Aaralyn’s Tiny Tails – Final Vote

WDWNT on February 6, 2013

Aarayln has started the final vote for what should be on her latest custom series, Tiny Tails. Read more about it, then vote at facebook.com/artworksbyaaralyn.

“I am very excited to announce my very first custom Vinylmation series: Tiny Tails! This thirteen piece series will include Disney animals as babies.

Last week, I put a poll on my Facebook page, to narrow down the characters that my fans would like to see in the series. The Top 25 results are below. I have reposted the poll with these characters. The characters that are voted into the Top 8 will for certain be included in the set. The remaining five characters, including the chaser, will be artist’s choice. Please go to my Facebook page at: facebook.com/artworksbyaaralyn to vote by Friday, January 25, 2013.

I have included some of my favorite character pictures and quotes below for the Top 5 characters. If you have some favorite quotes or movie moments from any Disney animal characters, please feel free to share them in the comments!

1. Stitch – “This is my family. I found it, all on my own. Is little, and broken, but still good. Yeah, still good.” There are not many people who can resist the cuteness that is Stitch. Although he destroys small cites made of books, he also makes friends with ducklings and it doesn’t get more adorable than that.
2. Raja – Being a huge fan of big cats, Raja has always been a favorite of mine. He’s loyal and protective, and he doesn’t shred the curtains like my cat used to do
3. Pegasus – Big Eyes, Pastel colors, Cute wings…need I say more?
4. Cheshire Cat – “You may have noticed that I’m not all there myself.” While there’s not as much cuteness factor in Ches’s character, he is still a fan favorite due to his madness. Just don’t ask him for directions.
5. Pascal – He likes kids, he puts up with Rapunzel’s ventriloquist acts, and he’s fearless when facing a foe. The little guy has a ton of charm
6. Pluto
7. Chip and Dale
8. Lady
9. Thumper

10. Oliver
11. Tigger
12. Roo
13. Tramp
14. Dumbo
15. Dug
16. Marie
17. Meeko
18. Donald Duck
19. Figment
20. Roger Rabbit
21. Squirt
22. Simba
23. Bolt
24. Mittens
25. Copper
Also with similar voting numbers: Robin Hood, Turk, and Figaro”

Spotlight On: Custom Vinylmation Artist Howie Green

WDWNT on February 6, 2013

Our eyes were recently turned to an artist named Howie Green. Just a quick look at his work, and you could tell he took a different approach than many custom artists were are used to spotlighting. I then discovered he was from Boston… always a plus. He has created some wonderful art on the Mickey canvas, as many of you know, but did you know his art covers his hometown and also reaches far beyond?

Destination Vinylmation: How long have you been involved in the art world?
Howie Green: I graduated from art school in 1970 with a BFA and have been a working artist, illustrator, designer ever since. And actually I was a working artist even when I was in school. I had a design studio for 17 years with 9 or so employees doing all kinds of work for all kinds of clients, won lots of awards, traveled a lot. It was great but I had enough and wanted to do something more focused and less hectic. I shut it all down 10 years ago to focus on painting which I must say has worked out well.

DV: What attracted you to the Mickey shaped platform to create works of art?
HG: I am a life-long toy junkie. When the whole DIY toy thing started up I was painting on any toy I could find; like Kidrobot Munnys and pretty much anything. Initially, I was not interested in the 3″ Mickeys because of the small size, so I started in on a few 9″ ones which all sold.

But I kept getting collectors asking me to do small ones because they couldn’t afford the large ones…so, I started in on a couple 3″ ones and have completed and sold about 40 or so of them to date. Mickey fits my style perfectly… he’s all circles and round and really fun to draw and paint on. Plus one of my early learn-to-draw books was a Disney one so I have been drawing Mickey and crew forever.

DV: Your style is very unique. Instead of creating straight up characters, you use colors and shapes. Is there a name for this technique?
HG: Is there a name for my technique? Probably not… I just call it Pop Art toys. Although I have done several commissions of existing super heroes and such I’m not really interested in taking some character that already exists and squashing it onto a Vinylmation figure. What’s the point? I think the worst example of this is Tinker Bell as a fat Vinylmation. Or the Candice one from Phineas and Ferb. Awful! She looks like she ate Tinker Bell. I look at the form as a fun shape 3D canvas and start from there. But I never loose site of the fact that it’s Mickey. I thinks it’s an honor to be able to use Mickey as a canvas. So I’m trying to create my own takes on Mickey as a Pop Art toy which by itself is a wide open concept.

I was at Disney World a while back when they had 5 foot tall Mickeys that had all been painted by and for celebrities. I would have loved have painted one of those! I do a lot of public art works with the Red Sox Foundation folks and I’m painting 4 giant golf balls for the PGA tournament in Rochester, NY this year…

but I still really want to paint a giant Mickey someday. How cool would it be to be able to paint a giant 5 foot tall Vinylmation? Shortly after seeing all those Mickeys, the Cow Parade came to Boston which led to my being involved in many public art projects. I have painted 3 cows, a bench, public utility boxes, murals and on and on. Two of my Cow Parade cows were made into collectible figures and one of them became a bestseller in Europe.

Go figure? I also designed the “Peace, Love & Music” collectible pony figure for the nice folks at Trail of the Painted Ponies. I’m working with them now on a new pony figure that I’m designing with a celebrity friend of mine and hoping it gets a good reaction. Keeping our fingers crossed and its all very hush hush.

DV: I saw the Boston Celtics artwork you created for the Mayor’s Office’s Spring Paint Box program… can you tell us about that job?
HG: The Mayor’s office started the Paint Box program about 5-6 years ago. They sent out a “call to artists” to submit designs that they would like paint on thousands of those awful metal public utility boxes all over the city of Boston… and there are thousands of them. I never noticed them before but once you start looking you realize they are everywhere. So they liked my designs and I started doing them and have done I think 9 or 10 of them.

Since my style is pretty accommodating they asked me to do one for the Celtics which is over near the “Garden” where they play. I go out every spring and visit my boxes and do paint touch ups. Remarkably none of them have ever been hit by graffiti. “Honor among thieves,” I guess.

Since the Mayor’s office was happy with my work they asked me to paint the front entrance of Boston City Hall when the new doors were being installed. They had an ugly temporary plywood structure covering the entrance and I got to paint it (with my brother’s help.) I have a couple more boxes lined up to be painted in the Spring.

DV: Can you share some other non-Vinylmation related works with us that you enjoyed? 
HG: My other work is all over the map – literally. I still do a lot of graphic design work, web sites, and I paint every day.

I always seem to have various art commissions in the works and when I don’t, I do toys. Actually I do toys almost every day too.  I have sold my paintings and toys to people all over the globe from Europe to Croatia to Australia to Asia. I have had a nice fan base in Singapore and Asia in general since my first book “Jazz Fish Zen” was published back in the 90’s. It did OK in the states but was very popular in Asia. They seem to have a real love for my goofy Pop Art. I was friends with Steve Kaufman just before he died in 2010 and I was going to be part of his museum show that was being planned for an Asian tour. Alas it will not happen. Steve was Andy Warhol’s last assistant and had a major career as a Pop Artist. Wonderful guy.

Just for fun I started a series of album cover paintings in 2004 that has just culminated in the publication of a portfolio book of over 350 of them – hot off the presses last week! My album cover paintings have been a huge project and more fun than anything.

I have done several large installations of them in Jacksonville and Delray Beach, Florida and my portrait of Biggie Smalls was used for the cover of the tribute album called “Unbelievable” that Puff Daddy and tons of others appeared on. Last year I did a large version of the painting for Wayne Barrows for his office in New York. Wayne is a movie producer who manages Biggie’s estate.

DV: How can people contact you and view your work?
HG: I do commissions every day and am always happy to chat about them. You visit me online:
www.hgd.com
howiegreen.etsy.com
Stores.ebay.com/Howie-Green-Gallery
www.facebook.com/howie.green.artist
www.flickr.com/photos/howie-green

Spotlight On: Custom Vinylmation Artist Roman Rodriquez

WDWNT on February 6, 2013

I was at work the other day, just flipping through Facebook (don’t worry, my boss isn’t a Vinylmation fan), when I happened to see a custom by an artist out of Cincinnati I was not yet familiar with. I contacted Venezuelan born Roman Rodriguez right away to talk to him all about his creations, his inspirations and of course, cake.

Destination Vinylmation: Usually we would start off by asking about the artist or the Vinylmation, but in this case my first question has to be… How did you come to own a life size Watto from Star Wars?
Roman Rodriquez: Very good question.  I love Star Wars and I had the opportunity to buy Watto on Ebay and I went for it.  I wanted to have a life size for my office and I was lucky enough to get it.  Plus why wouldn’t someone get him :0)  he is awesome. LOL

DV: A lot of sculpting went into your Watto custom. How long did it take to create?
RR: It took me about 3 days from beginning to end including painting.  Once I get into a project I can’t stop working on it until I am done.  I start with an idea and how to approach each step of the process.  After I get a clear picture from beginning to end I just go for it.

DV: What was the most difficult part about creating Watto?
RR: It had to be getting the right shape so it would look like him.  I was afraid that it may not look like him at the end and I would have just wasted my time.  I was able to see soon enough that it was going to look like him and I just couldn’t stop.  I remember that I just keep on looking at his eyes making sure that I capture the essence of him.

DV: What was the inspiration behind making Mr. Smee as a theme park guest?
RR: My family and I love Disney and we would love to live inside Disney World.  I wanted to create something that would show the joy of a vacation at Disney World.  What better way than Mr.  Smee taking a break from Captain Hook.   He is such an interesting character and gets blamed for everything bad that happens to Captain Hook.  I decided he needed a break so I gave him the vacations of his lifetime.

DV: From looking at your work, you seem very comfortable using props and sculpting… what other types of art forms are you into?
RR: I am into cake decorating you can see some of my work at my Facebook group.  I can apply some of the sculpting techniques to creating Vinylmation.  I love creating something from nothing and letting my creativity run wild.

DV: Cake you say? Tell us about your most memorable one.
RR: My favorite cake has to be the 2nd cake I made.  It was my son’s birthday and since he was into airplanes, I decided to make him a scaled down 747. Even though my skill have gotten a lot better since this cake, this was the one that gave me the confidence to keep on making them.  In addition, it was for my son’s birthday and that made it that much more meaningful.  Thinking back it was also the first time I used an airbrush…WOW… Now I can live without it.  Please check my Facebook group to see this cake in video and my other creations.

DV: What drew you to the Mickey canvas?
RR: I have been designing cakes for about 4 years.  The bad part about it is that after the party you have only pictures and videos of it.  It is hard to put all that time, work, and love into something and then in one minute destroy it all to eat it.  I started collecting Vinylmation a few years back and I wanted to create something that I would actually be able to keep.  What better way than merging my love for art and the passion we have for Disney??? Vinylmation has provided me that venue to express my passion for Disney and Art while keeping it at the end.

DV: Do you have a place where people can view your work?
RR: I feel honored for all of you that are joining me in this new venture.  Please join my Facebook group.  You can see my work or request a special piece for yourself. You can also now like my new Facebook page.

Spotlight On: Aaralyn’s Baby Snow White

WDWNT on February 6, 2013

This week Aaralyn showed off her latest Vinylmation custom, the most recent princess in her princesses as babies style. We asked her for a few words about it…

 “I have quite a few upcoming projects that I am really excited about. My next project is Tiny Tails, my first custom series and I will also be working on additional 9” customs in a slightly different theme/style than previous works. Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy my latest custom!

 When I first started creating custom Vinylmations in December of 2011, once of the first projects I planned was creating a set of Baby Disney Princesses. Although my style has evolved since I started, I still plan to finish the series that started with Cinderella, then Ariel and now includes the fariest of them all, Snow White.

The hardest part of designing this custom were her eyes. I sketched out quite a few different styles until one stood out. In the design stage, the eyes are the aspect that always seems to get the most sketch time.

Like the other baby princesses I’ve done, I also had the task of picking out an animal friend to include. One of my favorite scenes from the movie is when the baby bluebird tries to out-sing Snow White and the little bird goes out of tune, making its parents wince. I thought he was a perfect addition to the custom.

For more information about Aaralyn:
“Like” her art page on Facebook at facebook.com/artworksbyaaralyn
Follow Aaralyn on Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest: @ArtistAaralyn
Visit her website for customs, Disney photography and more at artworksbyaaralyn.com“

Thanks again to Aaralyn for showing off such awesome artwork!

Spotlight On: Stephanie’s Valentine’s

WDWNT on February 6, 2013

Remember that awesome Sugar Rush Racer we spotlighted a few weeks back. We ran into Stephanie again and she shared a cool custom with us. Also check out her sale she’s running, more info at the end of the post.

 “I love kawaii art, and it fits the spirit of Vinylmation so perfectly. I really enjoy incorporating that style into my customs, which I’ve done a few times already. Inspired by Valentine’s Day (which is one of my favorite holidays), I had to come up with something cute and shiny (and pink is my favorite color too). This little character started to form in my head, and I went with it. I love leopard spots and (of course) a little extra sparkle, so I had a lot of fun making this cutie!

Several additional elements were utilized to give her the extra dimension. I used Sculpey clay for her hair and tail, Swarovski crystals, fabric flowers, and a wooden base for her to sit on. I enjoyed using the clay to form the swirling dynamic features, which come together for nice aesthetic appeal. All separate elements were sealed together using Mod Podge, and the final piece has a glossy Testors finish. And of course, just a touch of glitter paint!”

If you’d like to find more stuff by Stephanie go to etsy.com/shop/StephanieImagined or stephanieimagined.weebly.com/

Stephanie is also running a salethru Valentine’s Day 2013 on her site. Use the coupon code in this image to get 10% off your entire order.

Spotlight On: Mike Vetrone’s Snow White

WDWNT on February 6, 2013

Mike Vetrone is always coming up with great pieces of custom Vinylmation. We spoke to him recently about his latest Snow White figure.

“Thanks guys! This piece was commissioned by someone as a gift for their mother’s birthday who has a huge Snow White collection. I was told her favorite scene was the wishing well. I wanted to make sure that went on front.”

“As I brainstormed and did some research in watching the movie over again I realized I could easily blend the scene into a brick wall that I could put the magic mirror on. The Old Hag is one of my personal favorite villains and I thought it would be interesting to have the Evil Queen looking into the mirror to show the Old Hag. There was an immense amount of work that went into this piece, but I feel it really paid off. I am extremely happy with the way it turned out.”

Find more of Mike’s work at Facebook at facebook.com/customsbymikevetrone. And email him at Michael.vetrone@gmail.com.

Spotlight On: Jesse Bowers’ Samuel L. Jackson Custom

WDWNT on February 6, 2013

Artist Jesse Bowers from Stony Plain, Alberta, Canada has only ever painted one Vinylmation. But it caught our eye immediately and inspired me to run out and get a Royale with cheese.

Destination Vinylmation: So this being your first custom Vinylmation, what made you decide to choose this medium for the Samuel L. Jackson Pulp fiction design?
Jesse Bowers: My brother’s girlfriend gave me a vinyl and told me I could paint it however I wanted. I had recently watched Pulp Fiction and I thought a mini Samuel L. Jackson would be a cool idea.

DV: Thanks to you, I now want a 12 figure Samuel L. Jackson set from all his movies. Why did you choose him as your subject? 
JB: That would be a good idea. Pulp Fiction is probably my favorite movie and Samuel L. Jackson and John Travolta are the two most hardcore people in that movie. I wanted to paint them both but I haven’t gotten around to painting John Travolta yet.

DV: Have you painted other vinyl toys before Vinylmation?
JB: No I haven’t. I’ve only ever painted on canvas or paper and such. I thought a small toy would be a fun challenge.

DV: Do you plan on designing more custom Vinylmation?
JB: Yes, I thought it would be cool if I continued and painted a 12 figure set of Pulp Fiction characters.

DV: What was the most challenging part about painting on a Vinylmation? 
JB: I would have to say the face. Especially the eyes because they’re so small.

We hope to see more from Jesse in the future!

Spotlight On: Mike Vetrone’s Sparky Custom

WDWNT on February 6, 2013

Artist Mike Vetrone wanted to share his latest custom… a 3 inch Sparky from Frankenweenie custom using the Whiskers and Tales platform.

“Sparky is one of my favorite characters and I had a ton of fun sculpting the bolt and working with the arms. This is absolutely one of my favorite 3 inch pieces I have ever made.”

Mike also told us that he is planning something “HUGE” to enter into DV’s March Vinylmadness contest. Everyone has until February 14th to enter, so keep those customs coming!

Celeste Offers New Custom Blind Box Spellbound Series

WDWNT on January 9, 2013

Destination Vinylmation: What is the Spellbound set?
Celeste: The Spellbound series is a magical based theme consisting of magic users and mystical creatures. It includes Genie, Merlin, Malecifent, Evil Queen, two versions of Tinker Bell, Blue Fairy, Chernabog, Mushu, Figment, Old Hag, Ursula and the Cheshire cat.

DV: How did you choose the characters to include in this set?
Celeste: It actually was a difficult and involving process to choose who will be included in the set. There are alot of great magical characters out there and I wished I could of made them all, but after weeks of figuring it all out I choose the ones I thought would best balance out the set.

DV: Half the figures in the set are female characters. Many times, when an artist attempts to translate the female form onto the Mickey platform, it comes across as “chubby”. Yours seem perfect. Can you share some tips for other custom artists? Is it all about proportion? Placement?
Celeste: Female characters are always tough to design on the mold itself. But you are correct, for me personally it is about proportion and placement of facial features and if the character has hair it does help out in the design of it all. I personally think they are always going to be slight chubby regardless of how you design them but a little pudginess adds a cute factor into it so I have no complaints about it lol.

DV: How will this series be sold?
Celeste: The Spellbound Series will go live this Friday Feb. 8th at 8pm (PST) It will be sold as individual blind boxes. The series includes 12 figures and 1 variant which will be a total of 13 figures. Each blind box is priced at $70 shipped in the U.S only. There will be a limit of 1 per person. You will be able to purchase them on my website here.

You can always check out more pics of them and other customs on my Facebook page.

Spotlight On: Karen Turner’s Bedazzled Customs

WDWNT on January 9, 2013

Destination Vinylmation: What is your background in art?  
Karen Turner: I have always been interested in art.  As a child I took classes in drawing, painting with watercolors, and painting with acrylics.  I was in art in high school and majored in art in college for a while.  I then changed my major to history, but art still remained important to me.  After working as an office manager for several years I came back to art and opened an online shop selling my work.  In the end I just kept coming back to my love for creating and painting.

DV: What other non vinyl things have you done?
KT: Lots!!  I paint ceramics, create trinket and treasure boxes, make jewelry, create decorative pieces for the holidays (not just Christmas, but Easter, Valentine’s, Halloween…)  As you can see in my shop – custom Vinylmation make up one section, but there are lots of other sections as well – I like doing lots of different things – nothing ever gets dull or flat that way – everything remains fun and challenging for me!!

DV: What’s your favorite Disney designed vinyl?
KT: Just one? That’s too hard!!  My favorites that I have are: It’s a Small World 3″ from Park 3, Squares from Urban 4, Mardi Gras, and Love 9″ from Urban 6. My favorites from the ones I don’t own (yet) are Magical Stars from Park 1, It’s a Small World 9″ from Park 1, Teacups from Park 1, Birds on a Wire, Red Scream, Railroad from Park 9, Skyway from Park 9, Living with the Land from, and the Gumball Ear hat set.  I’m not really good at narrowing things down!!

DV: What inspired this Bedazzled line of customs?
KT: In November I was at the Magic Kingdom for my birthday (and to check out the new Fantasyland), and was looking at the different figurines in the glass shop on Main Street that are jeweled with crystals and I thought I Vinylmation covered with crystals would be really awesome, so I decided to give it a try.

DV: What was the most difficult part of making these?
KT: I used the new mold for these, which made it a lot easier because of the smoothness of the surface – no buttons of noses to work around. For the Miss Mouse figurines I used Minnie’s Fly Girls from the Park Series #11, which gave me the bow on her head.  The hardest part was just getting the crystals to fit in everywhere – not having any open spots that were too small for a crystal but too big to leave blank.  I quickly realized that I had to work quickly so if I needed to move some crystals I could before the glue dried.  Working quickly doesn’t mean these were quick to make though.  These were the most time consuming customs I have made yet, but I am super pleased with how they turned out – I think I am going to have to make one for myself, since these are for my shop!!

DV: What do you think about the upcoming Minnie platform?
KT: I can’t wait for it!!  When I saw it Mickey’s Circus I was so excited – all sorts of ideas were going through my head on what I could do with that mold.  I have all sorts of things planned to do with those as soon as I can get my hands on them.  Having a Minnie mold just furthers the idea of what Vinylmation started out as to me – whatever design I put on a Vinylmation, it comes back to the fact that I am putting it on Mickey Mouse – Mickey (and soon Minnie) are at the heart of it all – which is like what Walt Disney said – “It all started with a mouse.”  That mouse is still at the heart of all things Disney, and I try to keep that idea in mind when creating my custom Vinylmation.

DV: Where can people find out more about your and your artwork?
KT: You can see all of my work at my shop www.flightsoffancydesign.etsy.com and even more photos on my Facebook Fan Page Flights of Fancy Design. I am delighted to take custom orders as well. My email is flightsoffancydesigns@gmail.com.

I have lots of new ideas I am working on for custom Vinylmation – right now my work table has five Vinylmation that are in various stages of creation.  I have a 9″ Custom in mind that I think is really going to be spectacular – as soon as I finish it I will share it with you.  So, there will be lots of new things coming in the next few months – and I am super excited about it all!!