[INTERVIEW] Kovalsky Crafts about himself, belonging and coordinating

Some have manual talent, others have a musical talent, and others have acting talent. However, there are those in which nature has accumulated all three of the abilities mentioned. When on the stage of one of the cosplay competitions I saw a growling Uruk-hai warrior, who after a while drew a wooden flute and started to play a musical theme associated with the visualization of the Tolkien Shire by Peter Jackson, I knew that I had such a person in front of me. Cosplayer, Larpas, coordinator of cosplay competitions, i.e. Kovalsky Crafts.

Did I think then that one day I would have a word with someone like that? Probably not, but it happened anyway! What is the effect of this? You can see for yourself.

The Last Tavern: Let’s start from the beginning. How did it happen that you decided to go into cosplay? When did you say to yourself, “yes, this is what I want to do”?

Kovalsky Crafts: Back in high school, I loved dressing up to the movies we shot with my friends. But no one knew back then that there was such a thing as cosplay. In my environment, we usually spent our time playing football. So when I heard about something like a convention, I figured I had to make my first outfit. Not knowing any materials, not having knowledge and practical skills, it turned out, well … not good 😀
Nobody recognized me, because making Predator from wood is not easy. But I didn’t give up because I like challenges, so I made another outfit. At the Sabat-Fiction fest in Kielce, I appeared as Shen and although the outfit was made of lumpex rags and water bottles, I was pleased because a lot of people recognized me and took pictures with me. Then I decided that I would deepen my knowledge and skills in this field.

 

 

OT: Do you remember your first stage performance? Was it a lot of stress for you?

KC: My first stage performance was at Serialis – the International Festival of Series – as Uruk-hai. Then I managed to take the first place. It was my debut performance, the competition was really high, but when I appeared in front of the audience and heard the music, the stage itself carried me. Since then, I don’t feel stage fright anymore and I think that overcoming my fear like this helped me mentally open up to public speaking.

OT: What do you consider when choosing a character? More about her looks, your liking for her, or something else?

KC: My first category is character aesthetics. I know my features of construction, I’m not, for example, some mega-tall and jumpy guy, so the characters of typical tanks always had to remain an unfulfilled dream (until recently, but maybe about that later). So I had to satisfy myself with all kinds of killers, creatures, etc. characters from movies and games. Once I did my research on characters, I analyzed their type of behavior and character. It was also important whether I liked their story at all. However, I often have a dilemma with choosing the one and only character that I am supposed to tackle now.

 

 

OT: What has been your biggest challenge so far?

KC: In terms of technical work, the biggest challenge for me was designing the Uruk-haia torch, which was supposed to sparkle and smoke on stage without the use of pyrotechnics, which is forbidden at such competitions for the safety of the public. Ultimately, however, after much thought, I designed it to meet these bizarre requirements, so the torch burned and smoked without fire.
Another difficult challenge for me was Theoden’s helmet of Rohan. When I undertook to do it, I did not think that it would be such a difficult task for me. The mass of details and details was really overwhelming, because they all have to be arranged symmetrically for the effect to be level. I had to learn a few techniques to achieve the desired effect, and many times spent hours figuring out which method would be the best to solve a given aesthetic issue. Ultimately, however, I finished the helmet and I am very proud of it.

OT: This year, for the second time, you will be the coordinator of the Sabat Fiction-Fest cosplay competition. How is such an event organized?

KC: Right, this year I am also coordinating our Świętokrzyskie convention, in fact the Sabat-Fiction Fest. It is not an easy task because you have to pay attention to the needs of many people: cosplayers, announcers, photographers and the audience. Often the interests of these people become contradictory or the resources at my disposal turn out to be insufficient. Sometimes there are unexpected surprises, e.g. that a cosplayer will not show up or will need some prop for a cutscene, or that the sound system will stop working. Then you have to stay cool and coordinate some people’s actions so that they can handle the problem properly. Therefore, the most important thing in coordination is cooperation. If I were to say what I value in coordinating the most, I would say that people, helpers and technical, executors of my orders and people who order and operate the equipment. Even the best coordinator would not do the competition alone, it is team work, I am only responsible for finding needs and guiding people so that these needs are met and that the competition is on a level.

 

 

OT: What do you enjoy most about playing different characters?

KC: Belonging to me. The fact that someone recognizes you and you immediately know that you have a common topic that you can talk to that person about. I never do cosplays of characters whose series I do not understand, so when someone recognizes me at a convention, for example, “oh, he is the son of harpies from Game of Thrones “, I look him straight in the eyes, smile in my soul and I know that my man 🙂 A man with whom I already have a starting point to talk about something. So, I think getting to know such crazy people is the greatest fun for me in just walking in clothes.

OT: Besides being a cosplayer, you are also an active LARP player. How different is making a LARP costume from cosplaying?

KC: It is a completely different story. Cosplay is supposed to look and work, in LARP we change priorities a bit – the costume should work first, then look like. For example, in cosplay it is important for the armor to be nice and shiny with details, but it does not have to withstand the punching of a foam sword or rainfall. In turn, the most important thing in the LARP is functionality, because why do you need a great looking weapon when it falls apart or hurts someone after the first hit?
It is obvious, however, that the golden mean is the best in the LARP, which is why the level of costumes is getting higher every year, because people try to make, for example, swords not only safe, but also looking like swords, and not so-called “sticks” . Still, it seems to me that the functionality of the LARP costumes is a priority.

 

 

OT: Cosplay is full of positive energy and happy reactions from people, but sometimes a shadow will sneak in here too. Have you ever had any nasty incident related to this activity?

KC: Apart from multiple burns, abrasions and cuts to the skin while creating and wearing the costume, sometimes people also hurt mentally. A bad word can make a person very unhappy. This was the situation I had when I made the Uruk-haia outfit and even though it turned out great, people laughed that I looked like an anorexic Uruk. Personally, it didn’t bother me a lot, because I think you need to keep a distance from yourself. However, it motivated me to go to the gym more regularly and to choose characters more suitable for my posture. However, I am aware that everyone reacts differently to the mocking criticism that goes against the physical aspects, but what about psychology here I will write about. People are sometimes hooo… freaks so as not to swear, and there’s nothing to worry about the window sills. Cosplay is supposed to be fun for the wearer and that’s the most important thing 🙂

OT: Have you ever given up an outfit before it’s finished?

KC: Never give up, but I admit that sometimes I have longer stagnation due to a decrease in my enthusiasm. I treat cosplay as a mini-challenge and when I see that this challenge is not enough for me and the effect of my work satisfies me, I don’t want to finish it, because I prefer to start another project, another challenge. On the one hand, this is a good feature, because thanks to this, I have new goals all the time, but on the other hand, sometimes such creative stagnation occurs.

 

 

OT: If someone wanted to start their journey with the art of cosplay, what advice would you give them?

KC: Don’t worry about failure. When I look at my first works now, I see a lot of shortcomings and flaws, I even wonder what was driving me back then to choose such a method or to leave something like this. Sometimes we are too critical of ourselves, but it is certain that each subsequent project will be better for you, so do not worry, the first step is the hardest, so if you are reluctant to fail, do not hesitate, take the cardboard / foam and go to robots! If you don’t take the first step, you’ll never make mistakes that lead to practice.

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Main photo taken by: Tomasz Stępień Foto