characters. :) Photo (c) Dipped

 On Friday we also took a fursuit group photo! We walked to a place near a lake and it was really fun! There were so many of us and people had no idea how to react to about 100 mascot suits walking past them. xD I really liked the place where we went, it was perfect for photoshoots!

Photo (c) The official cameraman of NFC :D

Me, Feligris and Lei. Gaikotsu and Lei fursuits are done by me!

Me and my "sister" Rimawolf walking back to the hotel from the photoshoot. We met at a furmeet in 2013, right after the first NFC. Everyone wondered why we look so alike. We decided we must be sisters! Gaikotsu fullsuit is done by me and Rima's bodysuit is also my creation. :)

Me and Lei at the photoshoot. Photo (c) Kamuniak

 After the photoshoot I didn't really have time to go and join the Fursuit Zoo, because my shift in security was about to start and the Dealer's Den was still open. So I went to shower quickly (you don't even want to know how sweaty I get in a fursuit even if it was only 0 degrees celsius outside), put on my radio and went to do my duties after having a fantastic lunch at the close-by sushi restaurant. The sushi group gathered again like last year! >:3

Sushi is always a good idea! I cut out everyone else expect Lei and me because I didn't know if they want their faces in my blog.. :'D Photo (c) Dipped

I actually missed some of the amazing programmes because I was on duty, but I went to see Fursuiters' Got Talent and it was really amazing to see how amazing talents we have in our community! Pilosus did a great job playing his trumpet while wearing a fursuit, that's quite the challenge, maybe I should try playing the guitar while wearing a fursuit? :D And I have to say I just loved the winners' date show. The gargoyle and the demon were wonderful. *worships Zuki and Lord Pazuzu*

Lei, me and Dipped at the elevator. Photo (obviously) (c) Dipped

I also joined the Banner Brawl and it was the very first time for me. So what is Banner Brawl? There are two teams of artists (female and male teams) and both of them get a big blank canvas. At first both of the teams get 2 minutes to draw a described landscape and after that each artist gets 2 minutes to draw anything from the words they hear in turns. I was really really nervous and even though I usually don't forget languages, I had a lot of problems to understand what the given words were. And I have no idea what the Swedish chef from the Muppets looks like... :( Anyway it was a lot of fun and actually it was decided to be a tie between the two teams! Our canvas was one big mess though while theirs was really well put together... Oh well! :D

I fursuited a little in the evening when my shift ended, danced and sang karaoke! I'm a horrible singer and very shy about my singing voice, but even I managed to sing because people were so amazingly supportive and friendly <3 Even though people sang their own songs at first and others just listened, in the end we all sang together and it was really fun! :D

Gaikotsu truly loved dancing in the karaoke! I was too lazy to put on my fullsuit or change my clothing in any other way, so we had a wolfie with a skirt.. xD Photos (c) Kamuniak

"Proof that furries are the nicest people, slow song on the karaoke, so that ment slow dancing, but so no one felt left out everyone danced in a group!" Picture & quote (c) Kotte, who was singing. :)

Saturday was the last full day of the convention. I had more time at the Dealer's Den and got more commissions and talked with several people. :3 I also got to know few of them quite well which was really fun. ^^ I wish I had been able to take part in Fursuit Games, but I was on my shift and (no surprise) we were not allowed to fursuit while on duty.

The whole day was mostly about talking and getting to know people better, and I really liked it. I've really liked both NFC conventions because you can start talking with ANYONE and people always answer you friendly and start talking back. I've never got to know so many new people in such a short time and I feel really good about it. I hope to keep in contact with all of them and I hope to see everyone again next year! ^w^

Amazing furries <3 Photo (c) Dipped

 In the evening I went to see Art & Charity Auction. I had offered 3 commission vouchers for the Charity lottery and now those 3 commissions are the first things to finish on my to-do list. In this convention, the 271 attendees donated 57.408 SEK to charity! All of the money goes to Djurens Ö, a wildlife rescue organisations! So no, it's not just about dressing up as animals and having fun, it's also about doing good things and bringing smiles to the faces of people. <3

One of the commission vouchers, won by Forax Silver.

After my shift ended around 1am I hurried to my room, put on my fursuit and enjoyed the last moments of NFC as Gaikotsu. I even ordered one drink while fursuiting (I don't usually drink, but I couldn't resist... the drink was named Pink Pussy after all). I was happy they had these extra long straws so it's easier to drink with a long snout. :D And one of the bartenders was really cute: he was just about to give me a yellow straw, but then he looked at my black, red & white looks and gave me a red one instead! <3

I actually got a random hug from a local girl who passed by the hotel while I was cooling down outside the hotel. She just passed me, then turned around on her heels, run back to me and gave me the tightest hug ever! It was so cute! x3 Unfortunately all of her makeup stuck to my beautiful white fur... :P

Me and my wonderful long red straw. Photo (c) Lord Pazuzu a.k.a. Godzuki

This year too I had to leave very early which was extremely sad. My plain departed at 10am and becaues it was quite far from the hotel, I had to leave at 7am. I didn't sleep the whole night because there's no use for 2 hours of sleep, so I silently backed, bid farewell to Lei and sneaked out of our room around 5am. Then I spent the last couple of hours with the few furries that were still awake. Thanks Tarquil for the nice talk when I was about to leave, it was really nice so I didn't have to leave without saying proper good-bye to anyone. :)

I was really sad to leave and actually started crying the moment I stepped out of the hotel. I couldn't stop crying until I reached the railway station.. The convention was so much fun and I really can't wait for next year, the new hotel and new theme! I'm looking forward to volunteering again and I will re-make my fursuit for the next convention too. See you soon, everyone!! :3