Every Friday, we’re going to give a shoutout to the fan creation works based on the world of The Dark Crystal.
This week is this magnificent Rian cosplay by Cauldron of Mischief (Adrian Mikulsky)
Adrian is 27 years old and a freelance costumier, prop maker, and digital artist. He also has experience in SFX make-up; sculpting, moulding and casting for prosthetic pieces. As you can see he is very passionate about his work, is expanding his portfolio and is even takes commissions globally! I had a little interview with him and also added work in progress pictures of his Rian cosplay. I hope you will enjoy, and don’t forget to follow him on Facebook and Instagram!
How did you get into The Dark Crystal?
Adrian: The film has been a favourite of mine since first watching it in 1997 (I was five!) I adore Jim Henson and the work of Brian Froud, I was always fascinated by the various creature designs, story, set design, so unique! I loved the gelfling, the creatures, the world, all of it.
I needed to know more about the story, so I also began to collect any art books or other media I could find that it was published in. One of the things I loved the most about it was the effects, absolutely groundbreaking and the level of detail is insane!
I remember when I heard there was going to be a sequel, I was actually consistently checking for updates since 2005, I needed to see more of these puppets, characters and the world. When I saw it was made into a comic, I bought and read each one, then when I saw Age of Resistance was being made, I was ecstatic!
It’s a film that has always been special to me as part of my childhood.
Why did you want to cosplay Rian instead of Deet, Brea, or a different character?
Adrian: I’ve always wanted to be a gelfling aha, I love all of these characters, I chose Rian because he stood out to me personally the most.
I think when you choose a character to cosplay, you also see some part of yourself in that character, you form attachments to that character, there’s something there that draws you to them. He’s adventurous, he’s determined, the lengths he goes to to make his fellow gelfling aware of what he experienced, to protect them, the great amount of concern he shows for them and his loved ones is also something that hit me and I loved it about him.
I also love the ‘fun’ side of him that we get to see in some scenes, he’s a wonderful character! I also love the designs in his costume too and the leathers that were used, I like working with very ‘organic’ looking materials and fabrics!
I adore Brea and Deet too, but there was something in particular about Rian that I was drawn to so much more and it really gave me the drive to make his costume and step into his shoes for a little bit.
What did you think of Age of Resistance?
Adrian: I absolutely adored it! I loved every minute of it, there was so much more of the world to explore, new creatures, more gelfling, new places, it was fantastic to see and get to know how everything came together, see how the gelfling of each clan live their lives, see places like desert, mountains, cold areas, open land with streams running across, etc.
I also love the little references to Labyrinth hidden in the series (another film I love), that all the episode titles are quoted after lines from different characters in the original film, recognising areas from the original- it was so fun to look and go ‘I remember that!’ or ‘I know that creature!’
I absolutely lit up and I was so happy to get to come back to the world of Thra after so many years!
If you would like to be featured on Fan Friday, send us an email at darkcrystalpodcast@gmail.com with subject line ‘Fan Friday’.