#TeamKosart at Walker Stalker Chicago!

Meet Award-Winning Artist and Kosart Founder J. Anthony Kosar (Face Off 4 Champion), along with Kosart Artists / Instructors Anna Cali (Face Off 10 Contestant) and Jamie Leodones (Face Off 8 Contestant) at the Kosart Booth ALL WEEKEND at Walker Stalker Chicago 2016 at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont, IL!  We will be doing LIVE ZOMBIE MUFX DEMOS, sale on PPI Make-Up products for all your ZOMBIEFICATION needs, a sale on the Kosart PHANTOM Pro Airbrush, some masks and art prints, and of course, autographs and FREE Photo Ops!  Learn about our ART and FX Classes, and come join the fun!

More info HERE

KOSART at MHC

Stop by Kosart booth #335 at Midwest Haunters Convention this weekend!  Meet Face Off Season 4 Champion and Season 8 Coach and Award Winning Artist J. Anthony Kosar, along with Face Off Season 8 Contestant Jamie Leodones!  Get their autographs and FREE photo ops!  Ben Peter from Season 8 will also be hanging around the booth!  Watch our LIVE Make-Up FX Demo on Saturday!  AND we will be selling Make-Ups and the Kosart Phantom Pro Airbrush, along with J. Anthony Kosar's art prints!  Ask about our FX Classes!  Don't Miss the FUN!

More info at MHC Website HERE

Photos © 2015 Kosart Studios, LLC.  

Midwest Haunters Convention Logo © its respective owners.

All Rights Reserved.

Kosart's TEENAGE MONSTERS in Spectrum 22

Due to current and new projects that came in, I unfortunately will be missing Spectrum Fantastic Art LIVE 4 but wish I was there with all my artist friends and colleagues.  Though, with SFAL4 happening right now in Kansas City, MO, I am honored to announce that the Teenage Monsters created by Kosart Studios has been accepted into Spectrum 22: The Best in Contemporary Fantastic Art!  I also have a personal sculpture of mine that was accepted as well, but I am waiting to release the entire series that the specific sculpture is part of before I share that particular sculpture, which will be released later this year.  However, though I have had personal works selected for both Spectrum 19 and Spectrum 20, and I judged Spectrum 21, this Spectrum 22 marks the first time that Kosart Studios has work accepted into Spectrum as a studio, and we at Kosart are extremely excited and honored to be included in a book with so many extremely talented artists and studios!

Click images to Enlarge:

Teenage Monsters by Kosart Studios
Foam Filled Latex Sculptures and Mixed Media.
Drac: 14.5"w x 25"h x 12"d    -    Frankie: 14.25"w x 30.5"h x 18"d
Wolf-Boy: 15.25"w x 22"h x 16"d

The Teenage Monsters were originally a collaboration between world-renown horror photographer Joshua Hoffine and me, and created by Kosart Studios for an ad campaign for Sony UK, titled Monster Prom.  Here are Joshua Hoffine's photos of Kosart's Monster Boys:
 

The Teenage Monsters were designed by J. Anthony Kosar for client Joshua Hoffine and brought to life by Kosart Studios.  Here are the concept designs by Kosart Studios' lead artist J. Anthony Kosar:

KOSART STUDIOS

Kosart Studios' contributors to the Teenage Monsters along with their contributions, include:

 

J. Anthony Kosar

Concept Designer of Teenage Monsters: for Teen Drac, Frankie, and Wolf-Boy.

Art Director / Supervisor: Overseeing Production of the Teenage Monsters.

Lead Sculptor: Complete Sculpting of Teen Drac and Drac Teeth, and Sculpture Block-In of Wolf-Boy and Block-In of Wolf-Boy's Teeth, Sculpture of Frankie's Teeth and Tongue.

Lead Mold-Making and Casting:  for Teen Drac, Frankie, and Wolf-Boy.

Lead Lab Work: Seaming and Patching Latex Seams for Teen Drac.

Lead Painter: Complete Paint of Teen Drac, Frankie, and Wolf-Boy.

Lead Assembly and Hair Application:  for Teen Drac, Frankie, and Wolf-Boy.

Costume Designer: Street / School Clothes for Teen Drac, Frankie, and Wolf-Boy.

Neil Viola

Sculptor: Complete Sculpting of Frankie and Refining Sculpture of Wolf-Boy.

Mold-Making Technician:  for Teen Drac, Frankie, and Wolf-Boy.

Hair Application Assistant: for Frankie.

Scott Mitchell

Sculptor: Complete Sculpting of Feet for Wolf-Boy, and Detailing Sculpture of Wolf-Boy and Detailing Sculpture of Wolf-Boy's Teeth.

Teeth Painter and Assembly Assistant:  for Teen Drac, Frankie, and Wolf-Boy.

Mold-Making Technician and Casting:  for Teen Drac, Frankie, and Wolf-Boy. 

Lab-Tech: Seaming and Patching Latex Seams for Wolf-Boy.

Hair Application Assistant:  for Teen Drac.

Stevie Calabrese

Mold-Making Technician and Casting:  for Teen Drac, Frankie, and Wolf-Boy. 

Paint Assistant: Base-Coating of Teen Drac, Frankie, and Wolf-Boy.

Hair Application Assistant:  for Teen Drac, Frankie, and Wolf-Boy.

Assembly Assistant:  for Teen Drac, Frankie, and Wolf-Boy.

Matt Kapolczynski

Teeth Painter and Assembly Assistant: for Teen Drac, Frankie, and Wolf-Boy.

Mold-Making Technician and Casting:  for Teen Drac, Frankie, and Wolf-Boy. 

Lab-Tech: Seaming and Patching Latex Seams for Frankie.


And thank you to my father Joseph Kosar for all his help and support through the project!

 


Here are some additional photos from Kosart Studios of the creation of the Teenage Monsters:

(click photos to enlarge)
 

The final studio photographs of the 3 Teenage Monsters sculptures is school / street clothes against the red background, and the photo that will appear in Spectrum 22 is by photographer Bear McGivney.  Here are a couple other views of the Teenage Monsters photographed by Bear:

So if anyone is in or near Kansas City, MO, be sure to visit Spectrum Fantastic Art LIVE 4 this weekend, and be sure to pick up your copy of Spectrum 22 when it hits bookshelves this winter to see Kosart Studios' Teenage Monsters!!!

Teenage Monsters & Behind-the-Scenes photos © 2014 Kosart Studios, LLC.

Monster Prom photos © Joshua Hoffine Photography.  All Rights Reserved.

Lovecraft's INNSMOUTH KickStarter Project with JOSHUA HOFFINE and DOUG JONES!

Announcing my latest collaboration with world-renown Horror Photographer JOSHUA HOFFINE, INNSMOUTH! 



After several successful projects including the epic zombie photograph LAST STAND, the short film about a boogeyman BLACK LULLABY, and the series of photographs featuring teenage monsters going to prom in MONSTER PROM, we are teaming up again to create our take on H.P. Lovecraft's SHADOW OVER INNSMOUTH.  This is a photography project that will center around the story's main character as he is trapped and cornered by a mob of angry monstrous Deep Ones! 

 
 This INNSMOUTH project will be starring the famous creature performer DOUG JONES best known for his amazing portrayal of characters such as The Gentleman in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Abe Sapien in the Hellboy series, El Fauno and The Pale Man in Pan's Labyrinth, and his recent role in the TNT series Falling Skies, but this time, he will be the HUMAN being attacked by the monsters!

After doing a lot of research, Joshua and I wanted to make our Deep Ones more monstrous and terrifying than what we have seen.  Many of the Deep Ones we have seen were too human or more sympathetic looking cancerous mutants.  We wanted monsters.  A bunch of different characters at different stages of their transformation into the horrible fish monsters described in the story.

I designed all of the "Deep One" fish-frog-human mutant creatures of INNSMOUTH, and the creatures were created by me and my artists at KOSART STUDIOS, including Face Off Season 7 Champion Dina Cimarusti, Stevie Calabrese, Neil Viola, Matt Kapolczynski, Face Off Season 7 contestant Scott Mitchell, and Face Off Season 8 contestant Jamie Leodones.

 

This project was just released on KickStarter HERE and you can get some awesome REWARDS including Photo Prints, and the creature maquette mini-bust, and the ACTUAL wearable Face Masks and Full Head Masks and Display Busts created specifically for this project by me and my artists at Kosart Studios.  Here are some of the full masks and busts being sculpted at Kosart Studios:

From the KickStarter campaign:

"INNSMOUTH is ultimately a photography project, the latest of many by renowned Horror photographer JOSHUA HOFFINE. The subject of INNSMOUTH is taken from H. P. LOVECRAFT’s 1931 tale The Shadow over Innsmouth.  In this story a young man decides to visit a decrepit seaside town named Innsmouth and is unexpectedly trapped overnight, facing a terrifying encounter with the townsfolk who all belong to an aquatic-god-worshipping cult of mutant fish people.

"JOSHUA’s goal is to capture this terror in one stunningly horrifying photograph.

"The photograph will be composed of an Innsmouth street with the human protagonist of the story surrounded by transformed mutant townsfolk and Deep Ones. As a special treat, the amazing actor DOUG JONES has signed on to play the part of the human protagonist in this photograph.

"The townsfolk and Deep Ones surrounding the photograph’s protagonist will be actual performers as well, but they will be wearing elaborate masks and prosthetics designed and sculpted by Face Off Season 4  Champion and Season 8 Coach and award-winning artist J. ANTHONY KOSAR, and brought to life by his artists at KOSART STUDIOS, including Anthony's student and friend, Face Off Season 8 Champion DINA CIMARUSTI.

"From the elaborate set, to the movie-worthy creature effects, to the amazing star DOUG JONES, this will be the most ambitious photograph JOSHUA HOFFINE has created in his career to date. We’d love for you to be a part of it and help bring this image to life!

"A lot of work has already been accomplished, but we need your help to complete this epic project. We’ve crafted some incredible cumulative gifts for your generous donations because we want to make this project just as amazing and fun for you as it is for us! There are copies of the final photograph itself, as well as a slew of LOVECRAFT collectibles that we believe are unique to this campaign. Take a look and let us know just how excited you are to be a part of our project!

"Contribute what you can, and please pass this link on to everyone in your social networks. We know there are fans of JOSHUA, ANTHONY, DOUG, and LOVECRAFT out there that would love the opportunity to help make this project become a reality!"

"We’ve been having a blast concocting our Lovecraft collectible ideas and hope you like them as much as we’ve enjoyed crafting them. You’ll also find very high quality prints of JOSHUA’s final INNSMOUTH photograph offered in increasing sizes, and some unbelievably grand masks and props from the workshop of J. ANTHONY KOSAR and KOSART STUDIOS!"

So please spread the word, and donate to this awesome project!  The sculptures are in the process of being completed, and sets still have to be built, and costumes to be made, so please help us complete this epic art project and get yourself some awesome rewards!  Contribute HERE

Thank you and HAIL CTHULHU!

Concept Art, Innsmouth Sculptures, Teenage Monster Boy Sculptures, and Kosart Photos © Kosart Studios, LLC. 
Monster Prom and Last Stand Photos © Joshua Hoffine.  

Doug Jones Character photos © their respective owners.  All rights reserved.

Happy New Year 2015!

Wishing everyone a Happy and Healthy New Year from J. Anthony Kosar and Kosart Effects Studios! 2014 was a good year but there are lots of BIG things coming from Kosart in 2015, with a HUGE announcement coming Next Week! Thank you for all your continued love and support, and keep following for more adventures in Art and FX from #TeamKosart !!

Here is a look back at 2014,... Time Flies... DON'T BLINK:

Father Time make-up by J. Anthony Kosar and Kosart Effects Studios.  Modeled by Bear McGivney.  Photo by Bear McGivney.

KOSAR Returns to FACE OFF

J. Anthony Kosar won Face Off Season 4.  His student Dina Cimarusti won Face Off Season 7.  Now watch Kosar's return to Face Off on Season 8 as a Coach / Mentor to a team of new contestants!  On Tuesday's beginning January 13th, 2015 at 9/8c, tune into the Syfy Channel to watch Chicagoland's celebrated FX artist back on television, lending his teaching techniques to helping a new crop of contestants better their work for the judges.  Though Kosar will not be competing on this season, it will be a fun season with outstanding make-ups and 15 extremely talented contestants.  He is joined by Face Off Season 2 Chamption Rayce Bird and Face Off Season 3 Finalist / Season 5 Champion Laura Tyler.  So be sure to continue rooting for #TeamKosart #TeamAnthony and don't miss this new season of Face Off!  Set your DVRs now!

HERE IS THE NEWEST SEASON 8 TRAILER:

Face Off images © courtesy Syfy.
J. Anthony Kosar portrait photo by Bear McGivney.
All rights reserved.

Sacrifice

Sculpting my first prosthetic at age 16, nearly 13 years ago. Some days I look back and wonder how I got here. One word: Sacrifice. While other kids did what kids do, I stayed in and honed my skills, always learning and experimenting, all day and all night teaching myself. I worked hard then, as I do now. But it’s funny how all the other kids grew up. I worked hard then so that I’ll never have to grow up. I make art and bring my imagination to life every day, going on adventures with characters from other worlds. Thank you 16-year-old me, I am grateful for all the sacrifices you made. And I am thankful to my parents who sacrificed along with me, and who understood and encouraged me to follow my dreams. Success doesn’t come without sacrifice. It’s sad how many people forget that. You have to be willing to sweat and bleed for what you want. One word: Sacrifice.

Kosart Student Spotlight: Dina Cimarusti

CONGRATULATIONS DINA!!!  History was made on Tuesday Night, October 28th, 2014, when Dina Cimarusti, student of Face Off Season 4 Champion J. Anthony Kosar at Kosart Atelier: School for Entertainment Arts for 2 years, was crowned Champion of her season, Season 7!  Dina was one of two Kosart Atelier students who ventured to compete on Face Off this season, one being Scott Mitchell, (read about Scott HERE).

It brings me great pride and excitement as her teacher and mentor of over 2 years, to see her from her beginning to what she has accomplished!  Dina is a humble person with an kind personality, extremely gifted talent, and a hunger to learn and make her art the best it can be.  She began as a cake decorator, but upon stumbling upon my classes in 2012, she quickly adapted her cake decorating skills to the art of make-up and FX sculpture through my teachings.  Always one of the top students, she met each class project with enthusiasm, and often went above and beyond what was asked of her in class.  Her execution for each piece was unmatched, and it was inspiring to see her progression over the years.

Here is a look back, a walk down memory lane, like a proud parent looking through a photo album, to see some of her journey of becoming Syfy's latest Face Off Champion ...

Here she is in the class that began Dina's transition into the FX world, the Art of Mask Making at Kosart Atelier! Looking back at where she started in 2012, I am so proud of how far she has come!

 

Dina putting her cake decorating skills to use making her first mold in Art of Mask Making class at Kosart Atelier in 2012! She learned quick and always made it look like "as easy as baking a cake" ... literally ... haha...

Here is Dina watching an airbrushing demo in the Art of Mask Making class at Kosart Atelier in 2012: 

Dina with her mask concept design, her unpainted latex mask, and a cake of her mask that she baked for the entire Art of Mask Making class at Kosart Atelier! We knew she was a special artist with amazing talent from day one, seeing how her cake was sculpted just as well as her sea creature mask.  It tasted awesome too, though I was sad cutting into it!

Dina sculpting her giant lizard full-head mask in Advanced Mask Making class at Kosart Atelier in 2013! There were so many amazing masks in that class sculpted by the students, but Dina's was definitely one of the standouts!

Here Dina introduces her signature technique of "piping" texture on her lizard sculpture in Advanced Mask Making class at Kosart Atelier, a technique that she borrowed from her cake decorating skill set! She was always inventive with her approach, quickly adapting from the culinary baking world to the FX world with style!

After taking both of the mask making classes, Dina ventured into the Art of Makeup FX class at Kosart Atelier! Here she does her first 2D age makeup on herself in 2013:

Dina's imaginative makeups made her a stand out in my Art of Make Up FX classes as well at Kosart Atelier! Here is her 2D character makeup from 2013 that shows her creativity and anatomical understanding: 

Upon mastering the 2D makeup applications, Dina excelled at the 3D out-of-the-kit makeup techniques to create this terrifying zombie makeup in the Art of Make-Up FX class at Kosart Atelier in 2013! 

 

Dina was always a leading student at Kosart Atelier, soaking up every technique and always asking the right questions. Now she won the Face Off Season 7 finale after leading the completion all season!  

Dina took her makeup FX to the next level in our On-Skin Silicone FX workshop at Kosart Atelier:

Dina continued her training by learning the FX approach to airbrushing in the Airbrush FX workshop at Kosart Atelier painting one of the vastly growing army of GRUNT masks! Can you spot our star?

The final class that Dina took is the Advanced Make-Up FX class at Kosart Atelier in 2013, combining everything she learned to date with new techniques in sculpting, molding, casting, and applying foam-latex prosthetics!

 Once again Dina soaked up all the techniques in the Advanced Makeup FX class at Kosart Atelier in 2013 to create a beautifully sculpted and detailed prosthetic, putting her at the top of the class:

 

 

With an eye for detail, Dina learned to apply and paint prosthetics with precision in the Advanced Make-Up FX class at Kosart Atelier in 2013, as she is seen here applying her Dragon Empress prosthetic to herself with the rest of the class:

 

Here is Dina's final makeup application of her first prosthetic that she learned to create in the Advanced Make-Up FX class at Kosart Atelier in 2013, her final training that prepared her for Face Off! When I saw her final makeup, I knew she had what it takes to not only compete on Face Off, but also take the title, so I encouraged her to audition! It has been such an honor for me as her teacher to watch her grow as an artist from the beginning to where she is today! I am so proud of all that she has accomplished!

 

Photo by Bear McGivney.

 After her taking classes at Kosart Atelier, I brought Dina in to be part of my team to work on several Kosart Effects Studios projects to continue teaching her beyond the classroom, and also get her more prepared for Face Off season 7!

One of the first projects Dina assisted on was the sculpting, molding, casting, and application of "Ivan the Cyclops" for a Floor & Decor commercial, that you can see HERE.  Dina blocked out the Cyclops cowl sculpture that I refined and finished.  Though we had several issues with the cooking of the prosthetics, Dina and the team rose to the challenge and in 4 hours of application before set, we fixed the prosthetics and delivered a successful makeup to set that the client loved.  Dina was key in that process, and helped in the painting process as well.

 

She missed a few of the team projects due to filming her season, but did also work on a Mrs. Doubtfire-esque make-up that I can’t give many specifics yet.  However, Dina assisted in molding the life-casts and helping to float-off the make-up I designed and sculpted, and assisting in application of an 8-piece encapsulated silicone prosthetic for one of the set days.  Though she missed much of this project due to filming her season, she jumped right in like a natural, helping to apply a silicone prosthetic for the first time. 

On Face Off, Dina won 5 out of the 13 Spotlight Challenges, and also won 1 Audition / Foundation Challenge.  One of her wins, for the Greek God challenge, she was the ONLY top look with her stunning Aphrodite make-up!  She had an outstanding run on Face Off, and in my opinion, one of the best competitors ever on Face Off!  Plus it was fun watching her do techniques that she learned here at Kosart Atelier, including when she fixed her cowl with cotton and latex, just as we did on our Cyclops project.  And it was fun watching her showing off her own technique of "piping" detail onto her sculptures and make-ups!

 

Face Off Photos by Brett Patrick Jenkins.

I had the pleasure of going to Dina's Finale Party last week, to share in the excitement of her victory.  It was so exciting to see everyone there to cheer on #TeamDina as she brought the title back home to Chicago!  And seeing her win and her reaction, along with her boyfriend's and mother's reaction on screen, and there in person brought a tear to my own eye.  I am honored to have been there, and especially to be part of her incredible journey of becoming her own accomplished artist that she is today.  Watch how her Finale Party reacted when she was announced the winner:

Dina is an outstanding artist and a remarkable person, having became more than a student, she became a colleague, and more importantly, a friend.  Dina's talent goes far beyond what she knows she herself is capable of, and I think her winning Face Off season 7 proves that!  I am so thrilled that the world now sees what I have seen since 2012.  It takes a lot of courage to put oneself and his/her work on display to be vulnerable and open for critique and criticism the way Dina did, but she did, and won on her own, and now returns with the confidence of a champion!  Dina always had the talent and artistic vision, and I am so thankful that she brought that talent through Kosart Atelier so that I could unlock the FX world for her to unleash her talent in.  I am so excited for her and proud of her, and I am looking forward to what her future holds, and I look forward to all the projects to come!

You can come see some of Dina's work in person, along with over 50 award-winning artists from all over the world at the 4th Annual MALEFICIUM Dark Art Exhibition Opening and Artist Reception on Saturday November 15th from 3pm to 10pm at Kosart Gallery in Westmont, IL!

So now that is 2 Face Off wins from Kosart Atelier!  The Kosart Legacy lives on!  You watched me win Face Off Season 4.  You watched my student Dina win Face Off Season 7.  Now watch my return to Face Off for Season 8 as I coach a team of new contestants! Be sure to watch SEASON 8 on Tuesdays beginning January 13th, 2015 9/8c on Syfy!

 

Photos by Kosart Effects Studios LLC, Kosart Atelier, Bear McGivney, Brett Patrick Jenkins, and Syfy,

and copyright their respective artists.  All Rights Reserved.