Princess Mononoke Cosplay - Tumblr Posts
San and Ashitaka Build
This pile (well, there's other stuff mixed in there) is in fact the San and Ashitaka costumes I built earlier this year. I tried to do a vaguely historical approach to shapes and materials since the film is also vaguely historical, but I used modern sewing because I barely know how to sew in general. This is also why I started with the bow.
To make a fake bow, for some reason I didn't like the usual PVC option, so I decided to make a long noodle out of EVA foam, carve it into shape with a craft knife, then add exaggerated wood texture with a wood burning tool. That then got covered in Worbla and painted with several layers of acrylic + a leather strap glued for a hand grip. The bow's 'string' is just thick elastic cord.
Arrows are dowel rods cut to length with EVA foam points at one end and foam fletching at the other. I accidentally made all his arrows the samurai's arrows (oops) and have no idea why I felt the need to not use real feathers. The quiver is just a muslin bag, pretty boring lol.
His sword is balsa wood and a napkin ring all glued together then covered in Worbla (featured here by another costume's progress). The blade and ring got spray painted metallic, the handle got a leather wrap like the bow. The sheath is just a foam box wrapped in fake suede, not really worth an action shot.
Ashitaka's (happi? haori? not really sure) took two attempts and still doesn't quite fit, oops. I dyed the fabric to a shade I liked, then used a YT tutorial on making the coat. His pants were bought online, and I made a lil pouch for his mysterious dried rations.
I fully just kind of made the sleeve happen; sketched a shape, cut it out, then continued adding scraps until I got something that fit okay.
Delicious bowl cut...his wig was a struggle, since I needed it to be rough and basic but not Lord Faarquad. It came out okay, but it truly is giving home haircut from the 80s.
Let's switch to San! Most of her clothes were bought, and I made the accessories. So this giant pile of fur will turn into a separated cape and hood. You may notice two tones of color there: I chose a longer Mongolian fur for the outside and a shorter Sherpa for the inside, because no one likes to see the raw inside of fake fur. There are curtain weights sewn into the paw shapes and front drapes of cape and hood to help them not fall back.
For most of San, I used Kinpatsu Cosplay's patterns as the base, and adjusted them to be slightly more masculine (and a lot longer) to fit my San. The apron was made of linen and hemmed so the outer edges can fray over time. We'll get to weathering in a minute (I did not take many WIP pics during making all of this).
I made the mask really round and the eyes slightly farther apart to up the uncanniness of it. The mask and ears got base coated in black matte acrylic, then color slowly added using sea sponge.
The dagger was made of a mix of foam and balsa wood that got glued together, then covered in Worbla. I spent way too long staring at the movie to decide the arrow shapes on the blade were raised rather than recessed. The blade got spray painted metallic, the arrows hand painted red, the pommel spray painted black. The handle got a leather strap wrap.
Her necklace was a mix of wood and stone beads, and three toofs made of some very crusty foam clay I had sitting around. They got formed and dried around paintbrushes to make the stringing hole, sanded, then painted with acrylic to get that old tooth look. San's wig was basically used out of the bag, and her accessories were just foam wrapped in fabric with shell beads glued on.
Weathering, the second most fun part of this build! I used a mix of dry brushing on acrylic paint in various brown and tan tones, spraying/splattering with a strong black tea, and using an airbrush to add dirt and wear to everything. A lot of edges and corners also got sanded to soften them and look less crisp and new.
And then we got fancy professional photos! If you're in Texas, check if Wild Momo Photography is heading to your con. She's fantastic, truly. Hope you enjoyed reading through this journey, and it's potentially helpful if you're building your own cursed prince and wolf girl.