Belfry Minifigure, Part One

The success and demand for my minifigure, "Pipsqueak", who debuted at DesignerCon 2013 made me really want to try my hand at another character.  I say that Pipsqueak is "successful", not just in that lots of folks are buying him, but because I am extremely proud of him. I love Pipsqueak. To me, he truly embodies the emotion and "feel" of my characters, and to be honest, I was having trouble getting started on a new character, because I was afraid that I would never even come close to making a character that I felt was as successful as Pipsqueak. In fact, that crippled me from starting, for a long time.

Pipsqueaks, in the "Winter Sky" color.

I toyed around with a few ideas before really cementing this one in my head. I didn't want to make another bunny character, because it would be difficult to make one in the exact same size of Pipsqueak, and not have them compete with each other. In the end, I drew a little doodle of a bat with large ears and folded wings, and was really happy with the idea.

Belfry in early stages of sculpting.

I showed the idea to Chris, and he helped me get started with a very rough sculpt. From his rough shape that defined the height, ear-to-body ratio, and basic shape of the wings, it was up to me to do all of the finishing sculpting. This takes a while, as my technique for this is nearly all reductive; shaving material away using tiny rakes and wire loop tools, and smoothing with a little metal spatula. I finally decided he was "done" when the shape and facial expression matched what I'd visualized in my mind. I always like to leave imperfections in the sculpt, even when making toys that will not be painted. I like to see the marks made by the tools, small nicks and pits, and just a general slight lumpiness that lets everyone see that it was handmade in the beginning stages.  I've had toys produced of my characters that, by either digital sculpting or painstaking smoothing before the mold is made, are extremely smooth and perfect. While that's absolutely fine, I prefer the resin figures that I produce to carry some of the same slightly naive, homespun, primitive look that my originals have.

I wanted Belfry to be sort of an extension of the Pipsqueak "family", so I kept his face fairly similar. I brought his wings down around his sides for two reasons. The first is that I wanted to keep the "stretched gumdrop" shape of my characters intact, and the other was logistical. When doing these minifigures, it's important that they are not too difficult to cast. This is what keeps the price down for everybody; many can be pulled from the same mold, and the bottoms sanded to finish them off.

Belfry prototypes in resin, still attached to the mold bases.

Resin Belfry prototype, with eyes. The base will be sanded off.

After I get a good finished sculpt, a mold is made out of silicone, so I can get at least one good positive cast from. I will make a bunch of resin casts, and fix them up as much as they need (sanding off the mold base, filling bubbles, sanding or fixing spots that were difficult to fix in the clay, etc.) and coating them with primer spray. Then I'll make a mold that will yield a number of figures in one pour.  I'm almost at that stage now - more information as I get closer to the final mold, and eventually, release of Belfry into the world!

Here's a little video showing some sculpting and how I use a base to sculpt tiny things on so that I don't accidentally squeeze or melt the clay while I'm working on it.

Safe Harbor, Part 1: Gathering Story Elements

 

This April, Chris Ryniak and I have another two-person show at Stranger Factory. Because we both have a background in design and art direction, we tend to go a little crazy with theming, but I wouldn't have it any other way, honestly. I tend to be extremely thematically-inclined with my own bodies of work, and it's very comfortable to work with another artist who feels the same way.

The first part of the theme that we come up with is the "story" of it - what will the body of work be about? For this show, we chose the title "Safe Harbor". As you can probably guess, it is nautical in nature. Not even just the sea, but ideas, objects, and history that surrounds it. You can expect to see a lot of marine motifs in my work - shells, crab claws, coral, scales, as well as more dockside elements such as fishhooks, anchors, baitfish, and flags.  We're wanting to more or less be able to represent two worlds of the sea; the world underneath the waterline, and the world that sits right on top, relying on the bounty of the ocean for sustenance.

After we've got our story down, we immediately go into picky designer mode and come up with a color palette that will govern the entire show.  If I'm making more than 3 pieces at any given time, I pretty much always choose a palette for the work. I feel so much more comfortable working within color parameters; even if a piece does not specifically fit into the story of the rest of the work, it will visually harmonize if it fits within the color scheme. This is important when we need to fill an entire gallery.

 

The palette we came up with is a wash of salt-bleached neutrals bolstered with bright pops of saturated color. Sand, pebbles, driftwood, and worn canvas sails. Peeling yellow paint on a time-tested fishing boat. The brilliant aqua of equatorial seas and the faded blue of storm-greyed skies. Rusty-red coral, nacreous abalone, and patinated copper and brass.

Now that we've defined these things, it's time to get to work! There are patterns to be cut, faces to be sculpted, and mermaids to design. More sneak peeks to come, as there is so much more left to do!

Pocket Sideshow: Development to product release!

The first painted colorway of my first sofubi toy, "Snowshoe".

For nearly a year now, I, along with Circus Posterus artists Chris Ryniak, Kathie Olivas, and Brandt Peters have been working on developing a four-figure sofubi vinyl set with Mr. Shinji Nakako of Tomenosuke-Syoten in Japan.

The idea behind the figures was to make them "chibi" versions (exaggerated, baby-like proportions) of our characters, at a small size, and the heads can all fit on the all the bodies, so if you'd like, you can have a Dust Bunny head on Kathie's tentacled girl body, or maybe Brandt's Skelve skull on Chris's monster body. Lots of fun.

Concept turnaround sketches, late 2013.

We started finalizing drawings in December of 2013. The sketches for mine that you see here are actually the fourth iteration of my character's design. Of all of the characters, mine was actually the most problematic - because the heads had to be swappable, that meant that the neck joint for every figure had to be exactly the same. That was not so difficult to accomplish with the other three figures in the series, but mine caused headaches. The reason for this is the overall shape of my characters - the other characters have a very clear division between head and body, with a specific area that is a "neck", which is something all my characters lack.  Dust Bunnies are basically stretched-out gumdrop shapes, and if they have a skull/neck/spine anywhere in their anatomy, it's hidden under many layers of padding and you can't really see it.   So the neck size issue was really making mine NOT work at all, which actually almost resulted in it not being produced at all.

Luckily for me, Chris Ryniak (thank you Chris!!!) stepped up to the plate and offered some different approaches, including the one you see here - a Bunny in a snowsuit with a big parka hood. The oversized hood gave his upper section the right silhouette to balance against the other big-headed characters, and the area where it cinches around him creates a neck joint, while still allowing me to keep the proportions of my Dust Bunny characters.  It's a perfect solution! Plus, I get to see what my guys look like when they're all bundled up for winter expeditions - pretty dang cute.

Youhei Kaneko's final sculpt of my chibi figure, ready to go to the factory.

After we got all of that sorted out, it was time to get master sculpts finished. Our sculptor for this project was the incredibly talented Youhei Kaneko. Youhei has a really interesting way of sculpting, which is very different from how I work - it's a mostly reductive process in which he carves the figures from a solid block of rigid material, and then builds back up when needed. He had to do many changes as we went through a nearly three-month revision process. It was a lot of work, but we all wanted to make sure the figures were just right before they went to the factory.

Waxes, made at the factory.

After all revisions were done and the sculpting phase was finished, the sculpts went off to the factory for preparations to be made for the molding and casting process. The molds used for these figures are made of metal, which is electroplated around wax versions of the toys. What you see above are the waxes, and the cylindrical shapes on both head and body will allow pour spouts in which liquid vinyl can be poured into the molds, as well as a flange on the head piece, which will fit snugly down into the body and hold it in place.

The figures will be available soon as a set from Circus Posterus. There are lots more colorways to come as well. It's been a really exciting journey from concept to finalization!


More information and lots more pictures in these blog posts too:
From the Tomenosuke blog - Part 1 and Part 2.
From the Circus Posterus blog - here.

The final figures, unpainted, in black sofubi vinyl.

Final set in the first colorway.

Show Color Palette: Forgotten Finery

Back in the spring of 2012, I had my first-ever solo exhibition (sold out!), called "Forgotten Finery" at Rivet gallery in Columbus, Ohio. This show marked the first time I took a decidedly "lighter" approach to a body of work, as many of my previous shows had featured darker colors, a more "decay" oriented aesthetic, and a slightly more sinister feel. I wanted to explore my work as a form of decoration, and approach this particular group of dolls from a brighter and warmer perspective.

The main source of inspiration for this show was Rococo art and fashion (I even made a nearly 3-foot tall bunny in a layered Rococo-style gown). It exemplifies this sort of "opulence of privilege" that exists purely as a fantasy for most people, attainable for very few.

Some inspirations included:

• the incredible fashion (for both men and women of the high classes) of the late 18th century, with hand-tatted lace, shimmering silks, matte velvets, and hand-embroidery.

• the soft, buttermint colors of tea roses and peonies

• exquisite (and often inedible-looking) wedding cakes, French pastries, and confections

• The lore and speculation surrounding the life of Marie Antoinette. I read a couple of biographies about her during my time working on the project. I also watched Sofia Coppola's film "Marie Antoinette" numerous times as well - while not a historically accurate depiction, the art direction and costuming are endlessly inspiring to me, still. Every frame, it seems, contains at least one very good artistic decision.

• the stiff and lovely costume of classical ballet

• block-printed wallpaper, from the 18th century

My "Duchesse" for the show - freestanding at 30" tall!

I even ensured that the refreshments at the opening fit the color scheme!

Essential Tools: Sculpting

Sculpting tool roll.

The tools I can't imagine sculpting without.
My absolute essentials.

For every creature I make, it starts with all the intangible stuff - an idea, a plan, a quick assessment of color and fabric I'd like to use, etc. But the first real step is to sculpt the face or body. For all of the "one of a kind" dolls, I sculpt each face out of polymer clay (I use Super Sculpey). When I'm sculpting a face or figure that is going to have a mold made and be cast in resin plastic, I either use Super Sculpey or Monster Clay.  I share tools for both jobs. As long as the end of the tool makes the kind of impression that you want it to, you can use anything as a sculpting tool - a lot of sculptors I know have a few handmade tools that they have crafted for their own specific needs. I use a few wooden tools that I have sanded and filed to be the right shape for what I need.

Above is a picture of my tool roll. The only tool not pictured here is an acrylic roller, because it doesn't fit in the roll, so I carry it separately. As you can see, not all of them are specific "sculpting tools" at all. I have tools that are for paper quilling, fingernail painting, and many dental tools, which are some of my absolute favorites, and I can't imagine sculpting without them! A few have interesting or sentimental stories about them, like the wooden tool with the rake on one end - I've had that since I was in college, and the years have worn the wood into the perfect shape. And see that antler-handled knife? I bought that when I was 14 years old (along with a few rabbit pelts and a coyote skull) from a vendor at an early-American arts and crafts fair. The double-ended dental tools came from a neighborhood garage sale - the owner of the house was a retired dentist, and had to ask me why I was so excited about the box of grubby old tools he had for sale.

My baking sheet, acrylic roller, rough
cutting knife, and Super Sculpey.

I consider myself to be a "primitive" sculptor...that is to say, I don't really think I'm a great sculptor, I'm just good enough to get the idea I want across.  I don't think I could sculpt anything realistically, or do textures like hair or fur or draping fabric. Which is totally fine for me, and I think I might not like the look of my artwork if it were too perfect, or too polished. In all of my sculpting, you can always see toolmarks and fingerprints, rough edges and asymmetry. I find it really personal and honest, and in fact, the type of things that I love to collect and look at are all marked by a certain charming imperfection, so I don't work too hard to make things look too perfect. I work until I feel the face has the right personality, then I stop. Once that sculpt tells me it's ready, I don't want to chance overworking it.

I always call my sculpting technique "Snakes and Pancakes", because every single shape I work with starts as either a rolled clay snake, or a flattened clay ball, which makes a pancake. You can sculpt pretty much anything by building it up out of snakes and pancakes!  After those are made, it's just a process of taking the basic shapes and forming them carefully into the gentler, more subltle, tertiary shapes that you want as your finished work. I use wire loop tools to take extra clay away, while keeping the surface smooth. I use tiny ball-end tools to make dots and clean out around eyes and teeth. The big wooden tool is my "extra thumb", which I use to smooth and blend.

I have a pretty big collection of leather stamps, which I use for decorative purposes - when it comes to making the forehead decorations on my Bunnies, I often use these stamps to press designs into the clay. I also use semiprecious gemstones, vintage rhinestones, buttons, jewelry findings, antique bits, metal brads, and things I've sculpted myself.

Collection of leather stamps.

Some of my leather stamps, detail shot.

After the face is sculpted, it gets fired in my oven, per the clay's instructions, and then it is primed, painted, varnished, and finished.

For sculpting prototype figures, like my Pumpernickel and Pipsqueak figures, I use a different kind of clay. It's called Monster Clay, and it will never dry or cure, so it MUST be molded in silicone and cast into a solid positive, if it is going to become a finished art piece. Monster clay is pretty great, because when it is cool (room temperature or cooler, I keep it in the fridge when I want it extra firm) it is very firm, and won't soften in your hands like Super Sculpey tends to. But when you warm it up, it becomes very soft and pliable. And when you warm it further, you can melt it into a liquid, or smooth surfaces with a heat gun. It's pretty much infinitely reusable if you take care to keep it clean and free of debris.

After that is sculpted, it is molded and cast, but that is a topic for another Essential Tools ;)

What's left of the original Pipsqueak sculpt (in Monster Clay)
after making a silicone mold of him.

Resources:

Yasutomo Niji tool roll: available at Dick Blick
Monster Clay: available from The Monster Makers
Super Sculpey: available from Dick Blick and many other art/craft retailers

• Dental tools are often available on Ebay, as well as from outlet/freight stores
• Leather stamps available at craft retailers, as well as from Tandy Leather

Show Color Palette: Migration

This is a small series you'll see pop up on the blog once in a while - about the color palettes I choose for my shows, or groupings of work.  I love color - I LOVE IT. Though I clothe myself in black and live in a home full of time-worn neutrals, I use a lot of color in my work. Color can communicate ideas and themes that words, textures, or other visual cues cannot, and it's just pure aesthetic pleasure to combine them and see what happens.

I worked for almost 9 years as a commercial artist and came up with color palettes on a daily basis. I know I always thought in terms of color groupings, but it wasn't until it was a part of my career that I realized I literally cannot begin a group of work comfortably unless I had decided on a solid palette to work from.

Migration (my show with Chris Ryniak, that showed at Stranger Factory in March of 2013) explored themes of moving, traveling, and self-sufficiency, with a rich, earth-pigment color selection to accompany it.

Some of the influences for my pieces were:

• Tibetan prayer flags, shredded by wind and faded from the sun
• Mongolian nomads - their dress, tents, and lifestyle of constant movement
• Explorers and early discoverers
• the colors and textures of rocky, unforgiving places - the desert, the mountains, cliffs, and caves
• Driftwood, river stones, spools of hemp rope, worn leather
• Aged, dented, metal - temple bells, buckles, nails, and ancient jewelry
• Huge sacks of spices and herbs at open air bazaars
• The smell of burning wood, incense, and sacred oils

We worked together to finalize the color palette, so that it would be cohesive for the show, but still allow both of us to utilize the colors in a way that worked best for both of our different styles. Both Chris and I are designers, and both agree on the importance of a strong color statement across every single piece in the shows we do. We reinforced the palette in our show signage, using painted cardboard letters in various colors, that hung on the wall above our biggest piece:

Migration opening night, March 2013. Picture courtesy of Sara Harvey's Flickr Photostream.

Because we were so diligent in keeping the colors a prominent design element, the show held together very well, even across the walls of a large gallery. Creating a sense of "theme" is a huge passion of mine, and I look forward to every new opportunity I get to do so.

Essential Tools #1: Painting

I'm starting a new series here on the blog called "Essential Tools". I get a lot of questions about the kinds of tools I use in creating my work, and since I've spent the better part of a week painting 60 Bumble faces, I thought that starting off with my brushes and paint was timely.

After years of buying and trying brushes, I've pretty much figured out what types of brushes are essential and efficient for my work. I've gone through a ton - sometimes I figure out pretty fast that a brush isn't right for my needs, other times it takes a while to discover exactly what the job needs.

On the top, smooth flat brushes for applying washes or base coats. Scrubby bristle brushes are for staining effects and scumbling, while small brushes handle the details.

A well-used rag and paint tray.

When it comes to painting on rigid 3D things (like the faces of my bunnies), I have three basic brush categories - soft brushes for laying down color, bristle brushes for glazing and scumbling, and detail brushes for outlines, getting into small areas, and fine work.  I also have a few non-brush tools at the ready - rags for applying or rubbing off glaze, fine-point cotton swabs for cleaning up mistakes (you can buy these at beauty supply shops by the acrylic nails), and my fingers. There are usually fingerprints somewhere in every paint job I do - in fact, when I'm glazing over the teeth, the last step is for me to wipe my right middle finger over the bottom half to clean the glaze off the surface, but leave enough glaze in the cracks around the outside of the teeth to add visual dimension.

Busy Busy Bee

Each Bumble face undergoes a 10-step paint application process - here's a peek into some of those stages.

Don't forget, the Bumbles go on sale this Wednesday!