Jared Axelrod

The portfolio continues.

X-Men Jacket
I’ve called this a “Cyclops” costume in the past, but it’s all about the jacket. Like the “Mountains of Madness” explorer, this is a handful of commercially available elements. I haven’t “made” anything for this costume, but as a consequence, it looks a great deal more real. So, something to be said for that. I wear this jacket all the time in the fall and winter, and get compliments on those who recognize the reference. I unexpectedly met Chris Claremont while wearing it, but the best story comes when I woman at the farmer’s market asked me where Xavier’s is.

“Westchester, New York,” I said.

Pulp Batman
My good friend Rae Winters was planning a Batman shoot for a “The Golden Age of Comics and Animation” show, and wanted to borrow some Batman costuming stuff. And while we certainly could have done a shoot with my other Batman suit, I took advantage of the opportunity to craft a pulp inspired Batsuit just for her shoot. It’s a step to the side away from the traditional uniform, but it evokes the same feeling. This photo expresses exactly the mood I was trying to evoke with costume, though other shots are prettier.

The Question
Anyone who’s watched the  JUSTICE LEAGUE UNLIMITED animated series knows how awesome The Question can be, which goes doubly true if you’ve also read the Dennis O’Neil/Denys Cowan comic series from 80′s (despite the animated Question and the comic Question having extremely little in common). This was a technical challenge, as I wanted to achieve a faceless look without gluing something to my face. It’s also nice to have bright blue hat in group shots. Like the X-Men jacket, the blue fedora is something I’ve worn in my daily life. It’s a great hat.

Steampunk Night Vision Goggles
These things have all the details that make steampunk props so much fun: there’s a owl motif, a power source in a leather pouch with a toggle switch stuck in the flap, and creepy, defused LEDs. They are part of a much larger steampunk project, but they work just fine on their own.

G’onthultu
An ancient evil from a faraway planet, G’onthulthu is my favorite puppet to opperate. Part of the appeal of prop, costume and puppet making is the problem solving portion of it. How do I get this concept to work in real life? For G’onthultu’s mouth tentacles, the answer was exceeding simple. There’s a delightful surrealism to the puppet, which a hand standing in for tentacles standing in for mouth. He’s both creepy and cuddly at the same time.

Captain America
This is a commissioned costume for my friend Jerry, and while it is finished, I don’t yet have a photo of him in the finished product. When I do, you can bet that will rate a post of it’s own. But I do have the cowl, which is everything one could hope for out of a Cap mask.  This costume was one of the more detailed superhero costumes I’ve done. It was made in a headlong rush over two weeks, and to my glee, does not look like it. I am extremely proud of it. I’ll have more pics soon.

The wondrous Kyle Cassidy, admist talking about all the things that make up his fantastic life (hey, look! I’m in there!), has asked that today, July 1st, be a portfolio day. Kyle talked about the importance of a continually updated portfolio in a “photography advice” post. I’ve been tempted to steal the good ideas he included in there for a post about writing, but his advice is so great that it applies to almost any creative endeavor without changing a thing.

I’ve been feeling burnt out on costuming and prop-making recently, so I’ve decided to take a look back at my favorite 12 pieces.  Because I want to be cool like J.R. Blackwell, I’ll also be a writing a bit about each piece and identifying my favorite parts about them. The first six go up today, part 2 will go up tomorrow.

Pulp Raygun
This was one of my first cold-cast pieces, and  remains on of my favorites. I’ve had difficulty with the mold every time I try to recast, so this might as well be one of a kind. It feels real when you heft it, and the copper filaments embedded into the resin have corroded naturally. Cold-casting is an expensive hobby, so I haven’t done much with it. But it is something I’d like to get back too.

Batman
I love this costume. I’m constantly reworking it, so great is my love. If I were to go up to my 8 year old self and tell him I owned this costume, his tiny head would explode. It is, once again, in progress: there’s a new cowl, soon to be joined by new boots and gloves. The version above is from Dragon*Con ’07, which was a great–if hot–costuming experience.

Sonic the Hedgehog
A lot of firsts in this one. First time making a children’s costume. First time making a video game character. First time making a mascot style character. First time working entirely in fleece. Considering all those firsts, it came out spectacularly, and is a nice, unusual addition to the portfolio.

Wigwam Bam
This puppet is such a wealth of character details. The little hat, the cigar, the bionic attachment. Plus, the Nerf gun that can fire foam darts into the audience! What’s not to love? It could be overwhelming twee, but there’s something the puppet that creates such a strong, clear character. Plus, Tee does such a great job giving him a voice.

Mountains of Madness Explorer
Ah, the literary costume. I have to explain this one a lot, but it means I get to talk at length about Lovecraft, so I don’t really care. Most of it is purchased: the goggles and jacket came from eBay, and patches from the great Propnomicom. The shuggoth is what makes this costume, though, a collection of tentacles and raggedy fabric. It has shown up in other costumes, but this really belongs to this one. This is a costume that came out exactly the way it looked in my head, which is a rare thing.

Steampunk Superman
This is a weird one. There is nothing inherently steampunk about Superman, as he remains a character fully grounded in the myths and ideals of the 20th Century. My original idea was to do a steampunk Green Lantern, with all sort of green-glowing-gadgetry (wishing rings work in all eras). But the idea of translating such a 20th century idea into the 19th  was a difficult idea to let go. While I love the costume, I wonder if I missed the mark a bit. In any case, this is certainly the kind of uniform Superman would wear if he was soldier in the late 1800s–the shield-shape on his chest is based on an actual uniform from the Civil War–and the brass cape-clasp is a detail that always make me smile. It’s a striking variation on a old design, and in that, it is a success.