Today we’d like to introduce you to Jose Rivera.
Hi Jose, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
Since I was little, I was always interested in creating art. Due to an accident, I had when I was young, my motor skills were not the best growing up. Physical activities like sports were very difficult for me. I found a lot of refuge in art. It was something that I could work on my own, with no audience, competition, or expectations. This led me to become very interested in a lot of visual art methods. From drawing, painting, sculpting, and 3d modeling, I began experimenting with art. Although I was not very good at it, I started to see how much practice and patience led to improvement. It led me to be able to share my art in many different ways, such as becoming a face painter, an art instructor at an after-school program, and creating commissions for costumers. Soon after I became interested in cosplay. It allowed me to start piecing together a lot of different art forms that I had learned to that point. It also gave me an excuse to start sewing, something I always wanted to learn. I’ve been making cosplays for over five years now. This has lead me to share my art to many people and make a lot of friends with peers. I have been lucky to experience a lot of wonderful things, like being a featured Cosplay Guest at MegaCon Orlando in 2020.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Nothing has been a smooth road. A lot of my skill set is self-taught. As you can imagine, this is a lot of times learning by making mistakes. Many of my projects begin without a real roadmap as to how things are going to be made and completed. There are always a lot of trial and error in everything I have made. Working with customers or commission work is also a difficult learning process in communication and time management.
Something else I struggled with growing up was always a feeling a place of belonging. Some people are not that supportive of art or artists. There were always the questions on how are you going to make money and constant pushback on what a lot of people consider a “waste of time.” But the truth is, art is all around us. It is everywhere. It makes life beautiful. It is all the things we love and enjoy!
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I consider myself a Cosplay Creator. Meaning I create costumes, props, make-up, and photography to bring characters to life. This process starts by finding a character I want to bring to life, then I start the concept process. I proceed by analyzing the character, looking at what makes the character memorable and how can this be recreated in real life. Then I enter the “pre-production” phase of creating a cosplay. I create sketches, write down ideas, find materials and look at a lot of reference pictures and videos. This step is the most crucial in my opinion, considering that most times I am grabbing a character that is not real and making it in the real world in a way that a person could wear it. Then I use a lot of different skills to put it all together. Most cosplay I make start with some sort if garment I make or alter. Then for the props, armor, or other pieces, I do lot of different things. For some, I have to sculpt things from found objects or crafting materials. For others, I have to 3d model and print the pieces. Then to finish it all I paint all of the items, sometimes that includes myself! The finishing touches are things like make-up and hair. This could mean using my own hair or styling wigs. Then to capture it all, I take pictures of my cosplays in my home studio.
One of the things I feel set me apart is that I do it all myself. I wanted to make sure I became self-sufficient when creating cosplays. This provides me complete control of the whole process.
Let’s talk about our city – what do you love? What do you not love?
I love how welcoming the art community is in this city. It’s so wonderful how people value and respect what people create.
What I dislike the most is the roads!
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/megachromatic/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@JoseRiveraArtVideos
Image Credits
Jose Rivera
