I was a loner
So I guess this is where I say who I am and what I'm about. Well, where do I begin?
At school, I didn't have a friend to my name. I was the weird fat kid who didn't share in the common popular interests. I was alone constantly. One day I sat there on a bench at lunch thinking to myself, I have an hour every day here, wasted, I should do something with it. So I did. I bought a sketchbook and taught myself how to draw. I learnt just by imitating shows and books I liked at first, before developing characters of my own. It actually got me a little attention from my peers which was nice, but fleeting.
It was only a matter of time before I started messing around with ideas in my mind for stories for these characters I had dreamt up. To start with, I wrote them, wanting to create books with my own illustrations within them. Unfortunately, I quickly learnt that I'm not so good with the words, so this evolved into a desire to create comics, one in which I am still pursuing. Maybe one day, I will be able to stand high and declare myself a comic artist, but so far, well, you see it. This is me, and this is how far I've come. So far, not too far, but maybe someday, all this will grow into something I can be proud of.
I loved to escape
I found comfort in many things I did in my teen years, in particular watching TV and gaming (and then I wonder why I got fat...). I loved to get lost in the stories and often found my imagination drifting, wondering what would happen if I was this person in that show, if I was that person in this game...
I used to love Halloween. My mum would make me costumes and I could escape. The best words to accompany a party invitation were 'fancy dress'. I loved it. There were so many people I wanted to be, and these gave me the chance to live it for just a moment. Although it wasn't till in my later teen years that I really wanted to do it some more, on a larger scale. At this time, I had learnt how to sew properly, a mixture of what I had learnt in GCSE Textiles, lessons from my mum and my own self teachings. I started small. My first proper costume, and first time I ever used the word cosplay, was a simple mask and cape of No Face from Spirited Away. It wasn't great, but became a step for me going on to make many more cosplays.
It didn't look too hard
I was in a shop, looking to buy myself some new Manga. It was there that I saw some cute little plush toys of the character L and Light from Death Note. I loved them, but then I saw the price tag. £20 each, for something so small and, honestly, not brilliant quality. That's when I thought, could I do that? I went straight from there to a shop to buy felt and stuffing. I used a basic pattern from the internet as a base, and made plushies to my hearts content. I still to this day haven't made a Light or L. From these small felt people, I've advanced to much bigger and more detailed plush. I can't describe it though, I no longer use patterns. I wouldn't be able to explain how I do it if I tried, simply because I don't know myself. All I do know is that I love my little talent I've got there.
So I guess that's it
This is what I do. I draw, and I sew. There are millions of talented people out there with far better skill than me, so the fact that people are out there now, reading this, having found me in an ocean of talent, is great. I feel like I may be left behind soon, I may have done a lot better if I had been born 10 or 20 years earlier. You see, I'm very much a fan of the traditional art style. Not much in the ways of digital art, I much prefer getting my paints out. Same goes for sewing, I've used computerised sewing machines before, but much prefer the effect I get doing everything by hand. I like the personal touch in everything I do, something I feel is getting lost today. Like I say, I think I'm getting left behind. So, if you prefer a traditional scene, stick around. See what I have to offer and I may just surprise you, and myself.