Spotlight On: Vinylmation Custom Artist Aaralyn

Recently we received some cool looking art from a custom artist named Aaralyn. We tracked her down and asked her a few questions about her vinylmation artwork.DV: Fantasia has so much material to draw from, yet we have seen very little in the way of Disney Vinylmation. What drew you to the Spring Sprite from Fantasia 2000?
Aaralyn: In addition to my love of Disney, ever since middle school I also enjoyed the art of anime. The Spring Sprite’s artwork is a great blend of the art of Disney and the art of anime. I was most drawn to her beautiful eyes and very detailed hair. As far as art goes, it was love at first sight.

DV: The detail is amazing and it looks so true to the film. What was the hardest part of the figure to get just right?
A: Thank you! The lines were definitely the hardest part of the Spring Sprite figure. I spent hours trying to get the lines as straight as possible. It took over 30 hours of drawing and painting time to complete her.

DV: Was the plan always to put her on a 9″?
A: Yes, I love the 9” form because I have the space to add intricate details. I loved the details in her artwork and wanted to be able to capture all those details on my custom.


DV: That is a really fun design for Beast. What went into the design and did you have any challenges applying it to the 3D form?
A: My main goal for the cutie-pie series is for people to look at the custom and get warm fuzzy feelings. I always loved Beauty and the Beast, so I decided to make the Beast look less menacing. I started by sketching out the design on paper. After I got most of the design kinks out on paper, I then drew the design on the 3” form. I think my main challenge was once again the lines. I had to use a very small brush to get them straight. He was a lot of fun to create; he’s my favorite 3” I have created at the moment.

DV: What other characters might we see in your “cutie-pie” series down the road?
A: I have a huge list of cutie-pie custom candidates. I don’t want to give away too much, but some of them are main characters, while others, like the Spring Sprite, are supporting characters that I love.

DV: Is your work for sale?
A: Yes, I have a store on my website where anyone can view the customs I currently have available. I also take commission work as well.

DV: I see you also accept trades for Disney figures you want as well?
A: Yes, my vinylmation want list can be found under my about page on my website. Since I just started collecting and customizing vinylmations recently in December of 2011, my collection is quite small and I would love to add some of my favorite pieces to it.

DV: Where can people go to view your work and contact you?
A: My work can be viewed on my Facebook Fanpage as well as my website:
www.facebook.com/customsbyaaralyn
www.customsbyaaralyn.com
I can also be contacted by email at: customsbyaaralyn@aol.com

DV: Thank you. Your work is amazing and we look forward to seeing your next round of customs.

A: Thanks so much for featuring my customs!

9″ Animation and more!

Well the big reveal was made this morning (at a little past midnight) so here’s our take of it all starting with the Animated 1 series in this post.

Two of the 9″s that are being released with the Animated 1 series on January 7th! The first is a 9″ + 3″ inch set of Elliot and Pete. Very cool. The second is Beast from Beauty and the Beast. Both look really well designed and they both make sense as larger figures as we talked about in past shows.

Later in the year four more 9″ from Animated 1 will come out. One will be the Hippo from Fantasia. Check out the tutu! (The first non-vinyl accessory!)

An then the big change in plans, and the news that will make everyone crazy! We heard a rumor that the chaser for Animated 1 would come in four variations. Well it turns out that might be closer to the truth then we first believed because we found out they are adding special Variant versions of characters randomily to boxes. Check out the non-pleasure island Pinocchio on the left and the regular version on the right (I assume the variant has no tail)

Variants almost ruined comics in the 90’s, so we shall see what they do to Vinylmation. What are your thoughts? Are you looking forward to figures to chase after to complete a set? Or are you annoyed by how large and difficult the “ultimate collection” is becoming?

Information from the 1/1/11 post at the Disney Vinylmation Blog