From custom artist Brian Shapiro:
I present my latest Incognito Series figure! This one’s abstract for sure. It is called “Mikey Mouse” in celebration of the upcoming movie, Monsters University, by Disney. With a lift from his friend, Sully, Mike Wazowski scares up some laughs as Mickey Mouse! Of course, things don’t go according to plan when poor Mikey’s vision is obstructed and Sully’s shoe doesn’t fit!
Custom Artist Brian Shapiro is back with a very intriguing series customs set for next year:
I present my last custom of 2013 which is a preview of a series I’m going to do in 2014 called Invertimation!
That mischievous prankster, the Cheshire Cat, has teamed up with other tricky characters like Stitch and Genie to invert the colors of some of Disney’s beloved characters. To undo this magic spell on your phone or tablet, simply invert the colors on it and look at the photo as shown. For iOS devices go to Settings>General>Accessibility>Invert Colors. I’m not sure how to do it on Android. If you are viewing this on a monitor, invert the colors on your phone and look at the pic with your device’s camera. Enjoy!
Next up is Experiment 626!! See you in 2014!
Destination Vinylmation: I’ve never seen your stuff before. How long have you been a custom vinylmation artist?
Amber Gonzalez: I have been doing customs since August of 2012. Still new and loving every minute of it.
DV: Have you always enjoyed creating art?
AG: I’ve always been crafty. Started painting canvases about 6 years ago.
DV: We asked you to pick your favorite custom so far, and you picked your newest one, Bilbo Baggins. Why do you like this figure so much?
AG: I’ve always been a huge LOTR fan. Last year I made a custom Frodo. With the new movie The Hobbit I knew I had to make young Bilbo Baggins.
DV: I saw the movie, it was much more entertaining that I thought it would be. What else inspired you to make this piece?
AG: I collect LOTR Lego sets and that’s what inspired me to make custom vinyls of them .
DV: Lego makes great video games. Have you tried out the Lego LOTR video game?
AG: I do play all the Lego games. Sadly I bought the LOTR Lego and then my wii died.
DV: That’s a bummer. I think mine’s almost dead too. What was the most difficult part of this figure?
AG: The only hard part was trying to blox a myth and legends Bigfoot so I could use the over sized feet 🙂
DV: Awesome. From the pics of Big Foot I didn’t even know he had different sized feet! How did you make the ring?
AG: The ring is a Lego accessory. They work perfect for vinyls
DV: I love Lego, if you’ve ever listened to the podcast I always joke about leaving Vinylmation to do a Lego podcast. What’s your favorite favorite Lego Minifig?
AG: I would say my favorite Lego minfig is Professer Snape from Harry Potter. One of my all time favorite characters.
DV: Ok, we should get back to vinyl. What is your favorit Disney made vinylmation figure?
AG: Oo tough one. I’d have to say the 9″ UP, I don’t own it but it’s always been a grail of mine 🙂
DV: Thank you for your time. We have one more question for you. Do you take commissions and where can people find out more about your art?
AG: I do! People can email me at vongeek@yahoo.com and also find me on Instagram : HeartBakers
DV: Very good! Well congrats on the awesome piece and let us know the next time you have something interesting to show off! And remember custom artists, you can always email us to display your custom pieces.
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
“First let me introduce myself, my name is Josh Edwards a.k.a. Crazy4Vinyls
and I have been making custom vinylmations for over a year now. Â I’m not
sure how many I have created since I first started but what happened to
me recently took me by surprise. Â I recently finished a custom 12 piece
Simpsons set that I created for a couple of reasons. Â The first was my
love of the show and second I was inspired by a recent blue sky article
on Vinylmation Kingdom. After I finished the set I listed most of the
customs on ebay and thought nothing of it. Â A few days went by and I
went to check on the listings and discovered that all of them were
removed except for one. Â I saw in my messages that ebay was contacted by
20th Century Fox. Â This was considered a copyright infringement. Â I am
not here to argue what they did was wrong because Fox does own the show
and have the right to have the items removed. I was surprised because I
have created numerous non-disney customs but this was the first time
I’ve had items removed.
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
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.
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.
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.”
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Find more of Mike’s work at Facebook at facebook.com/customsbymikevetrone. And email him at Michael.vetrone@gmail.com.
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!
