MC went to the midnight showing of Marvel’s The Avengers late last night and well, he really thought it rocked. So if you want to see a kick butt movie with great effects and a fun script check it out. It opened today. And just remember that it’s a Disney property now that they own Marvel, so you’re supporting your favorite mouse.
Above is a look at Cesar Diaz’ Captain America that we spotlighted a while ago. Check out that post here:
Our buddy Cesar over at mycustomations.com is getting ready to announce the release of his latest vinylmation creations. This Friday, he should be letting everyone know more about his special Halloween release. Check out mycustomations.com this Friday and then come back here for an interview with the creator himself.
Vinylmation Custom Artist Cesar Diaz has a very special announcement:
For a while now I’ve had this idea where I want to put together a custom Vinylmation art show. Well that idea is now becoming a reality. I’ve already booked an art gallery to display the custom vinyls I make. But I didn’t stop there! I have invited 5 more custom artists to join me and display their work as well. The artists that are involved are Celeste Villanueva, Chelsey Zhang, Lucas Yoshida, Jesus Paez and Angie Annett. I’m calling the show “The Customation Project” It will be hosted my PROXART. Check out their website proxart.org to find out more info on them. The show will be on September 24th from 7pm-10pm in the city of Newhall CA. I think this vinyl show will be a great way to bring art fans, vinyl fans, Disney fans all together.
Thanks for your time
-Cesar Diaz
For more information on this event, visit www.mycustomations.com. We will have more information about this event in the coming weeks.
As part of today’s Star Wars celebration we have a very special Star Wars themed custom to show! Custom Vinylmation Cesar Diaz from California, who created a great looking LOST set, just finished a 9” Star Wars Tusken Raider. We talked to him recently about this design.
Destination Vinylmation: Tell us about the process of conceptualizing a figure like this? Does it start with a 2D drawing, or do you pencil right onto the Vinylmation?
Cesar: All the vinyls I create always start off as a drawing on paper. The final vinyl always ends up looking a tad different than the 2D version. More detail it seems.
DV: There is a ton of detail in this figure. Was the idea always to add accessories, such as the horns and the weapon?
Cesar: Oh of course! In my head I always saw him that way. What’s a Tusken without his staff?
DV: What is the staff made out of?
Cesar: The weapon is a combination of wood, super sculpey and craft foam. Oh and a old black t-shirt for wrapping the staff.
DV: Why did you choose the Tusken Raider and do you have plans for more characters from the Star Wars universe?
Cesar: My original plan was to do a Sand Trooper. When I told my friend the idea he said a Tusken Raider would look so much better. And you know what? He was right! As for more Star Wars characters, I do plan to make more 9″ ones. I already made a 3″ Greedo to go with Han Solo.
DV: Even going back to the LOST series, you always seem to make fantastic use out of the Vinylmation’s ears. Was that part of the canvas ever a challenge for you, or do you enjoy using your creativity to make the ears work?
Cesar: I’m the kind of artist that believes in making things work with what you got. I will never alter the vinyl in anyway. If I ever do, it stops becoming a vinylmation. The ears are always a challenge. Part of creating something is solving the problems it comes with.
DV: As an artist, what are your first impressions of the new Vinylmation 3″ mold and do you want to see that form come to create your owns?
Cesar: I’m actually a bit disappointed in the new mold. I really hate the fact that the new mold has no nose and no buttons. It is now a semi looking Mickey. If they changed the hands but kept the same body, I wouldn’t have a problem with it. But I also believe in “Don’t judge a book by it’s cover”. I understand why they did it. And I am curious to try the new mold.
DV: What’s next for Cesar?
Cesar: Well….I have a grip of vinyls lined up to create. My next 9″, which I’m creating right now is going to be pretty cool. I wish I could create vinylmations for a living. But for now, customizing will do just fine.
DV: Cesar, thank you for you time today. Where can people see more of your customs?
Cesar: If anyone is interested in seeing the rest of my work, please visit my website at mycustomations.com
Last week, Cesar Diaz from Reseda, CA sent us pictures of his custom Vinylmation LOST set. Check it out here if you missed it. Impressed by this set, we asked Cesar a few questions about his artwork.
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Destination Vinylmation: How long have you been creating custom Vinylmation?
Cesar: I’ve been doing customs for about a year now. Only recently has it become more serious. DV: How many pieces have you created? Cesar: I’ve done about a total of 25 vinylmation customs. I started off with Munny customs. But once Vinylmations were introduced there was no turning back. |
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| DV: What’s your favorite creation?
Cesar: My favorite so far is Lilo. That was the first custom I added clothes to. DV: What other art-forms do you create? Cesar: I do illustrations and cartoon/comic drawings. |
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| DV: Do you collect the Vinylmation created by Disney artists?
Cesar: Of course I do! I only collect the ones I like though. DV: What is your favorite Disney Vinylmation figure? Cesar: My favorite is Stitch (Park 5), although Buzz Lightyear is great as well. |
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DV: Can you describe the creation process of the LOST figures?
Cesar: The origin of the LOST customs came from an idea my cousin Steve Zaragoza and I had. We started to talk one day about how cool it would be if Disney would make a LOST series. But we realized that probably would never happen. So I decided to make my own. The first one I did was Locke. My cousin Steve sent me a sketch of Locke. Once I get the sketch I modify it to make it work on a vinyl. Steve designed Locke, Hurley and Kate. |
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| DV: Some artists struggle, but you made good use of the ears. Was painting the island on the ears your plan from the start? | |
| Cesar: Your so right! The ears are always a challenge. When my cousin Steve sent me the first sketch of Locke he put the island on the ears, which I thought was brilliant. It wasn’t until I had a couple of vinyls made that I decided to make a part of the island in the ears, so when you put them together it completes the island. |  |
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DV: Which one of the Lost figures you created is your favorite?
Cesar: I don’t really have a favorite. I love them all. I did have a lot of fun designing Charlie, his shoes especially. |
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| DV: Where you happy with the LOST finale?
Cesar: At first I was a bit disappointed. Not many things got answered about the island. But as time went by, I re-watched the finale and I get it now. It was never really about the island. It was always about the people. So I’m happy with the ending. LOST will always be a big part of my life. DV: Will we see a LOST Series 2 from you? Cesar: Most definitely! I’m already thinking about the characters. One thing’s for sure, Series 2 will be the Dharma edition. I’m really looking forward to creating Desmond and Ben. DV: Do you have any for sale? Cesar: All the vinyls I create are for sale. I also do special requests. DV: How can people contact you? Cesar: If people are interested in any customs, they can email me at darthcees@gmail.com also they can add the facebook group “My Customations”. DV: Any tips for people who want to begin creating custom Vinylmation? Cesar: The only tip I can give is to have fun with it! Oh, and try to get your work seen. It’s always good for people to review your stuff. |
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Congratulations to Cesar and all the artists involved in The Customation Project. It was an event held in California on September 24 showcasing the talents of custom Vinylmation artists. We would like to share some pictures and a video from the event. The full photo album, and believe me, you MUST see it, can be viewed here.
DV: If someone is new to the site, could you review who you are and how long you’ve been making customs?
Cesar: For those of you that don’t know who I am, my name is Cesar Diaz and I’ve been creating custom Vinylmations for a good year and a half now. Recently I organized and put together The Customation Project with the help of Proxart, Toi and Romo. It was an art show displaying custom vinyl work by six talented artists.
DV: This is a special release, tell us more about the details?
Cesar: The Zombie vinyl’s will be sold on my website (mycustomations.com) on Halloween morning for $40 each plus $8 shipping. There will be a total of 31 unique, one of a kind Zombies; basically one Zombie per day for the month of October. Each Zombie will be signed and dated according to the day it was made. They will be sold at random and are limited to one Zombie per person, per household. You don’t know who you’re going to get, but your guaranteed an original design.
DV: Zombies, eh? Where did you come up with the idea for a whole set of Zombies?
Cesar: The idea for the Zombie set has been floating around in my head since last year. To be exact it was when I saw the premiere of the TV show The Walking Dead on Halloween night. At the time it was obviously too late to start any Zombie customs. Plus I was still experimenting with techniques on creating custom Vinylmations so the project was put on hold. Months later when I created the LOST set, the idea of the Zombies came back to me. Originally I was going to make 12 Zombies, but unfortunately I had to put the idea on hold again because I got so busy making 9” customs for the Customation Project. Now that the show is over I went back to the Zombie idea. I rethought how I was going to make them and the quantity. 12 Zombies is just not enough! You need an army of them! Then I came up with the idea of making 31 Zombies for 31 days of October.
DV: We know you’re not finished with all of them yet, but which ones are your favorite so far?
Cesar: I’m having so much fun making my version of Zombies. So far they’re all my favorite.
DV: Where there any challenges involved with these characters?
Cesar: I haven’t encountered any problems as of yet. From the start I knew I wanted to make the ears the night sky with the moon, clouds and the stars.
DV: What’s your favorite Zombie movie?
Cesar: George Romero’s Night of the Living Dead of course!
DV: If this is successful, will you do another set for next year’s Halloween or other holidays?
Cesar: I would love to keep doing Zombie sets. They don’t necessarily have to be for Halloween. I would love to do a Walking Dead set.
DV: Will any of the Zombies come with a brain accessory?
Cesar: Sorry Nick, no accessories this time around. Maybe next time.
DV: Thanks for your time, and once again, great figures. We hope the sale goes well!
Cesar: Thank you very much. Your readers can follow me on twitter at @mycustomations to see up to the minute info and pics of upcoming Zombies.
