Artist Annemarie’s First Official Disney Custom Debuts at WDW

WDWNT on August 27, 2013

It was a very special moment. Sure I have been a collector (and browser) of fine Disney collectibles for a few years now, but never has it felt like it did when I walked into the Art of Disney at Downtown Disney in Walt Disney World on Tuesday.

I had heard that Disney recently put a 9″ custom by the artist Annemarie up for sale. It was a completely under the radar release that was not attached to any event WDW was holding (unlike most Disney commissioned customs). This custom was created at the request of Annemarie to Disney to celebrate the 25th anniversary of a cartoon character she loves above all others… Roger Rabbit. So I just had to rush over and check it out.

Over the past few years, Annemarie has become a great friend, not only of Destination Vinylmation, but personally. The funny part is, although I consider her one of my closest friends, we have yet to ever meet face to face. A fact we plan to rectify when I head over to Anaheim for the D23 Expo in August.

This custom is beautiful. Roger Rabbit is painted onto the head of the custom as he and Benny crash through a brick wall. Roger wears his familiar smile as he bounces out of his seat… still grasping the steering wheel in his hands. The bricks break away from the wall in little shaded squares to help give depth and movement to the canvas. They also have a caroony, non linear style to them. Green Dip splatters through the ears and covers the arms.

Benny the Cab is drawn onto the body. His cartoony curves wonderfully match the animated character. Annemarie did a fantastic job capturing the style of the original animated characters and bringing them to life on the nine inch Mickey.

The back features a black silhouette of Roger and Benny as they break through the building. Note the hands up in the air and Roger still sitting in the cab. As opposed to the front position which denotes a period of time that has passed while they traveled through the building.

All artists have their strengths and unique styles. And to a degree, art is in the eye of the beholder. But Annemarie has brought me to a new appreciation of art. I look at things a different way now. And that is a great gift she has given to me. I think all art can be appreciated by different people in different ways, but some art just has something special that makes it aesthetically pleasing to the human eye. Ever read a book about Imagineering the Disney Parks? Nothing is by accident. Everything is planned to elicit a desired emotion in the viewer. That is great art.

When I walked into the Art of Disney and saw Annemarie’s custom displayed for sale among other Vinylmation… among other great pieces of art that adorn the walls of this store… I was proud. Proud of a friend who is talented, hardworking and deserves this recognition. I was happy. Happy because I know what seeing her name on placard in a Disney store next to all these other talented artists means to her. I was also excited. Excited that hopefully that gift she has given to me can now be shared with all the guests who view her work. Hopefully there are many more to come.

Spotlight On: Ash’s Gummi Bears

WDWNT on August 27, 2013

With the announcement that Disney Afternoons Series 2 would finally have some Gummi Bears as a set, we wanted to see what the custom world had down with such an obvious missed opportunity in series 1. We found Ash, and here are Ash’s Gummi Bears.

“I was a huge Disney cartoon fan growing up and when I got into Vinylmation I was beyond excited to see the Disney afternoon series.
Sadly, at that time, the Gummi Bears were missing. How could they not produce the bouncing here and there and everywhere bunch?


So my series was born! The biggest challenge was finding the right accessories/hats for them all. Took way longer than I thought it would.

I’m really happy with the finished bunch and hope they bring back memories for all those 80s/90s kids out there!” -Ash


To contact Ash, go to his facebook at facebook.com/ash.wonderland.9

The Custom Artist Project Series 3: Park Redux to Release November 22

WDWNT on June 4, 2013

The Custom Artist Project is the original collaborative multi-artist Vinylmation series consisting of several of the best Vinylmation custom artists in the world. Each series is made up of 24 figures, 2 of each and 1 mystery chaser, to replicate a real Vinylmation case. The series started in the summer of 2012 with Series 1: Sidekickz, followed up in the Spring of 2013 with Series 2: Pixar.

Series 3: Park Redux is being released on November 22nd, 2013. For this series, each artist chose an already existing figure from one of the official Vinylmation Park series and redesigned them. The figures are

Park 12 The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh REDUX by Are Jay

Park 1 Bad Apple REDUX by Brian Shapiro

Park 5 Anubis REDUX by Celeste Villanueva

Park 1 Creepy Wallpaper REDUX by Christopher Avalos aka Evilos

Park 2 Festival of the Lion King REDUX by Heather Kattelman

Park 3 It’s a Small World REDUX by Jenny Grinsell

Park 11 World of Color REDUX by Mike Vetrone

Park 4 Pirates Dog REDUX by Miranda Legendre

Park 1 Yeti REDUX by Nanette Simard Belgen aka NRB Relic

Park 6 Monstro REDUX by Dylan Pommer aka Rust This World

Park 5 Fantasmic REDUX by Ryan Branoff

Park 1 Red Balloon by Dylan Pommer aka Rust This World (one of a kind chaser)

There are also five variants in this series:

The figures are astounding in person and Park Redux has proven to be our best series yet. Each previous series has sold out in the first day, so there’s no guarantee these figure will last long. Check out our Facebook group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/ArtistProject/ for pictures of all of the figures and info on each artist.

Official Release Information:
Date: Friday, November 22nd
Time: 9:00 PM EST / 6:00 PM PST
Where: rustthisworld.bigcartel.com
Price: $70 per blind box shipped within the US, +$10 international shipping
Edition size: 25 blind boxes

Spotlight On: Stephanie’s Delicious Ghirardelli Custom

WDWNT on June 1, 2013

Stephanie Cassata sent over her latest custom she would like to share. (we thought she was sharing an actual sundae too) Take a look. And if you start to drool, that’s okay. You can always stop by her Etsy store to purchase one.

This one is my Ghirardelli custom, inspired by the delicious ice cream and chocolate shop located at Downtown Disney. My favorite chocolate ever, it was fun to take different elements from the shop and create a little character out of it. She has whipped cream hair topped with a cherry and a chocolate square, and even has a touch of Ghirardelli blue as part of her design. The sweetness and happiness I experience every time I go there really came through in this custom. How can you not love chocolate?

Visit Stephanie’s Etsy shop to see more of her work.

Update on Artist Howie Green

WDWNT on June 1, 2013

When we last spotlighted Boston artist Howie Green, he was getting ready to begin his “Golf Balls on Parade” project. He has been busy in 2013. Let’s take a look…

– Completed a slew of custom vinyl toys

Mr. Ghost Rider…. going up on Howie’s Ebay store today.

– Designed CD album cover for Terrell Bowers first album

– Finished up the design for my second production figure for Trail of the Painted Ponies scheduled for release this Fall but which is still top secret since it involves an infamous TV actress/celebrity.

– Completed two large mural painting projects with several hundred volunteers from the Boston Red Sox Foundation (including players, coaching staff, and managers John Farrell and Ben Cherington) at the Washington Irving School and Dimock Center in Boston, MA – even had a visit from the Sox official Mascot, Wally the Green Monster.

– Painted the 3 in a series of 4 giant golf balls in Rochester, NY for the upcoming Golf Balls on Parade event at the PGA Tournament at Oak Hill Country Club this Summer. I’m returning to Rochester soon to paint the remaining 1.

– Published a book of over 300 of my album cover paintings

As always thanks for your support and I’ll keep you posted.

Howie Green
www.hgd.com
www.etsy.com/shop/howiegreen
stores.ebay.com/Howie-Green-Gallery

Spotlight On: Oliver’s Primary Mickey

WDWNT on June 1, 2013

This week we got an email from aspiring 11 year old artist who wanted to show off his first custom piece of artwork. We love custom artists here at Destination Vinylmation, and especially enjoy when we can show off people who might not have the ability to show their artwork off themselves. So here’s Oliver and his Primary Mickey.

Destination Vinylmation: Hi, Oliver, give us a quick intro on yourself.
Oliver: I am 11 and this is my first custom vinyl.  I have been collecting for a
while and while I was in Disneyland I thought I would try a custom out.
DV: It’s a great first custom! Do you like being an artist?
O: I think it is
cool being a custom artist and like having my own work in my collection.

 

DV: I think that’s what makes Nick do his. Have you done a lot of art?
O: I have done a few designs on paper and hope to try some of them out
sometime.
DV: Why did you pic a Rubik’s Cube as inspiration?
O: I just thought it was cool doing  a primary color themed
Vinylmation.
DV: What’s your favorite Disney Vinylmation?
O: If I had to pick my favorite out of my collection I would
pick the Burbank Exclusive Director Mickey, I just like how it reminds
people of Walt himself.

DV: That’s one of our favorites too. What custom Vinylmation design do you think you’ll do next?
O: If I do another custom I want to do something Disney themed.
DV: That’s a good idea. The community kinda loves Disney. 🙂 Thanks for letting us do a spotlight on ya Oliver, and next time you have something, let us know!

Spotlight On: Cesar Diaz’s Custom Iron Man with Packaging

WDWNT on June 1, 2013

Destination Vinylmation: What inspired this custom creation?
Cesar Diaz: Iron Man 3 of course. For me this is the most anticipated movie this year. I’ve always been a big Star Wars toy collector. I have hundreds of carded figures and I love the look the toy brings when it’s carded. I knew I wanted to do a Iron Man Mark 42 suit in honor of the movie but I felt it wasn’t enough just making a custom vinyl, I had to step it up a notch. So I started researching how to make custom card backs and to my surprise I found out that a lot of people do Star Wars toy restoration. I got very fascinated how they do this and hence began my journey to make my own card back.

DV: Was the packaging difficult to create?
CD: 90% of the work is done in Photoshop  Luckily I know Photoshop pretty well so no problem there. The challenge was to find a bubble blister that would fit a Vinylmation. I never realized how chubby Vinylmations are until I actually tried to make it fit in the bubble. I did a a lot of trial and error until I got it just right.

DV: Are you excited about the results?
CD: I’m really happy how this piece turned out and this has to be one of my favorites. I’ve received so many PMs to buy this piece so to make things fair I’ve decided to post it on Vinylmation Exchange: Bid Wars. Later in the week I will post on my FB page www.facebook.com/mycustomations when it will go up for auction.

Cesar Diaz
mycustomations.com
customations@gmail.com
Twitter: @mycustomations
Facebook: http://goo.gl/szY27
Instagram: customations

Artist Heather Kattelman Offers Star Wars Weekends Custom Specials!

WDWNT on June 1, 2013

A note from Heather Kattelman:
I am offering these exclusive 2013 Star Wars Weekends Customs for a limited time NOW through June! If you are attending one of the weekends, order right away to pick it up at the event or have it shipped to you free by ordering before the final SWW.

ENDOR JEDI MICKEY comes with a custom sculpted helmet and to complete the look, his blue light saber.

STAR WARS CHIP & DALE EWOK SET is adorable with custom made suede ewok hoods and each carry a unique stick accessory with leather accents.

Both custom exclusives will arrive in a unique, customized box that can be used as a display piece or as a keepsake.

For additional information:
www.facebook.com/vinylmationcustomations
hkattelman@gmail.com
www.twitter.com/myvinylmation
www.instagram.com/vinylmationcustomations

Spotlight on Joshua Pirtle’s Gravity Falls Custom Combo

WDWNT on June 1, 2013

We were sent some photos of a pair of Gravity Falls customs by Joshua Pirtle from Kissimmee, Fl. Gravity Falls is a Disney Channel cartoon and these vinyls feature the main characters.

Destination Vinylmation: What got you into painting Vinylmation?
Joshua: Back when I started collecting with Park Series 2, I really wanted Vinylmation of two of my favorite characters Donald Duck and Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. So I got two blanks and that’s when it all began.

DV: How did you decide to choose Gravity Falls as the subject of these customs?
Joshua: I was watching the show one day and was thinking that Vinylmation of these two characters would be great. Especially now that there was a mold that had a baseball cap.