🌹Anita Blake Cosplay--Progression Shots, Finished Look & Little Chit Chat | Hannabal Marie🌹

Image Source: Major Spoilers 

Hello ladies and gents

As I have promised, I am bringing you the last post to end Grape City Con. 

The making of and progression of Anita Blake. 

As well as anything and everything else I forgot to mention from the previous post I already have done which included (but not limited to) the actual convention. 

Read about our time at Grape City Con

As I already stated, this was a spur of the moment sort of deal.

Consisting of what we, me and Ghost Lee, had already on hand. It took about 2 days to finish this look. Alongside many pots of coffee and music blaring so loud in my earphones that I had to stop a few times to jam out to an air guitar. lol

Anita Blake is one of those characters that I have had on a bucket-list for such a long time. 

Scared to just "do it" due to fear of messing her up and not doing her justice.

It's been years, lemme just tell ya...YEARS since I've wanted to cosplay this girl but I decided this time was good enough for me. 

A quick sketch of the costume and all the minor details. lol

I also thought this would be great seeing how Marvel bought the rights to her and are creating comic books about the very novels I have fallen in love with. So, I spent a few days rereading the comics and getting into character. I really wanted to mastered her attitude but it wasn't that hard, considering that Anita and myself have very similar attitudes and personalities. 

She is a badass who doesn't need no man--yet, she somehow still gets them crawling to her. (no pun intended. lol) She also loves coffee, penguins and having the type of humor I love in female characters--very sassy and dark. 

All of this was just more of a reason to do this character. 

Also, I thrifted a very beautiful long sleeve shirt that reminded me of her. 

So, it was written in the stars for me to cosplay her. hahaa

Image Source: Dorkadia

PROGRESSION & THE MAKING OF

Since I was doing a vampire hunter, I decided to play around with some weapons for this cosplay.
A vampire stake, a gun fit for a vampire slayer and of course, a prop of an arm raising from the grave for some photos.
She isn't just a vampire hunter but also a necromancer. So, this arm could be taken as a vampire or a zombie. lol 

I had to bring out the big boys for this. Decided to bust out my acrylic paints. 

Between two different toy guns, I thought this one was more like Anita's 9mm Browning Hi-Power. 

Took out the bits and bobs to really look at it. I was first planning to just take apart the gun and try to really replicate it perfectly but then I thought "why not just make something fit for a vampire hunter in general?" So, I kept the little accessories and all. 

Note: "Special Force Roleplay" lmfao

Painted the whole thing black, to get rid of the silly kid pattern.
Personally, for me, I'd probably would have had a gun with a very silly color contrast but Anita is serious business.
Her tools need to look serious, too. 

Kept at the paint job and added more details. Slowly but surely it started to really look like an actual gun. lol

I wanted the gun to look aged, like Anita has been using it for a while compared to something relatively new and sleek.
So, I damaged it up with some scrapes and cuts. Added some rusty colors here and there. Blotched areas and tarnished some metals. 

By the end of everything, my hands were looking very dirty. lmfao
The joys of being an artist~ lol

Not going to lie, this is my first time with weaponry. I was very very pleased with how my gun looked.
So, I did take a lot of images of it. I just loved the fact it looked just like a old pistol rather than the silly toy gun it first was. 

I could really pass this gun off as the real deal. That's both pleasing and scary. 

Letting things dry before I put the final coat of sealer. 

Thought I'd share the mess my paints made on some newspapers with you guys and gals.
I call it; "Art of Mass Destruction" lmfao

painted nails and all, Anita was coming into play! 

I decided to add a bit of a "vampire hunter" element to the gun by attaching a wooden rosary to the handle.
It looked neat, so that's why I did it. lol

Admiring my handiwork. lmfao

I love the details so much. The little rusty bits really bring it to life. 

That silver paint was my everything!! 

On the actual day, I had to unwrap the orange tip. You can't bring a cosplay gun into the convention without it. 

I was betting that without it, I would probably have had it be confiscated. 

Last minute, I also made a quick little vampire stake to slip into my leg holster.
Nothing too extreme but it did the job beautifully. 

My brother was getting his things ready for the big day, as well. 

Since I finished everything in one whole day, I thought I'd do a quick little prop for when I came home after the con.
My brother gave me the idea by saying; "Wouldn't it be cool to have a zombie hand attached to your boot and walk around having people take your photo?" Probably a joke but I thought, "hmmm...I could do that!" and I did. lmfao
I originally thought I could do the boot thing but ended up making this instead. Much too heavy to heave around by shoe but still a good prop. I could also use it for Halloween 2019, as well. Killing metaphorical birds with stones, here. 

After everything was set and drying up for the night--I set out my outfit and got ready for bed. 

Anita Blake Cosplay

Image Sources:
Anita Blake-Vampire Hunter: Guilty Pleasures
Anita Blake (Character)- Comic Vine

The big day was such a lovely experience.

As I already mentioned, it was so easy and so very simple.

No stress, no issues what-so-ever.

We got up, got ready and went on our way.

It was such a beautiful feeling. Unlike many of our other times, where things were havok and stressful. This was different. Maybe we just "know" ourselves now and our craft, so things are more simpler but whatever the case--it was nice.

If you haven't seen my post about the con, you can find it HERE.

This is just going to be an outfit post. For those curious about what I looked like in better detail.

Anita Blake getting into character. lol

Truth being told, Anita doesn't wear anything too crazy. She actually reminds me of what I look like when I go to work. lol
Simple basic makeup, red lips and curly black hair. 

Some action shots because why not? lol

"Love mattered, in the end. A house without love would always fall, maybe not today or tomorrow, but in the end without love nothing could endure." 

Me posing with that gun!
Also, the Grape City Con  ID ticket looked like a badge in my cardholder lanyard. lol

"I used to think I knew what was right and what was wrong,
and who the good guys are, and who the bad guys are.
Then the world got very gray, and I didn't know anything for a long time"

This is where the zombie/vampire arm came into play. 

FREEZE ZOMBIE VAMPIRE THING! 

"Death, especially violent death, will turn the meanest bastard in the world into a nice guy. Why is that?"

Me with my gun. A proper selfie, if I do say so myself. 

"I try to be a good cop. I try to be a good little soldier and follow orders up to a point. But in the end I'm not really a cop, or a soldier. I am a legally sanctioned murderer. I am the executioner."

Looking pretty nice with my gun~ 

I really wanted to try to capture her spirit. Give her some form of justice. Anita Blake has been a secret obsession for me for such a long time. I spent a good portion of my youth reading Laurell K. Hamilton novels front to back. Fantasizing about me as Anita Blake through the printed ink pages. I cried to the novels, laughed to the novels. To merely "cosplay" without passion would be a violent death to one of my personal favorite female characters. 

Anita, to me, is the true embodiment of the female warrior inside all of us.
She is strong yet gentle. A warrior yet still showing some of her weaknesses to us readers.
She is stubborn pride but with a reason. Passionate in her work yet helpless in some matters of love.
She is a hero but also secretly needing someone to save her from herself. 

Even in blurry images I can feel Anita seep through. I love it. 

"Maybe they know what I know, that the true way to a man's heart is six inches of metal between his ribs.
Sometimes four inches will do the job, but to be really sure, I like to have six. Funny how phallic objects are always more useful the bigger they are. Anyone who tells you size doesn't matter has been seeing too many small knives."

Trying to achieve the perfect "Fuck You" face. lol

In case the images didn't do it justice and before I end up breaking it apart to make something new.
*which always happens sooner than later* here is the arm thing protruding from the ground.
You're welcome. lol

Bathroom selfies are still a thing, right? lol

And after I pulled off my lashes and washed most of that foundation off my face--here is an exhausted yet happy me. 

Image Source: Vampire Bibliographica

After the con, we had some Chinese food.

It's the main go-to whenever we go anywhere and spend too much time out with the general public. lol After the Chinese, we all spoke about our fun moments over some hot coffee and tried to figure out what we did wrong/could improve on. Be it conversation with people (communication has never been my strong suit in public settings. lol) or just improving our costumes better. 

If I ever want to redo Anita, I do know some things I plan to change and keep. Some things I can improve on or drop completely but for now, I say this was pretty much a success. I couldn't be any more happier than I am. So that's saying something big. lol

I wish I could stay and chat some more with you, fine reader but there is a fresh brewed pot of coffee screaming my name. lol

xoxo