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Something I think should be acknowledged more in cosplay: I actually think it's WAY harder psychologically to be an intermediate craftsperson than a beginner. A few years into cosplaying, once the delight of "whoa, i made that!!" becomes less powerful, you will hit a ROUGH patch.
A few years into cosplaying, your growth won't be as EXPONENTIAL as your first few projects. You'll start to feel like, shit I've been doing this for a few years, shouldn't my work look like so and so's??
You'll have the VISION in your head of what a finished cosplay will look like, and for whatever reason the final project is just ever so slightly not-that. And it'll feel devastating. When people compliment your work, you feel like you should be better than what you're making.
For me, I hit this patch 2015-2016 (I started cosplaying in 2009). My growth the first five years was THRILLING. But then I felt like I plateaued. I attempted too-ambitious builds on too-short timeframes. I obsessed over using "proper" techniques and made myself miserable.
I'm glad I got out of this rough patch. But I think it's important to acknowledge as many of my friends now become maybe-not-quite-veterans but definitely been-around-the-block kinda cosplayers. It won't be easy to get your brain out of the quagmire but s2g it is possible
I'm packing cosplays for my move and being confronted by my Narcissa Malfoy cosplay from 2016 inspired this yell. I worked SO HARD on this dream cosplay and it ended up feeling crunched on the important bits, unfinished on the level I wanted it, and high key underwhelming.
This might seem like a negative thread but the point is that this rough patch DOESN'T HAVE TO BE THE END OF YOU COSPLAYING. I know countless ppl who stopped cosplaying when they hit this bit, which is valid. But I am here to say it CAN pass if you do the work to move through it !
