Otaku Crafting: Yes or No?
[ Lots of details and rambling on the subject over at my blog: Otaku Crafting: An Introduction ]
Define Otaku: "people with obsessive interests, particularly anime, manga, and video games"
Define Crafter: "someone who participates in a particular handicraft, either as a hobby or as a small business"
I guess that means a whole lot of the comrades here are crafters in one way or another. Build gunpla? Have a musume - and make clothes for her? Create garage kits? Cosplay? Crafters all.
I'm thinking about taking up crochet and will of course be tackling fandom-type crafts. Case in point: the photo above, a crochet adaptation of an original knitted hat, associated with the character Jayne Cobb from Joss Whedon's Firefly/Serenity 'verse. Credit to Kim P. Werker.
Hope to hear from comrade crafters soon.
I modify some of my Zoids & gundam when i have some free days.
I've modified Warhammer 40K stuff to fit the game when necessary.... I'll throw a few pics here or at DC.com when I quit procrastinating...
Yay, otaku crafters unite! I've painted fanart in underglazes on pottery several times, including a Hatsune Miku plate, an Ayanami Rei coffee mug, and a teapot/teacup set with Chii from Chobits, Yuuko from xxHolic, Ruroken, and Ed Elric on the inside (with a bamboo pattern outside). Oh, and I sculpted a ceramic mug with Freya/dark Chii as the handle, but unfortunately her arm came off in the firing. I have also sculpted a few ooak figures out of polymer clay. Oh, I was strongly considering making a custom Girl Genius trilobite locket in my jewelry class last semester, but didn't get to it. I also did a crazy mixed media Invader Zim piece comprised of beads, fabric paint, sequins, and fabrics cannibalized from thrift store finds. Um, it's better than it sounds, really.
I just realized that that's actually a pretty diverse set of otaku craft items. XD I love trying new mediums, and oftentimes find that some of my weirder desires can only be met if I make it myself. (Like that cross-license teaset--no way is any company making teacups with all those characters on them!)
An awesome site for videogame (sometimes anime) crafts is http://www.spritestitch.com/
awesome resource, thank you!
My current, most active craft is workspace modification. I'm afraid it's too obscure of a craft to frequently post about in general places :l
I don't do too many crafts due to some time constraints, but I have made some papercrafts and built a couple model kits. Looking forward to getting some resin kits and trying my hand at making my cosplay outfit real soon! (Simon from Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann)
I am ota because I collect action figures (Japanese & U.S.)and mingei (folk art - Jp & US). I am ota crafter because I am actively producing ceramic and hand-carved wood figures (ningyo) representative of my ethnic heritage. I am an American Indian, a member of the Big Pine Band of Owens Valley Paiute, located in eastern California.
participating in gunpla modding, but still suck & lazy to improve it (damn school, my reason)
but would like to change my path to garage kit, doll accecorries, and well... any kind of skill that can be applied to art for otaku consumers (sculpting, drawing, knitting, and material making)
Asides drawing I'm not that much into crafts, not because I don't like them (in fact love them) butmostly because I spend the time playing games and lazying around =P but I have been considering both statues and knitting scarves with anime themes, something simple like Haruhi colors ahahahaha XD
Man walks down the street wearing a hat like that...
I tried my hand at sculpting awhile back... it was a dismal failure, so I've stuck with drawing. That said, I am resonably good with balsa, foam, cardboard, foamcore board and the like, so making houses and furniture at a small scale is one thing I enjoy doing. That however is usually for university.