Artbook Undertaker cosplay that I made in 2019-2020
Photography and editing by Hailthenaninator
This is the second in a series of posts that I am writing as I continue to receive questions about what craftsmanship judges are looking for. Comments and DMs from my first post in this series indicated significant interest in Journeyman division and the expectations for that, so this post analyzes my Undertaker cosplay, the first cosplay I intentionally entered into that division. Many of you know that I think Journeyman division is undervalued as a protected skill divion for trying new things and generally polishing skills while still regularly winning awards, which I think is important for maintaining motivation to learn and compete. I hope this post will give you the same appreciation that I have for the division. Let me know in the comments what specific competition topics you would like me to cover next!
Alongside publishing this post, I have revamped my 2011-12 Undertaker photo gallery so you can see all the photos from the original shoot in full-quality, along with some rare photos from my files from Halloween 2012 and Arisia 2012: Enjoy it here
Please read before commenting: I make this series of posts as an educational resource. While I am happy ciriticizing my own past work, this is not an invitation for you to criticize my work, as this can still be hurtful to me. Please respect my vulnerability in making these posts by keeping your own criticisms of my craftsmanship to yourself. Thank you!
Character Name: Undertaker
Series: Black Butler by Yana Toboso
Competition/Year: Ikkicon 6. (2011-12), Arisia 2012
Category: Journeyman
Awards won: None (Ikkicon), Judges’ Craftsmanship Award for neatness (Arisia)
Accuracy
There
is nothing in this cosplay that would lead me to take off points for
accuracy, if I were seeing it in the judges’ room today. No judge ever
removes points for accuracy. My cosplay has all the pieces, the pieces
all fit together correctly, it has been properly adapted to my height
and body, it looks exactly like the character concept artwork.
The
designs for Undertaker’s Sotoba and scythe were not revealead until
after I made this cosplay, or I would likely have added the Sotoba for
some added bling. Needless to say, their absence does not constitute a
lack of accuracy and indeed in Journeyman I am more undertanding when a
competitor chooses not to include a large and complex prop like
Undertaker’s scythe so long as what is presented looks complete on its
own merit.
Creativity
I can go back to my old blog posts and read how I problem-solved the thigh-high buckled boots and extra-long black fingernails, which were things I had not done before and had not really seen anyone else do before. Keep in mind that sharing cosplay knowwledge was less common and harder to find in 2011 when I was making this cosplay. If I were a judge seeing this cosplay, I would immediately hone in on the boot covers that not only held up the considerable weight of the metal buckles on them but also had bound edges that looked seamed perfectly with the base pair of boots. My use of false fingernails for acrylic nails, filed to fit my nail beds perfectly, showed creative use of mundane accessible materials.
Overall I did not take too many creative risks with this costume, but at the Journeyman level the creativity can often be seen in how the cosplayer is making the connections between techniques in a way that allows them to begin applying prior knowledge to new skills. There were some small creative additions that made sense for the character, like the watercolor paintings in my mourning lockets and the spiked bone beads that I added to Undertaker’s necklace to make them a little more special.
Skill
I did a lot of work on my Undertaker cosplay to modify sewing patterns to his unique style and draft the pattern pieces I couldn’t find. By Journeyman I expect to see a cosplayer experimenting with altering commercial sewing patterns, but creating entirely new pattern pieces is notably impressive. Making Undertaker’s facial scar objectively shouldn’t be easy for a beginner using scar wax, but it looked rather realistic and barely showed wear by the end of the day.
I also created small watercolor paintings to go in the mourning lockets on Undertaker’s belt, and scouted unique settings to house them in so they would look as close as possible to actual Victorian antiques. In fact, I did a lot of historical research for this cosplay, and it shows: Undertaker’s costume design didn’t come out of nowhere, it was based on the garments of professional mourners in England fromt he late 19th century. This is a solid set of skills to see on a Journeyman-level cosplay.
Cleanliness
This is a nice, cleanly-made cosplay and what I would expect at the Journeyman level. There are some areas where a master would have known how to make the structures of the cassock and overcoat nicer, or how to set the lining in a more professional way, but this is one of the few older cosplays that I still have in almost its entirety and when I had it out a few months ago I was appreciative still of how well-done my linings and finishings looked.
The judges’ award that I won at Arisia in 2012 was specifically for my bottonholes and finishings on the garments, and all these years later I still see why. Even my makeup was pretty good: I sculpted the facial scars out of scar wax and despite being a mess to remove they looked rather real. Even the latex scars that I made for my neck and finger looked good and functioned well.
Overview
As an experienced judge, I rank my Undertaker cosplay as a solid Journeyman-level cosplay. I made all the important design elements, I pushed to learn (and mastered) several new skills, and I successfully applied historical research to a cosplay. The character design for Undertaker is a great choice for a Journeyman-level cosplay because you can easily purchase alterable commercial sewing patterns but also pushes a novice/beginner-level cosplayer to try new skills. Most important to me in Journeyman division is to see cosplayers who are able to identify skills they want to learn and have the self-reflective abilities to work on them until mastery.
That said, for this to win Journeyman on its own I think I would have needed to do more with it. Perhaps I could have displayed more skill through wig styling (this wig needed little work out of the bag), or I could have made more interesting or historically-appropriate textile choices. The polyester I used was affordable on a student budget but real wool may have given the costume the edge it needed to place higher. I could have learned and presented better millinery skills as well. These are just some of the things I can see that would have displayed skill on the level needed to win Journeyman and potentially proceed to Master.
Competition Structure Matters
This cosplay is a rare example where I think it ought to have placed at a competition at which it received no recognition, and I believe it did not place because the format of the competition at Ikkicon that year did not give judges ample time to look at the competitors’ costumes. I remember all the competitors and a large number of unrelated people herded into a small room where the judges circulated randomly and spent less than a minute with me. It is a reminder that pre-judged competitions are often the most fair, the more time you get with the judges the better they can evaluate your work, good organization matters, and some conventions still hold their cosplay competitions primarily for stage spectacle and not specifically to reward skill and dedication in craftsmanship. I went onstage with my friend who was cosplayig Grell, and it was still a good time. I entered Undertaker at another competition a few weeks later and had a very different experience:
At Arisia my entry as Undertaker was combined with a trio that was also cosplaying Black Butler, because the coordinator was trying to fit as many entrants into the show as possible. I was actually pulled from that group alone to win my judges’ award, probably because I had originally entered solo. Many times the downfall of group entries is that some members have better-made costumes than others, and the the lack of equitable skill-sharing can cause the whole group to miss out on an award. This is the normal scenario, and since the time I was pulled from a group to win an award I have never again seen individual members of a group singled out for an award, at any competition, with any structure. During and after the competition I become casual friends with the group I was combined with, and later did another group cosplay with them, but normally we can only award full groups together because singling someone out could cause resentment among people who entered as friends and that’s unkind. Arisia was, and still can be, a very tough competition: to this day I am honored to have been chosen for a judges’ award for my Undertaker cosplay.
Personal Conclusions
I made my first Undertaker cosplay in 2011 at the height Black Butler’s popularity among fans, before I really understood how competition worked, and before I really cared. It was the catalyst for meeting most of my early cosplay friends, whose faces all these years later I still admittedly do not know outside of cosplay. Having a good experience at Arisia motivated me to continue competing.
What is interesting to me about the design for Undertaker is that between the artbook designs for him and the historical references in. his original design, I think that this cosplay could be be presented and do well at any skill level of competition. I would be very impressed to see a fully-tailored and embroidered version of this cosplay and it would be the definition of hidden details making the cosplay extra special. The design for Undertaker’s scythe would be a master-level prop in the right hands.
I did return to Undertaker eight years after making this cosplay, to make the embroidered artbook version of his design. It’s a sleek cosplay that does have a lot of tailoring and complex embroidery on it and I might add to it sometime in the future as a nod to my own cosplay beginnings.
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