Today we’d like to introduce you to Jesse Trotter.
Jesse, we’d love to hear your story and how you got to where you are today both personally and as an artist.
My cosplay name is Solar Wolf Cosplay. I have been cosplaying sense 2013 when I started with my then girlfriend. At the time I was a LARPer for a popular larp called S.O.L.A.R ( Southern Organization of Live Reenactments) which is where the Solar in Solar Wolf Cosplay comes from. The wolf comes from the race of my character at Solar and my favorite animal. This is where Solar Wolf Cosplay comes from. My first cosplay I built with my girlfriend at the time was Altair from Assassin’s Creed. It took over a year to build with several rebuilds to get it right and buying a few of the pieces. In 2014 I had finished my second cosplay which was a hand me down cosplay that I fixed up with the help of my at the time girlfriend. It was Jace Beleren from Magic the Gathering, and with her help, we made it better with some reflective fabric and adding a chest panel that went around the back. In 2015 I started to make friends in the cosplay community and started to learn how to build my own cosplays. I started two new cosplays in 2015, Jacob Frye from Assassin’s Creed Syndicate and Lord Sesshomaru from the animated show Inyuasha. Jacob Fry was a big build that took myself and several friends to build. I also had to buy a few pieces in the end to finish him, but he was a learning experience. I took some of that knowledge to help my friends in building Lord Sesshomaru cosplay, but he ultimately didn’t get finished until 2016. When I finished Lord Sesshomaru in 2016, I did start my first full build on my own which was Jon Snow from Game of Thrones. When looking at it, it was a simple build but costly. I messed up a lot and ended up using some expensive materials. In the end, it did pay off when he was finished because I got to showcase him at a show that was performed at the Shakespeare Tavern. 2017 I start my finial Assassin’s Creed character which was Edward Kenway from Black Flag. This was other cosplay that I need a lot of help from a few friends, but I learned a lot from them when building him. From what I learned from building and watching my friends I started my biggest build in late 2017. I started Geralt of Rivia from The Witcher, and I reused some of the leather armor I learned how to make back in my Larping days. With the techniques, I had learned from my friends and the leather skills I had gained over the years I pieced Geralt together. After reshaping my old armor builds and hand sewing much of the other pieces together I had finally finished him. Then I had to start on his necklace and swords. I reached out to a mentor of mine who walked me through it from Facebook messager. After about three months of failure and lots of crying, I finally build them. They aren’t the most sturdy of plastic swords and necklace, but I have learned valuable lessons from it. My Geralt of Rivia cosplay was my first full build I did. Its a simple and crude build but I made it. I took this cosplay to Momocon and entered their cosplay contest. I won Best Overall Novice, and I cried like a baby when it happened. Five to six years of hard work had finally paid off. I had won my first cosplay contest, and I went on to enter more. I won Atlanta comic con Best Craftsmanship, and then I won Dreamhack 3rd place Journeyman. I did, however, lose at DragonCon, but this did not discourage me. I have hung up Geralt and started new cosplays for 2019 in hopes I can continue to win at our local cosplay contest.
We’d love to hear more about your art. What do you do and why and what do you hope others will take away from your work?
Well Like my story says I’m a cosplayer. Cosplay means costume play, and I make costumes to show at cons and compete in. I make almost all my stuff that I cosplay in, and I only compete in cosplays that I have fully built or at least as close to it. I mainly do medieval style cosplays that have armor and swords, but recently I have branched out to more animated style characters. I’m really good at armor making with leather, but recently I have started to learn how to do foam armor from a really close friend. I like cosplaying because it allows me to be in my favorite character’s shoes so to speak. For a brief moment, I get to be that character and live as that character and escape the world for a short while. The biggest message I can give is anyone can cosplay. It doesn’t matter if you make it or buy it. If you a big person or skinny, white or black, or short or tall. Anyone can cosplay anything they want. The only limitation is your own imagination.
What do you think it takes to be successful as an artist?
As an artist, you should only be out to make yourself proud. Your success should be how proud you are in yourself of your accomplishments in your artwork.
Do you have any events or exhibitions coming up? Where would one go to see more of your work? How can people support you and your artwork?
You can find me on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Tumblr, and Vero. Just put in @solarwolfcosplay in any of them, and you can find me.
Contact Info:
- Website: solarwolfcosplay.com
- Email: jesse@solarwolfcosplay.com
- Instagram: @solarwolfcosplay
- Facebook: www.Facebook.com/sol
Image Credit:
Otis Casey Photography, UNDEREXPOSED, Patrick Sun, and Leo Photography.
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