#ear fins

[swordmouse]

Cosplay ear fins tutorial

I made ear fins for an Eridan cosplay, and a lot of people asked how I made them. I haven’t seen anyone else doing the same method I used, so I thought I’d share.

I started out with some wire. I don’t know the exact gauge off the top of my head, but I don’t think it particularly matters as long as it’s thick enough to hold its shape but thin enough to shape with your hands/pliers. Cutting up a sturdy wire coat hanger would probably give you workable material.

Here are the bases I made. I put some paper over my ears first and sketched a loose outline to get the size I wanted, but I didn’t end up following it too closely. It was mostly a lot of trial and error. I decided on four tines for each ear fin, but you could do a different amount or longer tines if you want. I used round nose and needle nose pliers to shape the wire, but I mostly used my hands and you could probably do this project without pliers if you don’t have them. The ends are curled to avoid stabbing myself in the ear with wire. You want the ear fins to go in front of your ears, and then the wire at the ends loops around the back of your ears to hold them in place. Getting this right took a lot of trying them on and adjusting them, but I eventually got them to where they would stay on without any adhesive but didn’t squeeze my ears too badly.

Next, cut up some old pantyhose/tights to get nylon material. You don't need too much material for this, so sock-style pantyhose would be enough. I happened to have some old tights with holes in them so I just cut out some non-holey pieces. I used black tights since it was the closest I had to gray. You’ll color over these later, but try to get a base shade as close to your desired ear color as possible to make things easier later on. I wouldn’t recommend buying new tights in the exact color you want since that’s expensive and wasteful, so you’ll probably be choosing between black, beige, and maybe white, but just keep in mind that you’ll have to color over it and the coloring method isn't completely opaque. Like, don't use black tights if you want white ears.

Stretch the nylon over the wire bases. I used a roughly square piece of nylon for each ear and folded it in half, then scrunched the excess to pull it tight and used binder clips to hold the material in place. Then use a thread in the color you want the ears to be and sew along the whole open edge of the nylon, anchoring it to the wire frame as shown below. Keep the nylon stretched tight over the tines while sewing so it has those divots in between tines. Cut off excess material and sew the raw edges down.

Try the ears on again and adjust as needed.

Paint the fabric with Mod Podge (I used matte but I think other finishes would work too.) Take extra care to spread the Mod Podge around the sewn edges to really glue things in place. Wait for the Mod Podge to dry on the nylon. This creates a hard, chalkboard-like surface that you can color on, but keeps some of the transparency of the nylon. I used a combination of chalk, pastels, and eyeshadow powder to color the ears. If you’re going for ears that match your skin tone, foundation powder would probably work. I was just using whatever art supplies I had around, but any powdery pigment should do the job.

I started with white chalk all over the surface to lighten the black color into grey. Then I used white pastel to make highlight lines on the top of each tine and black pastel to make shadow lines below each tine. This added some definition and made the tines look more three dimensional. I filled the spaces between tines with some purple pastel, which I blended into the grey shade with my finger. I then put a layer of shimmery purple eyeshadow over it to give it a nice sheen.

Once you’re done coloring the ears, seal the whole thing with some hairspray and you’re ready to go! You could probably also add some earrings to them if that’s the look you’re going for.

Here’s my final result! I was able to wear a mask with them and they were relatively comfortable to wear all day. Let me know if you have any questions and if you try this tutorial, definitely send me pictures of the results!

[fiveminuterice]

my shining star, when will he come home :(

[yiqi-fr]

I know that the Fathoms aren't released yet but I just had to design one for when I get one after unfathomable odessey! I love them so much :3

[turontot]

WOOOO FINALLY FINISHED IT AFTER A WHOLE MONTH!!!

this is for the starfish fans all three of us!!!!!!!!!!!!!! this goes out to u!!!!!!!!!!

(PLEASE DM ME FIRST FOR PERMISSION IF YOU PLAN ON REPOSTING!)

[full-time-femboy]

Drew more of ze fishe

Bc I love him

Sebastian keychain Pre-Order - Commission info - Tip Jar

Reblogs appreciated 💜

[twisted-up-in-wonderland]

I’ve already seen one person having a lil tantrum, going off about how they were Big MadTM about the tweels having scales on them in their mer forms because

“eElS dOnT hAvE sCaLeS¡!i! 😡😡😡”

And I was like. Dude. Calm down.

Eels don’t have people attached to them either.

They are MERS. This is FANTASY. And you’re upset that they have SCALES because in REALITY eels don’t actually have them???

Lol. Lmao even.

[xinyuehui]

⊹ ࣪ ﹏ Land of Secret Flames ﹏⊹ ࣪ ˖

[conceptofjoy]

Have u ever drawn Feferi :3? I would love to see her in ur artstyle

i havent drawn her in a whilleee. here she is :]

[astrolavas]

so in your mermaid au what is belos? is he also a merman

he wears this

[sluckythewizard]

FIIIINALLY almost nailed my designs for lizzie and caspian can i get a HEEEELLL YEAAH???? i think these two make a vvery cute duo and i cannt wait to see them again. i also hope they both get hurt reaaaallly really badly. togeter

[kujo1597]

I really love the design of Nina's room here. It looks very realistic for one a high schooler would have. But of course Nina needs some special accommodations and they make sense. Her room is cute and believable. I adore the stickers on her bed. What a fun little detail. There's a bunch of posters showing that she has a wide variety of interests, and even an amp.

The pom-pom topped pencil is just *chef's kiss*

Nina's just a regular girl who happens to have aquatic traits and I love that.

[purpleleafsyt]

The Ocean

[lucapizzelles]

finally finished these bozos

[inkspottie]

lightbulb moment

btw, drawing your characters + the pressure ones have help me improve allot as an artist

i mainly just draw the same dude over and over again (granted the same goes for Seb, but with his weird anatomy it’s really fun to figure out how to make him move organically or pose him) so drawing characters that are so widely different from mine and eachother it’s a really good exercise. Same goes for drawing expressions and imagining scenes from your fanfic, never before in my life have i been so excited to read something that i go and re-read my favourite scrnes and chapters when i cant sleep

thanks spottie, you’re fucking amazing

No YOURE fucking amazing *sniff*

But seriously I adore your art and it makes me smile hearing such a thing. Thank you for blessing me with your work.

[flightdescending]

Flight Rising Protobeast but there are so many of them!! and baby ones also!!!

[respect-the-locals]

🐙 Daily Cephalopod Fact: 🐙

Dumbo Octopus: The name "dumbo" originates from their resemblance to the title character of Disney's 1941 film Dumbo, having two prominent ear-like fins which extend from the mantle above each eye. Dumbo octopuses are the deepest living octopuses known, with some specimens captured or observed at hadal depths (20,000 to 36,000 ft) below sea level.