With some characters, as long as you get close (blond, handsome) appearance of the model doesn’t matter. But I knew exactly how the hero in my Bringer of Chaos series should look. I could see Pietas as if I had a photograph. He wasn’t a “handsome blond.” His looks were a vital part of his story. He’d been genetically enhanced: a perfect warrior, scientist, man. Finding a model like that? Wow… Work.

I studied stock photos for months. Nothing. Then one day, looking for an angel image for a friend, I saw a thumbnail-sized image of a blond male angel. When I opened the image in a larger size, it was like Pietas looked straight at me. I held my breath, stunned speechless. Which, if you know me, takes some doing. I bought the picture. I have since bought almost every photo I can find of him.

As you can see by the image on the left, my stunned silence is totally and completely understandable. This is Nik Nitsvetov as Pietas, from an exclusive cosplay and photoshoot he held for me. This is my favorite photo from the session, although there are hundreds more just as gorgeous. Did you see the one at the top? That’s Nik from a previous photoshoot. His range of performance is unbelievable. He can go from pensive to warrior to clown with ease. What a treat it is watching him!

I Googled the angel image to see if there were more images somewhere else, which led me to a page on DeviantArt where someone had posted the image and given his name: Nikita Nitsvetov. From that, I found him on Instagram and began following him. No, I did not stalk Nik. I selectively and carefully researched until I found him. LOL I even created an entirely new scale to measure how awesome he is. The Scale of Nik Perfection

We’ve since become friends and I support his cosplays and convention appearances. Nik is a treat to work with and I hope to do it again in the future. Keep looking for your perfect inspiration. That person may be out there, waiting for the chance to recreate your character. Keep looking.

Please follow Nik on Instagram
If you like amazing and unforgettable cosplay, support Nik on Patreon.
Also check out by_cosphoto – his super awesome photographer