Some Interesting Art

Check out these portraits and sketches by Max.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Max-Duplantier-Art/247891091892890

Score This Tee!

Hey everyone! I've been kind of busy lately and haven't managed to create any more costumes but I have gone and created some T-shirts! But I need your help. These T-shirts need votes in order to be selected for print. Please follow the links below and score them for me! Thanks!

http://www.threadless.com/submission/341056/Enchanted_Tee/from,Maxduplantier

http://www.threadless.com/submission/341043/The_Sofa/showmore,designs



Sincerely,
Max

The Sea Goddess Amphitrite, Halloween 2010

By Halloween 2010 my dress-making ideas had come to a halt. I had no plans on what to be and couldn't for the life of me think of anything! Finally, while flipping through a colorfully illustrated book on the Greek Gods, I stopped on a page picturing Poseidon. At his side was the sea goddess Queen Amphitrite. That's it! I thought. Finally an idea! And so, the week before Halloween, I decided to be a sea goddess.

The base of the costume.

Here are the supplies used for this costume: A blue, fitted one-shoulder dress from Goodwill (bought for $4.50); blue sheer; a long, black skirt; seashells; plastic, fish tank seaweed; and a glue gun.

Step 1- The splits on either side of the base were opened to the hip.

Step 2- The blue sheer was used to create strips draping diagonally across the front and back of the dress.

Step 3- A short train and bustle of blue sheer were sewn on the back of the dress at the waist.

Step 4- The black skirt was placed underneath the base and the sides were pulled up through the splits and sewn to the outside of the base.

Step 5- Using the glue gun, shells were added to cover the rhinestones on the strap. They were also attached at the hip, and on the back: above and on the bustle.

Step 6- The plastic seaweed was glued as accents down the top of the dress, at the hip, and above the bustle.

Step 7- The leftover seaweed was used as accents to the hair.

The Final Product!!!

The back.

Detail at hip.

Not having nearly as much time to work on the costume this year, I had to get it finished over the weekend before Halloween. Therefore, all the steps taken to create this costume were done in two evenings. And although I managed to get it done in a lot less time than previous costumes, I think this one has been the most challenging.

Well, until my next costuming endeavor!

Sincerely,
Max

Halloween 2010 Idea

For Halloween I have been having a lot of trouble coming up with an idea for a costume. But finally, I came up with a plan. I decided to go for a sea-witch/sea goddess dress. And, as always, I started planning it out with sketches.
Here is the final sketch. I've already gotten a base and started work on the costume. More pics to come!

Nefertiti Costume for Halloween '09

For Halloween this year I created a Queen Nefertiti costume. Since there were several different pieces to the costume I have separated the steps into three categories: The hat, the jewelry and the dress. 

The Hat 

The Nefertiti hat consists of a plastic bucket and top, paper, oil and acrylic paints, cardboard, dimensional craft paint and super glue.

1. The bottom was cut out of the plastic bucket.

2. The plastic bucket (with the top) was covered in paper.

3. The paper was painted a dark blue.

4. Two pieces of cardboard were cut to make the front yellow piece which comes down in front of the ears, and the yellow strip above the back of the neck.

5. The cardboard was painted yellow and glued onto the bucket.

6. The colorful strips of squares were painted onto the bucket.

7. The snake was put onto the front of the hat with yellow dimensional craft paint.

8. A dark yellow oil paint was used to accent the edges of the snake.

The Jewelry

The Nefertiti jewelry consists of earring hooks, wire, beads, string, hem facing, snaps and super glue.

1. A selection of beads were put onto two segments of wire.

2. The segments of wire were shaped into circles and attached to the earring hooks.

3. A string of beads with a bead consistently looped back through so that it dangled was made using a needle and thread.

4. Another row of beads was sewn through the dangling bead of the first row and in between beads were looped back through so that they dangled from the second row.

5. Step 4 was repeated four more times.

6. A last row of beads was sewn through the sixth row of dangling beads to finish it.

7. Hem facing was glued over the ends of each side of the necklace.

8. Snaps were sewn onto the hem facing.

The Dress

The Nefertiti dress consists of a blue skirt that I'm borrowing from my mom, a white tank top, a white nightgown, white sheer fabric, hem facing, wire, beads, a hook and eye and super glue.

1. The ruffles and sleeves were cut off of the nightgown.

2. A piece was cut out of the front of the nightgown.

3. The blue skirt was taken in so that it fit better.

4. A piece of sheer fabric was cut into a triangular shape and two of the points were tied together to make shawl which wraps over one shoulder and under the other arm.

5. Wire and beads were wrapped around a scarab bead and glued onto the red hem facing to create the belt.

6. The shawl and belt were placed over the nightgown which was placed over skirt and tank top.

Here is the whole costume:

Nefertiti's first outing!

Yesterday Nefertiti made her first public appearance! I wore the costume to the Howl and Yowl Festival at Country Acres which I went to with my sister. Unfortunately, there weren't many other people in costume so it was a bit embarrassing at first, but the costume was a success. Here are some pictures of the full costume before and at the festival. 

After Halloween...

After Halloween I will post the full steps and pictures of the Nefertiti costume. This way I'll be able to post some pictures from the actual event the costume was made for! So you can expect that post to show up next Wednesday, at the latest. 

Until then!

Your Faithful Blogger,

Max

Nefertiti Dress

Here is the dress I will be using for halloween. As soon as all the pieces are finished I will post all the steps I went through to make it and pictures of the whole costume.

The dress consists of: 

• A long, blue skirt I'm borrowing from my Mom.

• A knee-length night gown which I cut the sleeves and ruffles off of and split down the front. 

• A sheer wrap which I cut from some fabric I found in one of my closets. 

• A belt which I made using red hem facing, a scarab bead, a few other beads, wire, a hook and eye, and super glue.

Nefertiti Makeup

In order to look more like Queen Nefertiti, I've been studying her face so I could copy the makeup. Although there are still enormous differences between our faces, I believe I have gotten the makeup to look pretty good. Here are some pictures of the bust of Nefertiti from the Berlin Museum and my own attempts at her makeup.

           

        

Weekly Tip

If you are often creating costumes for yourself, buying a dress form is a good idea. It comes in handy when you want to sew on additions by hand while its on you but can't since you're in the dress. New dress forms range from $100 to $200, but you can buy one for about $50 at a thrift store or antique store.

Nefertiti Necklace

Here are some pictures of the necklace I am making to go with my Nefertiti costume. I based it off of some pictures of Egyptian necklaces from around 1300 B.C. It isn't done yet, and there will be at least another row of beads after the blue ones.

Weekly Tip

When searching for ideas for a costume, books on art are very helpful. They provide detailed pictures of almost any style or period you want. By using these you can easily create a beautiful gown which is also historically accurate. 

Nefertiti Headpiece

Here are some pictures of the headpiece so far. It still needs some more painting, along with a few other adjustments. The hat consists of a large white bucket and top, paper, oil and acrylic paint, cardboard, glue and tape.

Weekly Tip

Always sketch out drawings of your ideas for your costume. It can help you figure out exactly what you want it to look like and sometimes inspire you to adjust certain parts to make it even better.

Idea for Halloween '09

I've been thinking ahead and have decided to start a halloween costume early so I can spend a lot of time perfecting it. I had sketched out a few ideas of egyptians and mummies last year but decided on the masquerade gown instead since I didn't have the right pieces for an egyptian costume. But this year the pieces have begun to show up and I have started designing a Queen Nefertiti dress. I still am not perfectly sure if this is what I will be, but I'm hoping it will work out.

Here is a sketch of what I'm hoping I can get it to look like:

Weekly Tip

Always start out simple. Once you have created the basic style you can then decide whether you want to add more detail or not.

Renaissance Gown

This dress was created for no particular event but I thought it might come in handy in the future. It consists of a bodice I sewed (without a pattern) from fabric used to cover my dining room chairs, a red dress my Aunt gave to me, a long brown velvet skirt I found in my laundry room and a shoe lace.

Here are some pictures of each piece:

  

Step 1. The left over fabric from the dining room chairs was sewn into a three-piece renaissance bodice which laced up the back.

Step 2.  The front of the red dress was cinched up more to create a prettier neckline.

Step 3. Two slits were cut down the length of each sleeve so that they draped off the arms.

Step 4. The bodice was laced (by the shoe lace) over the red dress which was placed over the brown skirt. Then the side of the red dress was hitched up at one hip and the sleeves were pushed up above the elbow.

Weekly Tip

Thrift stores and garage sales are great places to search for a cheap base to a costume. But you have to remember to keep an open mind and consider the ways you could adapt that tacky prom dress into your own stylish gown.

Masquerade Ball Gown for Halloween 2008

For Halloween in 2008 I created a masquerade ball gown. I used a prom dress from the thirft store, one of my Mom's old black skirts, a white ruffled underskirt that my sister used for plays, black stockings, some old white satin, pearl beads and some leftover lace from a ballet costume.

The prom dress was black with red plaid. It was strapless with a ruffled skirt. Unfortunately I didn't get a picture of the dress before I started changing it. 

Now, here are the steps in which the prom dress was transformed into the ball gown:

Step 1. The red plaid was removed from the hips and skirt.

Step 2. The bodice was detached from the skirt.

Step 3. The plastic ribbing inside the bodice was shortened and the seams were taken in about an inch to give it a more fitted, baroque-style look.

Step 4. The old white satin and beads were used to decorate the front of the bodice.

Step 5. The two black ruffles from the skirt were taken off. One was sewn around the bottom of the bodice to create a cinched flair around the hips. The other was sewn to the top back and then pulled over the shoulders and sewn to the front to form the back and the ruffled capped sleeves.

Step 6. The shortened legs of the black stockings were sewn to the capped sleeves.

Step 7. White lace was added to the black stockings to form bell sleeves at the elbows.

Step 8. Satin trim was added around the neckline and lace to the front of the bodice.

Step 9.  A strip was cut out of the front of the long, black skirt to show the white underskirt down the center.

Step 10. I plastered my hair into a Marie Antoinette style, decorated a mask and fan, put all the pieces of my costume on and went trick-or-treating!