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Its not a race! (thoughts on fursuit construction)
14 years ago
General
To contact me outside of FA:
* Email: sara[at]matrices.net
* Social Media: Matrices' Bluesky
* Tumblr
* My "Contact Me" page on my website.
* Email: sara[at]matrices.net
* Social Media: Matrices' Bluesky
* Tumblr
* My "Contact Me" page on my website.
I might be putting myself out on a limb here, but I think a message needs to go out -- or at least be thought about and the idea placed in the minds of everyone reading.
Fursuiting is a fun hobby (profession for some), and a lot of people devote a lot of time to fursuit construction. Others simply don't. I think I want to make people aware that creating a costume isn't a race. Its not something that needs to be rushed to completion, or hurried into existence. Quality comes from time spent.
Time spent examining references of real animals throughout the process.
Time spent sketching shapes to interpret it into a character in your own working ability.
Time spent choosing fabrics.
Time spent building a base/sculpting/foamwork, ensuring it still matches the real animal reference while still having the essence of your own interpretations.
Time spent with care and thought into planning seams and making the pattern.
Time spent sewing and attaching the fabric.
Time spent sculpting noses, teeth, etc, ensuring that they match the real animal reference or your interpretation.
Time spent on detail work, is the inside of the mask an ill-fitting loose balaclava? Is it carefully lined? Is it unlined? Is it comfortable, is everything attached??
Time spent creating eyes, ensuring that not only do they have life to them, but they have a particular expression and direction of focus, that they are properly sized, that a person can see out of them as well as see them.
Time spent testing that the paint used won't scratch off, or the glazes used won't get sticky over time, or that the wire you used won't break after 5 bends, that the material you used won't leak dye onto the other materials you used.
I think when we race to finish things, we cheat ourselves and we cheat our audience: We cheat ourselves out of potential quality that could've been.
I have long stood by the opinion: It is more fun to have a costume than it is to not have a costume. However, this is not an excuse to finish in a hurry. To allow rushing and sloppy work, and to use that an excuse to hurry to put your first tries for sale slapped with the title "fixer upper". This is not a reason at all to rush anything, its a reason to critically examine what your goals are in costuming. To have a piece finished a month earlier than a deadline? To have a piece finished in time for an event? To have a costume done within a specified number of arbitrary hours? Re-examine that. Its good to have things finished early. Its good to have things finished in time for an event. Its good to time yourself to find out how long a task takes. But it is not good to rush it for that very reason.
If you are someone who is not a fursuit maker, but perhaps an admirer or buyer, something important to look for in purchasing a costume is the time and thought put into creating that character. Is it a character you are buying, or just a mask someone "created to sell"? Sometimes that is a very important distinction. Examine also the time span from between when the artist finished the piece, and has listed it for sale. Did they give themselves any time to examine the piece, to look at it for a day, a week, (more?) to find any details that needed finished, or any other work that needed done to polish it up to be perfect? To give time to accept and follow a constructive critique perhaps? To revise the mask after an improvement in personal construction techniques, any of that? Or did they put it immediately for sale. Essentially shouting DONE! And slamming their glue guns on their desk and raising their hands from it.
I see time spent as quality. Just the same as I see appropriate choice of materials as quality and level of finish as quality, as well as numerous other aspects of creating. None of this is an excuse to take forever to make something, but I don't feel like any of this is a race to be the first to finish.
Just my sincere thoughts.
Fursuiting is a fun hobby (profession for some), and a lot of people devote a lot of time to fursuit construction. Others simply don't. I think I want to make people aware that creating a costume isn't a race. Its not something that needs to be rushed to completion, or hurried into existence. Quality comes from time spent.
Time spent examining references of real animals throughout the process.
Time spent sketching shapes to interpret it into a character in your own working ability.
Time spent choosing fabrics.
Time spent building a base/sculpting/foamwork, ensuring it still matches the real animal reference while still having the essence of your own interpretations.
Time spent with care and thought into planning seams and making the pattern.
Time spent sewing and attaching the fabric.
Time spent sculpting noses, teeth, etc, ensuring that they match the real animal reference or your interpretation.
Time spent on detail work, is the inside of the mask an ill-fitting loose balaclava? Is it carefully lined? Is it unlined? Is it comfortable, is everything attached??
Time spent creating eyes, ensuring that not only do they have life to them, but they have a particular expression and direction of focus, that they are properly sized, that a person can see out of them as well as see them.
Time spent testing that the paint used won't scratch off, or the glazes used won't get sticky over time, or that the wire you used won't break after 5 bends, that the material you used won't leak dye onto the other materials you used.
I think when we race to finish things, we cheat ourselves and we cheat our audience: We cheat ourselves out of potential quality that could've been.
I have long stood by the opinion: It is more fun to have a costume than it is to not have a costume. However, this is not an excuse to finish in a hurry. To allow rushing and sloppy work, and to use that an excuse to hurry to put your first tries for sale slapped with the title "fixer upper". This is not a reason at all to rush anything, its a reason to critically examine what your goals are in costuming. To have a piece finished a month earlier than a deadline? To have a piece finished in time for an event? To have a costume done within a specified number of arbitrary hours? Re-examine that. Its good to have things finished early. Its good to have things finished in time for an event. Its good to time yourself to find out how long a task takes. But it is not good to rush it for that very reason.
If you are someone who is not a fursuit maker, but perhaps an admirer or buyer, something important to look for in purchasing a costume is the time and thought put into creating that character. Is it a character you are buying, or just a mask someone "created to sell"? Sometimes that is a very important distinction. Examine also the time span from between when the artist finished the piece, and has listed it for sale. Did they give themselves any time to examine the piece, to look at it for a day, a week, (more?) to find any details that needed finished, or any other work that needed done to polish it up to be perfect? To give time to accept and follow a constructive critique perhaps? To revise the mask after an improvement in personal construction techniques, any of that? Or did they put it immediately for sale. Essentially shouting DONE! And slamming their glue guns on their desk and raising their hands from it.
I see time spent as quality. Just the same as I see appropriate choice of materials as quality and level of finish as quality, as well as numerous other aspects of creating. None of this is an excuse to take forever to make something, but I don't feel like any of this is a race to be the first to finish.
Just my sincere thoughts.
Im no "professional" suit maker, but I consider myself to be strictly a :hobby suit maker"
Taking the time to run ideas and concepts by others whose opinions I value, and taking the time to "have fun" creating the design in the character as a whole to me, is the whole essence of the process.
This is a great journal and a true valid point I'm glad you made
I genuinely want to make the best fursuit I possibly can every single time, and I want my customers to be glad they chose me to make their suit. I'm far more worried about quality over quantity. :) Research and time spent pay off in the end!
I admire fursuits from practically every creator, all due to the quality of the suit. I hope one day to be able to like stuffedpandastudios here and be able to build and sell suits for customers, but I definitely want to make sure I have good pieces to show for my work rather than some quick, done in a flash suit.
Now deadlines are gone, I am still overbooked but now I focus on making sure I put out my best vs how fast I move through my list.
One tip I have picked up to catch flaws, and which I do despite adding a little time, is to take pictures along the way, namely front view ones which I then copy the one side, flip it, and paste it over the other side to check symmetry, through this I can catch subtle but fatal flaws like crooked eye placement :)
I also now make the heads first, and I put them under my TV, so I look at them throughout the time I am making the rest, so I have time to think "hmm maybe that bugs me, lets change it"
It is indeed not a race, sure it is cool to brag and say "I got this done in 3 days" but when you say that did you sacrifice anything along the way to get that bragging right? Because the real bragging right is the results not the time spent on it.
While I will admit time doesn't always guarantee quality, practice and time certainly does. thank you for posting this hun, this should really be placed upon a forum for new makers or even just people in general.
This is what I tell persons that my doing my first fursuit on my own is so important. I learned the ins and outs of fursuit design and had I not done so, get a commissioned suit done back then, I would have tortured the fursuit maker with requesting ridiculous things and arguing every point. Several probably would have refused to do it or complete the order.
So having done two rushed ones myself (I wanted to have fun so badly), I know the reasons for the designs. What's easy, what's hard.
I know the results of rushed work. The cost of being impatient. I remind my friends that they cannot expect their fursuit done by a convention or other deadline.
Even though I lack patience, I have to keep the goal in mind for the next fursuit: quality, careful choices, learn the methods better.
As a former software quality assurance "guru" I know the factor of how quality has to be sacrificed to produce something in time. Unfortunately the result is we have really buggy software as a result of the QA process being deemphasized! LOL
So the note to the buyer at the time either on your web page or in a statement to the person (preferably written), "my emphasis is quality, beauty, design. It will take what it takes to get done time wise, if I set a deadline, it's a goal that if not achieved there is a good reason. Don't expect the suit to be done by that date, understand that quality takes time." Or something to that effect.
I envy immensely the work done by so many fursuit makers, lacking the money is the reason I made my own. And having that happen forced me to learn the process so I can make better decisions and that when I am ready to hire a maker to make a fursuit, it will go far easier.
My next suit will be quality over speed. Carefully do a professional job on each part. To do something professionally means that time must be taken to get it right. That "professional" suit will take perhaps a couple of years but generally no deadline. Just do it right and keep at it. It still will be my personal suit as I cannot make suits for others in my situation right now.
And I learned from the get-go that the makers are in it as a hobby. Just like model railroaders who open a train shop that is never profitable as it's for the hobby. Not the profit.
This is true for anything that we want to master it takes time effort and patience. Thanks for the thoughts ^_^
Enough said.
Anyway, personal annoyances aside, the time thing can be tricky in some cases. There are amazingly talented people who can pull off a great-lloking, great-fitting, well-built suit in a relatively short amount of time. However, I think the fact that these individuals still made a high quality product is overshadowed by the stigma of something being rushed in such a short time frame.
Personally I think a few makers have unreleased deadlines. Then again others don't say how long things can take, up to and over a year for some. a little annoying for the buyer because they may not realise how long their wait for it.
Then the whole 'quality over quantity' banner gets waved.
I like posting every step of making to my customers and explain what's going into their suit. I only move stages once they are cleared by the customer. Same with my art. everyone gets blue line sketches untill their 100% happy for me to move on.
Builds a better relationship with your clients and it reassures your doing a good job.
imo if you're going to rush it....then you might as well admit that you won't be able to finish it in time...rushing it and cutting corners leads to angry and dissapointed customers.....and who wants to dissapoint thier customers?
I don't know. My opinion is; if you think it's worth doing, then it's worth doing right.
I never claim to be the best one out there, but I Do try my best to remember from my past experiences, and draw upon them for inspiration and making the next one easier.
I'm still working on my last personal suit. I keep looking at it and changing little things here and there.
Feel free to repost other places too!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TRTkCHE1sS4
Btw, thank you so much for those gloves again. I am still loving them alot. Will I be seeing you in Canada this weekend, btw?
(as a reference to those not in the know, the "Fursuit Challenge" was a program that set forth to create a fursuit at a convention and have it 100% ready to be presented/worn/characterized in the masquerade show on the Saturday night of the convention. The event spanned the time from the start of the convention early Friday, up until the start of the Masquerade on Saturday Night)
Regardless of the design of the character/look and feel, if a good actor/performer can wear the suit, and present it with a lively step, happy outward attitude, and feel of total confidence while in the suit, then a character can really shine. Opposite of this if a person with no spirit or emotion wears a thousand dollar suit, doesn't give it life, and just stands around looking useless, that will detract from a character's look and feel more than the look of a suits construction or lack of sound construction techniques at times.
In short, its not necessarily the time put into a suit (it can be), but also how the wearer of the suit performs, that matters.
DustnRain
*Carraig formerly of Conifur Northwest*
PS
Matrices, its just awesome how far you've come since since you first came to Conifur!