Body-Paint Artist Masterfully Designs 21 Incredible Marvel Cosplay Creations

Cospainting literally changed this artists life

Kylin

• Published in Disney
• June 9, 2022

Cosplay is likely something you’re at the very least vaguely familiar with. People dress up as their favorite comic, anime/manga, movie, or TV show characters.

A lot of serious cosplayers spend an incredible amount of time, energy, and resources skillfully crafting their own ornate and finely detailed costumes. There’s a lot of pride that goes along with creating their own costume, and thanks to social media, we can now marvel over these creations without having to attend a convention. 

Canadian model, designer, and cosplayer, Kay Pike has taken a wildly different take on cosplaying. Instead of intricately putting different materials together to build a costume, she turns to paint, and her body is the canvas.

Inspired by the original stylized comic book characters like Spider-Man, She-Hulk, Iron-Man, Deadpool, and others from the Marvel Comics Universe, she expertly applies highlights, shadows, and contoured outlines onto her body. The end result is an incredible illusion that makes you seriously question if it’s really Pike or a character straight out of the comic book.

Pike has been interested and active in comics and superhero culture. “I've been working at comic conventions selling my fashion line, Canada Cosplay, for years.” she told SELF, “I found cosplay was a great way to interact and enjoy socializing at conventions.”

She even believes that cosplaying can also be beneficial psychologically, “being your heroes lifts the veil of social anxiety.” Unfortunately, Pike was temporarily sidelined from her passion due to a physical health issue.

She suffers from chronic, debilitating pain caused by congenital arthritis in her hips. This pain prevented her from being able to sit for a prolonged amount of time, which made things like sewing costumes nearly impossible.

So how could she continue to cosplay without being able to sit for the hours it takes to put together a costume of her own? Thankfully, the artist learned about “cospainting” in 2015 and this changed her cosplaying life for the better.

“Painting characters on my body means I can stand instead of sit,” she explained to SELF, “and there aren't even high-heels required.” While she is a fan of most superhero comics across the board, not just Marvel, we collected her top Marvel copainting costumes for you today.

Keep scrolling to see more!

1. Doctor Strange

2. Nebula

3. Laura X-23

4. Spider-Woman

5. Jean Gray

6. Doctor Doom

7. Spider-Gwen

8. Lady Deadpool

9. Colossus

10. Dark Phoenix

11. Thanos

12. Captain Marvel

13. Red Skull

14. Vision

15. Captain America

16. Spider-Man

17. Mystique

18. She-Hulk

19. Scream

20. Iron Man

21. Scarlet Witch in action

You can watch Pike in action on one of her regular live streams on Twitch, or later check out the mesmerizing time-lapse videos on her YouTube channel. You can also follow her on her other social media accounts:

Facebook | Instagram | Twitch | YouTube

Let us know which of her Marvel cospaintings were your favorite in the comments section below! And don’t forget to share this with your fellow comic or cosplay-loving friends!

Kylin