Today @keithlapinig announced that his 101 Dalmatians vinylmation figure was on display at D23. I really like that the head is a TV and all the dalmatians are huddled around watching it.
What do you think? Anyone see this in person?
Check out our previous interview with Keith-
In honor of the rumor of Alice at D23, here’s another look at Evilos’ wonderful Wonderland Diorama. The detail is amazing, and I really like the 3 dimensional improvement to Alice. He smock looks so good.
This Cheshire Cat is amazing!
Don’t forget to check out this easter egg!
Hope you are enjoying Star Wars Weekends at Disney’s Hollywood Studios! At the last Walt Disney World trading event we meet Heather Kattelman from Fleming Island, Florida. She was displaying a couple very impressive custom 9″ Vinylmation she had created. One was Star Wars themed, the other a TRONorail. We caught up with her recently and asked her all about them.
 |
 |
Destination Vinylmation: How long have you been creating custom vinylmation?
Heather: I’ve only been creating custom Vinylmations on and off for about 9 months. My kids got me interested in it last year during the Vinylmation trading event of Trade City.
DV: Do you do other artwork, or just Vinylmation?
Heather: Really just vinylmation. I sort of play around here and there with other types of painting but only when I need to for an interior design project or something like that.
DV: Tell us about the inspiration behind the Star Wars figure.
Heather: My entire family are Star Wars fans and I was thinking about starting a new custom and mentioned to my husband that I was thinking about doing a Star Wars themed piece. We both thought it would cool to do something that I could take with us and have signed by the celebrities at Star Wars Weekends! From attending previous years, I knew there was always a main SW Logo for the event and felt that would be awesome to include on the vinyl somewhere and of course having the SW Logo was only fitting!
DV: It is perfect, and lots of room left around it for autographs. Tell us about the process of making the custom?
Heather: First, I draw out the concept on paper to gauge the scale and placement.
DV: Then do you pencil it onto the vinyl?
Heather: Usually when I paint the artwork on the vinyl, I just go right to painting. Occasionally for extremely detailed areas, like parts of Darth Vadar & Mickey I lightly pencil portions of the design on first.
DV: What is your favorite part about your Star Wars custom?
Heather: Wow, this is a tough one! I love the way the front came out with Vadar and Mickey but the back with the X-Wing I especially like! This was a last minute decision to add the fighters – I originally planned to paint another character on the back but changed my mind at the last minute. I’m really glad I did, it’s my favorite part!
DV: It is incredibly detailed and very different from anything we have seen. Let’s talk about the TRONorail figure. How long did it take to design and complete this one?
Heather: The Tron Monorail took me about 30 hours.
DV: The paint job and colors look perfect, how much trial and error was there in picking the perfect paints and getting it to look right on the vinylmation?
Heather: THANKS! I have a lot of pictures of the monorail and let’s just say that I think I have every color of blue, green, teal paint that is made! I also had to do a fair amount of mixing to find the perfect shade on at least 3 of the colors – none of the “off-the-shelf” ones matched the way I wanted.
DV: What was the hardest part about either of these?
Heather: The hardest part of both vinylmations was the lettering of the logos – I hate “writing” letters! I’m such a perfectionist that this is a very tedious process.
DV: The hard work certainly paid off. Now are these customs for sale or for you own personal collection?
Heather: Yes – Any of my customs can be purchased. Currently I have the “TRONorail” available on eBay. I also can be contacted directly at HKattelman@gmail.com or through Facebook at facebook.com/HKattelman
DV: Do you take custom orders?
Heather: I sure do! I’m happy to do custom work for people that’s either something I’ve already completed that they’ve seen and would like one of their own or a unique figure that I create based on their requests.
DV: Where can people see your work?
Heather: You can find photos of some of my figures here.
DV: What customs are next for you?
Heather: I have a couple that are in the works: “Transformers”, “Iron Man” and possibly “Captain America” – Do you see a theme here? LOL 🙂 But first I am currently doing a Darth Maul – Phantom Menace 9″ that I’m really excited about!
DV: We can’t wait to see those. But before we go… What is your favorite figure from Disney’s Star Wars set?
Heather: Oh, that’s such a hard choice – they’re all awesome! If I had to pick one it would have to be Vadar!
DV: And how about Disney’s TRON set?
Heather: I love the way ZUSE came out!
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.
One of our readers made a very special custom for his Dad this past Father’s Day. Custom artist Jason Adler, aka DisneyMozart, from Birmingham, AL made an Alabama Crimson Tide custom. Here are the pictures.
 |
| Front View |
 |
| Can you spot the Hidden Mickey in the room? |
 |
| Roll Tide Roll! |
There’s been a lot of new recently about the Pirates Party on July 1st at WDW for the release of the Pirates of the Caribbean 3″ series. (The set also comes out the same day in California, but with less pomp and circumstance.)
The party starts at 10:30 AM (when the store opens) this Friday. The new 12 figure blind box series will be on sale then, for $12.95 (according to Claudia who called Disney). That series is by Casey Jones.
Also available that day will be several one of a kind Pirates themed custom vinylmations that will be sold separately. (Similar to the idea of the ones they released on CA a little bit back.) Wristbands will be handed out for these special customs. Each band is limited to purchasing only ONE custom, and all are first come first serve. (At the moment we don’t have the prices of any of these officially, but I would suspect that the NOAH ones are $595.)
Here are the ones that Disney has announced…
First up, this vinyl by new artist Gary Ham. We didn’t know who these was, but after checking out his blog at haminals.blogspot.com we really like the way this guys thinks. (Especially the Superman reference) His vinylmation is right on par with the rest of his artwork. Disney spoke to him and he explained his thoguht process for this piece, “The inspiration behind the figure was to tell a story of pirate voyage and all that they encounter while in search of treasure.” The hat is interesting, as it is removable, but also fits over one ear instead of between them. I think the design looks pretty cool, but like most of this set I’m sure the price is a little out of my range. (Plus, and I hope this is on purpose, I enjoy that his name is Ham and the piece is pink!)
Another new artist to Vinylmationis Robert Lee from methanestudios.com. Check out his pirate variation. I love the M-I-C-K-E-Y on the pirate’s knuckles, and the Mickey Ears on the skull and cross bones on his ear. I’d love this one as a 3″ for like $25!
Jeff Lamm’s piece is up next. Also a newbie to Vinylmation, Jeff’s work usually focuses on Godzilla like monsters. Check out one of the many places to find his artwork, greasebat.com. He says that he likes to create “messed up junk, heavily influences by Japanese monster toys, Ed Roth, pop art, and vintage manga. His piece is pretty straight forward. A skeleton and some jewels, although I’m not sure if the skeleton has eaten the jewels or if they are just in a pile in front of him. Jeff told Disney, “This figure was a fun piece to make. My inspiration came from the ‘Pirates Of The Caribbean’ model kits made back in the 70’s. I always loved the action of those kits. I liked the idea of skeletal pirates defending their treasure.” I really like the jewel in the right ear, reminds me of the rupees from Zelda. (I’m playing the 3DS remake of Ocarina of Time right now).
Up next, two from seasoned vinylmation artist Adrianne Draude:
Two great things about this piece. One, it kinda looks like this pirate has joined a 1970’s biker gang with all the black leather it seems to be wearing. Two, if you purchase this one, you’ll get that extra fancy chest for your booty! (I wonder if the vinylmation fits inside.) A great figure, and it looks like Adrianne did a lot of work adding 3 dimensional elements to this piece. Gotta love the gold tooth!
The other piece from Adrianne also comes with something special. That really cool box you see there, and it even has a hinged door. I’m pretty sure this means that this piece fits inside the box. The piece isn’t 3D like the previous piece, but the artwork is really cool!
The final piece (well actually pieces) are by NOAH. (If you don’t know he’s the guy behind those custom Disney endorsed TRON figures, as well the some Little Mermaid customs.) According to Disney, there will be six similar figures offered. We are guessing (based on historical records) that these pieces will go for about $595.00. Each piece will also (like always) come with a cool stand which also has another piece of NOAH work. A little darker and scarier then the other pieces, this piece is actually a little simple in comparison to the other pieces. (Of course that might just be the lighting in this picture.) Although, I do have to say, that skull is really really creepy!
What do you think of all these pieces? Which do you like the most? Is anyone in our audience lucky enough to be able afford and thus is looking to purchase one of these?
Update: 6/24/11 The artofdisney site had a second one of a kind Foose vinylmation on display. This one based on the character Ramone from Pixar’s Cars.
 |
 |
The vinyl is based on the flame design from the side of Ramone from the first Cars movie.
Like the previous one, there is only ONE of this vinylmation and it’s price is $1,500.00.
Do you like this one more or less than the Foose’s first one?
6/10/11 Today Disney announced another one of a kind custom. This 9″ is created by Southern California artist Chip Foose. Chip grew up designing cars and has even been seen in the reality TV show “Overhaulin'” of TLC. The design represents the lifestyle of the Huntington Beach area of California.
 |
 |
There is only one of these, and it will set ya back $1,500.00. It’s kind of a shame, because I’d totally pay $25 bucks for a 3″ version of this.
DV: Don’t worry, at Disney, Nerds Rock! So, what turned you on to working with Vinylmation?
Keith: I first heard about Vinylmation when I was a Cast Member at the World of Disney NYC. In a gallery meeting, only the name of it was brought up since it was still in development, but I immediately knew what to expect since my friend had been obsessed with the KidRobot vinyl toys. He actually tried to get me into collecting those, but I told him I will only collect vinyls if Disney starts making their own since I have to keep to the theme of my bedroom. Sure enough… it happened, and I have been collecting and creating since the first day of Vinylmation in 2008.
DV: What is the biggest challenge in creating a custom Vinylmation?
Keith: I think the biggest challenge for me is solidifying an idea. I don’t like wasting my time with customs that other people might make. For example, a character Vinylmation. I will always try to come up with a unique approach at translating a fresh design to the Vinylmation platform. While I have made many character Vinylmations in the past due to commissions, I prefer making fun designs that one wouldn’t normally think of when looking at a Vinylmation.
DV: Where can people go to view and purchase your work?
Keith: My official website is www.mametchi.com. I’m actually going to have a Facebook page soon. Keep an eye out for that! As far as customs for purchase, I do have a waiting list going on right now, but I am open for commissions.
Today we feature a new custum artist from Modesto, California. Cesilie caught our attention when she started her Facebook page for Mo Doodle Designs and posted a picture of her Ken from Toy Story 3 custom.
Destination Vinylmation: How long have you been creating custom vinylmation?
Cesilie: A few months, Ken was the first vinyl I created after holding onto the blank vinyl for about a year! I was super nervous to start and my friend Nat told me to just jump in.
DV: Do you create other forms of art besides vinylmation?
Cesilie: My parents had a craft business growing up so painting and being artsy has always been something I’ve done. I can usually be found drawing (Hence the nickname I was given, “Mo Doodle”), painting, or creating mini-comic adventures of my pets!
DV: Your custom Ken looks amazing, just like the character from Toy Story 3. How did you decide to create a Ken?
Cesilie: Thank you! I can’t believe how well he turned out In fact, he came out exactly how I envisioned him! As one of the many kids today that have grown up with Toy Story I was super excited to see the Toy Story vinyl set come out. I was very happy to see a Lotso but not so happy to see Big Baby. I was hoping for more of my new found favorite characters to be included and I couldn’t help but wonder what Ken would look like as a vinyl. For me Ken stole the show in TS3 and I just felt like I needed to add to my Toy Story set!
DV: Talk about the process of creating this custom. Did you sketch out concept art? Do you pencil the design on first?
Cesilie: With Ken I had a hard time debating which outfit I wanted to put him in… There were SO many in the movie that I had to take a vote on which outfit to make. My family and friends voted to just do Animal Lovin’ Ken since he was the first version of Ken we met in the movie. I started sketching him on a vinyl outline and sorta just went from there. I’m pretty good at free-handing things and don’t really sketch them out first. I’ve found with a few other vinyls I’ve worked on that penciling onto the plastic is not something I’m good at, plus I like the challenge of eye-balling it. I also knew I wanted him to have a real ascot, so fabric that matched my paint colors was a must!
DV: What was the biggest challenge in creating the Ken custom?
Cesilie: The biggest challenge I think was the leopard spots. I wanted them to be super accurate and I was really worried about starting to work on them. I ended up using a toothpick and spent about 3 hours trying to get them right on the first ear! After I got that done I was really relieved to see they turned out exactly how I wanted and the the other ear and shirt were much easier and way less time consuming to finish. I also had a little trouble with the highlights in his hair, so I had my expert crafty mom help me out with that one!
DV: Great use of the ears! Was that your original idea or did have other thoughts for them as well?
Cesilie: At first I didn’t know what to do with the ears. I thought about painting them brown but as I talked to my mom about it she said it would look funny to have brown hair and then brown ears. Then I considered leaving them blue and just writing “Ken” in pink text (like on the barbie boxes) on his ear…. It wasn’t until after I had sketched most of him out on the coloring page that I decided to try the leopard spots on the ears 🙂
DV: Where is barbie?
Cesilie: Barbie is in the works… I didn’t expect Ken to turn out as well as he did. This was my first custom afterall, not to mention my first 3D art piece ever! so I never thought about making his counter part. However, after taking Ken to Disneyland for the pirates event and getting a great response with him I’ve been working on a Barbie sketch to finish off the duo.
DV: It looks like you have a couple nice looking sports figure customs in the concept phase.
Cesilie: Totally! They are actually my first official commissioned pieces! The guy I’m doing them for is a fan of New York teams (Yankees and the Jets) and asked me to create two figures based off of these teams. The one you can see actual paint progress of so far is the Yankee’s player 🙂 I’m waiting for a special little item to come in before I start the football player 🙂
DV: Two New York teams? What would happen if I commishioned you to create a Boston Red Sox or Patiots custom?
Cesilie: I would totally be down to do both! I personally am not very in-the-know when it comes to sports teams as far as who is who, I just know I’m a Dallas fan 😉
DV: Can people purchase any of your customs?
Cesilie: YES! As of right now I take custom orders of whatever you’d like me to do! I have a cute old-fashioned Minnie in the works as well as the two lil sports guys. I make pretty much whatever your heart desires! If anyone would like to inquire about a possible custom (or to even purchase a Ken/Ken outfit varient) you can contact me on Facebook.
DV: Thank you for your time and keep in touch about your future customs.
Cesilie: Thanks SO much for featuring me!
On of our readers sent us a message to check out this new custom artist Facebook page the other day. What we found there were some great Starbucks and Ghostbuster inspired pieces. The artist is Jorge Castilla from Chino, California. Jorge talked with us about these great custom pieces.
Destination Vinylmation: How did you come up with the name StarDucks Cafe?
Jorge: Well, it first started out as a request from my girlfriend. She really wanted something that was the best of both worlds: Disney and Starbucks. I said I’d make her a Vinylmation. So I made her one with the (now old) Starbucks logo. It came out so good I thought “you know, I bet a lot of people would really like this.” I’m sure my girlfriend and myself aren’t the only Vinyl collectors that appreciate a good coffee buzz. So I decided I was going to make more of these. But I also didn’t want Starbucks knocking on my door if these became a sensation. So we tossed a few names around and an image of Daisy Duck in the logo popped to mind! “Star Ducks!” Hey it rhymed and people would get it. I also changed the word “Coffee” to “Café”.
DV: The detail on the logo is spectacular. Is the logo on the figure hand painted or a sticker?
Jorge: Thanks! And yes it’s a sticker. It’s carefully pressed into every nook and curve of the vinyl then sealed in. It isn’t coming off! Not without really scrubbing and picking at it anyway.
DV: We really like the mixed media customs. Is that a real piece of straw up top?
Jorge: You wouldn’t get very far using it as one.
DV: What have you learned making these customs?
Jorge: Well it’s definitely opened a whole other world to me! I liked Vinylmation a lot but I had no idea about the culture that’s spawned around it and how long vinyl collectibles have really been around.
DV: You said your a coffee drinker, what is your favorite drink at StarDucks?
Jorge: I regularly order their Mint n Quacker Chips sans the chips. I really like mint but I’m afraid to know how ducks make Quacker Chips.
DV: Can we order this Vinylmation frozen?
Jorge: (gives awkward pause) This is where I give another witty answer isn’t it?
DV: Then lets move on to your Ghostbuster look a like Mickey. Tell us about this one’s inspiration.
Jorge: He’s tentatively called Lonesome Ghostbuster Mickey. Basically so he’ll pop up in searches for the Lonesome Ghost vinyl from the Laugh a Lot Series. I really liked that cartoon as a child (it was a rerun in the 80‘s) and it was a nice surprise to see one of the Lonesome Ghosts as a vinyl. Ghostbusters was also a comedic blockbuster and favorite of mine still to this day. Making a Vinyl that fused the two together was a no-brainer.
DV: You have some great detail on this figure, describe the different features.
Jorge: Mickey comes decked out in Ghostbusting gear incuding jumpsuit, elbow pads, chemical gloves, and of coarse a Proton Pack! Just about everything you need for paranormal eliminations!
DV: What is the proton pack made out of?
Jorge: ABS Plastic. It’s a plastic that holds it’s shape when molded by heat and is regularly used for many purposes; like toys for example.
DV: As a custom artist, I see you first put together some concept art on the computer. How hard is it to accurately translate your concept onto the figure. And does it ever get frustrating when you can’t?
Jorge: Oh gosh… Well when I made the graphic for the cards that come with the Star Duck vinyl, I actually made the illustration after I made one physical vinyl. So that wasn’t so bad. But with the LGB Mickey I made the illustration first. It made a great reference but it was very hard to duplicate. It’s very different working with a two dimensional and three dimensional object. I now understand why sometimes the artwork on the artist cards don’t always match the vinyl.
DV: These are great customs, I’m sure they will be popular. What else is on the way?
Jorge: Expect something else in the vein of the current Star Ducks line… a new flavor! Also expect one or two Pixar related vinyls. You heard it all here first! 😉
DV: Pixar is a very popular choice for custom artists. So, how can people contact you about purchasing your customs?
Jorge: I have a Facebook page exclusively devoted to updates and announcements on my vinylmation arts! My Seller Name on eBay is redvirtuevinylmationarts if you wish to contact me there as well. All my transactions are done on eBay.
DV: Thanks for the interview. Keep up the great work and keep in touch with all your future customs.
Jorge: Thank you for the opportunity!
