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Katsumiyo — Animal Ears Tutorial
Published: 2011-06-07 07:58:04 +0000 UTC; Views: 76741; Favourites: 1490; Downloads: 528
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Description
Be careful when downloading, because this is...gigantic.Finished my promised tutorial on how to make 3-dimensional animal ears. The craft foam and tinfoil ones are okay but I wanted something a little more realistic.
Important note: The base ears should look a little too small--once you add the fur, they will appear much larger. So be careful to avoid making ears exactly the size you want the first time around.
Feel free to comment or note/message me if you have any questions! Oh, and if you use this tutorial, please message me a link to a picture! I love seeing pictures. :3
Oh, and I totally take commissions on these little suckers, so if you run into a lot of trouble or just get lazy I'd be happy to whip some up for you. :3
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Comments: 243
I'm not positive, but the outside length was about 2.5" for the slightly enlarged ears I made on commission. So the inside should be around 2"-2.25", if I recall.
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this is great :3 im definately going to use this at next years convention :3 i was actually considering being horo buti have some great royal blue faux fur ordered and ill probably just be a generic neko for day one :3
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Getting some practice in is good anyway. I'm sure there's someone with blue cat ears out there somewhere!
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Sigh for some reason mine turned out dumb and wouldn't sit right no matter what I did. You said you do commissions for them, how much would it be for a pair of plain white ears a little bigger than these?
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It wouldn't be too much, but I prefer to discuss commissions privately. 
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[link] [link] [link]
sorry it took so long *m* I couldn't find my camera and so other things happened before I finally found it.
they basically don't sit very well and whenever I tilted my head with them on a wig, they fell forward :C
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That's odd. I thought you might have made the curve too big, but they look well-proportioned. Are you using exactly the clips I mentioned and digging them tightly enough into the wig? Some of the cheaper, flatter clips might do that...
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I couldn't find those exact kind :/ I might just try again or look at another store for the clips.
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Mine were from K-Mart.
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aw man I don't even know if there's a K-mart nearby... I got mine from walgreens, they're actually terrrible for the purpose now that I think about it D; I'll try to find better ones but if not I'll probably just come back and see if you'd take a commission for them.
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Oh, but that'd be silly! If you really for sure can't find the right kind of clips, just send me $5 for the clips and shipping via Paypal sometime and I'll just send you some! Seems silly to commission me when yours came out so nicely and all you need are the clips.
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Okay. I think I may need to make some modifications to the very bottom of the foam because it doesn't hide in my wig very well.
Just to be perfectly sure, when I glue the clip on it goes at the front along the felt/fleece covered triangle? The main thing was when I tilted my head forward they tipped but that's probably because I had bad clips.
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I'm near-positive it was because of your clips. I've used other, flimsier clips before and they did the same thing--rocked forward when I tilted my chin down. These ones latch onto the wefts and even through skintops if you make a careful hole in it. And yes, the clip goes on the front part where the fleece is, with the opening facing up towards the top/inner side. Once you attach them with these clips, you can comb the wig out and hide the clips and foam better.
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Okay! I'll go look for those types of clips tomorrow. Thank you for all your help <33
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Of course, and best of luck!
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Ah I understand of course. I'll take some pictures after work but I already took the clips off for some reason.
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this is probably a dumb question, but after you glue the foam together, is the bottom of the ear supposed to be "open"?
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That's not a dumb question at all! Yes, the bottom of the ear shape remains open. I found that adding foam to the bottom made them sit more awkwardly on the wig. I use the gap to write L for left or R for right on the back of the triangle, so I know which side it goes on. xD
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Okay! thanks 
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AHH! !! These are some awesome cosplay ears Im going to do these myself ^^ but I would like BEAR ears too
I have a template for my bear ears but I just dont have a good method to make them
Do you think you can make a BEAR COSPLAY EARS TUTORIAL just like you made this one ^^
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First off, if you want to ask me something, you need only send me a message -or- leave a comment. No need to ask multiple times, because it won't make me reply any faster.
I can't make a bear ears tutorial, but it's a similar principle to this one. Just cut a bear ear shape out of two layers of craft foam, then sandwich wire along the bottom side (the side that will be attached to the clip) before gluing it shut. You can use the wire to give the ears a little curve. From there, you can either cover one side with fur and the other with fleece and leave it at that or cut a curved shape from the fur and glue it onto the ears to give them a little accent. Either way, it's the same setup as what I've got here, just without the front piece that makes them more triangular.
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Heh ...My apologies .. I didn't mean to heh
But thank you so much Im planning on making these and thought they'd be cute ^^ Thank you
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It's not a problem. |3 Best of luck!
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Thanks so much for making this tutorial! I just made my own ears and they look perfect, just waiting for them to be dry 
Me and my dad really appreciated the tutorial
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No problem at all!
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I'll definitely give you a link when I can! :>
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what kind of clips do u use cause ive tried several kinds and some work and some dont
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There's a photo of the clips I use in the tutorial.
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lol its ok i was just wondering. i found some that work lol
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I *loosely* followed this to make some cat ears, and I found that the fur is way less stiff if you water down the acrylics to the consistency of watercolor. It does take more applications this way, but you don't really get stiff fur. Also, it's way easier to make gradients. I used a stiff drybrushing brush to apply the color because I just threw away all my old toothbrushes, and it still worked fine. I'll upload the ears when I finish if you want to see
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I started using a fine-toothed comb and it looks less matted that way. But I might give your way a try, thanks for the tip.
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yeah, it works great for color tinting but it takes forever on dark shades. I think brushing the fur as it dries also helps keep it from getting stiff too.
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Yeah, that's what I started doing with the fine-toothed combs. I'll add it into the tutorial later; I'd add it into the description but no one reads those.
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oh really? lol I always read the descriptions. In fact, it annoys me when the artist doesn't say anything about the work, especially on daily deviations.
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True enough! But you and I are a rare breed, I fear.
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Thanks so much for posting!<3 I'm off to get the supplies for this today :3
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Of course! Good luck and link me to the results when you're finished!
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it'll be very helpfull, tnx!
only one ask...can it be base to do 'side ears'? that animal ears but elf-like? ^^
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Like, ears that attach to your normal ears? Because I wouldn't really recommend this method for elf ears...just animal ears. Maybe a satyr, but not an elf, I don't think.
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ah I see, but your tutorial 'll be very helpfull :3
tnx for share it ^^
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I think I may use this for reference. C:
I think it would look best if you used dye instead of paint, though. >.<
I was also thinking of using craft foam instead. Thoughts?
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Naked craft foam just doesn't look like ears at all. It works okay for animals with no fur, like maybe pigs, but no fur at all on the craft foam base for an animal like a wolf would look very strange.
As for the dye, dyeing synthetic fur is an extremely messy, destructive, and uncertain process. There are dozens of ways to ruin it and besides, wherever you do your work will be permanently stained because of the products you need to dye plastic. Airbrushing would look good too, though it rubs off easier than paint. Overall, paint is best for the lay-cosplayer and unless one has access to an airbrushing machine already, dyeing is best left to the more experienced of fursuiters or others that work regularly with fur.
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...I meant UNDER the fur, dear...
Not just naked craft foam.
I just thing the paint makes the fur look somewhat matted.
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Oh? You see, it was unclear because I -do- use craft foam beneath the fur. So I don't know why you were suggesting using craft foam if I already use it. And if you use a lice comb, you can get more of the matting out. I just lost mine the night I was making these ears.
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I meant foam like this:
[link]
The soft foam blocks similar to the material they use for some taxidermy forms. I just wasn't sure what it was called. I haven't been to a craft store in years.
I want my ears to be very accurate, and using cloth or thin craft foam doesn't give me form I want.
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That's called upholstery foam, then; not craft foam. If you mold craft foam using a stovetop or heat gun, you can make it into a variety of shapes. Feel free to use whatever you like, though; this is just how I make ears, personally.
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BTW, here's a shot of my ears - - > [link]
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Cute! I'd trim down the fur just a tiny bit, but that's much more of a personal taste thing than a construction issue. 
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