Spotlight On: Custom Vinylmation Artist Cesar

WDWNT on January 1, 1970

Update: 10/30/11 Remember, Cesar’s custom Zombie Vinylmation go on sale Monday, October 31! There will be 31 different Zombies to choose from. See more info at MyCustomations.com. And check out the interview below for details.

DV: If someone is new to the site, could you review who you are and how long you’ve been making customs?
Cesar: For those of you that don’t know who I am, my name is Cesar Diaz and I’ve been creating custom Vinylmations for a good year and a half now. Recently I organized and put together The Customation Project with the help of Proxart, Toi and Romo. It was an art show displaying custom vinyl work by six talented artists.

DV: This is a special release, tell us more about the details?
Cesar: The Zombie vinyl’s will be sold on my website (mycustomations.com) on Halloween morning for $40 each plus $8 shipping. There will be a total of 31 unique, one of a kind Zombies; basically one Zombie per day for the month of October. Each Zombie will be signed and dated according to the day it was made. They will be sold at random and are limited to one Zombie per person, per household. You don’t know who you’re going to get, but your guaranteed an original design.

DV: Zombies, eh? Where did you come up with the idea for a whole set of Zombies?
Cesar: The idea for the Zombie set has been floating around in my head since last year. To be exact it was when I saw the premiere of the TV show The Walking Dead on Halloween night. At the time it was obviously too late to start any Zombie customs. Plus I was still experimenting with techniques on creating custom Vinylmations so the project was put on hold. Months later when I created the LOST set, the idea of the Zombies came back to me. Originally I was going to make 12 Zombies, but unfortunately I had to put the idea on hold again because I got so busy making 9” customs for the Customation Project. Now that the show is over I went back to the Zombie idea. I rethought how I was going to make them and the quantity. 12 Zombies is just not enough! You need an army of them! Then I came up with the idea of making 31 Zombies for 31 days of October.

DV: We know you’re not finished with all of them yet, but which ones are your favorite so far?
Cesar: I’m having so much fun making my version of Zombies. So far they’re all my favorite.

DV: Where there any challenges involved with these characters?
Cesar: I haven’t encountered any problems as of yet. From the start I knew I wanted to make the ears the night sky with the moon, clouds and the stars.

DV: What’s your favorite Zombie movie?
Cesar: George Romero’s Night of the Living Dead of course!

DV: If this is successful, will you do another set for next year’s Halloween or other holidays?
Cesar: I would love to keep doing Zombie sets. They don’t necessarily have to be for Halloween. I would love to do a Walking Dead set.

DV: Will any of the Zombies come with a brain accessory?
Cesar: Sorry Nick, no accessories this time around. Maybe next time.

DV: Thanks for your time, and once again, great figures. We hope the sale goes well!
Cesar: Thank you very much. Your readers can follow me on twitter at @mycustomations to see up to the minute info and pics of upcoming Zombies.

Spotlight On: Custom Artist Rust This World

WDWNT on January 1, 1970

By now, you know the way to my heart is show me some video game related custom Vinylmation. Today, we feature artist Rust This World from Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Destination Vinylmation: You created a series of figures based on the popular Kingdom Hearts video game franchise. How many figures are in this series?
Rust This World: There are 5 figures so far, but eventually (meaning if I don’t get sidetracked on another project) I’m hoping to have 12 plus a couple 9″.

DV: What characters did you decide to include?
RTW: When I first started collecting Vinylmation, I was most drawn to the Villains series as I love the darker side of Disney. I wanted to include a couple different Heartless designs to include with my other villains. It just spread from there.

DV: Which one was the most difficult to design and why?
RTW: Either the 3 magic Heartless or the shadow Heartless. Both stray away from the traditional “figure stretched onto mickey’s form” that a lot of vinyls (including some of my own) follow. I’m often disappointed with how most official Disney artists aren’t creative with translating characters onto the canvas, so I at least wanted a couple of mine to look different. The shadow heartless was also fun because I made it on a clear yellow body so that when it’s held up to the light, the Shadows’ eye light up.

DV: That one does look great. Are there any more characters from Kingdom Hearts in the works?
RTW: I’m working on two 9″ vinyls right now that are about 1/2 way done based on two of the worlds from Kingdom Hearts: Hallow Bastion and The World That Never Was.

DV: What is your favorite Kingdom Hearts game in the franchise?
RTW: The first one, I loved the combat and platforming gameplay and the plot hadn’t become ridiculously complicated at that point. Plus there was something so cool about getting to run around and interact in the awesome Disney worlds that I’d only seen in movies.

DV: What do you like most about the Kingdom Hearts games?
RTW: It’s a great gameplay engine crossed with childhood nostalgia for Disney films.

DV: What have you learned from creating your customs that you can pass onto other custom artists?
RTW: There are a couple tips that apply to any custom. 1. Always wash the vinyl and then paint a base coat, both insure that the detail paint with be applied cleaner and more evenly. 2. Invest in a tiny brush, size 000 or 0000, it helps achieve clean lines and tiny detail. 3. Seal your vinyl with a sealer or varnish to insure a clean even look and to prevent paint rub.

DV: Is your work available for purchase?
RTW: All of the vinyls I’ve made are in my own personal display, but I’m more than willing to recreate them or accept commissions if people like my designs.

DV: Where can people go to see more of your work and contact you?
RTW: My website, which is more of an online portfolio, is rustthisworld.com it has all of my vinylmation as well as custom action figures and Kidrobot vinyls, plus a bunch of unrelated stuff like my Battlebots and other projects. My email is evolvedbutter@aol.com or pm me on the Vinylnation boards, username: Rust This World.

DV: Great job on this KH series! Thank you for sharing your work with our audience.

Spotlight On: Custom Vinylmation Artist… Nick???

WDWNT on January 1, 1970

Ya, I never thought I’d be featured here either! But a few weeks back, a friend of mine, and a listener to the podcast, showed me her custom Vinylmation. She was surprised to find out that I hadn’t attempted a custom myself. Now, I had thought about it from time to time, but I don’t consider myself an artistic person. First, it looks so daunting to me. Second, I don’t have the tools and although there are plenty of tips and tricks on the net, I’d really have no clue where to start or how to attack the canvas. But she insisted that I dive right in and, with her help, give it a try. So I sat down to sketch out my first design, and before I knew it, I was hooked. I had 12 different designs drawn out! But my first idea was my favorite character Donald Duck as Santa.

It all started with a mouse…. shaped blank white canvas.
Oh, look at that great coloring job! I stayed in the lines.
I started by painting on Donald’s red coat
I then painted his arms. I had my Disney Donald’s on hand for support and color guides.
I kept putting it off, but it was time to attack the head
I was a bit worried, it drew on well with pencil, but before the black detail lines were applied, the beak looked very off to me.
The best tip I could give is watered down, thin paint and many coats. Go slow.
More head work. Got the perfect eye color mix.
A sigh of relief, the face looks good. I couldn’t wait to snap him back together.
The brows gave me some trouble, but the tuft of hair went on perfectly
I couldn’t get over how intense I looked as I painted! I was very nervous as I never take on projects like this.
Time to mold that hat. I used a double head to stand in for proportions
Although I painted this one, I ended up making a replacement. This one stood too tall and looked like a wizard’s hat.
For the snow in the ears, I just used a pointy metal tip and dotted the ears. The jacket came out better than I imagined. I’m sure this is a real technique, but I decided to try to just poke at the vinyl with the white paint to create “puffs” for the collar, and it worked great.
On the back, I painted on his tail that hangs out under the coat
Final version, sans hat. I always talk about use of ears, and I really like the way they came out with the snow fall and north star.
But my favorite part is the beak. It was so scary and my 2D drawings looked better than I thought my hands could draw. And somehow I placed it just right and it actually does have a 3D, sticking out effect. I am very proud of my first custom and could not have done it without the help of my friend Rachel. Speaking of… she didn’t want a spotlight of her own, but wanted to share her custom as well.
She decided to make the mop from Fantasia
This used to be a Have a Laugh Ostrich! Until she painted over it.
Adding the details in the mop stick

The clear ears where a perfect fit for the water splashes
The neck extension, MC’s idea, was perfect for this custom as well
It was now time to mold the buckets
The finished product. After various attempts to have him hold the buckets, it was best, and less distracting to the design, to just have them sit by his side. We have plenty more customs in the design stage and can’t wait to start on our next ones!

Spotlight On: Custom Vinylmation Artist John Dela Cruz

WDWNT on January 1, 1970

Graphic designer John Dela Cruz sent us a great take on the mystery chaser with his custom Vinylmation.

Destination Vinylmation: You created a great looking custom, but do you also collect Disney’s vinylmation?

John: I’m a new collector, bitten by the “chase” bug not too long ago. I found myself going back and forth into local Disney Stores saying “Okay, just one more box” or “Last one, this is the one” all in an effort to get the last figure I needed to complete my Have A Laugh set. I never understood the “thrill” of blind boxing that people talked about until I opened my first chaser. It took so many doubles and triples to get Conductor Pete, but the money didn’t matter at that point. It was the “chase” that mattered.

DV: Yep, that’s how we all get hooked. Now tell us about the inspiration of this custom figure that you named “All For The Chase!”.

John: This started out as a joke amongst my cousins who also collect. They said I should create this one because it’s the only one on the vinylmation packaging that nobody seems to ever get. I currently have it up for sale on ebay and can be searched using “ALL FOR THE CHASE – DISNEY VINYLMATION CUSTOM 3″ MICKEY”. The design is a no-brainer with obvious inspiration, but I plan on making more of these if the vinylmation collectors want it as well as a number of other custom pieces that are currently in the works.

DV: Thanks John, we look forward to seeing what comes next.

John: Thank you for your time and I hope to hear some thoughts on my custom.

Spotlight On: Custom Vinylmation Artist Chelsey Zhang

WDWNT on January 1, 1970

Destination Vinylmation: You were a featured artist at The Customation Project a few weeks ago and you came up with some astonishing figures.

Chelsey: As I mentioned, I want to take my custom to a next level. Well, here it is.

DV: Ok, this first one is California Adventure’s Grizzly River Run. Tell us all about it.

Chelsey: This piece is my favorite so far. I spent over 3 weeks to finish it. I sculpted the inner scene from the famous rush down on the ride. Then I made it light up from the vinyl’s head. I covered it with a cap (which is removable so that if the batteries runs out, it will be very easy to replace the batteries in the flash light).

Outside of the bear is realistic fur instead of paint. That’s one of my favorite rides in California Adventure. That’s why I really wanted to make it perfect. Hope you guys like it.

DV: Next up is Tom and Jerry. How did you decide on this custom combo?

Chelsey: I really loved to watch Tom and Jerry when I was young. I haven’t seen any artist make any customs on them. I decided to take a shot.

DV: That is a very inovative use of the 9″ Vinylmation. The third custom you are sharing with us today you call Dream castle. 

Chelsey: I wasn’t really impressed by the castle nine inches that have been produced (i.e. Hong Kong 9″ castle.) that’s why I decided to make my own version of it. I wanted to make it more 3D. That’s why i sculpted the balconies for the princesses.

DV: As always Chelsey, thank you for sharing your work with our readers.

Chelsey: I’ll send you the new 3″ ones later. Hope you guys enjoy. Again, thank you very much for helping post the info about The Customation Project.