Happy Tuesday everyone, today we’re gonna feature some bad ass cosplayer. I’m so excited to present to you Ms. Dominique, a Skyrim Cosplayer from California, USA.

Mostly known as Dominique de Leon Cosplay she has created many impressive costumes from video games such as Fallout, Skyrim, Borderlands2, and a lot more.

Today It will be a little different cause I’ll be showing you Dominique’s Cosplay works as well as her works in terms of Costume Made, Photography, and Editing. She’s undoubtedly the most talented person you’ll ever know!

Thank you so much for giving this opportunity to feature your phenomenal works and cosplay life. It’s a huge honor to include you in this Cosplayer Interview Series. More and more success!

What are we waiting for, let’s welcome our next cosplayer of the day!

Skyrim Cosplayer Dominique De Leon Cosplay

Photo Credit: Agent P Photography

Photo edit/maker/model: Dominique de Leon

Character: Daedric Armor from Skyrim

My name is Dominique de Leon, I am a 22-year-old cosplayer based out of Santa Cruz, California. I have cosplayed for almost 5 years. Attended all kinds of costuming conventions around the country from steam punk events like Wild Wild West Con in Tucson Arizona. Anime and cosplay conventions like DragonCon in Atlanta Georgia, and Post-Apocalyptic events like Wasteland Weekend in the Mojave Desert in California.

Cosplay Discovery

Une publication partagée par Dominique de Leon Cosplay (@dominiquegdeleon) le 11 Oct. 2016 à 18h09 PDT

I had a few friends who would attend a local anime convention called FanimeCon in San Jose California, but I had never thought of attending much less cosplay until one of my friends invited me along. They told me about how everyone dresses up as a character that they like so I decided that I wanted to join the fun also! My first ever cosplay!

First Convention

Une publication partagée par Dominique de Leon Cosplay (@dominiquegdeleon) le 13 Févr. 2017 à 19h12 PST

FanimeCon 2013 was my first ever convention and my first time cosplaying. I cosplayed as San (Princess Mononoke) from the movie “Princess Mononoke”. Thought it was a pretty great costume then and I got a few people who asked for my photo, but seeing all the other veteran cosplayers in their amazing armor builds is what really drew me in. I have always been artistic and the costumes that I saw there were so inspiring. It made me want to get better and making costumes, armor in particular. Right after I got home from that convention I started to look up cosplay armor building techniques on YouTube and the rest is history!

Costume/Gear/Props/Armor

Costume Made/photographed/Edited by: Dominique de Leon

Costume Modeled by: Zachary Fish

Character: Garrus from Mass Effect

I actually really hate sewing so I only recently in 2017 created my first sewed costume. It was the boy from the Last Guardian but it gets overlooked by my giant articulated Trico puppet. I created my pattern and made it one day with a total of 8 hours of work. Out of the 20 or so costumes I have made, this is the only one that had a lot of sewing.

Costume made/Photographed and Edited by: Dominique de Leon

Modeled by: Zachary Fish

Character: Kreig from Borderlands 2

Definition of Cosplayer

Une publication partagée par Dominique de Leon Cosplay (@dominiquegdeleon) le 31 Mars 2016 à 19h37 PDT

Cosplay for me means that you don’t just dress as a character but you take on that characters’ personality and mannerisms. That’s the “Play” part of cosplay. You are playing out that character, not just dressing up like on Halloween. But cosplay to me also means friends and family. I have met all of my best friends through cosplay. Cosplay is really special because when you see someone from a movie or show or video game that you like, you both already have this mutual love for it. You don’t know anything about this person that you are talking to besides that you are both geeking out about the same thing. You don’t know if they finished top of their class in school or had a kid when they were still in high school. No judgment, just mutual love!

Worst Experience

Une publication partagée par Dominique de Leon Cosplay (@dominiquegdeleon) le 8 Juin 2015 à 16h51 PDT

I can honestly say I have never had a bad experience at a con besides just being so exhausted from an amazing weekend of costume wearing, dance parties and not enough sleep.

Admiration

Une publication partagée par Dominique de Leon Cosplay (@dominiquegdeleon) le 5 Mai 2017 à 9h09 PDT

Achievements

Une publication partagée par Dominique de Leon Cosplay (@dominiquegdeleon) le 6 Nov. 2015 à 17h17 PST

My greatest achievement in the cosplay world is just seeing how much I have grown since my very first costume. As far as awards are concern I have placed in every contest I have ever entered. I won Master Craftsmanship at SacAnime for my Daedric armor (Skyrim) Judges Choice for Kreig (Borderlands) and 3rd place for Enclave Power armor (Fallout 3) at BigWOW Comicon as well as placing first for two years in a row at a local cosplay contest.

Piece of Advice

Une publication partagée par Dominique de Leon Cosplay (@dominiquegdeleon) le 13 Nov. 2017 à 7h28 PST

Never stop learning! I am going on 5 years of foam smiting and I am still learning new techniques! Don’t get frustrated if a project is too difficult. Work on something else that’s more your skill level and come back to it feeling more confident down the road. Reach out to other cosplayers who inspire you, for the most part, we love to share our techniques and teach others.

Future Projects/Plans

Photographed by: Zachary Fish

Edited by: Dominique de Leon

Costume made and modeled by: Dominique de Leon

Character: Vault Dweller with Multiplas Rifle from Fallout New Vegas

Every year I attend FanimeCon in San Jose California, SacAnime Winter in Sacramento California and Wasteland Weekend in California City, California. I try to hit a few other cons in California every year as well depending on my schedule. Some of those include Wondercon, KrakenCon, Silicon Valley Comicon and other non “Cosplay” events like the Edwardian Ball in San Francisco and the Wastelanders Ball.

Open Message

Une publication partagée par Dominique de Leon Cosplay (@dominiquegdeleon) le 26 Sept. 2016 à 20h20 PDT

You can find me on Facebook where I post galleries of finished costumes with step by step How-To’s. Instagram where you can see more progress of my current builds as well as edited photos of completed costumes and photos from cons, Twitter where I post updates, my site at cons and random thoughts, and My website, Dominique De Leon where you can see full galleries of edited photos of my cosplays and art as well as shop for cosplay prints and other odds and ends that I have for sale. YouTube where I occasionally post video tutorials













