Kevin Gosselin - Custom Toys & One-of-a-Kind Sculptures

Mr. AZ: Custom 5" Madl

2012-01-14T16:45:00.000-08:00

It is not known who Mr. AZ is but the Hopi people in Kykotsmovi Village will tell you that one day this outsider began showing up asking for food and water. The outsider would appear every few days for about half of a year. When he stopped the Hopi feared for his safety and set out to locate him. They found he had created a permanate camp a few miles from their Village. As he was not disturbing anyone they let him be but kept a careful watch over him. In the next few years they would learn little of him. Where he came from and why he was here? Who was he protecting himself from with his primitive stone spear? These are questions the Hopi have no answer for.

The Hopi would tell Mr. AZ that he was being cared for by Madl. In Hopi mythology, Madl is the Kachina spirit dedicaded to the troubled soul seeking penance. Madl watches over these souls and keeps them safe until they find inner peace.

Over time the Hopi believed Mr AZ did find peace and he devoted his life to the Kachina spirit Madl. He has built a monument dedicated to the spirit and dwells within.

This piece was a private commission.

Coarse Jaw Samurai Pain

2011-10-04T15:42:00.000-07:00

Early in the Keichō era on the small Pacific island of Kōzushima of the southwest coast of Japan lived a young man named Yokurou. Yokurou had a great passion for the ocean and it was said his love was so strong he was able to speak with the sea gods. Yokurou would play in the ocean and ride the coarse waves until one day in his 17th year he fell in love with a young girl named Koneneme. For 3 years the loved in peace. Yokurou was then called to the mainland to serve under the rule of the great emperor Go-Yōzei. Much was his loyalty to the realm so with heavy heart Yokurou left his wife and baby daughter to fulfill his duties. After 20 years of service and having become a great samurai warrior, it is said Yokurou summoned the sea god Wani 鰐 to spirit him across the ocean back to his loving wife and daughter.

Yokurou's armor and helmet are fashioned after the sea god Wani 鰐, the powerful sea dragon.

This is a one of a kind custom done for commission.

WIP pics

2011-09-09T07:50:00.000-07:00

OK, here as promised are some wip pics of the entire process I'll go through to customize this coarse jaw.

No pussy-footing around, time to chop off the foot!

As you can see there's a plastic peg within the leg and it's filled with a soft powdery resin. I removed the resin but leave the sole slightly on.

Here I'm carving away the shorts to accommodate the new design. Here you can see lots of the old resin. I'll leave most of it there and just cover up with the new harder Magic Sculpt resin.

Now that I've carved away everything I need for the moment it's time to fix the fit. I fill in the empty sneaks with my magic sculpt and use the sneaks as molds. Essentially I'm creating feet with the negative space.

With the shoe filled with Magic sculpt I place it back on the peg and wait for the resin to harden.

Once enough time has passed I cut away the sneaker top exposing the new resin. I leave the sneaker sole. This will eventually become the sandal of the character.

Here the new foot has been revealed. In this stage it is just blocked out but it's now a more appropriate size in relation to the sneaker. It's the size the coarse noop's foot would be if he took off his sneaker.

Here I've removed more vinyl and sculpted the new pants on one side.

Filling the other sneak with resin

Both sneakers blocked out and new pants sculpted.

And here I've sculpted the socks, sandals and begun the shin guard on one side.

That's it for now.

More to come.

Chimalli WIP pics

2011-09-07T09:28:00.000-07:00

Usually I kinda relish diving right in and hacking and slashing the toys I'm asked to customize. But I started this piece just days after I had heard about the slight controversy regarding Jason Freeny's Coarse Jaw. If you had not heard about it I'll sum up briefly. The client who commissioned the work was not happy when he received the piece and discovered scuff makes around the non-customized sections of the toy. With that on my mind I didn't dive in with as much gusto as I usually do. Fortunately for me though, my style is one that completely remakes the toy and its surface so everything the client see is intentional. Well, most everything, there are happy accidents.

Anyways, take a look at some of the slashing I had to do and ask yourself if as a client you would be comfortable seeing me hack your very expensive coarse toy like so.

I am currently working on another Coarse Jaw and will be posting WIP pics all throughout the process. I'll be posting those pics soon.

I had to cut away a lot of the shorts to make the new loin cloth.

As you can see, beneath the vinyl is a soft powdery resin.

Carving more cloth

I wanted to create feet wearing sandals so I had to cut away the sneaker. I found more soft resin and eventually decided to remove the entire foot. Removing sneaker I find the plastic pegs. Here I am already done one leg and have moved on to the second.

I ended up using the hollow sneaker as a mold, filling it with new resin and leaving the sole of the sneaker as the sandal.

Here I have my roughed in leg, and stable and ready to texture.

In order to add extra resin to the head and still have the shark head fit, I had to shave a layer of vinyl off the head. Vinyl chips everywhere!

Chimalli Noop - Custom Coarse Jaw

2011-09-06T21:07:00.000-07:00

Early in the 15th century located in a hidden port of the southern Mexican coast there lived a legendary noop named Chimalli. Chimalli refused to live by the traditions of the edlers and left the life of farming to pursue a life of adventure. He wandered many years shirking responsibility to play all day. For many years he was away from his family until one day he returned with the ability walk on the waves. Chimalli became much admired for his skill by the young but he feared and angered the elders. The young ones would follow him around begging for the knowledge he possessed. He refused all and yet he accepted gifts of food and precious stones from his worshipers. Chimalli guarded his wealth and secrets. The elders warned him that his laziness and greed would be the death of him and spoke of the devil who would come to claim all he was and possessed. He laughed at the elders and was still heard laughing as the great devil shark devoured him on the waves. The Chimalli Noop totem serves as a reminder of the pain that laziness and greed can bring. Although many young noop to this day still reveres Chimalli as a daredevil prince who points the way to happiness the lesson is there for those who see.

Chimalli was created by commission.

Aloysius: One-of-a-Kind Sculpture

2011-08-22T10:30:00.000-07:00

Here's a piece I just finished last week for a private collector. I started it a while ago, it got put aside again and again due to other projects but I finally was able to place it as a priority. I really tried to take my time and do this right. And for the most part I'm very happy with it. Still need to work on my human figures more, especially faces but overall, I was very pleased with this piece. I named the piece, and the rabbit, Aloysius after a pet rabbit I had many years ago. It's a one of a kind sculpture made out of magic sculpt resin(armature) and polymer clay for the detail. It was hand painted with acrylic and brush.

Thanks everyone

2011-06-22T16:18:00.000-07:00

Last update everyone, just wanted to say thank you to all who supported me and bought a golem or tree ent, and all those who wanted to but didn't have the extra $$

All of them sold and it's a good indicator that I can go ahead and create some more of these limited series, next time though they definitely gotta have more goodies with them, these two were a bit bare bones, with no deadline but a quality finish expect better stuff from me in the future, looking forward to keeping you all happy

thanks one last time
Kevin

Post Show Sale

2011-06-21T10:34:00.000-07:00

Thanks to all who purchased a tree ent or golem. My show at dragatomi with Troy and Jesse went very well and I managed to sell all the ents in the series of 6 plus it's original, and then also sold 3 of the golems plus the original. I really appreciate the interest and support in my work, you guys help me do what I love and I'm eternally grateful.

SOOO...

that means I have some golems remaining. 5 to be exact. These casts are part of a limited resin series of 10 of a mini munny each signed and numbered. Show's over now and I just got my pieces back yesterday. I'll be reducing the price of everything. The golems were $175 plus shipping, I'll now be selling them for $125 plus shipping. If you want one, let me know by emailing me.

Other pieces from the show will be posted up in my big cartel site soon.

Ready for Bedtime Custom 7" Munny for Urban Decay II

2011-06-03T08:05:00.000-07:00

This piece is called "Ready for Bedtime". It's based loosely off a design I did nearly a couple years ago for a mimobot contest. I liked the color scheme and the goofy smile so it's been back in my mind as a concept for a munny. It's a regular sized munny so with the leg extensions and ears it stand around 14 inches tall. This is a one-of-a kind piece and it will be showing and available for purchase all month long in Urban Decay II.

Vinyl Roots Update

2011-05-25T08:30:00.000-07:00

There are only 2 Tree Ents remaining in my limited resin series. Only 4 of the golems. Head on over to the Dragatomi store front while they still last.

Vinyl Roots Preview #4 @dragatomi with @JRYU @TroyStith

2011-05-13T14:57:00.000-07:00

Here's the last guy being packed up to appear in tomorrow's show at Dragatomi.

He's a little field mouse out on a nature walk study all the flora and fauna.

for more pics, head over to flickr

Vinyl Roots Preview #3 @dragatomi with @JRYU @TroyStith

2011-05-13T10:51:00.000-07:00

Say hello to Sydney the Sapling. Sydney was created one fateful night when a wandering old kind hearted, yet poor sighted witch clumsily flew her broomstick into a giant oak tree. On she flew unawares that she had accidentally spilled some of her magic powder loose from her bag of tricks. Magic powder is powerful stuff and we're lucky it didn't fall and do any damage, or did it? But that's another story, for another time. Today I will tell you how that powder managed to sprinkle on one tiny acorn to close to the giant tree. If it hadn't been for the powder, why I doubt this little guy would have had a chance to grow at all in that deep shape. But it had been sprinkled, and in time, and a little luck, something magical happened. Sydney was born. Now Sydney, being just a sapling, is just too light in the britches to stay standing long. He's a clever little guy though and he used all his sappy strength to grab a hold of a small rock which keeps him grounded. And who's this he's looking at? Some Woolly Bully Caterpillar with no respect at all chewing through his leafy hand. Sydney gets no respect.

As for Woolly Bully...
he's a no nonsense caterpillar who's on a mission to earn his wings. All those in his way will be devoured!

More pics on Flickr

Vinyl Roots Preview #2 @dragatomi with @JRYU @TroyStith

2011-05-13T10:36:00.000-07:00

OK, here's number two. Now I know this seems like it's beat to death but people seem to like and I've allowed myself to make a mega, a regular size one and now a series of minis. BUT THAT"S IT!! No more golems for you after this. hehe, at least not this version ;-)

There will be 8 of these fellas available at the show tomorrow. The original plus 7 out of 10 of the resin series, three are being held back. Each is signed, numbered and comes with a "Golem, my command is card" which will allow the owner to cast a command spell to their golem.

Aren't they cute?

Vinyl Roots Preview #1 @dragatomi with @JRYU @TroyStith

2011-05-13T10:25:00.000-07:00

OK, you've seen a couple of these guys before, and although my wife says, "haven't you done that idea to death?" I said, "no, in fact I've only done two." Believe it or not I did the original tree ent that got me a win in Munnyworld almost two years ago and the another munny ent shortly after but otherwise, no other munny ents. SOOOOO, I figured I'd make a series of them. This isn't your average mini munny though, I stretched the body an additional 2 inches to give the added tree effect. The series is limited to six of which two are reserved for a couple special individuals in my family. Plus the original is also available, so that makes 5 that will be at the show. Each one is handed painted, signed and numbered.

Bringing Home A Baby Bumble Bee

2011-05-09T05:11:00.000-07:00

Here's my entry into the Custom Vinyl Show at the G40 Art Summit.

The show opens May 20th and goes through June 17th.

For more info on the show, visit their site, http://artwhino.com/_webapp_3886764/2011_G40

Originally I was just going to do another rock golem piece but in the style of the red rocks of Utah but when I finished I felt it didn't have the personality I had hoped for. I knew I needed something else so I decided to add a supporting character. When reading up on what animals would be present in that environment I came upon a still of Beaky Buzzard and Bugs Bunny. As I am a huge fan of the old Warner Brothers Looney Tunes I was immediately sold. The piece is titled "Bringing Home A Baby Bumblebee"

For more pics visit my flickr set

Vinyl Roots at @Dragatomi May 14th - June 4th

2011-04-15T11:03:00.000-07:00

A month from now I'll be in a 3 man show with Troy Stith and J*RYU at Dragatomi.

We'll all be showcasing some original work as well as perhaps some customs.

I plan on heading down to the show so if you're in the area, drop on by and say hi.

Over the next month I'll be showing some WIP pictures.

Monsters & Aliens Original sculpts

2011-04-08T17:11:00.000-07:00

OK folks, here are my pieces and info for my nephew's show.

Monsters and Aliens

April 8th - May 6th

Bherd Studios -- Seattle Urban Contemporary Art Gallery

Gallery Hours: Wed - Fri from 12-6pm + Every 2nd Friday from 6-9pm.

8537 Greenwood Ave. N | Suite 1 Seattle WA 98103 (206) 234-8348

http://www.bherdstudios.com/

More images on flickr

Monsters & Aliens" curated by Zinn: April 8 from 6-10pm

2011-04-08T10:50:00.000-07:00

Tonight's the night. My nephew Zinn, who is just 7 years old, is curating his own art show. He's picked the theme of Monsters and Aliens and surprise surprise he invited me to be a part of the show. Being that I'm pretty much an unknown in the Seattle scene and nobody has any preexisting ideas about my art, I decided to do 4 original sculpts. I'll post up picks tomorrow, but if you're in Seattle tonight head on over to Bherd Studios to see the opening.

Here's some info about the show.

KIRO Radio 97.3 FM

North Seattle Herald

Bherd Studios

Spartacus, Blood and Sand Shirt

2011-03-25T16:36:00.000-07:00

So over the last couple days there's been a interest in a illustration I did a while back. I had submitted this to a couple t-shirt sites but no one accepted the design. I placed it on redbubble and didn't think too much of it afterwards. But I guess the show has been gaining interest and in turn now my shirt.

If you'd like to create a shirt head on over to my redbubble site and make one.

http://www.redbubble.com/people/kgosselinart/t-shirts/5827746-3-hail-batiatus

Thanks for the interest.

Auction for MW2 Variant AP

2011-03-11T05:46:00.000-08:00

It's on everyone. Starting now until Sunday evening I'll be taking bids through email for the the albino cannibal dunny AP I created for the most wanted series 2. It's the last AP up for grabs and the only Albino version out there. Only 6 Albinos if you include the ones found in the series. If you want it just email me at kgosselin@gmail.com and I'll keep you posted if someone out bids you. I'll send out a final warning at 6 PM PST Sunday and will close the bidding at 7 PM PST.

When Worlds Collide Pics

2011-02-28T11:17:00.000-08:00

Sorry for the long wait on these, here they are. For some reason, must have been distracted, I missed a couple of Josh's pieces. Sorry.

When Worlds Collide

2011-02-26T11:49:00.000-08:00

Last night was the opening open the When Worlds Collide show at Screaming Sky Gallery in Portland. I felt really lucky to live in this neck of the woods and be able to see all the great work the other artists produced. As soon as I get my pictures cleaned up I'll post my thoughts on everyones work and highlight my favorites. I will say though that it was a toss up for me between two pieces at the show. If I actually had money I'd have walked away with either Chauskoskis Gorilla Rook or Map Map's piece of which the name eludes me right now. Both pieces were so beautiful in their choices of color and the sculpts were gorgeous. Simple yet flawless in their design and execution. If you have means, go get em.

OK, so now on to what I did. Last fall Fplus invited me to be in his show but as I looked at my schedule I had to step away from it. Josh was totally cool about it and insisted I still contribute something so I offered to show existing pieces and create a couple new pieces if I could. So I submitted my two large pieces that were returned to me from other events, namely the Mega Stone Golem and the 16" Qee Bear. I didn't like rerunning any work but it is good for a new audience to see the work in person as none of the photos I ever take do any of my pieces justice. At any rate, I did create two pieces for the show. The first is a bit of a cop out. My bad. When I created the Stone Golem it was done entirely in Magic Sculpt which has a working life of around an hour. So, to be sure of my direction I had done a sketch of the face on a regular sized munny. So, with that lying around and the overwhelming interest in the original mega version, I decided to complete it and offer up a more affordable stone golem. Here he is. For the most part he's the same guy, brackets and leaves and nest all in the same place but this little guy, as with all little guys, tend to me meaner. His jaw is larger and arms bulkier. Don't mess with him.

The other thing I did, which I teased about the other day, was a new direction for me. I've done some tree ents in the past and wanted to explore it a little more and decided that a bonsai tree would be an interesting direction. I really don't know how the community will respond to this piece. I personally found this a blast to do and think for my first one it turned out nicely. I'd love to do many more of these, each with it's own personality while exploring traditional bonsai techniques and designs. The larger the better too. But I suppose it all depends on the community's response to it. Let me know what you think. Do you want to see more of these?

When Worlds Collide Teaser

2011-02-20T12:24:00.000-08:00

When Worlds Collide: Feb 24th-March 24th

2011-02-07T11:27:00.000-08:00

This is coming up real soon. I'm proud to be apart of this stellar line-up of artists. And best of all I get to go to this show in person. I originally was suppose to be a larger part of the show but due to a heavy workload I had to cut back on my level of participation. But I will be showing some art that has been seen before and I just finished another custom for it. I am also hoping to finish an original sculpt which should begin to show people the direction I'll be moving toward this year. I'll be present at the opening along with DrilOne and f+

Here are the details:

Screaming Sky Gallery.

Feb 24th-March 24th
Screaming Sky Gallery Portland,OR
Opening reception Feb. 24th 5pm-9pm

Walter “Chauskoskis” Jacott

Kevin Gosselin

Golden God: Custom PAW

2011-02-02T13:36:00.000-08:00

Lost to the world this ancient temple hides away in the jungle, a relic of another time. Created from individual stones, shaped and pieced together into a worshiped god long since forgotten. Hidden within the stone are traces of gold. A staircase wraps it's way around one arm, up the spine and ascends the other arm to be greeted by the ceremonial altar where many a life was exhausted as offerings in the hopes good fortune would bring. A birds nest clings to the under hang of rock and vines begin to claim this abandoned place. The real mystery lies deep beneath. Are you brave enough to venture through the door?

FOR MORE PICS VISIT FLICKR

Thank you Spanky Stokes

2011-01-28T05:12:00.000-08:00

Head on over to SpankyStokes.com right now to win a Most Wanted Series 2 AP. That's right, I'm giving another AP away. Previously I gave away an AP over at Hello Vinyl and today it's time to thank John. Both guys have been very vocal since my appearing on this scene and it is my way of saying thanks to them and their blog readers for all the kindness. Better enter this today because out of my 5 APs I have, 2 have been reserved long ago by collectors, 1 given to Hello Vinyl and 1 to John today. The last AP which will be the only AP in the variant colorway will be auctioned off after the drop of the series itself.

Good Luck

Need room on my shelf sale

2011-01-27T21:31:00.000-08:00

I'm growing a Island of misfit toys over my desk. Over the last couple months customs I did for shows have unfortunately not sold at the jacked up gallery prices so now they're back in my hands and looking for a good home. Prices have been slashed in most cases so take a look and consider helping me clear some much needed shelf room and maybe buy my baby some diapers too.

ENTER SHOP

Bud And Nade: Sibling Rivalry

2010-12-15T09:22:00.000-08:00

Here's my latest piece. It was commissioned by a Jamungo collector who gave me free reign with the platform. He gave me a bud and a nade and asked me to customize both of them. Not necessarily together. When I got them, I had honestly never seen one or the other and was a little nervous about working on them. The plastic was really hard and the limbs were so small. I worried that it would be difficult to achieve anything dynamic with them. After (ehem) months of sitting on my shelf waiting to be customized when I got around to it I finally had a concept that worked for me. Simply put, the two would be wrestling for their lives. One trying to detonate the other. I didn't want to overdo the piece with lots of color and characterization like I do with a lot of my other pieces. I wanted the original platforms and the struggle to take the spotlight so I decided to make the piece a bronze. Now I can paint anything with bronze paint and it will look like a bronze statue but the second you pick it up there's no fooling anyone. These toys are so light that I needed to add some serious weight to them to make the piece convincing. So I filled the heads and the base with as many fishing sinkers as I could. At shipping the piece weighed about 2.5 lbs. It is a small piece with a lot of weight. Anyways, here's the piece. And thanks for being very patient Colin.

FOR MORE PICS VISIT MY FLICKR SET

Scotty the Bearbarian

2010-11-29T22:30:00.000-08:00

UPDATE:
I just learned that the show has changed venues so here is that new info.

Miami’s Independent Thinkers | ART BASEL 2010
Location: Casa Wynwood (2135 NW 1st Court)
Time: 4:00PM Thursday, December 2nd

For more details, head over to the Wizard Sleeve Toys blog.

Also, if you'd be interested in purchasing this fella, you can find the preview page here

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Well, here it is folks, my 16" Qee bear for the "Qee to the City" show in Miami during Art Basel.
A lot of work went into this big fella including cutting down the enormous mickey ears and creating more practical bear ears. He's got his wooden shield, flail, waterskin, a necklace with key to some mysterious fortune(maybe to the city?) and a vial of aromatic ground seed.

I call him Scotty because while I was sculpting him I couldn't help but notice how much the face resembled a scotty terrier.

If you're down in Miami this coming week during Art Basel, check it out.

Happy Thanksgiving Teaser

2010-11-25T10:33:00.000-08:00

Here's to you and your family this year. I hope you're able to set aside some time today and the weekend to enjoy life with the ones you love. Eat, drink and be merry everyone!

Next week I will be part of the Multiversal Group Show in Miami during Art Basel along side some terrific artists. Here's a final teaser before I reveal the full piece next week.

Home is where the hearth is

2010-11-19T12:05:00.000-08:00

Tonight is the opening of the Sketchbot Custom show at Munky King in LA. I was invited to create a custom for the show and here's my finished piece that I call "Home is where the hearth is". It's a steam powered sketchbot that has long since broken down only to be reclaimed by a field mouse who has built himself a cozy nest in the abandoned hearth.

The sketchbot is such a distinct character already I felt it best to stay true to the original character but put my own twist to it. About a year ago I created a character called Blank Frank and had made a version that was steam powered by the boiler in it's head. When looking at the sketchbot I thought it made the perfect vehicle for this concept. So I cut in a window to view the boiler, added a door and some piping to transform sketchbot into a steam-powered robot. What was really difficult was creating and painting the interior floor/ceiling to the boiler/furnace. I had to cut out one of the arm sockets to make it happen. I also had to bend a paint brush at an angle to reach all the interior surfaces.

The window is made of a bit of spare plastic I had lying around. I used the same plastic to create the shield for the meter which kinda represents my sketchbot's eye. The meter was designed in illustrator and printed out to size. I wasn't overly happy with the quality of the print out I was able to achieve on my home printer but it is infinitely better than what I would have been able to achieve by hand. The door to the furnace has a working hinge and handle that does lock the door closed. Inside the old abandoned furnace is the field mouse's nest and some food he has stored.

The show starts tonight so if you're in the LA area check it out along with about 75(I think) other great artists included(are you kidding me, Frank Kozik). I'm in a show with Frank? Frank doing a custom? That's so punk.

Check Out More Pics on FLICKR

@HelloVinyl x @KevinGosselin Super Awesome #FF Give-away

2010-10-22T08:35:00.000-07:00

Soooo, I've teamed up with @HelloVinyl for The Super Awesome Follow Friday Give Away. Whats that? Well, I decided to offer up one of my custom 3"Cannibal Dunny AP's. This Dunny is my design for the Most Wanted Series 2 that is coming soon, and this is one of only 5. I suspect that these dunny's are going to be hard to get within the series and then being there are only 5 APs I figured why not let everyone get an equal shot at having one. To be honest, they're all spoken for already anyways so there will be three shot's to grab one of my APs over the next month or so. This being your first shot.

So what do you have to do to get it?

All you have to do to win this Cannibal Dunny is to go over to HelloVinyl's web site( HERE ) and leave a comment in his post, answering this question: "What past Dunny design would you like to see have their head shrunk by Cannibal Dunny?" You can also get a bonus entry by following myself Kevin Gosselin and HelloVinyl on Twitter and posting a tweet with the following text "Win a @kevingosselin Cannibal Dunny at @hellovinyl http://bit.ly/9pZ3wQ #KGHVFF PLS RT TO ENTER", you can just copy and paste the quoted text, without the quotes of course:-). Easy as that, good luck to all who enter, the winner will be announced Friday 29th October. Thank you very much to Mark over at HelloVinyl for helping plan this fun event!!

@AW177 Collaboration for NYCC

2010-10-05T08:00:00.000-07:00

A while ago the artist known as AW177 contacted me about doing a collaboration. I love his work because of its Eastern influences and slick finishes. It's about as different from my own work as I think you can get. Which is why I wanted to add his style to my portfolio. However, it did present it's challenges. For this piece I had to simplify my own style a it. Much like my collaboration with Coolvader, I wanted to keep the surfaces as simple as possible so the surface could be worked with afterward. The Madl platform only worked more to this idea with it's straight lines. We decided on basing our concept on the ancient Chinese terracotta warriors. So I went about simplifying the armor in basic shapes. I used magic sculpt to create my shapes and sanded. And sanded. The end result was a toy that I think would look pretty cool if manufactured. Hmmm, what do you think MAD?

Well, AW177 just finished the 3rd one and here they are.

"Dragon Power" Elite Division Warrior #1

"Tiger Fury" Elite Division Warrior #2

"Phoenix Rising" Elite Division Warrior #3

I love them. So much detail and they look beautiful. I love the rich colors and they look awesome as a set. They'll be available Oct 8-10th at NYCC. That's this weekend. Look for them at the Tenacious Toys Booth. AW177 will also be doing a signing on Saturday at 1pm.

Check out AW177's other work that he'll have available at NYCC as well.

His Flickr

3 Customs, 3 Shows

2010-10-04T13:34:00.000-07:00

The first show is the Milk Munny Exhibit, which is actually already over. I believe my Stone Golem is still available for $750 at Red Hot Robot starting Oct 6th. If you'd like to purchase this Mega contact them. Remember, 100% of the purchase goes to the Keep a Breast Foundation.

The second show is the Jouwe Custom show at the Toy Art Gallery in LA. This show started Saturday Oct. 2nd and goes until Nov. 2nd. You can find my Jouwe and many others for sale here.

And the third show, starting this Saturday, Oct. 9th, is the 15th Anniversary DIY Qee Celebration at Dragatomi. There's sure to be a lot of great work there. Check it out.

R.I.P. Kevin Gosselin

2010-10-02T07:17:00.000-07:00

Here's my custom for Dragatomi's 15th Anniversary DIY Qee Celebration.

I think it speaks for itself.

But if you want some explanation, well, it's me, in the hopefully very distant future rising from the grave, grabbing the fresh flowers laid at the tombstone and presenting them back to the giver with goofy delight.

Originally I thought of having the corpse be that of Kurt Cobain after I heard Justin Bieber say, "I feel like the Kurt Cobain of my generation." I thought it would be funny if he came from below and was screaming, "Bieber!!!" But in the end I felt that having Kurt with a face full of shot gun pellets was just a little too poor in taste so I went with something more silly.

CLICK FOR MORE PHOTOS ON FLICKR

Baby Jouwe

2010-09-22T21:28:00.000-07:00

I finished my Jouwe today for the show art TAG.

Let me explain this piece. From the beginning it was always my intention of bringing the Jouwe character to life. When I finished my Celsius piece I felt that I had maybe gone too far away from the platform and not showcased the original toy enough. So I immediately decided I wanted to just take the red Jouwe character and animate him. My original concept was to have this guy on a swing hanging from a tree. Ambitious but I thought it would connect with people. Unfortunately time wasn't on my side and I had to scrap that idea. So I kept the idea of taking the existing character and just fleshing him out a bit. I moved the horn down to a more realistic position for a rhino and added a mouth and nostrils. I then figured I'd sit him down and have him reaching up toward the viewer. I actually made a baby rhino very similar to this about 13 years ago for an ex-girlfriend who loved rhinos. I kept thinking, ehh, I'm copying an old idea. But I figured that was a long time ago and no one has seen that piece. The piece seemed too simple so I decided it needed something else. I toyed with the idea of putting a lolly pop in his hands and a pet food dish at his feet. But none seemed to work for me. I did then think of putting a butterfly on his horn. I liked it, it was simple, pure and fell in line with the cute baby rhino look I was going for.

Well, today as I was packing this fella up to ship, and I was digging through boxes, I came upon the original Jouwe box. Now anyone who's purchased this toy, and you fellow customizers, might be aware that it came in an awesome box that had some great artwork on it. Well, today as I looked upon the box I was reminded of the art and to my embarrassment one of the illustrations on the box is the Jouwe sitting down, much like my finished piece. Actually, it's in nearly the exact position as my old baby rhino I did. To add to my embarrassment, there are butterflies as well. I don't know how I didn't remember that this was on the box or if it was really my subconscious memory recreating what I had seen. But I felt silly. I looked at my wife, laughed and said, oh well, what can you do.

So here's my Jouwe, straight off the box. Like I said, it had been my intention of showcasing the toy and not veering far off the platform. I just got carried away I guess.

Stone Golem for Milk Munny Exhibition

2010-09-14T23:02:00.000-07:00

Ever hear of the golem? No, not Smeagol from the LOTR but the creature from hebrew folklore. Legend has it that this humanoid man of earth could be controlled by inscribing the word emet (אמת "truth" in hebrew) on it's forehead. This creature could not think for itself so instructions were placed in the golem's mouth.

My incarnation of this fable shows a young child summoning a stone golem to do her bidding. You can see the shock on the child face as folklore becomes reality. The beast is ancient and iron supports have been added here and there to keep it from falling apart. Miracles are being conjured on this cold autumn evening.

FOR MORE IMAGES HEAD ON OVER TO MY FLICKR ACCOUNT

This piece was created for and donated to the Milk Munny Exhibition. The exhibition put on by artist Trevor Hill and being held at the Monorchid Gallery in Phoenix, Arizona, features vinyl art from a huge list of artists and will be donating the proceeds to the Keep a Breast Foundation. That means this Mega Munny will be up for sale for an amazingly low price of $750. Help out a good cause and buy it Oct 1st.

Coolvader

2010-09-07T14:54:00.000-07:00

This is a late post, should have gone up last Friday when Coolvader showed me the work but I've been insanely busy.

So yeah, last Friday he revealed his portion of our collaboration and my jaw hit the floor. As I gazed at it and absorbed what I saw I began to realize how much I respect Coolvaders work. First, it dawned on me that by keeping things simple Matt was allowing my sculpt to show through. He could have easily added tons of little details that would have overshadowed anything I did. But secondly, it began to set in how well balanced the cute little bunny is with this twisted quadrapus-thing ripping out of the poor bunny's butt. The red on white pops so vividly.

Initially I designed the sculpt to be a labbit that happened to have a eye and four tentacles coming off the butt. But Coolvader interpreted the sculpt to be the eye and tentacles ripping out. Thank goodness he did cause wow. It creates such violent moment in time.

As you can tell, I'm happy with the way this turned out. What's great is that this is something I'd never be brave enough to create on my own and put in my portfolio, but thanks to Coolvader I have this wicked piece to shock and delight. Sorry Mom.

For all the pics of this gory piece head on over to my flicker account

8" Atlas Dunny

2010-08-13T08:49:00.000-07:00

Fashioned after a greek statue, this commission was one of the toughest pieces I've ever done. And by tough, I mean Magic-Sculpt tough. I miss sculpey and it's infinite working time. Magic-sculpt is great for strength but until I get faster I foresee a lot of tooling in my future. My dental tools got quite the workout over the last couple weeks. So much so that I seriously have little feeling on my right middle finger due to the callus that has formed. But it's all good. I'm not complaining. Really. This guy was such a pleasure to work on. I mean, it's like my client was giving me an assignment to work on my anatomy and what better reference material to work from than from the greeks. Another interesting thing about thsi piece has that oringinally I added texture before the sculpt dried to make it look like the stone was old and weathered, however, because there was so much sanding and tooling, I lost a lot of it. So in order to achieve the right look, I had to go to town on my smooth finish piece. Picture me repeatedly stabbing my sculpt over and over with a pick, fork, plyers and other various tools. My wife could not watch. It was painful to us both. But the result was good I think.

Full Sculpt Reveal for Coolvader Collaboration

2010-08-10T14:48:00.000-07:00

Here is the finished sculpt I did for the commissioned collaboration with Coolvader for Linh.

Bogart Alley by Task One

2010-08-09T11:15:00.000-07:00

Lately the artist known as Task One has been revealing artwork showcasing his Photoshop skills and other artists custom toys. Recently he asked me if he could have some high res images of my Celsius custom so he could play around and possibly make some art of it as well. I was super excited about it because the work he's done so far has been steller. Check over at Spanky Stokes for more info about it.

Over the weekend he send me a link to his facebook photo album where he had posted two new pieces to his collection. If you're not a FB friend of his, you'll want to be so you can see his cool work.

Here are the two pieces he made. The surprise is that they're not even the Celsius piece. When I met Task One down in LA at the Celsius show he had mentioned that he really enjoyed my Bogart custom and I guess he wasn't just saying that just to be nice because he took some time and really made my custom look amazing. I think I'm going to have to make myself a poster of these.

So Now I'm wondering, is he still going to do the Celsius? And if the Bogart looks this cool, what's the Celsius going to look like?

Free Arcade Game Demo

2010-08-07T12:29:00.000-07:00

About 5 years ago my best friend from high school Christian and I decided to fill up our bored evenings and make our own video game. Christian knew how to do all the programming and I thought I could handle the graphics. We discussed doing a first person shooter, rpgs, but ended up deciding on an old fashioned arcade game. It's in the fashion of games like Luxor or Zuma where sphere's accumulate and you need to clear them by matching three or more. Our however had a bit of a twist. Well, instead of me explaining it, feel free to download it and play it. If you like, let me know. I only have the demo version right now, I have to dig out the full. If I find I might put that up as well. Let me know what you think.

To run it you will need to install Directx 9.0c which I've included in the zip file. Once you install the directx, just run the exe. The BHT file is just a file to log high scores.

Here are some screen shots. As you can see, there are a few different ways to play. To change the view, hit V.

You can find the complete instructions in the menu.

OH, and I found the game to be very addictive, kinda tetris like, so you're officially warned. Don't blame me if you find yourself wasting your time.

DOWNLOAD BLACKHOLE DEMO

8" Custom Cannibal Dunny For Turcicus

2010-07-26T13:11:00.000-07:00

So I finished this commission for Turcicus(a member of the KR forums) and mailed the piece to him today. He was cool enough to commission one of the three 8" Cannibal Dunnys I'll be doing fashioned after my 3" Dunny(pictured as reference in last photo) that will be available in the Most Wanted Series II coming out soon.

Two of the 8" versions are spoken for but there's still one left. Each will be slightly different. This one of course looks exactly like the series piece. The second is custom by request and the third will be based on the variant.

That is, if someone commissions it.

As you can see there's a lot of detail in the 8" that's just not possible in the 3" version.

Behind-The-Scenes, WIP Pics

2010-07-24T21:31:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures and notes of a piece I recently finished.

First thing I do is add a screw to where I feel my heaviest build-up of clay will be.

It's not entirely necessary now that I'm using Magic-Sculpt(MS) and considering I'll cover the entire piece but better safe than sorry.

Some quick sketches of where features will be placed.

Here I have already removed sections of vinyl that will conflict with the over-all form of my piece. Using my heat-gun I warm up the vinyl and cut it with an x-acto blade. I then bulk out my first brow in MS.

I refine the brow with lots of wrinkles. I'm smoothing the MS with plain water.

I also add the cheek . Due to the drying time of MS, I can no longer bulk out the entire piece like I did with Sculpey. I now have to work piece by piece slowly building up little by little.

I add the second brow.

And the second cheek.

Now I block on the base of the nose. I also add a little more meat to

both cheeks and a little base of upper lip.

Here I block in the bottom lip. I ended up adding some unnecessary detail that would eventually be covered up. The MS was not sturdy enough to bridge the entire gap so I had to do it in two phases. I look at this guy right now and I see Jeff Bridges. How about you?

The unnecessary detail.

I add the lower eyelids and block in the upper lip.

I refine the upper lip.

At this point I decide it would be cool to wrap the entire piece in detail. The original 3" version only had a sculpted face. The beauty of a larger piece is that I can add so much more detail.

Lots of wrinkles. This guy has been out in the direct sun all day for his entire life.

His skin is like leather. Red Michael Jackson leather.

Here I finish the lower lip by adding more and closing the mouth up.

Adding more detail to the side of the head. Moles and all.

I wanted the ears to look like they had some flexibility so I really wrinkled up the joints.

More texture and more moles.

Forehead just about done here.

I create the nose bone separately and then attach once it is completely set. I then complete the nose sculpt around the bone.

Here I bulk up the corners of the mouth. They were to thin and I wanted some more meat to him.

I also add the chin.

A better look at the corner of the mouth.

And a better look at the chin.

And here's the last photo I have. Suddenly the piece is nearly done. I guess I forgot to take more pics.

I had finished covering the rest of the vinyl head and body with the same skin texture. Then you can see I have begun to add one of the two bandages. After that it's on to paint. Oh, you'll never see me do a paint step by step. MAybe in years to come when I feel like I might have something to offer.

More pics to come of the finished piece on Monday. Or you could just head on over to

the KR forums and read the post over there.

Coolvader Collaboration Teaser

2010-07-20T12:33:00.000-07:00

I had the privilege of meeting Coolvader almost a year ago at the Munnyworld Toy Exhibition. We talked about both attending Ringling School of Art & Design and of course the possibility of doing a collaboration. He liked my sculpts and well I think you'd be insane if you didn't think his painting abilities were out of this world. We both like the idea of merging our skills for an awesome piece of art. So in reality I convinced this guy to let me piggy-back off his exceptional talents. I mean really. So a few months ago we tossed the idea up on the KR forums and we got a commission. Linh Pham, the gentleman who commissioned the Stomper, 5" Labbit from me, had wanted to commission Coolvader as well. He took this opportunity to kill two birds with one stone.

So, I looked over Coolvaders impressive collection of vinyl work and fashioned a design keeping in mind that I didn't want to make it too detailed a surface and and drive him mad. I finished this sculpt a few weeks ago and it's now in his hands and hopefully it will be complete in the near future. I enjoyed doing this so much that I suggested to him that we do a series. He agreed. So maybe next year your see a limited series from Coolvader and I. Think anatomy.

Anyways, here's a teaser of the piece.

Bobble-Head Munny

2010-07-20T12:07:00.000-07:00

I was asked a few months ago by a good runner friend to create a custom munny of another good runner friend to celebrate her completing her first 100 mile ultra marathon. I was happy to take the job. Soon after we discussed the concept, the friend commissioning the piece asked me if I could also make it a bobble-head, because the recipient loves bobble-heads. OK. Now, I guess in some sense, it makes the work slightly lower brow than the work already is, which is admittedly low brow, but I enjoyed doing this and it added an extra challenge that I've yet had the chance to do. The funny thing is that since completing this, I've had a bunch of inquiries on doing more. I guess bobble-heads are really popular.

So here it is. Kathleen the Machine.

The Sky Warrior

2010-06-25T09:15:00.000-07:00

This is my entry for the Ganmetall Celsius Custom Show on July 10th at the Toy Art Gallery in Los Angeles, CA. I don't know what this guy's name is. I just know he's landed from a crazy dog fight, torn off his helmet and about to throw down with the enemy. Watch Out!

This is only my second show so far. But the same fear has run through me for each show. What if I come up with the same concept as someone else? Maybe it's because I'm a twin, but I strive to be unique. So I really took my time thinking what I wanted to do for this guy. I finally settled on two distinguishing modifications that would help my toy stand out. The first concept was proven possible with the help of my heat gun. After warming up the vinyl I was able to bend the wings into practically any shape I wanted. The other was the concept of my character kneeling down with the wings draped over his shoulders. From there, just like most of my pieces I really don't have any solid plans aside from just see where it takes me.

Another aspect of this piece was my exploration of a new material. I have recently decided to get away from sculpey to materials that are more durable. I purchased some Aves Apoxie Sculpt and found it to be tough as nails. The leather pilot's cap is actually a sculpey blend over the apoxie sculpt head. I wasn't able to get the finer details with the apoxie sculpt and felt that the sculpey would hold up as long as it was on a rigid surface. I have since used Magic Sculpt and found I like it more than Aves but it's another great tool to have. The plus on Magic Sculpt's side is that I can actually get the finer details. Not quite as easily as I do with sculpey, but it's simply a matter of speed and not workability. I think over time as I become more confident in my sculpting skills it should be plenty of time.

Celsius Teaser

2010-06-22T11:31:00.000-07:00

Here's a look at my custom Celsius that will be in the Ganmetall Celsius Custom Show on July 10th at the Toy Art Gallery in Los Angeles, CA. I made some big modifications to this platform as you can see in the pic below. Is that the head separated from the body? I'm varnishing this guy right now and it'll be shipped out to the gallery tomorrow.

Randall McMunny

2010-06-16T12:17:00.000-07:00

So a few weeks ago KidRobot Social Media Embassador Ryan the Wheelbarrow ( www.ryanthewheelbarrow.com , check out that mustache!!) contacted me about participating in the Munny Munth contest and said if I was to share with them some WIP pictures that they'd send me a Munny to work on. I would have entered the contest anyways, but it was super cool to get that request and I was happy to help. So I created this custom Munny for the contest (you can vote for me here if you'd like ) and all the while I was taking pictures to show everyone my process. I ALSO, by suggestion from Mr Spanky Stokes, decided to try out a new sculpting material. Magic-Sculpt. I had heard a lot about it around the web and finally found a place to by it around here. The stuff is awesome. It's a little quicker than I'd like but I'm getting used to it. Anyways, you can find the WIP pics over at the Kronikle ( http://kronikle.kidrobot.com/custom-control-kevin-gosselin/ )
and if you'd like to take this fella home, visit my shop.

Pirate Dunny For KR Forum Trade 11

2010-06-09T10:11:00.000-07:00

I created this guy over a month ago for the trade and have been waiting to reveal it here. The recipient of the trade received it now and I can post. I really like this little guy as he actually stands on his little peg leg. He's accompanied by his bottle of rum and underneath the eye patch is a old war wound. And to be sure he was delivered with style, I created a custom box.

Where Have I Been?

2010-06-08T16:36:00.000-07:00

Oh Geez. Just like that over a month has passed and if you were to be a subscriber of this blog you might think I fell off the face of the earth. The reality is that I have been doing work but not as much as before and communication has been at a minimum. So what happened? Well, as I mentioned in the prior post, my baby girl was born. My wife and I took off just two weeks from our respective jobs to enjoy her without any distraction and it was great. After two weeks we both got back to work and I was able to get a considerable amount of work done. However, after one week, the visitors began to roll in.

Don't get me wrong, I love having my family and friends come into town and especially in this case as they were able to enjoy visiting with baby Alexandria. The BUT in this all is...

but I didn't get any work done for the two weeks that guests were in town. BUT, now all that is done and armed with pleasant memories of family and friends it's time to get my ass in gear and really get some work done. I've got a huge workload over the next few months so expect lots of cool stuff to appear on here. I'm really excited about all the things that are happening and especially seeing my dream of being a fine artist grow into a reality.

So what am I working on?? I'm finishing up that Kuso Vinyl for the TAG show in LA for starters. The sculpts all done and I'm just trying to figure out the color. Also, I'm currently working on a seriously awesome commissioned collaboration with a New York based customizer/illustrator. I'm serious, this is going to be awesome. And then there's a little something that will hopefully show up soon on someone's blog. Somebody asked me to put together another tutorial. Gotta make it somehow new from the one I made just a little bit ago but I'm sure I'll come up with something. Oh, and then there's a few other commissions, another show, Most Wanted series and maybe, just maybe a production piece in the works for next year.

Oh yeah, the coffee is in me, the music is blasting and both have got me pumped. Let's get the day started, It's not getting any longer.

GANMETALL CELSIUS CUSTOM SHOW

2010-05-06T15:42:00.000-07:00

I've been invited to participate in this awesome show. It's July 10th at the Toy Art Gallery in Los Angeles, CA. I'm going to do everything I can to be present for this event.

As soon as I get back to work, in another week or so, I'll be working on my Kuso Vinyl Toy for this custom show. I had just started working on it when little miss Alexandria decided to make her entrance.

Special Thanks to Spanky Stokes for the invite into what looks to be one hell of a show.

Cannibal Dunny for Most Wanted

2010-04-28T08:06:00.000-07:00

By now, a lot of you by have seen this, but for those that don't have the inside track or happen to be on the Most Wanted Mailing list then here is the full reveal of my design.

This concept didn't take but a few minutes to think of. Since the inception of my Dunny Eater for Munny world, I've tried to make all my custom pieces fall into the realm of this fantastic world. So when thinking how a 3" Dunny would actually fit into that would, I thought naturally he would have to be a cannibal. And once I thought about making a shrunken head, well, it was set in stone.

Now, come release time I'm gonna hate this design and the difficulties it's set forth for me, but hey, if you're gonna do something, put your all into it and make it your best.

And for those who might be interested, I announced a couple days ago on the KidRobot forums that I was going to be making a few 8" Dunnys out of this design. Each one will have a slight different color variation and be a one of a kind. Well, since then two have been snagged up already and there's just one spot left. If you want that guy, contact me. There will be artists proofs but I guarantee you, for the price I'm selling these 8" Dunnys, you'd rather go big.

LOST's Benjamin Linus as Brainy Smurf

2010-04-14T14:46:00.000-07:00

I love me some LOST. With just a few weeks left of the series I figured I'd have some fun with some of the characters.

Originally I had a smurf hat on him but as you can see from the other design without his hair he just doesn't look quite right. It was a balance of making him enough smurf and recognizable as Ben.

Illustration Wednesday

2010-04-14T13:55:00.000-07:00

OK, so here's another installment of illustration Wednesday. I've been doing a bit more drawing lately. Really brushing up on my skills and playing around with some ideas. Here's my latest one.

If any of you have been watching the new series on starz called Spartacus and you're like me, then you probably have quickly become a fan. I love this show and a big part of that is due to the acting of John Hannah. The writers make him so likable even though he's quite the unlikable type. He's just terribly ambitious and will do anything to get what he wants.

What's funny is how he reacts when something doesn't go his way. I mean, he's apparently a believer in the gods, but he kills and cheats and when something bad happens he doesn't make any connection to it possibly being something like, um, Karma? well, I suppose that's a different faith. Anyways, he's used this line that is kinda offensive and it inspired me to draw him. Eventually, with a little discussion from my family, I decided it was a little too offensive for my final piece.

Most Wanted Teaser Pic

2010-04-14T13:44:00.000-07:00

So I've been working hard on my design for the upcoming Most Wanted Series 2. It's been tough not showing everyone what I've been up to because I'm super happy with how this little guy turned out. It actually makes me think that doing 3" dunnys might not be a bad idea. Maybe in the near future I'll do a small series of my own 3". hmmm

Well, Manny with the MW series posted a teaser pic up on the KR forums of my prototype piece.

It's a real crappy pic that does it no justice but here it is anyways. Maybe they'll do a full reveal of it sometime soon. I honestly have no idea.

Illustration Wednesday

2010-03-31T10:00:00.000-07:00

Yeah, I missed last week. I had a busy week and even though I started a drawing I never got around to finish it. Still working on it and below is the unfinished work.

But first this weeks illustration. Years ago I painted an illustration for a friend back in Florida. The concept was just about the same but I never felt like I finished the piece properly. Below is a revised version that I hope to make some t-shirts with. Eventually I'd also like to go back and repaint this.

Before pursuing art I spent all my free time out running the trails of western Washington. If you're not a runner you'd have called me a bit obsessive about it. It got to a point a couple summers ago when I ran a 50 mile race. I love running because it pushes my threshold of mental fatigue and in turn I believe that makes me a stronger individual capable of handling anything that comes my way. I love trail running specifically because it gets me "away from the things of man" as George would say. Anyways, I could go on forever about running but instead, here's my unfinished drawing which I'll hopefully finish over the next few weeks.

Illustration Wednesday

2010-03-17T19:08:00.001-07:00

OK, so today being my birthday I decided to start a new ongoing project that would help me work on my drawing skills. I also feel it's in my best interest to explore the concept of making prints so that I can create some residual income. Yeah, it's a pipe dream but I have to start somewhere no?

SO, with that in mind I've decided that Wednesday's are going to be for illustration from now on. You know, that thing I got a degree in about 14 years ago and decided not to use. I feel if I do a illustration every week for the next year something good while come from it. So here's my first stab at it. I figured I'd start with something I love. And I love me some Wolverine. I just did a basic sketch of Logan to get his character down. I always hated the way his hair was done. I mean how does hair grow in up into points? And his forearms, well, I like me some big ape arms, that's just me. Which help's because they allow for room for the claws. Anyways, here's my Logan. Oh, and for the record, I like Hugh Jackman as Wolverine. He's great. Just a touch too tall.

initial sketch on lined notebook paper.

one day I'll be able to actually buy a real sketch book

Bacon Now For Sale

2010-03-10T08:43:00.000-08:00

OK folks. Bacon is now for sale. Please find him a good home.

Click here to view store

Sculpting Tutorial

2010-03-09T16:27:00.000-08:00

Hey folks, I finally posted my tutorial that shows how I sculpted my last custom toy. I hope you check it out and it you enjoy. Please feel free to let me know how I can make it better the next time.

click here for tutorial or click on the new Tutorial link up in the navigation bar.

Bacon from the Dunny Eater Series

2010-03-03T12:26:00.000-08:00

Say Hello to Bacon. This little guy tries as hard as he can to be mean. He's even borrowed a bloody halberd and shield from his father but try as he might, deep down inside he's just a sweetie. Bacon is part gorilla, part boar and all around nice guy.

Bacon was made from a 7" Munny, wire, plumber epoxy, screws, polymer clay and leather. This was my first attempt at this size and I loved it. It's perfect. Large enough to allow for all the detail I want and small enough to be practical. Want to see how I made this? A lot of you probably saw a lot of images I posted over the last couple weeks. I wasn't just showing off. Nope, I was amassing as many pictures as I could to assemble a tutorial. Plan on seeing a tutorial from me within the next couple weeks.

Let me know what you think of this guys. Feel free to comment on what you like, and dislike so I can improve with the next one.

Oh, and did I mention, this fella will be for sale soon :-)

Munnyworld DunnyEater WIP Pics

2010-02-18T09:50:00.000-08:00

So it was suggested of me last night that I might want to make a video of me sculpting. Now there are a lot of great videos out there already of artists far, far superior to myself but never-the-less I do believe that I would have something to offer if I made a video. Each artist has their own insight to common techniques and even the worst artist may be the best of teachers. My mother was a teacher for her entire career and now that she's officially retired she still subs. I guess what I'm trying to say that I think that the teaching bug is in me and eventually I would like to go down that path. I even taught at a high school in Sarasota FL back in my college days.

So a video will eventually come I think. But for now I'll start to chronicle my process a little better. I have always tried to do this but lately I've been doing a lot of commissions and in order to respect the clients right to first viewing I haven't been posting my WIP pics.

However, I have taken lots of pics of most of my work so while the current sculpt is baking and cooling I've decided to post WIP of the Mega I did for Munnyworld last November.

I'll just have some brief notes here, nothing too instructive. But I will make notes in the future and expect for a detail tutorial be be done.

k, so here we have the first go of it, in just about a hour I threw on a rough sketch of the right arm and chest, took longer, much longer to mix the sculpey, think I used one package of blue scupley 3 and a box of super sculpey with my pasta maker

in this pic you can see a box of firm sculpey, I've used this a few times and like it a lot but it's not a soft to work in as super sculpey, it's plus is it's durability after it's been baked

I've now quickly sketched in the other side along with the abs and side flanks

I'm just trying to keep it loose and figure how I want things to look, I frequently have no idea what I'm going to create when I get started, just a basic concept in my head and I let myself discover it as I go along, this is a really poor way to work and causes a lot of additional work backtracking, I do not recommend it and hopefully one day I'll remedy that bad habit
MAKE THUMBNAILS, ROUGH SKETCHES, COLOR STUDIES

starting to smooth things up a bit here

now working on my back

at this point I've got my anatomy book out cause it's been years since I've done anything like this and although I have a general idea of where things belong I want to make this a real a possible

notice also the rake marks in the clay, I like to get the clay on there in basic shapes first and then use a raking tool to remove and refine the shape

the back of this guy was a bit annoying, no offense to the great people at KidRobot but the Munnys and Dunnys are anything but symmetrical which made it tricky for me to say the least

I've now roughed out the feet, I've decided to go with elephant-like feet

oh, yeah, and on these bigs pieces I like to use the lazy suzan so I can work in the round, constantly turning and viewing the piece from many angles trying to see the correct shape

see that line at the bottom of the stomach? a good friend was kind to ridicule me for making it look like a pouch, eventually I would remove it

I show my work to friends and family frequently as they're going to be your best critics

fresh eyes are a god send

here you'll see the pouch is gone and some strange blue rash has appeared

I ran out of my premixed clay and had to make more, unfortunately the art store did not have the same color and I had to use a different blue

oh, and this is Penny, my 55 lb lap dog, she will occasionally join me while I work

UP THE IRONS!!

so at this point I realized that the arms were just too static, and I also decided it would be really cool if my Troll was actually in the process of eating a dunny

so I used plumber putty and armature wire to hold the arm in place

Plumber putty is a great 2 part epoxy that comes in a roll, you slice off what you need, mix it to a consistent color and within 5 minutes its hard as a rock

I'm now about ready to move on to the face, again I used plumbers putty along with a screw

I did this so that the clay would have something to grab onto. I also sand the entire munny with a course grit sand paper. really want to be sure that the clay adheres to the vinyl.

forgot to mention the dunny,

yes I ripped a head off a dunny, sketched in a spine and put him in place

ah, there he is, mr good-looking

woah! what happen, apparently I got forgetful with the camera

so I finished the face and added a nose and ear ring and then I took alcohol with a brush to the entire piece, smoothing out the roughness and adding the fine detail

primed this guy

there's the war hammer

I've now butchered three dunnys and created the necklace, there's the hammer again, I used floss to measure how much vine wire I would need

first coat of acrylic paint, looks like an army man, lol

2nd coat of paint too bring out the highlights, now he's looking super glossy, like some gross sweaty troll

added color to the lips and toes

sorry, took no pictures of me painting the hammer

I've added the vine wire and leather

Detective Sam Spade

2010-02-09T22:20:00.001-08:00

Following my two recent commissions, the vampire and the artist series suffocating piece, I was asked by the same private collector to create a custom munny with the police officer theme. To be honest, I'm not a huge fan of police officers especially after my recent experience with jury duty. But after mulling this concept over I did remember one detective that has always arrested my attention. That would be one Sam Spade. Sam Spade is the legendary character from the 1941 film classic, The Maltese Falcon, portraited by one of Hollywood's best, Humphrey Bogart. Now in the film, Bogie plays a private detective and not a police officer, but I took some liberty with the character and suggested a Sam Spade from his years prior to his private practice.

The custom was created using a 4" Mini Munny, wire, polymer clay and acrylic paint.

Teaser of Latest Commission

2010-02-09T11:12:00.000-08:00

Here's a teaser of my latest commission. More pictures and info coming soon.

My Six Month Hiatus From Running

2010-02-09T10:43:00.000-08:00

About six months ago I decided to change my life. And so far I think it's been a good choice. The choice I write of is of course the one to shift my career toward the fine arts and away from the commercial. As I said, it's been a good choice so far and things seem to be going very well.

However, it has not come without it's sacrifices. The sacrifice in particular that I write of is that of my other favorite pass time. Running.

Before I began this shift my life was work and running. Pretty much all the free time I had was spent out on the trails and roads of Washington. I love running and it's helped me become the person I am today. It's helped me to have the drive to reach for my goals. It was the systematic approach to running that I am now applying to my art. The simple idea of consistency, dedication and a failure to quit when things seem tough.

But running was more than the discipline. It was my social life.

As many others I'm sure, I've led a bit of a vagabond life since I left home to attend art school. I left N.H. for Florida. Then Florida to California and then finally settled on Seattle. When I moved to Seattle I again knew no one less my brother and it was running that helped me meet many great Seattlites. And over time these fellow runners become your other family. Well, for six months I have not run. I have dedicated myself to my art and nothing else. And I miss my running family.

This last weekend a good friend who is also making some big life changes came down from Vancouver and visited her running family. It had been a while since I had seen her and the rest of the group and I took the opportunity to catch up. What was suppose to be just a walk around a park turned into breakfast. After breakfast I was convinced I had to continue the reunion of sorts by attending the running club quarterly poker night.

To wrap things up, it was a good day. I had a great time visiting with my friends, getting to know some of them a little more and meeting new ones. I miss running. I miss my friends and I hope that I can get back to my regular training soon.

Updated web site

2010-01-31T13:10:00.000-08:00

I've been meaning to do this. Nothing too special going on here just added some pages to the blogger site. I decided that even though I have extensive knowledge in web development and a hosting server at my disposal with my own unique domain, it's easier just to use the blogger tools.

I suppose at some time I'll make myself a complete custom site but I'd rather spend my time doing the art I like and less on what I'm running away from. Besides, I was able to figure out how to add static pages to blogger. So now I have an about page that quickly explains my life as an artist, a contact page with form for visitors to submit questions and a basic gallery page where I will hopefully add great pieces of art to inspire the masses to flock to my store and buy my stuff or commission me. Or something like that.

Blank Franks Sold

2010-01-29T15:36:00.000-08:00

I just sold my first two Blank Franks. The toy customizer Brixpix in Largo, FL contacted me and asked me how many of them I had as he wanted to buy a few. This got me thinking about something that had been a nagging thought since I posted the Blanks for sale. They're not perfect.

That's right. It's my first stab at my own platform and for the most part I really like this guy. I think he has a lot of potential and I hope to continue doing lots of work with him. The problem I have is that I haven't finished developing him yet. I have a prototype mold created which these Blank were created with. I made 3 casts of which my nephew got one, and then I had two left over. I can make as many as I want but what I really want to do is refine the piece more. Overall, the piece needs some generally smoothing of the larger shapes. I want true arcs and lines and I don't quite have that yet. There are also some imperfections in the cast, tiny bubbles that you get when you're not using a vacuum chamber.

At any rate, I was completely honest with the buyer, and I told him that although I didn't want to kill a sale, this was the reality of the pieces.

He bought them anyways. So he has the 2nd and 3rd casts of the official first run of Blank Frank. There was actually another mold before that but it went so horrible I will not be counting them. I am going to do my best to make sure I get around to refining this platform. I really think it has legs.

Thanks Brixpix!

Suffocating

2010-01-28T07:45:00.000-08:00

Here is my latest custom done by commission for a very nice client who gave me complete freedom to be creative. Well, maybe not complete freedom. There was one requirement and that was what inspired this concept. The requirement was that the dunny needed to fit inside an acrylic baseball trophy case. The collector has a beautiful showcase of Dunnys all featuring the artists particular styles. I really could do whatever I wanted but when he told me about the restriction I have to admit I was a little stumped. I'm building a reputation(or trying to) as a artist who modifies the platform in a manner that hopefully hasn't been seen before. I like to add to the platform with sculpture and to be restricted to the height of the Dunny at first put a big cramp on my style. But I then began thinking about who the character was. Why was he in the case? What would happen if he was in the case? That's it. I now had my idea. My Dunny would be trapped in the case and fighting for his life. I really like this idea because when the client showed me the case of Dunnys that other artists had done, I thought to myself, how can I stand out amongst all this great work? Well, all the other are standing in the same Dunny pose and this guy is seated with ears drooping. Mission accomplished. Now my only fear is that I'm too different and my Dunny will stick out like a sore thumb making my client remove him from the company of the others.

I had debated for a bit whether or not to make this guy a creature. Eventually I came to the conclusion that I wanted the focus to be on the struggle between life and death. This Dunny is at the brink of death. He's just passed out and has moments to live. If I was to make the character a creature it might then become more of a narrative on the creature and less on the struggle.

To make this guy I ended up chopping of the head and repositioning it at an angle. I also cut off the legs and angled them out to allow for a seated position. Once that was done I cut out a mouth and eye sockets, created a large tongue and eyes, primed and painted and can say now that I am very happy with the results. To create the sweating look I simply applied a gloss varnish over the entire piece and then used a matte varnish to dull the areas I wanted dry. This created the sweat on his shirt and piss on his pants. I then applied gloss varnish in drops on his forehead and dripping from eyes and nose. I really love how the gloss looks like sweat beads.

Overall I think this is one of my favorite pieces so far. The paint job was real subtle but works for me. The sculpt is polished with only a couple minor things I would have done better upon reflection. Considering the size of this thing, 3" Dunny, I couldn't be much happier. This piece and the Vampire Dunny were the first and second 3" customs I have done and I found them to be taxing. The bodies as so small to work with and make it difficult for me to get the results I want. I'll probably be staying away from pieces this small in the future but you never know when I good project might come your way.

Revisiting The Old Job: Web/Graphic Design

2010-01-27T15:46:00.000-08:00

oh jeesh, so today I had to go back to my old life of web design and graphic design. A great guy that I used to do a lot of work for contacted me last week to do some very quick web design. I can't say no cause it's good money and lets face it, I need good money right now cause little baby Alex is on her way in May and this art stuff ain't paying so great. I also have this other design job that I started nearly a year ago. I am creating illustrations for a scientific publication. It is the nature of science and research to take a long time to develop and more importantly, to finish.

Anyways, to my point. Today I had to revisit both these jobs and I have to say, I like art more. It was tough going back to the other disciplines. I've been doing the custom sculpture stuff for about 5 months now and I'm quite happy doing it. The web design wasn't so much difficult as it was just there. Without being completely ungrateful to my client, I will say that the subject matter for the design is lacking in the fun factor. I think nearly all the web work I did in the prior 9 years was lacking in fun. Mostly I had corporate clients. Very rarely did I get an exciting product to market. Actually, in defense of this particular client, he has provided me with the majority of the fun projects I've done in the past. Including creating dvd cases for some pretty cool products. At any rate, it's fair to say that the toy making I do now is a lot more fun. So to jump back into the old jigs is tough.

I finished the web stuff earlier in the day and moved on... I mean tried to move on to the scientific illustrations and couldn't do it. My brain was just repelling the content. Tomorrow I will make a fresh start and must continue and finsih whether I like it or not. For now, or at least the rest of the week it will be scientific illustrations. The funny thing is, last year when I got this job I was very excited about it because it was such a cool job in comparison to what I was doing. However, as I said before, the toy making is just lots more fun. I fear this new lifestyle has completely spoiled me. I have tasted my dream and it will be hard for me to ever accept anything less.

Next Up! WIP

2010-01-25T14:54:00.000-08:00

Ok, back in the swing of things. Here's my next piece also a commission for the same guy who commissioned the vampire. The only restriction the buyer gave me was that the artist series dunny would be placed in an acrylic baseball collectors case. It didn't take me long to realize that there was a concept perfect for this. My little dunny has been placed inside the case but alas he has no air. Just like a firefly on a hot august night, my little dunny is running out of time. I've just finished priming him and will start painting immediately. I hadn't originally thought of the dunny urinating but I had some mold rubber left over from another project and it just seemed perfect for this. Another reason why one should never throw anything out.

Vampire Commission

2010-01-25T14:40:00.000-08:00

Wow, it's been awhile. I've been unable to do much of anything for the last couple weeks due to my being selected for jury duty. It was an amazing experience that I'll never forget but it's good to be back to work. I was commissioned to do a vampire and this is what I came up with. As you can see from the pictures, the stake is removable. This is a 3" mini-dunny. I have to say that doing a little sculpt like this was a lot more challenging than I expected. It took just a long if not longer to do this guy than a larger piece due to the difficulty of size. I really wanted to get even more detailed with the anatomy but was unable. The concept was slightly inspired by the artist Brom. I chose to do a kinda Iggy Pop, herion addict/rock star in leather pants vampire. Below is my concept art as well as additional pics.

Ent Munny #2

2009-12-30T13:34:00.001-08:00

Check out my latest Munny custom. It's a bit different from the last one. I decided I wanted a more childlike face than the tikki one I had done before. I also put more effort into the tree itself. I fashioned this after a real bonsai and I'm pretty happy with the results. I cut out the belly and made a little world in there. Originally I had planned on making a squirrel to live in there but as this is a mini Munny the squirrel was so tiny I had a hard time with it. It also blocked the view of my cool shrooms which in the end was the deciding factor to leave the guy out. For the colors I also changed things up a bit. Once I finished my sculpt I began planning the colors of the piece. Unlike the awesome painter Bryan Collins, who says he typically thinks of a color scheme before he ever thinks of the concept itself, I generally avoid the color scheme all together and then struggle with it later on. This is something I'll eventually(hopefully) get over with time. Anyways, I was looking around to some of the artists I like for a little inspiration and saw on 64 colors site a piece that was all too similar this ent and I was a little disappointed because I really don't want to look like I copied anyone else. If I did colors similar to what I had done with my last ent, this would end up way too similar to one of their pieces. So I made sure to avoid using the same colors. For that reason I chose a green scheme. I think this makes it look more like vines than a tree, but what they heck, I like it anyways.

What do you think?

More to come

2009-12-30T11:08:00.001-08:00

Just finished a piece yesterday. Want to show it off but I'm going to wait until my wife and I get our new camera that should hopefully come in later today. Then I can take much better pictures of my work.

This piece was done over the last week while I took some time off for Christmas. I decided to revisit the Ent Munny theme that originally got me into this exciting new line of work. I've been meaning to get back to this as I never really liked the original piece and felt I could do much better with it. I think I still want to explore it further in the future. For now here's a teaser pic until later today/tomorrow when I get my camera.

Stomper, the Dunny-Mounted Labbit

2009-12-20T17:07:00.000-08:00

From the world of Dunny Eaters comes my second muscle bound beastie, Stomper, the Dunny-Mounted Labbit.

This piece was done for commission and was a lot of fun. It took a bit of work though. As with the Dunny Eater I wanted to apply anatomy to the smooth platform. Bring it to life, so-to-speak. But this guy wasn't set up to receive those kind of features. The labbit is just too fat. Without extensive slicing of vinyl this guy would have looked ridiculous. So, slice and dice I did. The ears were of course an intended manipulation of the original platform. I felt that they needed to angle back to create the angry look the client wanted. But the arms were the most work. I basically had to cut out the entire area of the arms to develop the massive anatomy.

When coming up with the concept for this guy I said to myself, "what am I going to do for the accessory?" If you've seen the Dunny Eater you'll know that the accessory I made, the axe, was just as cool, if not cooler than the Munny himself so I knew I had to live up to having a good accessory. It didn't take but a minute to recognize the obvious solution. This Labbit needed a rider. So enter my native dunny rider with face paint. He was a lot of fun.

With this piece I also got to try out my skills with leather. I made the harness for him from leather strips and metal rivets. The rider, saddle he sits on and harness are all detachable.

For the painting of this guy I went a little different than in the past. I ended up painting individual strokes of hair over the entire body instead of just dry brushing the highlights. I thinks it adds a nice painterly touch instead of the more plain look.

Overall I'm very happy with this piece and think it's another step up from my last piece.

Old Copper Frank Version 2

2009-12-16T10:56:00.000-08:00

I actually finished this guy last week but just have been busy with a commission (which should hopefully be done by the end of the week). I'm not completely satisfied with it due to it's imperfections but that's OK cause I really like the concept. I'll be continuing with this guy until I get it right. I made this guy using the last of my poor casts. So he was rough to begin with. I think for that reason I sped through the process just to get it done and realize the concept. I also used copper paint(Modern Masters) and patina glaze to create a more realistic finish and go figure, I like the fake spray paint and green acrylic aging I did before better. This just seems too aged. Thoughts?

The concept, which originated with a frankenstein-like/big dumb animal (B.D.A. is a term I'm been using for many years since Chris Farley and David Spade made Tommy Boy) and wasn't in

tended to be steam punk. But then due to the bad casts I made and having to come up with a clever way to cover up, I found the first Old Copper Frank character. I like this and started thinking how to expand on that and it just seemed natural that Franks body be the furnace and his head be the boiler. Which really gets me to thinking how I can manipulate this concept and thus the intentions of continuing this character for a while. SO... I dremeled out the back and added hinged doors. When taking a picture of my progress I noticed the door handles resembled tiny wings which got me to thinking more about the character of this guy. He's a steam punk angel. But of course, he need

ed steam stacks and naturally I thought that it would be cool to make the stacks into horns which would make this a conflicted character, not always good, not always bad. I also decided that the shape of the head would be a difficult shape for a piece of metal to be made, so I added a plate at the brow area which is more for the logical construction of the boiler and less about creating eyes, but of course it now

appears that Frank has a mask.

So that's how Old Copper Frank version 2 came about. I'll be developing a story behind him with hopefully some illustrations. I think he needs a friend. A forest creature who finds him in a post-apocalyptic area. One who might be making a nest inside the cold furnace and then accidentally starts a fire which bring Frank back to life. It would be a mutual friendship, the critter keeps the furnace going and Frank provides man-power and security to our little friend. What do you think?

Blank Frank For Sale

2009-12-04T23:08:00.000-08:00

I'm now selling Blank Franks.

http://kgosselinart.bigcartel.com/

I like me some Oomoo

2009-12-04T22:29:00.000-08:00

Tonight I was able to produce a good cast of my Blank Frank. When I had gone to pour my silicone(Smooth-ON Oomoo) mold a couple weeks ago I found the part A portion solidified and unusable. I purchased more but knew it wouldn't get to me in time to complete the piece for the Fall Gallery show. So I had to find a substitute that would get me through. I ended up finding something but it didn't act the same a silicone rubber. Time after time I keep getting bad casts with lost of surface bubbles. The bubbles were caused by my inexperience with using a mold release. I'm sure if I kept at it I probably would have figured it out but that seems like a lot of needless work. A couple days ago I got my part A in the mail and I proceeded to recreate the flexible mold. And tonight I was finally able to open the mold and pull out a good cast. It's good to have something go right. I suppose I should be happy that it went the way it did because I might not have come to the conclusion of the Copper Frank. Course now I'll be able o make it much better now that I have a real smooth cast.

kgosselinart.bigcartel.com

2009-12-02T19:16:00.000-08:00

My friend Bobby in Toronto reminded me that I should be putting my artwork up for sale somewhere. Right now I actually only have one item that can be sold and it has been something I've been meaning to do. My brother had shown me a site on Thanksgiving, BigCartel.com. I originally had planned to install Oscommerce on my site but this site seems to be much easier. For free I get to sell up to five items and it uses my paypal account. So I just set up an account and posted my first item for sale. I was hoping someone could go here and test it out, see if it works. Go on, ... buy it, you know you want to ;-)

check out my new online store at BigCartel.com

Thanks Cool Canadian Border Guy

2009-12-02T11:42:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I headed up to Vancouver to drop off the 3 pieces to The Fall Gallery. I had yet to cross the border with art so I didn't know what to do or expect. they made me go into the customs office and declare the three items. The guy I talked to was really nice. He asked all sorts of questions about the art and why it was priced so little. He suspected I was under-valuing the pieces in order to avoid taxation. I assured him that it wasn't the case and if I felt I could get more for the pieces I certainly would be charging more. He ended up being super cool and letting me pass through this time without paying any taxes. It would have actually been 20% of the remaining 70% I get if I even sell the pieces. So needless-to-say I was happy he didn't tax me. He actually visited my site and this blog to verify if I was for real. So,... if you happen to visit again and see this post, THANKS COOL CANADIAN BORDER GUY. You really helped me out. And if you get a chance to visit the Fall Gallery in Vancouver on 644 Seymour St you'll see that indeed I wasn't lying about my prices. I did, as I mentioned to you, adjust for the U/Canadian currency conversion but otherwise my prices are what I said they were.

So, it does lead me to rethink doing artwork for clients in Canada. It'll have to be on project to project bases. After all the work put in, the taxes, and then the transport of the art to the location, it really makes one think about staying local. I'm gonna have to start talking to some Seattle galleries. Hey Chris, when you doing the toy show? hehe

Scared Stiff

2009-12-01T09:42:00.000-08:00

OK, so this is a bit of a departure from toys. It's more like a fine art toy. I wanted to take the chance I had with the Vancouver show to practice anatomy and the female form. It's got a long ways to go but considering it's really my first effort at this, ever, I think I'm happy for now.

It's just sculpey added with cernit to give it a touch more durability and then after it was baked I painted it with Modern Masters Bronze paint and glazed it with patina.

Well, gotta run, headed up to Vancouver to hand off the two Blank Franks and this piece. All three will be available for purchase at the Fall Gallery 2nd Annual Toy Show.

Old Copper Frank and Stone Frank

2009-11-30T12:48:00.000-08:00

Well, here is the Frank piece done up in copper plating. I like the way this came out. Being it's my first one I think I can make a bunch of these and refine the process and the finish product some. Expect to see more of these guys. They're super fun and full of possibility. Below is the first one I did in a stone look, as mentioned in my last post. Both these guys will be available at the Fall Gallery 2nd annual toy show.
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Blank Frank

2009-11-28T23:14:00.000-08:00

Working late tonight on my Blank Frank concept. I had been making a mold and had planned on making numerous casts of it but the casting process didn't go according to plan. I just keep getting too many air bubbles in the casts and I'm going to have to rethink my casting material. For now I was able to create 3 casts that required lots of touching up. I used the worst of the 3 and created a rock textured Frank. The 2nd I'm working on right now was smooth enough that I'm making a Metal Blank Frank. This guy is your typical metal/riveted figure. I'm priming him right now and should be done painting him tomorrow. He'll be for sale in the Vancouver show along with the other Frank and maybe a third. I'm actually trying to finish up another piece for that show but I don't think it will happen in time. We'll see.

Frank

2009-11-21T16:23:00.001-08:00

So I've been working on this new piece for an upcoming art show in Vancouver. The show is the annual toy show at the Fall Gallery. The theme is Evil/Naughty show. So after thinking it over and deciding that violence isn't my thing. As much as I want to do a great female nude I just don't think I have the time to finish one before the deadline(working on it just in case). So I've decide on doing playful evil. It's just a simple platform figure like a munny or dunny and I'm hoping to somehow get people interested in using it. The shape is sorta a guy with large arms and large forehead and resembles a frankenstien monster. I'm thinking he could be used to paint up monsters, tough guys, big dumb guys and such. Don't know why I just described it as I'll be posting an image of him with this entry. So I finished him a few days ago but of course the plan is to make many of these guy so I had to make a mold for casting. SO... away we go with the mold making process.

I love this process. It's so hands on and messy but in a good way. There are lots of tools and chemicals, ahh, chemicals. It's like a mad scientist meets art process. Which is perfect considering I've named the platform Frank. So as I said, I finished up the original a few days ago and began the process. The first day I built up my clay(oil-based although water might be better for this process) around Frank and created what would be the shape of my 1st half of the flexible mold. I was able to get as far as creating the 1st half of the mother mold of which I used plain old artist grade plaster. After a few hours it set and I wanted to continue but my wife (the voice of reason) told me to wait. I have a habit of jumping ahead when I work. Just too impatient to wait the proper amount of time. The plaster sets in 30 mins but needs 24 hours to fully cure. That's just too long. And besides, at this point all I really have to do is turn the piece over and remove excess clay and sculpt the 2nd half of the flexible mold in clay. Nothing that will harm the mother mold in the least. I prepared that so that I could just wake up and pour the 2nd plaster mother mold. Day two I wake up and pour the 2nd half of the plaster mother mold. Again the voice of reason comes in and says wait. This time I listen as I have to apply some effort to split the two halves apart. Day 3 and I'm dying to split the thing open. I do, everything looks good and then I begin to refine one half of the clay that represents the inner flexible mold.

The other half is left empty as this will be the first pour of silicone. After a couple hours I'm ready and pull out my Oomoo. Oomoo is a 2 part silicone rubber I bought from Smooth-On. Anyways, I open part B, and stir it for about 10 minutes as it's sat for over 4 years since I bought it. I think you know where this is going. I open part A and $#@!!!

It's nothing but a block of pink rubber. So I head on down to the art store and no silicone. They suggest the Seattle Pottery Supply store. I then go pic up the wife and we head to see our doctor for our 3rd checkup. We get to hear the baby's heart beat and schedule the ultrasound in which we find out the gender. Dec 18th. YAY. Not that it matters, but I will finally be able to use a name on the little one and it's that much more real. But I digress. After the appointment I head to the store which has got to be the coolest store ever. I buy my silicone, get home asap, and pour my 1st half of flexible mold. And wait. It's now day 4 and I just got finished splitting the mother mold open and removing the remaining clay. I cleaned up Frank and fixed a couple minor cracks. Cleaned up the pieces, applied release agent on everything, put it all back together and poured the 2nd half. So now I'm waiting for the 2nd half to cure so I can break this open and get the original out and start making casts. Phew. But how I do love this process.

MunnyWorld Recap

2009-11-17T21:27:00.000-08:00

So I'm back in Seattle now. My trip to NYC was a lot of fun but of course I'm glad to be home to my wife Jenn and to be working. The show was a lot of fun. I got to meet a handful of some of the best names in the urban toy industry including Paul Budnitz and Huck Gee. Most of the artists I met were really cool and down-to-earth. I got to the show at 6 and headed right in as a VIP. My brother Chris joined me and we were one of the firsts to show up. Which was good cause it gave us plenty of time to view all the Munnys while the crowd was small. I went up and down the wall of Munnys taking pictures of each one. On the second pass I realized that the chain with the dunny heads was missing. I inquired about it to The Toy Baroness and she recovered it from the box downstairs. I then proceeded to place the chain of skulls on my piece and basically alerted to everyone that I was one of the artists. Now that it was known that I was indeed an artist, I was then interviewed by Mike who works on the Kronikle about my Munny. It was a little weird being interviewed especially on camera. He just basically asked me a few questions about the Munny and I just basically looked like I had never been on camera before. Then Chris and I were talking about Andrew Bell's piece and Andrew Bell came up to us and thanked us for the nice things we were saying. We talked for a little bit and that's when I started my mission of obtaining as many autographs as possible. I pulled out my blank Munny I purchased before going to the show and Andrew was very cool to create a little drawing on the back. After that I got to talking to Carlos East of The Beast Brothers. Carlos was super nice and we talked a little shop while he proceeded in creating a masterpiece on my Munny. I think he was determined to show up all the other artists that I might get autographs from. Carlos is a twin and both he and his brother are artists just like Keith and I. Next was Huck Gee. Again, talking shop a little and getting his autograph. On and on it went. At some point I managed to introduce myself to Paul Budnitz. He was really nice and said my Munny was great. I said my favorite was Kronk's piece. Kronk created this brilliant Munny that was fashioned after an aged porcelain jar. It was absolutely beautiful. Paul agreed and said, "yeah, I bought that one." After joking about why he hadn't bought mine I let him go and he then said, "by the way, love your maiden shirt." I thought this was awesome cause I had just explained to my brother the night before that I was going to wear it to the show because when I do it never fails that maiden fans come out of the woodwork. So Chris and I got a good laugh out if it. Eventually two hours went by and the non VIPs started coming in. Soon after while I was getting a signature from an artists, another autograph hunter whose picture I have above came up to me and politely asked me if he could borrow my sharpie. I was like sure thing. He would continue to return and then borrow it all night long. Which was perfectly fine with me, but more on that later. I got a chance to meet Coolvader (he was on of the other 5 winners) and we talked some shop and also talked about the school we both went to, Ringling. He was really cool and we talked about possibly combining talents and having me do a sculpt and him paint it, as I can sculpt and he can paint so much better than I. I hope that happens but you never know. They had a open bar at the show. Did I mention that? I only had two but it loosened me up a little. Maybe a little too much as the next time our autograph hunter asked to borrow the sharpie I was like "if you want I'll sign you Munny too." He laughed and went on. After some time Keith, Stacy and her friend finally got in and I went to go show him my piece for the first time. As I was showing them it the autograph hunter came up to me in astonishment and was like, "you mean you really are one of the artist? Dude, I thought you were joking... could you please sign my Munny?" It was all very funny, me signing an autograph. I joked about how my drawing skills lack and it was just going to be a basic signature but I don't think he cared. So I signed my first autograph and it was surreal. Later on he came back with a couple friends and they requested an autograph too. I was more than happy to do so. I can't imagine that ever getting old. It's extremely humbling and flattering to have that experience. So anyways, the show was a lot of fun. I met some great people and felt like a rock star for a night. I received so many compliments on my Munny. It really was a great departure from reality.

The next day I went back to leave some business cards on the desk, a little depressed that my piece still had not sold. The following day I went back again after Keith, Stacy, their neighbor Dave and I had brunch. Later that day I met up with Mackenzie (an ex-coworker at my last job) at the gallery so that I could show her the piece. That's when the piece sold (read my last blog entry for more) and I became one very happy man.

That's about it. Munnyworld was a great time. I've since been commissioned to do another piece. Hopefully things will continue to progress for me. It's been an exciting last couple months and I'd love to keep it going.

SOLD!

2009-11-14T17:41:00.000-08:00

Big Thanks go out to Ron and his wife(whose name I'm too deaf and stupid to understand and remember). They bought my piece today and will forever remain in my heart as two very cool people that started the ball rolling for me. I went down to the gallery today to meet a good friend who worked with me at my last job to show her the piece. As I was talking about with her, they came up to me and asked me if I was the artist. When I said yes, he said it was great and then I heard the words, "SOLD." My dad's name is Ron, and they have twins(I am a twin) so it was extra specially fateful. Thanks again to them, and to KR for selecting me as a winner and allowing me to be in the show. Thanks to the Toy Baroness for helping throughout the process and to all the great comments I've received. Today is a good day.

Less Than 2 Days Left

2009-11-14T12:30:00.000-08:00

The Mega Munny is up for sale on the KR site. Or you can purchase the Munny directly from eloquent deliquents gallery. Here are the links:

KidRobot:
http://www.kidrobot.com/products2.cfm/ID/9917/name/munnyworld-kevin-gosselin

Eloquent Delinquents:
212-334-5253

MUNNYWORLD CUSTOM TOY EXHIBITION

2009-11-13T00:46:00.000-08:00

So I just got back from the show and wow was it a great time. I got to meet a lot of top notch artists and even got to talk shop with a couple of them. For the most part the artwork was stellar and was really happy to be a part of it all. Got a lot to write about this and will probably do so when I get back to Seattle. For now I'll leave this one pic.

Tree Ent Done

2009-11-06T11:51:00.000-08:00

So this guy has been in the works for a very long time. About two years ago my wife(then gf) encouraged me to get back into sculpting. I started and immediately became discouraged. After a year or so of it just sitting on my shelf I decided to work on it again and it got me excited. So now that I'm actually pursuing this crazy dream of being an artist during a recession I finally got around to finishing it. Here it is.

Dinsdale!!

2009-11-06T09:30:00.000-08:00

My brother asked me to sculpt a hedgehog out of a Labbit and here's what I came up with.

MunnyWorld Toy Exhibition

2009-11-06T05:17:00.001-08:00

Here is my mega done for the MunnyWorld Toy Show next week for KidRobot. I call it The Dunny Eater. For a better look watch the 360° View below.

End in sight

2009-10-25T18:17:00.001-07:00

Well, I'm nearly done. Today I painted the ent and although I'm not altogether happy with the result, I'm also not terribly displeased with it either. It'll do. Tomorrow I'll begin sculpting the human who will stand in front of the ent and provide some scale. For now, here's some pics of the ent.

Bad artist, bad.

2009-10-21T22:16:00.000-07:00

OK, so it looks like I still haven't learned to discipline myself very well. I should have finished my latest piece over the weekend but I had a huge setback. I ended up not liking the paint job I did. I just couldn't get it right. Layer after layer it just didn't work and eventually the paint was becoming thick and acquiring it's own texture. So, I could continue painting or I could begin the slow process of stripping the paint off. I chose the later. I figure I could have continued painting but in the end the paint job would have really distracted from the overall piece and it's just not something I want to settle with. However this route of stripping was a major pain in the ass. Rather, is because I'm still working on it. In fact, it would have been quicker to just start completely over. I just don't want to waste supplies. I did actually try to remove the paint by using acetone but the sculpey just doesn't hold up. So here I am days later slowly pealing the paint away. I think it would be relatively quick and easy if it were not for the intricate wood grain that the paint locks into. Once I'm done, I'll also have to repair all the little nicks and scrapes that occured through the process. Am I the only dumb ass out the who has this problem? Got to remember to do my paint studies. I thought I was going to do the same paint process I had used on the last project but for some reason it didn't work. Well, maybe I'll be done by the end of the week.

The good news though is that the Mega has been received by KidRobot and successfully survived the shipping process. Just 3 more weeks until the show!

Done The Mega

2009-10-12T16:51:00.000-07:00

Well, all done the Mega. Finished it Saturday and shipped it out today. I hope and pray that it'll make it through the shipping process without damage. I suppose that's one of the advantages of just doing a simple paint job and not doing a sculpted custom. Overall I'm very pleased with the Mega. It's another step up for me in my execution but as always there's plenty of room for improvement. Now I just need to wait another month before I can show anyone.
How anti-climactic.

So I guess all I can do now is move on to the next piece. I want to create a few more customs before the MunnyWorld Custom Toy Show. But then I have to move on to the Evil/Naughty Toy show I'll be submitting 3 pieces to in December. No time to rest, gotta keep it at full speed.

Hopefully by the end of the week I'll have another custom that I can actually show pics of.
That'll be nice.

Painting the Mega Munny

2009-10-08T13:52:00.000-07:00

So yesterday I painted the Mega. I didn't quite finish but I got far enough that I'm excited. I started the day by testing some color choices on a Dunny. Once I got my colors, I headed over to Michaels and picked up some paint and some paint jars. Then I began mixing color. In the past I've just mixed color on my palette and that ALWAYS gets me into trouble because I'm bound to run out and have to mix more. And of course matching the previous color is such a hassle. Knowing that the Mega was going to require a bit of paint I pre-mixed about 4 oz of my base color. Having already decided on my color choices it was relaxing to simply paint on the color knowing that is was going to work.

I'm not the best painter. I've got sooo much to learn and one of those things is to always plan out the color. Being that the Munny is such an important piece to me it was an easy thing to force myself to do, but I need to make this a habit on all my pieces. So when I finished putting on my based coat I pre-mixed my color I had planned to scumble on the base. Once I had my color I began and soon realized what looked good on the dunny for some reason did not read well on the mega. I took a moment to try some new colors on the dunny and decided on a color closer to my base. This time I had it and the Mega started to come alive and my frustration soon turned into glee. I swear, art can make one feel sooo miserable with oneself and moments later so proud. It's certainly NOT the reason why I choose to do it.

SO in the end I got the guy finished. Today I'm going to touch up a few areas that didn't quite get done yesterday. I also need to paint his accessories before I am completely done. I still don't have the best studio set up yet and when evening came my light source was lacking.

So close to being done. I wish I could post pictures but can't until the show. I'm actually very ready to move on to the next piece. Just not sure what that will be. So many choices.

Mimobot for Infectious Contest

2009-10-06T09:32:00.000-07:00

So along with the KidRobot contest, my brother has also told me about a few others. Today was the deadline for a contest held by the Infectious web site. They're a community designed site where anyone can submit a design for various products and if they like it enough they'll pay you for it and they give you a percentage of the profits each time an item is sold with your design. SO they're adding a new product to the catalog, the Mimobot, and they decided to have a contest. Grandprize is $1000 and anothe $400 in merchandise, including your mimobot. So cool. So here's my entry. Please do my the favor and check it out and if you like vote on it.

Thanks much!

Click here to vote on my design.

SUCCESS, I think.

2009-10-06T08:52:00.001-07:00

OK, so yesterday was a long frustrating day.
After thinking it out for a while I decided to just use the heat gun and manually cook the Munny. It seemed that the only reason I wanted to use the oven was to make sure I thoroughly baked it and the only reason why I didn't want to is cause I was afraid of it caving in and not being able to monitor it. I decided if I hand baked him first I could then throw it in the oven and finish it off. In hind sight that would not have worked either. So here's what happened.

I spent 5 hours with the heat gun slowly baking the Mega. I have a oven thermometer I purchased specifically to adjust the heat gun to optimum temperature. So after a few minutes I finding 200° F from about 3-4 inches away I began and immediately learned my first lesson. Don't stay in one spot for too long. BUT, I also learned how to create an interesting texture. So as I was saying, I learned that if you keep to much heat on one spot, the sculpey will start to bubble. SO, my Mega has what looks to be a rash on his belly. That's cool though as it looks very organic looking. So on I went, baking and baking. I decided to use that bubbling technique on the feet, to make them look kinda warty. SO far, SO good. Then I started getting to the chest area and here's where the problems started. The warnings I had heard from another artist were true. The head is to heavy for the neck and chest to support it. The first sign I saw of this was the crease between the head and neck on the back side stared opening up. At first it was only about 1/16 of an inch. But over time it separated up to about a 1/4 inch. The vinyl heats up so much through the baking that the head weight makes the chest droop. Even while spot baking. The heat transfers so much through the vinyl that there's no avoiding it. If I had baked this in an oven and the entire Mega vinyl was equally soft, it would have been destroyed I think. So, in the future, if I even do a Mega again, I'll definitely take the time to reinforce the inside before I start. More on that later.

On I went, and as I continued I found cracks happening. Mostly on the chest due to the flexing of the next. Eventually I finished baking the entire piece. It took as I said about 5 hours. When I was done though I had to address the few cracks that had occurred. And the now permanent gap in the back side of the neck. SO I got the sculpey out and did some touch up, baked him some more. I thought I was done now and made the mistake of moving him around to inspect the piece for more cracks and in turn created more. More touching up and more baking.

After discussing with a friend about my troubles he made a suggestion which I think is pure genius. I had mentioned that someone on the KidRobot forums had claimed there was foam in the head and he said that if there wasn't it would be a great way to add support. "Why don't you completely fill the entire inside with spray foam so that when it hardens there's no way for the vinyl to flex?" Me..."Where were you 2 weeks ago before I started sculpting?"

So I ran to the store and purchased me some spray foam, drilled a hole in the back of the body and sprayed that Mega full of foam. Now, I don't know if this particular foam will greatly help my cause at this point now that the Mega is cooled down and the vinyl is strong again but I feel that had the foam been in the from the start it would have saved me from the flexing and cracking during the baking process. And for those of you who may be worried about the foam getting too hot during baking, they sell heat resistant foam spray as well.

So anyways, now that I was done baking and I patched the hole in the back I took the Mega outside and applied some gray primer. After an hour I polished the primer will an old face cloth and finally I was done for the day.

Soo, it does seem like baking a Mega Munny is possible and now that I've got my first one out of the way I think that if and when I do another it'll be a breeze.

Baking the Mega Munny

2009-10-05T08:52:00.000-07:00

So I've been working diligently on the Mega Munny for the KidRobot show in Nov. The deadline for the submission is next week which means in order to ship it on time I really need to be done by the end of the week. The mega is pretty much done in-so-far as the sculpting, but now I have to bake this thing and I'm terrified of ruining all the hard work. I'm super happy with my results so far and it would really suck if this didn't go well. The mega is just too big for my oven. It would require an industrial pizza oven and that's not something I expect to own any time soon. I purchased a heat gun and I'm thinking that I can make my own oven out of a cardboard box and tinfoil. It works well, something I learned in boy scouts soooo very long ago. BUT, I've heard from another artist that when she tried to bake her Mega the head sunk in due to the extra weight. I can believe this as it happened with the totem pole. So I can try baking it in my tinfoil oven and then possibly pull out my creation with the head sitting inside the belly. The other route is to just use the heat gun manually all oven the Munny. But to go this route would take a very long time and it would be difficult to judge whether or not I had thoroughly baked the entire piece.

What to do? Well, I'll post the result (no images of course) by the end of the day.

Munny Totem Pole

2009-09-19T14:30:00.000-07:00

All in all, I think it looks pretty cool. It's based on an authentic totem pole my wife and I got up in Alaska just a couple months ago when we got married. The story behind the totem is great.

It is about a lazy young man who does not help support his uncles tribe. While the others work, he plays and watches eagles all day. The uncle in his infinite wisdom casts the nephew out of the tribe and tells him he needs to learn the customs of the people before he can return. The boy is all alone and becomes very hungry. The wise eagle sees the boy and offers him a salmon. The eagle then says he will not help the boy again until he learns the customs. Many years later the uncle's tribe is unable to survive so they move their camp down the river. They then come up to a new camp of a strong man. It is the nephew. He has learned the customs of the people and started his own tribe. He welcomes the uncles tribe to join him and share in his great fortune.

That's about how I remember it told anyways.

SO....After I won the Munny World Custom contest it became glaringly obvious that I needed to get to work. In just two short months I'll have a chance to show people what I can do but the reality is I have nothing to show. Jenn and I started brain-storming on what concepts would be cool to see. Almost immediately Jenn pointed out the totem pole that we recently received as a wedding gift from her sister and husband. We both agreed that it would be pretty cool to see a Munny totem pole. But had anyone done it yet? We scoured the web and all we managed to find was one guy who had done some really cool totem designs painted on the Munny but no literal totem poles. It seemed like the project was a GO.

This one was a lot of fun but technically frustrating. I'm not the best at creating straight lines in sculpture, something I'll need to improve on for sure. The one saving grace on this concept is that a totem pole is in itself a work of art so there's certainly a level of leniency in reproducing it. For starters I screwed a Munny head to the bottom and the top of the whole Munny. Eventually I would end up super-gluing the head of the whole Munny so it wouldn't turn and then I used plumbers putty to secure the bottom head to the feet of the whole Munny. I had Originally just used sculpey under the feet but the weight ended up being too much. I purchased some craft wood and cut the wings using a band saw(my wife's dept at the university had a nice work shop at her disposal). I then used a dremel to cut the designs out of the wings. Once I had my final sculpture in place I just managed to fit this into my oven and bake it for 15 minutes. I discovered that the exposed vinyl gets very soft. I didn't come across this on the first one because the entire piece was covered with sculpey. By the time I took it out of the oven it was sagging over. Fortunately all I had to do was prop it up so that it could cool in the right shape. This was a very good thing to learn before I start on the mega. It's clear to me that the mega will need an internal armature to support the weight.

As usual the painting was the most frustrating part of the process. I figured coming into this that the only real challenge with the painting would be to capture the wood color. The rest of the piece would simply be flat color and wouldn't be too difficult. Well, that was true but it took forever to get the wood color. In fact, I ended up moving past the wood color and painting in the flat color just to get my confidence back up. Things did get easier once the flat color started going in and I could finally see it looking like something other than a totem pole looking piece of poo. I then went back and filled in a more appropriate color base. Finally I glazed on some wood grain to finish it up.

MunnyWorld Custom Contest

2009-09-14T15:53:00.000-07:00

WOW!!

So I told my brother Chris that I quit my job and he was psyched about it. But more cool than that was him sending me all these websites that had contests on them. The first one was the Kidrobot sponsored Munny World Custom Contest. And the deadline was in a week and a half. I've been a fan of Kidrobot for a few years now and even purchased a Munny at the KRMIA Chumps release party where Frank Kozik signed my Munny "Stop Whinning, Start Designing! Kozik '08". But aside from drawing two really improvised sketches on a pair of Munnys purchased in Miami for my in-laws, I'd never done a custom Munny. But I had been working on a sculpture in my spare time over the last year and both my brother and I thought that it would be cool to see it transformed into a Munny.

SO I went out and purchased a mini and started sculpting. I was still finishing my two weeks out on my old job so I had to work in the evenings. I think I spent 3 evenings working on it for a total of 12 hour, then I got a full day to work on it which put me up to about 24 hours. Then I had to bake it and then paint. The painting was trying as I was so rusty. I think I put 4 coats of paint on it that I hated. I was trying to go realistic with greys and greens and it just looked stupid. Eventually I figured out that my stylized reds and oranges just looked better. I really got nervous toward the end as the acrylic was started to build up and fill in some of the detail. In the end though I learned a lot and was pretty happy with the paint job. Painting has always been my weakest area and I knew that it could make or break the piece.

When I was finished I felt that at the very least I would get honorable mention. I could look at it and honestly say I was happy with the result but my perfectionist eye was saying, "jeesh, you've got a long way to go before your stuff is truly professional looking." I wrote my letter and submitted the piece. I had looked all around the web at other customs out there and really didn't think I'd win. I mean mine's OK but I have seen some unreal customs.

But I won anyways. As a winner(1 of 5) I get a 20" Mega Munny to Design and then have shown in a gallery Nov 12-15th in Soho New York. I also get 60% if it sells. And all the PR that this show will offer me. So here I am, just days from being officially unemployed, hoping to make it as a fine artist and I already have my big break. I had thought I'd struggle for a few years before anything like this would happen. How lucky can one guy get? Now I understand that a show in NYC doesn't equal success, but it sure helps me.

A New Career Direction

2009-09-14T15:38:00.000-07:00

Recently I came to breaking point in my professional life. About a month or so ago Jennifer and I went to the SAM(Seattle Art Museum) and it left with me some strong desires of changing my life. The next morning as I lay in bed I was in tears thinking how I've wasted 10 years of my life not pursuing my true passions. I reflected how I had spent the last ten years running as my favorite pastime. How I had tackled various running goals like completing a marathon, then sub 4 marathon, then ultra and finally 50 mile ultra. All seemed daunting in their own right but I knew that if I simply trained hard for each one the goal was attainable. So why had I not taken that approach with my art? It was then that I decided I would waste not more time and being my slow comeback to the world of fine art. I decided that just like running I would practice my art 3 times a week.

Well, I did it for one week. I went to a figure drawing meet up which was very cool. And a drew for a little bit a couple other times. The following week I wasn't as good. However, the next week I did something that was not planned but had been building up for a long time. I quit my job. I realized that I was not going to get much art done when I spent most of my energy doing work I didn't like. I had asked Jenn first to be sure and she practically encouraged it. So with the support of my wife, I quit my job during a time of recession.

So, this blog will be a journal of everything I do from here on out in my new fine art career. I'll be posting pics of my work and discussing it as I go along. There's already plenty to post about which I'll get into in my next post.