Spotlight On: Custom Artist Glassdezignz

WDWNT on October 24, 2011

DV: Hi and welcome to Destination Vinylmation. I meet you at the Florida Project when I saw all these people crowded around you looking at the necklace you had on. Before we get into that specifically, let’s talk about you. Who are you and what kinda of artistic background do you have?
SB: Well, my name is Shauna Blatherwick. I am originally from New Jersey. I grew coming to Disney almost every year, so when it was finally time to leave the nest, I decided the only other place on earth I would want to live would be right next to Disney World. I grew up in a dance studio, and started taking my first art lessons at age 9. I went onto the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, where I studied metalsmithing, glass blowing, jewelry design, fine arts and dance. I majored with a BFA and a concentration in Jewelry design. Since college, I have started my own line of jewelry, which I try to reinvent on a regular basis.
DV: Do you collect Disney Vinylmation? If so, which is your favorite?
SB: Yes, I do collect Vinylmation! My favorite Vinylmation so far are the Bakery Series cupcakes. I have a feeling the new Alice set will soon become my new favorite.
DV: Where did you come up with the idea for this necklace?
SB: I started making my own 3 inch Vinylmations back in June, and had a blast doing it. Since my background is in jewelry design, it wasn’t too far fetched of an idea to start creating Vinylmations I could wear.

DV: Were there any particular challenges with making this? What part was the hardest?
SB: The biggest challenge came from getting the shape of the Vinyl just right. Just casting the piece proved not to work because of all the pulling and stretching the polymer clay did while trying to release it from the mold. Once I had a good shape in the polymer clay, I fired it and then made a mold of that piece which I use Over and over.

DV: Since there are no Design Your Own Jrs, you make your own?
SB: I tried making a mold directly from the Jr. itself, but it would stretch and and pull making the Vinyl shape long and skinny. I then decided to just try to mimic the shape myself by hand sculpting it. The hands and ears seem to create the biggest challenge but the basic shape is there.
DV: How long does it take?
SB: Most of the pieces take me an average of about 2-3 days to complete from beginning to end. Close to 12-15 hours per piece because they are hand molded, then sanded, then hand painted. I paint 2-4 layers of paint, then sand it down, then add another 2-4 layers of paint and re-sand. I keep doing this until I get the look I want. Once I have a good base coat, then I just start to doodle on the piece with paint until I see a design or pattern I like. Once the paint is dry, the crystals are added and the piece is sealed with a glaze.
DV: Have you do any designing with vinylmation other then the Jrs necklaces? If so, which other ones are you favorite?
SB: I have designed several 3 inch Vinylmations. All of which I use Swarovski crystals on them. I modeled them after my after line as well. I have also made 2 9 inch vinyls. My favorite so far has to be my newest 3 inch vinyl of Rapunzel. She is not fully completed but is about 95% done. My second favorite is a Scrump Doll (from Lilo and Stitch) which I made over the summer.
DV: If someone would like to know more about your pieces or get one for themselves, where can they go to find out more?
SB: I have listed some of my vinyl jewelry on my website. To get a custom piece made you can email me at Glassdezignz at aol.com. If you would like to purchase or see more of my designs that I currently have, you can visit my website at Glassdezignz.etsy.com. My information website is currently being revamped and is down for construction at this time.

DV: After a quick look at your site I know exactly why you like the Bakery Series. Lots of awesome food inspired pieces in your line. Thanks for dropping by, and good luck with Vinylmation!

Teaser- Cesar’s Newest Creations

WDWNT on October 5, 2011

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.

Spotlight On: Customation Project Artist Chelsey

WDWNT on September 23, 2011

We are going to finish the week off with one of the best artists. (I maybe be partial, I have one of her customs!) We’ve featured her before here on Destination Vinylmation. The first time was for her awesome Kevin from Up. She also made use this awesome Destination Vinylmation custom!

Destination Vinylmation: If, for some reason our readers haven’t read about you before, where can they find your stuff?
Chelsey: You can check out my stuff at: facebook.com/pages/Chelsey-Custom-Vinylmation/181170415290217

DV: WE love your stuff (of course!) How long have you been making custom vinyls?
C: I have been making custom vinyls for almost 10 months now.

DV: Can we have a sneak peak into the pieces you’ll be bringing to the show?
C: I’m still working on several pieces. But the two pieces I have ready are Mickey as Wolverine 9″ and Captain from Wall-E 9″ + Wall-E & Eve set.

DV: Those sound awesome. Why did you choose Mickey and Marvel?
C: Since Marvel is part of Disney now, I decided to show the merge on my vinyl as well. That’s why I created this Classic Mickey as Wolverine 9″ custom. He has the classic expression along with his cigar :). He took me 4 days to finish. I really like how it turned out. Really shows the combination of two classic figures.

DV: He looks great. You seem to really like Pixar movies, it sounds like you really like Wall-E. Tell us about the set you’re bringing.
The next piece I’m going to present is a set. The 9″ one is the captain of Axiom in “Wall-E”. I really like when he find out that “Auto” was the on who’s controlling everything and tried to fight back scene. That’s why I also created “Auto” in his hand. He also have a tough look when he’s fighting back (which I reflected on his face). Besides the Captian will be my version of Wall-E and Eve. I do like the official Wall-E and Eve combo set. However, I feel like Wall-E is too “clean” as he worked for over 700 years to clean the place. There’s must be some dust and rusty spots on him. That’s why I created this “original” Wall-E. I also like the scene where Wall-E takes care of Eve when she finds the plant and went into “sleep” mode. That’s why my eve is in “sleep” mode. This set took me week and half to finish. I’m also pretty happy about how it turns out.
DV: Those look amazing! Thanks again for all your contribute to the world of vinyl. I can’t wait to meet you as soon as I can!

Spotlight On: Customation Project Artist Angie Annett

WDWNT on September 22, 2011

Remember all those artists from earlier this week? Well, here’s another artist from the Customations Show. Her name is Angie Annett. Let’s see what she’ll be bringing to the show in a few days.
Destination Vinylmation: Welcome to Destination Vinylmation, where can the folks find your work if they are looking for more?
Angie Annett: I have a facebook page where you can see all of my designs as I add them! Here is the link.

DV: How long have you been making custom vinyls?
AA: I started making customs back in February. I was always a bit upset that their wasn’t a Dug vinyl, as he is one of my favorite characters, so I decided to take matters into my own hands. I had never painted before, so I made the design on photoshop and transferred it over. Turns out, it went better than I could have ever hoped.

DV: I like the hair, so which vinyls will you have at the event? Tell us a little about them.
AA: The first is my Timon figure that I custom designed. This was the second vinyl that I ever made and the first one I ever used sculpey pieces on. This is one of my favorites in my collection because it is one of my designs that actually turned out better on the vinyl than it looked on photoshop! It took me about 8 hours to finish this piece.

The other design I like to call my Disneyland Collage. This is by far the most intricate and detailed design that I have ever created and it took me over 2 months to finish. Just sketching the design took me over a week! I tried to incorporate all of my favorite rides and aspects of Disneyland into the vinyl. This is my first ever non-character vinyl I made and I was a little nervous attempting this one. Fortunately, it turned out to be one of my favorite customs in my collection.

DV: Both pieces look great, I hope you enjoy the event this weekend! Thanks for letting us chat with you for a moment.

Spotlight On: Customation Project Artist Jesus Paez

WDWNT on September 21, 2011

Leading up the Cesar’s event in Santa Clarita, CA this weekend, Destination Vinylmation will feature each of the custom artists and talk to them about some of the figures they will be bringing to the event.
Today we spoke with custom artist (and first time Destination Vinylmation guest) Jesus Paez.

Destination Vinylmation: We saw some of you work and we really think it’s unique, how long have you been working on vinylmation?
Jesus Paez: I’ve been customizing vinlys since February of this year. I’m still learning as I go.

DV: Well you certainly seem to have the swing of things, which pieces will you bring to the show this weekend?
JP: Two of the vinyls that will be at “The Customation Project” show are a 9″ Gene Simmons Mickey vinyl and a 3″ Goku vinyl. The Gene Mickey was the very first vinyl I painted, its the one that started it all. Its Gene Simmons’ costume from the KISS album “Love Gun”. I tried to get as detailed as I could from his Godzilla boots to his chain on his chest. The vinyl took me about three days to complete and when I was done with that one I could not wait to start another one. Another vinyl that will be at the show is Goku from Dragon Ball Z. I have been a DBZ fan since I was kid. I remember drawing Goku and all of the other characters, so I got the idea to make a Goku vinyl. This vinyl also took me three days, I had to mold his hair and the knot on his belt out of super sculpey, then I painted it.

DV: Thanks for your time, and good luck at the show. If people want to see more of your stuff, where can they go?
JP: The best place to find my previous work would be on you tube. If you search for sk8erguy600 or custom vinyls some of my work will pop out, my you tube screen name is sk8erguy600. I recently made a Facebook page which im starting to upload some of my work there.

Spotlight On: Customation Project Artist Lucas Yoshida

WDWNT on September 20, 2011

Leading up the Cesar’s event in Santa Clarita, CA this weekend, Destination Vinylmation will feature each of the custom artists and talk to them about some of the figures they will be bringing to the event.

Destination Vinylmation: First off, where can people find your work?
Lucas Yoshida: My work can be found at lyoshida.com.

LinkDV: So how long have you been at this?LY: I have been making custom vinyls for about 8 months.

DV: So which of your vinyls will you be bringing to the event?
LY: One of the vinyls I’ll have at the event is called Dia De Los Mickey II. It is the second vinyl I’ve done with a Dia De Los Muertos theme to it. It took me about two weeks of constant work to complete this 9 inch vinyl. I like the little details that I put on it. These are the types of projects I have the most fun with. I really enjoy being free with creativity.
Another vinyl I am bringing is called Zombie the Uber Mouse. He is a 9 inch vinyl to go along with two other zombie themed 3 inch vinyls I’ve done. This one is what I believe Mickey Mouse would look like if he were to join the ranks of the undead. He took me a couple of days to make. I was having so much fun with it that I really flew through the process. I had a ton of fun adding little decayed details to his face. Adding rips in his skin exposing the muscles underneath was fun too. Blood spatter is always a fun detail to add.

DV: Yes, always fun! (Even if it is a bit frightening.) Thank you for your time and have fun at the show!

Spotlight On: Vinylmation Custom Artist Joe of War

WDWNT on September 7, 2011

Joe of War has given us some great video game based customs in the past and now he is back. Here, in his own words, are his new Super Mario Bros. customs.

One of my favorite video game series of all time – like countless other gamers – is Super Mario Bros. And out of those games, I must have played a thousand hours of Mario Bros. 3!  In this game, you could find outfits for Mario to wear that gave him special powers.

This first custom is based on the incredibly awesome raccoon costume from Mario Bros. 3, and helped Mario to fly!!!  

I also wanted him to have a detachable raccoon tail in case he had to be stored in a tight space. To achieve this I used 2 rare earth magnets and a Dremel. While I was sculpting the tail I hung it by magnets from my metal lamp to not leave fingerprints on it when it dried – yeah that was fun.

Mario uses so many things in his game environment, so I thought it would be fun to give him at least one accessory! I used a spare Vinylmation head to make this turtle (koopa) shell.

I painted half of the shell red and the other half green to represent a few of the different koopa shells you encounter.

On the bottom of the shell I painted arm, head, and tail holes.  Also painted some eyes to make it look like the koopa was ducked in his shell scared. I Left the neck hole unfilled in case I want an interchangeable Mario head just for kicks!  

Here’s my second Mario suit custom, and this time I’ve created a 3″ Frog Suit Super Mario! He also comes with a sculpted lily pad for when he’s tired of jumping around. It could be used as a simple base for the figure. The lily pad was sculpted with Aves 2-part Apoxie, and everything was painted with Citadel acrylics.

I Added some bubbles to the side of his head for when he breathes underwater.

Here is my third Mario Suit Vinylmation. I decided I’d dress Mario as his beloved dino friend, Yoshi. I don’t think it was a wearable suit in any of the Mario games, but I know you could ride on Yoshi’s back in a few of them.  But I thought it would be cool to add to my series of suits!

I consciously left out Yoshi’s pupils so it didn’t seem like Mario was wearing something he just caught in a bear trap.

I painted the Mickey ears to look like Yoshi eggs. And I know Yoshi doesn’t wear gloves, but I kept the white gloves to match the rest of the Mario Suit set. Now to think of more suits….

Spotlight On: Custom Artist Gabriell

WDWNT on August 31, 2011

Look what we found on the internets a few weeks ago.
This is Wolverine. He’s an X-Men, and sometimes part of Alpha Flight. He’s pretty bad-ass. He’s also a custom vinylmation made by Gabriell Lucchese. It took a while to track her down, but we found her and wanted to know more about her and her piece of artwork…

MC: Tell us a little about yourself…
GL: My name is Gabriell Lucchese. I am 20 years old and I am currently attending the College of Staten Island, where I was born and raised.

MC: What got you into art?
GL: I’ve always been known to have a good sense of creativity.

MC: What’s your artistic background, training/education?
GL: Not much of a background at all. I haven’t had any training, yet. I am hoping to get accepted into SUNY Purchase College and transfer for Spring 2012, where I can put my creativity to good use while strengthening my skills.

MC: How long have you been creating custom Vinylmation?
GL: Wolverine is my one and only so far. I recently vacationed at Walt Disney World with family and friends in June 2011. There, I found these adorable vinyls. When I spotted the custom “do it yourself” figure, I had to have it. Seeing all of the characters at Disney definitely inspired me to produce my own style of artwork. I am most certainly interested in making more. I just adore Disney!

MC: Do you collect the Vinylmation created by Disney artists?
GL: Yes, I absolutely love Vinylmations. My boyfriend and I go crazy for them. We consider it an addiction!

MC: Most of us do too! What is your favorite Disney Vinylmation design?
GL: I really love Ursula from The Little Mermaid. Although, I haven’t been able to get my hands on her, I am keeping my eyes peeled for the Villain Series every chance I get. My favorite Vinylmation (that I actually own) is Pinocchio from the Animation Series. What really makes him my favorite is that he is Pinocchio from Pleasure Island, transforming into a donkey.

MC: How did you come up with the idea of the Wolverine piece?
GL: My brother, Damien Lucchese, works for Marvel Entertainment. Knowing that Disney has recently acquired Marvel, I figured it was the perfect collaboration of the two. With that being said, Wolverine has always been my favorite Marvel character.

MC: We’re all waiting for the Marvel series also! Can you describe this figure? What detail went into it?
GL: Wolverine is equipped with three blades on each hand and his X-men suit, ready to defeat anyone that gets in his way.

MC: What is your favorite aspect of it?
GL: The Mickey ears, of course!

MC: What was the hardest part in creating this figure?
GL: The hardest part was deciding which costume/uniform Wolverine should wear.

MC: Will you create more comic book vinylmation?
GL: I would be glad to! It was a very fun activity to work on.

MC: Is there a place where people can go to find out more about your pieces and see your work?
GL: Maybe in the near future, when I create more pieces. I would absolutely love to work for Disney one day. It has always been my dream job and luckily for me, Disney is a company where dreams come true!

MC: Thanks for much for your time, and we look forward to anything new you make it the future! Maybe you can get a Marvel set out before Disney actually does.

Blind Box Buyer Custom

WDWNT on August 28, 2011

At D23, we were able to meet many of our readers, listeners and featured custom artists for the first time. One such artist was Chelsey. We have featured Chelsey’s work before. She has done some great Pixar characters. So we were very excited when she contacted us and said she had a special custom Vinylmation to give us. Meet, the blind box buyer.

Chelsey said she modeled it after a picture she found of me, Nick, wearing a backwards baseball cap on our website. Of course, the DV logo is on the front of the shirt. According to the facial expression, it looks like I’m trying to decided how many more to buy.

Chelsey put amazing detail into the blind box and into the hat that has a brim sticking out. Also the line of the jeans over the shoes. Now this must be in the early days of my collecting, otherwise I would have a case in my hand 🙂

The back says Destination Vinylmation on the shirt with Nick and M.C. on the ears. Amazing job Chelsey! Thank you so much for this special souvenir of our D23 trip.

Destination Caffeination

WDWNT on August 27, 2011

Jorge from RedVirtue Vinylmation Arts served Destination Vinylmation a special treat at D23.

Take a closer look at this special Starducks Cafe Mocha custom Jorge made for us!

I’m a huge coffee addict, so this is the perfect addition to my collection. Jorge is known for his caffeine inspired creations.

He has some great designs, other than Starducks coffee to choose from. Check out the RedVirtue Vinylmation Arts Facebook page. Jorge, thanks for the Disneyland tips and it was nice meeting you at D23 and D-Street. And a big thanks for the custom! It will keep me going through those late night podcast recording sessions.