#labubu custom

[armeleia]

So I'm customizing Labubus lately to keep my OCD brain from eating itself.

[pulpfricktionsart]

"Looks Like You're Not Happy, 'Less I Open a Vein..."

Literally the day after my last post, I came down with a surprise headcold, and I’ve only just recovered from it. (Yeah, I could’ve kept working on this while I was sick. But for one thing, I was dealing with Sick-Brain, and Sick-Brain never wants to cooperate with anything outside of sleeping and showering. And for another thing, I didn’t want too many germs to attach to my little guy. Sure, he’ll get exposed to some germs no matter what, but still.) 

Anyway, remember what I said about posting throughout the whole vein-drawing process? Well, turns out I decided to be a bit more gung-ho with the details than I thought I’d be...

Although I was still pretty damn nervous about it, I’d made a point to practice drawing vein patterns on paper with other Ohuhu markers (basically every color outside of gray and red, since I really needed those markers to stay viable for this project). And despite my doubts about my drawing, I’m actually pretty pleased with how they turned out so far. 

My personal artistic skills are focused on writing, sculpture, and painting the clay used for said sculptures. (Yeah, decorating cakes and cookies is kinda there too, but I’m still an amateur at that.) When it comes to drawing, I typically say, “I can’t draw a straight line with a ruler.” But veins are actually kinda easy. It’s just a matter of making streaks weave together. The uncanny resemblance to tree roots/branches helps. (Even if that was one of the things I questioned about how I was drawing them.)

A big part of this success is the fact that the fur hasn’t put up too much of a fight. I’ve noticed that the three Labubu lines seem to have different types of fur in their designs. The BIE line specifically has very thick, fluffy fur. The EM line has dense, curly fur. The HAS, meanwhile, has fur that seems much thinner, and a bit more prone to matting. Not that that’s a bad thing, it just needs to be handled with more care. It seems to create a bit of a smoother palette; you still have to be cautious with your marker-strokes, but it’s probably easier to customize than, say, a BIE’s fur. (You could still color it, but complex patterns would certainly be a challenge) 

Yes, I know, the fur and veins of the head looks different than everywhere else; I'm really not sure how that happened. I wasn't happy about it at first, but by now I've embraced it as a happy accident. For one thing, the slight color-spread could reference burst veins. For another thing, this could be chalked up to how the brain actually requires a different type of bloodflow than most other organs of the body.

As you can see, the ears are now fully colored-in. I tried to outline the inside and the the outer-edges with red, but I found myself having to try and clear up more smudges with more rubbing alcohol on the parts that were SUPPOSED to remain untouched. And that made the ears just...kinda resemble strawberry shortcake. And while I usually don't mind strawberry shortcake, this project is about blood, so changes had to be made. It was a last-minute decision, but I don't think it takes away from the rest of the look.

I didn’t originally plan to outline the entire face with red; the first idea was to just have veins branching off one or two corners of it. But hey, if you look up diagrams of the circulatory system, then you’ll see how veins are fucking EVERYWHERE, so that gave me more confidence. Plus, I kinda like the way the face is just poking out of the red like that. 

(Also, yes, there are some smudges of certain parts of the vinyl. I guess there were some weak points in the tape, just like what happened with the ears. Luckily for me, the worst of it cleaned off. Plus, those smudges leaked onto much less visible areas, save for directly around the nose. The hands and feet are a bit of a different story. But the more I think about it, the more it makes sense for the Labubu to look grungy as well as bloody. The titular submarine isn’t up to code with its mechanics, so it probably wasn’t too clean on the inside even before it was sent into the blood ocean.)

Aaaaaaannnnnd he's pretty much done! I considered taking the customization all the way to his eyes with red and black metallic paints, but I ultimately decided not to. The irises are behind plastic, after all; you can't really touch them or have any paints properly set on top of them. Besides, look at their original design! Makes my buddy look like he’s happily contemplating some arson. And who the hell says hearts are too cutesy/girly? Just because they’re pink doesn’t mean they can’t spiritually relate to the blood ocean.

Notice how I said "pretty much done." Despite everything I've done for the modification, there's still something missing. And the movie literally comes out tomorrow (even though I could only manage to get tickets for a showing on the 31st, because the one for the 30th sold out a few hours after my local theater accepted the movie), so I don't have time for anything too extravagant...

That's where this comes in!

Literally just a spare pendant from Etsy on a chain that was originally human-sized until I cut it down a bit. I made a special necklace to wear to the showing, so I figured it was only right for Fabian to one as well. (That's my buddy' official name, by the way. Fabian. There's a reason for that, because of course I have to be extra about everything, but I won't get into that right now.)

NOW he's ready to come to the theater with me!

I really didn't think this would turn out so decent, since it's my first time trying out plushie modification. I think I'm gonna keep trying it in the future, since I actually had a lot of fun and learned quite a few things in the process.

But that'll be a post for another day...

(Although I might post something else for Iron Lung in the next couple days, depending on how I feel. We'll just have to see.)

@sammys-magical-au @insane4fandoms @the-matpat-ever @inkbedou @darkedeusvult48-blog

[meluronsoda]

This is my custom labubu bc I found a labubu head without it's body at school like a week ago

[gmvofficial]

if you can't beat em, join em. And if you can't afford em, buy a bootleg and customize it

His name is Blur and he's lagaylay

[frankiegirl]

LafuFrank is among us, finally (mostly) complete.

I got this lafufu from my vape shop and it was supposed to be a have a seat. But instead, his legs were just very short. What could be a more perfect origin for Frank?

I took his original face paint off (kinda badly, but hey, last night’s makeup vibes) I redid his makeup and painted his fingers and toes with uv gel polish. I also superglued a ball for a lip piercing.

It took me weeks to track down a little vest good enough. I finally found one at my state fair lmao. I sewed the striped shirt from a bit of a shirt I thrifted that I never really liked how it looked on me.

I’m pretty proud of this. It’s very like shitty diy but that’s the vibe. It would be wild for me to someday be able to show him to the Man Himself.

[pulpfricktionsart]

Premier Outfit!

The first day the Iron Lung movie was announced, I told myself that I'd have an excuse to splurge. (And that excuse is valid, thank you very much, because this movie is extremely special for Mark's fandom.)

I did aforementioned splurging in a few different ways (gathering supplies to customize Fabian, making Iron-Lung-themed trinkets for friends, etc.), but the biggest example is the outfit I'll be wearing to the theater for tonight's showing.

Anyone who knows me know that I'm extremely self-conscious, so naturally I was quite hesitant to post any pictures online. However, like I said: this is a special time, and special times typically require you to step outside your comfort zone. Encouragement from friends, both irl and online, has also helped a lot. (Especially from one @sammys-magical-au . You'd better stick to your word and post your own damn pictures, lol)

(Also sorry if the camera quality is shit. I tried really hard, but maybe some elements just didn't process correctly.)

(The little dog at my feet is named Bocephus. He's not my pet; he belongs to an irl friend of mine who will one day be made a saint because he was patient enough to help me with the photos. Also he's here on the hellsite as @darkedeusvult48-blog so please be nice to him. And along the way, Bo wanted to be involved, and I just couldn't say no to that face. BASK IN HIS GLORY!)

Pretty much everything pictured (aside from my boots; those are a birthday gift from my dad a few years ago) came from a shop on Etsy:

The dress is from French Meadows.

The scarf/shawl is from OceanAvenueSilks.

The velvet choker ribbon is from ImagizeYourWorld

The eldritch abomination pendant is from abysswares (fair warning, I bought it a few years ago, and nowadays the shop doesn't have much of an eldritch theme. It could also go back to that for a bit, but who knows?)

The leggings are from DerangedDesigns916.

And the clasp connecting the ribbon and pendant is from PrimitiveOriginals.

The showing isn't until later tonight, but I didn't want to leave this until he very last minute. Especially since I haven't been there in years, so I'm not sure how the lighting is in there. Hopefully I'll survive with this on. Not because the theater is dangerous or anything, but because THEY ALWAYS GO INSANE WITH THE AIR CONDITIONING.

And because I am the way I am...

I do have a more conventional go-bag, but this thing is a bit more on-theme. Especially with how Fabian is looking at the logo. (Apologies if his face seems grungier than it did in other photos. But hey, the grunge also works with Iron Lung, and I stand by that.)

Wish me luck for tonight! I know it's gonna be awesome!

@sammys-magical-au @insane4fandoms @the-matpat-ever @inkbedou @darkedeusvult48-blog