Cosplayers in the Spotlight: Skarlet from Mortal Kombat, born in Blood and apparently she is from Spain!
Back in summer 2013, these cosplay photos and photo manipulations were made as part of a cosplay shooting of Laura “Nebulaluben” and the Photographer and Retoucher Rubén “Hidrico” Madrid where Laura cosplayed Skarlet from Mortal Kombat 9 with a surprising accurate outcome!
I spoke with both about their cosplay shoot, cosplaying in general and also their future plans!
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Hello Laura and Rubén, last year you had a Skarlet from Mortal Kombat photo shooting, first of all, why did you choose to cosplay Skarlet who is a very sexy looking character but has quite dark origins with her being made of blood and dark sorcery? Laura: Well, it was all a mixture of reasons. I’ve always liked MK. The title I played the most was MK4. It was one of the first games my boyfriend and I played when we started hanging out together, so I’m very fond of it.
How long did it take you to make the Skarlet costume, and what kind of materials did you use? Was it difficult to get them together? Especially those swords and kunai’s are not something everyone has at home ‘laughs’ Laura: It took me about two weeks to make it. It seems to be an easy costume since Skarlet wears few clothes, but it was more difficult than I initially thought. Here you can see how I made it As the spandex fabrics are so stretchy, I couldn’t make patterns, so I fitted them on my dress form and made the top cutting little by little adapting it to the shape until I had what I wanted. It also was a little difficult for me to add the silver and black spandex strips on the edges because they were so stretchable, I had to bast (???) them very carefully, trying them on, then I sewed them patiently in order not to ruin the seams. The hardest parts to make were the faux leather top parts of the boots and forearms because I had to hand sew the red foam lined rhombus shapes and those fabrics are really hard to sew together. The easiest parts were the armors. I made them using craft foam. |
Hello Rubén, last year you had a cosplay shooting with Nebulaluben as Skarlet from Mortal Kombat 9, from your profile on deviantART i know that you are a professional Photographer. Retoucher. Digital artist. Are these cosplay shootings you do sometimes a pure hobby or do you combine them with your work?
Rubén: That’s a good question. I began doing cosplay shoots, not as cosplay itself, if not as a way to be able to do photomanipulations and be creatively free to edit as I wanted. The first shoots were part of my final project in High-Level Technical Degree of photography, so they could be considered as work.
Right now, the ones I’m making are just as a hobby and I plan to do less of them and focus on genres I could find paid work in the future.
How did you meet cosplayers, or how are cosplay shootings coming together?
Rubén: I knew and been friend with many of them since before studying photography.
Many of the shoots come up spontaneously, other times I want to do something and coincidentally I find someone who has done that cosplay or that suits up for the idea.
Sometimes, cosplayers contact me too, but that’s not the usual procedure.
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I like many of your photomanipulations of cosplay photos, and you do some awesome stuff there which mixes the “two worlds” of digital art and cosplay art. Last year you made that Skarlet “Blood Born” one as example with Laura looking like bathing in a sea of blood as a reference to her dark back story from Mortal Kombat 9. How did the idea come together, and what are your inspirations and motivations to create these photomanipulations? Rubén: The ideas usually come up from playing the game myself, a picture of Skarlet bathing in blood just came up instantly while watching some of her victory poses and fatalities.
Laura: I can’t remember who had the idea. As I told you before, Yurai invited us to her house and she lives near the beach, so we thought we could take pictures in the water and then turn it into blood. Hidrico took the picture and then manipulated it to get that fantastic result! Here you are a WIP image of this picture
Laura, how did you discover cosplays as a hobby and what was your first cosplay? Laura: I discovered cosplay through Erik . A few years ago, he started seeing cosplay pictures on the Internet and he used to show them to me. I really liked them, but it wasn’t until 2008 when I realized people made their own costumes. I already had a sewing machine at home and I’ve always loved making creative things and wearing fancy clothes, so I decided starting cosplaying. My first costume was Shanoa from Castlevania: Order Of Ecclesia. I love Castlevania and when Erik and I finished the game, he told me Shanoa looked a lot like me (liar!!) and he encouraged me to make the costume. From that one, we’ve never stopped!! |
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How were the reactions by Mortal Kombat fans to the Skarlet cosplay? Laura: I saw our pictures showcased in several websites and they keep on asking me from time to time to feature them. So I can say I’m very happy and grateful with the reception and the nice comments I get. Rubén: It was pretty good, specially with the normal ones, Nebulaluben fit the character very well. In addition, I think that MK aesthetic has a sexiness factor that makes the pictures appealing to people who doesn’t know the videogame too.
Will we see more Mortal Kombat related cosplays (Laura) and/or photomanipulations from you (Rubén) in the future, or what else do you have in mind for 2013? Laura: Right now I don’t have any MK cosplay plans. I wish I could make an Ermac costume for Erik, but we have several projects that we find more attractive right now. I have several friends that want to make MK costumes, so maybe you’ll see me as Skarlet again in the future in a group with them. Rubén: I’m planning to do a Mileena shoot, and I already have a model very suited for it. |
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Laura you did some really awesome cosplays in the past already, as you know i was stunned last year when i saw your Nina Williams /Zafina photos and featured them on Fighting-Games-Elite. But what was your best cosplay in your opinion? Laura: Thanks! My two favourite costumes are Eliza Cassan from Deus Ex: Human Revolution and Tali’Zorah from Mass Effect. I love Eliza costume because I felt kind of love at first sight with that design and it eventually came out rather well. I feel good in that costume because I think Eliza is one of the most physically similar characters to me. It was also a patterning and sewing challenge, as she’s got so many different pieces in her coat. I love when I’m able to learn new techniques while making costumes.
Do you have anything to say or share with the Game Art HQ community? (You can use this now to promote anything you want now as example) Thanks a lot for reading! I’m happy I can share my cosplay passion with you! |
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Do you want to cosplay a video game character too someday? Rubén: I already did, recently I cosplayed Father Balder from Bayonetta. Also, I’ve been wanting to cosplay Garrus for years now. What are your personal favourite video games and are there any video game characters you would love to see cosplayed to have a photoshoot with the cosplayers of them? Rubén: That’s a difficult one! I have lots and lots of ideas and characters I would love to do a shoot with. I’d love to do a Guild Wars 2 related shoot, specially with a Norn character like Ein Stegalkin. Jack from Mass Effect 2 or 3 is something I would die for. An Skyrim one too, and I’ve been searching for a Morrigan from Dragon Age since day one.
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Thanks a lot @ Laura and Rubén!
If you want to know and see more about these two phenomenal artists, visit their profiles on deviantART!
