Month: November 2011

You know Annemarie Brown from her various speculation articles on our website including Park Starz and Furry Friends, but did you know she is an exceptional custom Vinylmation artist? We recently talked with Annemarie about a couple of her creations.

Destination Vinylmation: How long have you been creating custom Vinylmation?

Annemarie: I began fairly recently, I made Roger Rabbit this summer and he was my first.

DV: In that short time, how many have you done?

AM: I’ve done about six, and I’m currently working on a new set.

DV: Why did you pick Roger Rabbit as your first custom?

AM: Roger Rabbit has been my favorite Disney character since I was a kid, I have an entire room in my house devoted to him. It’s actually rather impressive, if I do say so myself. So as soon as I picked up my first CYO Vinylmation I knew it would be Roger, there was never a doubt.

DV: How long did Roger take to create?

AM: Roger didn’t take me very long, maybe a couple hours. Once I got his design on the mold the painting went rather quickly.

DV: What was the most difficult part about making this character?

AM: Since it was my first one, I was kind of flying blind. Everything was a bit of an experiment. His hair and cotton tail were extra pieces I had to form and stick on, and I just used glue, which has been working fine so far. I considered sculpting the ears but I wanted to utilize the area of the vinyl as much as I could.

DV: Your Peter and the Wolf has an extraordinary amount of characters and detail packed into it, yet it doesn’t looked overcrowded. How much planing went into creating this custom?

AM: I’m extremely proud of Peter and the Wolf, he’s definitely been a labor of love. At first I considered doing a 3″ figure, but I quickly realized it was going to be impossible to include all the characters since I was hand-painting it, so I switched to a 9″ to get all the detail. First I plan everything out two-dimensionally so I can be sure everything will fit where I want it to. I knew I’d put Sasha the Bird in the ear, since he was the only flying character. Ivan the Cat and Sonia the Duck had a playful relationship in the film, so I wanted to be sure to incorporate that into their design and expressions.

With the Wolf, I considered just doing a 3″ figure to go along with Peter, but I realized the Wolf needed to be larger, and he wouldn’t have looked as menacing in the squat Vinylmation form, so I decided to paint him in full glory, sneaking up on Peter from behind.

DV: What is the most rewarding part about creating custom Vinylmation?

AM: For me, it’s being able to create characters and moments that may not ever be created. I knew the odds of getting a Peter and the Wolf Vinylmation figure were slim, and I wanted one, so I made it for myself!

Annemarie wanted to share this Youtube video featuring a turnaround of her Peter and the Wolf

DV: Do you have any tips to pass onto other custom artists?

AM: Everyone has their own method, but I would recommend designing/drawing everything out beforehand, it will save you time in the long run. But more importantly, create what you like, since you’re going to be looking at it for awhile while you’re making it. You don’t want to be stuck in the middle of making something you don’t care about.

DV: Thank you for all your work and for sharing these custom with our readers.

AM: Thank you for sharing it, and for all you guys do!

Annemarie is a contributor to Destination Vinylmation. You can follow her on Twitter @admiralakbrown and stay tuned for more spotlights on her work soon.