bitingbows
cosplayer, crafter & seamtress
30 Days of Cosplay
I started doing the 30 days of Cosplay in 2017. Daily challenges were a big thing within crafting spaces at the time, and it sounded like a great way of pushing myself to stay creative and keep learning.The challenge soon turned into a staple practice for my cosplay. I was able to give my costumes the love they deserved, so that nothing would stay forgotten in the wardrobe, and the practice gave me a good excuse to give my costumes maintenance checks and upgrades, as well as giving new homes to the costumes that no longer instilled joy.Over the years I added my own personal goals for growth; from feeling more confident with different makeup and special effects, to learning how to style wigs and pushing my photography to try and set atmosphere within my self-portraits.It's a challenge I encourage every cosplayer to try once; you don't need to have 30 different outfits to see it through either!
The goal is not to be wasteful, but to be creative and resourceful with what you already have to unlock new joys and skills within you!
30 Days of Cosplay - 2017
My first attempt at the 30 days of Cosplay was in 2017. My main focus was practicing different makeup styles and wig work.I was still very new to cosplay and did not have 30 full costumes to test out; so some of theses were actually just clothes layered up.By the end of this first attempt I felt like I had growth a lot with my makeup abilities and skills, and working out what doesn't suit me personally.Cosplays pictured from the top row, left to right:
Fran from Final Fantasy XII, Hinata Hyuga from Naruto, Tsunade from Naruto, Ariel from The Little Mermaid, Lottie Person from Snotgirl, Samus from Metroid, Alex Benedetto from Gangsta., Ai Shindou from Beyond the Boundary, Bulma from Dragonball, Asuka from NGE, Shego from Kim Possible, Junko from Danganronpa, Misty from Pokemon, Naruto Oiroke no Jutsu, Snow White, Jessica Rabbit, Kiki from Kiki's Delivery Service, Aurora from Sleeping beauty, Tracer from Overwatch, Spinelli from Recess, Nami from One Piece, Mercy from Overwatch, Misato from NGE, Tifa from Final Fantasy VII, Hermione Granger, Poison Ivy, Konan from Naruto, Orihime from Bleach, Historia from Attach on Titan, D.Va from Overwatch
30 Days of Cosplay - 2018
2018 was my second attempt at the 30 days of cosplay and was unsuccessful.
It was a busy and stressful year outside of cosplay, I managed to do 10 out of the 30 days but had to focus on other priorities.Characters from top right to left:
Shinji Ikari, Asuka Langley, Lady Deadpool, Wednesday Addams, Bulma, Hinata, D.Va, Nero, Gou Matsuoka and Zelda
I had started a new job in 2019, and the schedule freed up a lot of time for me to enjoy cosplay more; so in 2019 I did two bouts of the 30 day challenge!
As I had more free time I was able to go to more cons, and the first portion of the challenge was to help me work through the cosplays I had and work out my convention lineups and well as be more proactive with any outfit that needed repairs or upgrades.Characters from left to right:
Sadayo Kawakami, Mina Ashido, Lunafreya, Shego, Zero Two, Petra Ral, Belle, Cindy Aurum, Midnight, Paya, Vanille, Tohru Honda, Ann Takamaki, Miia, Iris Amacitia, Ms Joke, Kotori, Yoko, D.Va, Asuka, Persphone, Bulma, Uraraka, Camie Utsushimi, Eri, Ariel, Aera, Ayame, Gou Matsuoka, Tsunade
The second run was not intentional, at first I was so excited in the run up to the FFVII remake announcements that I wanted to show my love by cosplaying as many of the characters I could at the time; but after that I realised I was almost a third into the challenge and I had confirmed events within the time frame so it was pretty easy to plan out the rest of the days.After this my skin absolutely wanted a break from make-up, but the practice helped with posing at conventions, so I'm glad I followed through with the challenge!Characters from Left to right:
Ifalna, Lucrecia Crescent, Reno, Tifa Lockhart, Elena, Aerith Gainsborough, Jessie Raspberry, Yuffie Kisaragi, Snow White, Froppy, Shoto Todoroki, Boosette, Rei Ayanami, Asuka Langley, Mari Makinami, Samus Aran, Momo Yaoyorozu, Ochaco Uraraka, Shuten Douji, Nero, Asuka, Rikku, Zelda, Aizawa, Lalafell, Inko Midoriya, Ms Joke, Roxanne, Miku, Oiroke no jutsu Naruto
30 Days of Cosplay - 2020
In 2020 I was in mourning as we had just lost my dad, he had always been supportive of the hobby and loved to troubleshoot prop mechanics with me. During this time the sadness pushed me into making a lot more costumes, we were all in lockdown at this time so other than going to work there was also little else to do.I wanted to focus on costumes that brought me a sense of happiness.Characters from left to right:
Hinata Hyuga, Tsunade, Bulma, Megara, Lunafreya, Asuka, Nero, Tifa, Yoko, Scathach, Lottie Person, Daenerys Targaryen, Machi Kuragi, Ms Joke, Cindy Aurum, Jalter, Lenore, Kushina Uzumaki, Rikku, Sadayo Kawakami, Zelda, Maki Oze, Izumi Uchiha, Viera Dancer, Yui Michimiya, Mitsuri, Davinci, Kiyoko Shimizu, Au'ra WOL and Shuten Douji
30 Days of Cosplay - 2021
We were at the tail end of lockdown during this 30 days of cosplay, and whilst I still enjoyed making cosplays, not being able to go to cons with friends made me want to push my skills further; but at this point I was bored of taking photos infront of a plain backdrop.Great for a portfolio to highlight details, and the lighting was a dream to work with but felt clinical to me because everything felt a little too clean for the characters in question.
30 Days of Cosplay - 2022
2022 was a year of huge changes to me, I moved to America and had a big clear out of the cosplays I knew no longer brought me joy and deserved new homes.
The clear out gave me the clarity and space to work on making some new cosplays.
This time around I added backdrops to my shoots, this was a huge learning curve and some where more hindrance than help; but I was relieved to be stepping away from my old format.
30 Days of Cosplay - 2023
2023's 30 days of cosplay had to have a new spin on itself, so my challenge was only to include cosplays I had made. This was my 9th year of cosplaying and in that time I had made and kept a little more than 30 cosplays. Some are made from scratch and some are upcycled; I wanted to honour my time crafting and what I have learnt over the years, as well and the range of series I have grown to love alongside cosplaying.The pictures were a mix of green screen, back dropped and photoshop compositions. I still have a long way to go with making myself look harmonious with the false backgrounds, but photographer friends have assured me its something that comes with time and practice- and doing a full shoot and set of edits within a day definitely impairs how much your eyes can assess the lighting values. Over all I'm excited to learn more in order to tell stories and set an atmosphere within my self-portraits.Characters from top left to right:
Tifa (Nibelheim outfit), Tifa (Remake outfit), Tifa (Advent Children Outfit) all from Final Fantasy VII, Nophica from Final Fantasy XIV, Yuzuha from Tokyo Revengers, Kuki Shinobu from Genshin Impact, Utahimi Iori from Jujutsu Kaisen, Paya from BOTW Zelda, Alisaie from FFXIV, Ryne from FFXIV, Gaia from FFXIV, Unohana from Bleach, Meteion from FFXIV, Casca from Berserk, Miss Fortune from League of Legends, Megara from Hercules, Shenhe from Genshin Impact, Isuzu Sohma from Fruits Basket, Viera dancer from FFXIV, Harran from Nikke Goddess of Victory, Au'ra from FFXIV, Rikku from FFX-2, Sara Kujou from Genshin Impact, Ms Joke from My Hero Academia, Sasuke from Naruto, Masaki Kurosaki from Bleach, Shuten Douji from Fate Grand Order, Yoko from TTGL, Shirahoshi from One Piece, Davinci from Fate Grand Order
30 Days of Cosplay - 2024
2024 had it's challenges, but I promised myself I wouldn't end the year without a 30 day challenge.
Learning from 2023 I avoided any greenscreen and opted for backdrops that I found easier to work with and less time consuming post-production wise, because all of this challenge was done on top of a 55 hr work week, with our furnace breaking the first week of December and I didn't want to completely rinse my energy over the Christmas period.Characters from top left to right:
Petral Ral from Attack On Titan, Juri Han from Street Fighter, Asuka Langley from NGE, Nel from Bleach, Reika Shimohira from Gantz, Soda from Nikke, Seras Victoria from Hellsing, Alisaie Leveilleur from FFXIV, Seiko from DanDaDan, Jill Warrick from FFXVI, 2B from Nier Automata, Momo Ayase from DanDaDan, Nophica from FFXIV, Casca from Berserk, Minthara from Baldurs Gate 3, Christmas Twilight Zelda, Christmas Tifa Lockhart, Christmas Cindy Aurum, Emma Sano from Tokyo Revengers, CC from Code Geass, Verona from Van Helsing, Ysayle Dangoulain from FFXIV, Viera Dancer from FFXIV, Senju Kawaragi from Tokyo Revengers, Mash from FGO, Hatsune Miku, Boa Hancock from One Piece, Rogue from X-Men Evolution, Irelia from League of Legends and Pictomancer Au'Ra WoL from FFXIV
Hiya!
I'm BitingBows, but you can also call me Susana / Sooz.I'm originally from London, but currently living in America.I have been cosplaying since 2014; I have loved art all of my life and cosplay had been a wonderful extension of that passion where I can set myself challenges, test my skills and push my limits. I do all my own makeup, style my own wigs and make the majority of my cosplays and have learnt foam work thanks to this hobby. I have a keen interest in upcycling and repairing, minimising waste is always one of the main focuses of my cosplays.I amnot taking personal commissions at this time, but I am always happy to help troubleshoot and plan how to tackle cosplay projects.I can be reached through my email and the social media listed below if you would like you work on a project together!