Spotlight On: Custom Vinylmation Artist John Ward

WDWNT on December 21, 2012

interview conducted by DV reporter Lee

Destination Vinylmation: What got you started with wanting to put your own style onto a Vinylmation Canvas?

John Ward: I started creating vinyls as soon as I saw that Disney was selling Create Your Own figures. I’ve always been creative and have loved Disney for as long as I can remember, so buying some blanks and making my own Vinylmation figures was a no-brainer for me.

DV: When you are creating a Vinylmation, what do you like to incorporate in the designs?

John: I enjoy the Vinylmation figures that Disney creates; however, I feel they could do more with the backs of the figures. With the pieces I create, I try to make the back of the figure just as interesting to look at as the front. I also like to try to create a story in my vinyls.

DV: Tell us the story of your first custom!

John Ward: I created my very first custom, which was The Adventures of Ichabod. The front of the piece has the Headless Horseman having already thrown his pumpkin head; the reverse has Ichabod and his horse, Gunpowder, looking very scared with the moon on the ear.



DV: One of my favorite pieces that I saw at your table during the Florida Project was your Ratatouille custom! The detail work on it is awesome!

John Ward: Ratatouille is one of my favorite Pixar movies and I wanted to create a vinyl for the movie, but I had to think of how to make both side of the vinyl interesting! Almost immediately I thought how Remy “puppets” Linguini through his recipes. So you have Linguini on the front, cooking away, and on the reverse in the silhouette of Remy under his hat, along with Gusteau at the bottom.



DV: Such an awesome design! I love the storyboards that play out on your work! How long does it take for your artwork to come to life?

John Ward: It usually takes me around a week to complete them. I also do commissioned pieces.

DV: I think I may have a job for you already!! Where can we go to see more of your work?

John Ward: My website is www.siberianarts.com and it has all my Vinylmation customs that I’ve done so far, along with some concept art of ones I plan on creating. I also have displayed other pieces of art that I’ve done. All of my Vinylmation customs are for sale and can be made to order. I also have a Facebook Page: Siberian Vinylmation Customs, be sure to “like” it; I put my new customs up there first!

DV: Absolutely! Consider yourself “liked”! I am very excited to see what you will do next!

On John’s 9″ Dr. Facilier, a black light reveals a different face!


Spotlight On: Custom Vinylmation Artist John Ward

WDWNT on December 21, 2012

We spotlighted John Ward last year with some of his great 9″ customs and he is back to share a couple villains and a non-Disney set as well.

Destination Vinylmation: Why all the villains?
John: The villains are some of my favorite characters in Disney movies, so naturally I enjoy creating customs of them.

DV: What is the first custom you’d like to share?
John: First up is my 9″ Gaston, from Beauty and the Beast. I sculpted a rifle for him to hold and also a quiver, with a couple arrows, for his back. This was the second time I sculpted something from the reverse of a Vinylmation figure, which made things easier since I knew what not to do.

DV: What was one challenge you had with this figure and how did you overcome it?
John: I had a hard time deciding what to put on his ears, but finally decided on making it a stormy night, like when he confronts the Beast towards the end of the movie.

DV: Your next custom is Judge Frollo, from Hunchback of Notre Dame. What are some of the features of this character?
John: I must be honest, I still haven’t seen this movie, although I really want to. I just never got around to watching it, but I will one day.

 I knew that with Frollo I needed to sculpt his hat, it was a must because the figure wouldn’t look right without it. I also wanted to sculpt his rings. I felt they would also add something to the piece. The hat is the largest sculpted piece I’ve done to date, which was a challenge in itself.

I also added the cloth red part. I was thinking of sculpting that too, but decided that using cloth would make it look much nicer. Also, if you remove the hat, you can see I added a couple arches on the ears.

DV: One of our favorite TV shows is The Big Bang Theory. So your next set really excites us. Tell us about these figures.
John: I don’t normally work with 3″ pieces, I’ve only created 2 so far, and both were commissioned pieces. However, I felt that for this set, 3″ would work better.

The set is the main characters from the show. I enjoyed creating them more than I thought I would. My number one concern was if I’d be able to get the detail I wanted to achieve on a much smaller work area than I’m used to. In the end though I was able to through using the small brushes and lots and lots of patience.

DV: Can you give us some hints on what your working on right now?
John: Currently I’m working on several projects. A piece for a charity event here in Jacksonville, some 3″ pieces for Evilos’ Blind Bag Series coming out later this year, and also I’m re-working one of my earlier customs, Jafar. I have a couple ideas on how to improve him and make it a better custom piece, along with adding something to him that I haven’t tried before.

DV: If readers would like to inquire about purchasing your work, how can they do that?
John: All of my current customs are for sale on my website; www.siberianarts.com along with all my other artwork. Any questions about my pieces can be sent to siberianarts@gmail.com
You can also see my latest projects and updates on my Facebook page; Siberian Vinylmation Customs.

Spotlight On: Custom Vinylmation Artist John Ward

WDWNT on June 22, 2012

We have featured John Ward before, and he just sent us some pictures of his latest work. Seeing that we have had so many stories on the Haunted Mansion turning 40 lately, we thought it perfect to share these with you now. We think the pictures tell the whole story…. or is your computer screen actually stretching?

Spotlight On: Custom Vinylmation Artist John Ward

WDWNT on June 22, 2012

John wrote this message he wanted to share with our readers:

The piece is called, “26.2 with Donna.”  That is a runners weekend that has been held here in Jacksonville for the past 4 years. There is a marathon, half marathon, 5K and a marathon relay.  All in an effort to put a stop to breast cancer.

Each year they have a silent auction called, 26.2 with Donna PINK ROOM Silent Auction. that feature lots of different items, from artwork and gift cards to autographs Jacksonville Jaguars items and hotel weekends.  It’s held two days before the race and all the proceeds go towards breast cancer research. It’s held that the Prime Osborne Convention Center in downtown Jacksonville on the 10th & 11th of Feb.

This year I decided that I would like to donate a vinylmation into the auction.  The logo they have was well suited for a vinylmation and the bright pink and black worked well with the white vinylmation.  I also donated a couple other pieces of my artwork, a couple paintings.

You can find more of John Ward’s work here.

Spotlight On: Custom Vinylmation Artist John Ward

WDWNT on March 31, 2012

Have your work spotlighted, no matter the skill level. Just email us: DestinationVinylmation@gmail.com
Today we once again spotlight John Ward. He has an amazing custom based on a classic Fantasyland attraction.

Destination Vinylmation: Tell us about how you developed the idea for Peter Pan’s Flight.
John Ward: I wanted to try and come up with something that I hadn’t seen done before, and I wanted to push myself as an artist. The first thing was the I decided that I wanted to try and create something the moved on the Vinylmation, in some fashion. Then I thought that I’d probably be able to create something that would rotate around the outside of the piece, yet still be attached so the it would be all one piece. Once I had the concept for the feature I wanted, I thought about what concept I could use it with. Almost instantly I thought of Peter Pan’s Flight, it’s one of my favorite rides still. So had my concept, ships (the ride vehicles would rotate around over scenes from the ride. The front had to be downtown London, my favorite part of the whole ride. The reverse is Neverland, of course.

After that I had to figure out how to make it all work. How do you have something able to rotate, yet still be attached to the Vinylmation figure. I came up with using a wooden dowel and a lazy susan device.

DV: Besides the moving parts, what was the most challenging part of creating this custom?
John: Trying to sculpt 3 ships that small was quite a challenge, I tried to make them as close to looking like the actual vehicles. I think they turned out rather well, considering the size of them.

Painting the downtown London side was fun, yet very difficult. I had to make sure that the angles were consistent throughout, to where it actually looked like you were looking down from the clouds. I also knew that on one of the ears, I had to put the moon with the silhouettes of Peter and the children.

DV: What’s next and how can people view your work?
I’m currently finishing up my Jafar 2.0 custom. Which is a remake of one of my very first customs. My customs can be viewed on my Facebook Page: www.facebook.com/SiberianVinylmationCustoms or on my website; www.siberianarts.com

Spotlight On: Custom Vinylmation Artist John Ward

WDWNT on March 31, 2012

Destination Vinylmation: What have you been up to lately?
John Ward: I’ve recently been working on holiday themed customs. It started with Evilos’ Blind Bag series 3, I did 4 holiday themed customs for that series, three 3″ customs and one “Grand Prize” 9″, each with sculpted elements.

The 9″ which I call “Christmas at Mickey’s” was very difficult to complete and make it look right. It took a lot of trial and error to make the fireplace look right and function the way I wanted it to.

Having to remove the entire front part of the custom, to add the fireplace element was a new challenge for me, the only other time I’d cut into the main part of a custom was for my “Peter Pan’s Flight”.  Trying to get detail on the tiny paintings that are on the mantle was very difficult.  In the end though, I am very happy with how it turned out.

DV: It seems like you have quite the collection of holliday customs.
JW: Once I finished those 4 pieces, I had been hit by the holiday-themed custom bug.  I made Minnie baking cookies, The Coke Polar Bear, Rudolph the Rose-nosed Reindeer and started on my Nutcracker Series.  I plan on doing 12 nutcrackers in all. It started with Mickey, naturally, and the second one I just finished is Stitch.  The rest of the series isn’t finalized quite yet, but I do know that a Little Green Man, Goofy and Mr. Frederickson will be in it.  They should all be available sometime at the beginning on the year.  I just didn’t have time to complete them for this season.

DV: What’s next?
JW: My next projects are a couple of 9″ pieces. One will require me to cut into the Mickey vinylmation once again. It’ll be interesting to see if I can make the finished piece look as good as it does in my mind, lol.  I got the inspiration for the other piece from something I saw hanging on a rack at the cash register at a local craft store.  I saw it, and instantly though, “That’ll look awesome used with a vinylmation figure.”

DV: How can people contact you?
JW: If anyone is interested in any of my holiday pieces, or my other customs, you can contact me through my email siberianarts@gmail.com. You can also become a fan of my Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/SiberianVinylmationCustoms.