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Cosplay Tutorial: Wig Painting
By Kotodama
843 Favourites68 Comments56K Views
Wow, this is probably the longest DA that I uploaded. Hell, this is probably the longest image I had ever had to put together!
This is a tutorial on painting designs on wigs with a stencil for cosplay.
When I first thought of this idea, I tested it out on an old wig that I didn't mind ruining. To my surprised it turned out really really good! (Really, I squeed for like an hour at how well it turned out.) Luckily for me, it washed off that wig too... so yay no ruined wig!
When I was ready to paint the design on the real wig, I snapped a crap ton of photos intending to make a tutorial out of it cause it came out too well not to share.
!
I'll also make this into a video tutorial eventually for
's youtube, since our youtube page is very very empty. 
Also entered in
's Tutorial Contest for January. The timing seems perfect because I just finished this wig right before ALA in the beginning of January. XD
I'm not too sure how many characters have odd designs in their hair. (Other than Irabu from Trapeze, the only other one I can think of is Death the Kid from Soul Eater) but I'm sure someone will find a use for this. ^^ Good luck!
Also, please excuse the funky colors, I was totally in a trippy color mood from the Trapeze-ness that my wig oozes. <3
Funny tidbit about those sharpies: After I downgraded them from wig color-er to just stencil tracer (That'd be such a kick to the face if I was a sharpie.) I downgraded them even further to cosplay prop. FAILLLLLLL.
This is a tutorial on painting designs on wigs with a stencil for cosplay.
When I first thought of this idea, I tested it out on an old wig that I didn't mind ruining. To my surprised it turned out really really good! (Really, I squeed for like an hour at how well it turned out.) Luckily for me, it washed off that wig too... so yay no ruined wig!
When I was ready to paint the design on the real wig, I snapped a crap ton of photos intending to make a tutorial out of it cause it came out too well not to share.

I'll also make this into a video tutorial eventually for


Also entered in

I'm not too sure how many characters have odd designs in their hair. (Other than Irabu from Trapeze, the only other one I can think of is Death the Kid from Soul Eater) but I'm sure someone will find a use for this. ^^ Good luck!
Also, please excuse the funky colors, I was totally in a trippy color mood from the Trapeze-ness that my wig oozes. <3
Funny tidbit about those sharpies: After I downgraded them from wig color-er to just stencil tracer (That'd be such a kick to the face if I was a sharpie.) I downgraded them even further to cosplay prop. FAILLLLLLL.
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© 2010 - 2021 Kotodama
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Wow I'm late to this. But out of curiosity, would this work for Asura from Soul Eater? I don't know any other way to get the eye shapes in his hair so painting them is my saving grace. I'd prefer it to be permanent to save time, but it isn't an immediate deal breaker if I can't get the acrylic to stay put (I'd save him for the summer months, strategic fabric just doesn't seem very warm. Or I'd just be a different character lol). Anyway, this is just a shot in the dark, so no hard feelings if nothing works. If there's any way to seal in the paint or something I'd appreciate any ideas!

Heya! Thanks sooooo much for this tutorial, I used it to paint pink patches on my green wig for my Nanami (Katanagatari) cosplay. I have no idea how I would have gone about painting it if I hadn't come across your tutorial >.<
Just some tips for others from my experience:
-don't use contact for the stencil, it sucks!
-if you don't know where to find wax paper (or in my case, didn't realise such things existed...) you can use baking paper instead!
-if you're painting on a dark coloured wig, do an initial layer of white (but most smart ppl would probably do that anyway
)
Just some tips for others from my experience:
-don't use contact for the stencil, it sucks!
-if you don't know where to find wax paper (or in my case, didn't realise such things existed...) you can use baking paper instead!
-if you're painting on a dark coloured wig, do an initial layer of white (but most smart ppl would probably do that anyway

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