Artist name: Hugh Rose
Artist website: hughrose.co.uk
Artist location: Guernsey, order
Channel Isles
Toy Name: Wooden Sky Monkey
Toy Type: Kidrobot 7″ Munny
Toy Story: Built by monkeys!
Toy Available for sale: Nope, cialis unfortunately this toy is not available for sale.
Artist available for commission? Yes, please visit my website to contact me: hughrose.co.uk
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Artist name: Collin David
Artist website: resonantfish.com
Artist location: Hudson Valley, viagra dosage
Philadelphia
Toy Name: Verdigris II
Toy Type: Custom Droplets
Toy Story: This is what happens when time bleeds.
Toy Available for sale: The second series of Verdigris customs by Collin David. Each is hand-painted and includes metal parts. Very limited edition of seven custom Droplets, information pills
boxed – resonantfish.bigcartel.com
Artist available for commission? I”m up for anything! The more, cardiology
the better. I”m currently working on pieces for three or four different shows around the world, but I”d love to do something for an individual collector. Please contact robotbacon [at] gmail.com for more information.
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The Story:

Sometimes on their journeys Night Walkers get lost in unfamiliar skies. Similar to a chameleon a Night Walker will change it’s colors to match it’s surroundings. This particular Night Walker got lost somewhere near the Horse Head Nebula and turned red!

Materials:

– A MadL toy (a blank or already purchased one)
– Hair dryer (for removing the head from the body)
– Nail polish remover (only required if using an already painted MadL)
– Cotton balls (to be used alongside the nail polish remover)
– Krylon Spray paint (you can use a color of your choice)
– Acrylic paints (Galleria and Liquitex are used in this tutorial)
– Paint brushes (well duh!)

Instructions:

1) Toy time! Generally I start by making sure my art table is reasonably clean/clear of dust so as to not have nasty paint later on in the process.

I then think about what I want to paint, sale and what toy I feel like working on that day. Today I picked a 5″ MadL.

First off if the toy has any accessories/jewelry like mine did, unhealthy I start by cutting it off, find unless I want to save it for later, in that case I skip the cutting step and go straight to step 2

2) Heat Time! The Hairdryer is your friend, just watch your fingers, kids get your parents to help you with this. MadL’s only have one joint which makes this easy, you’ll want to apply the heat until the bottom of the head is pliable but not TOO soft or you’re likely to ruin the toy. Repeat this step after step 4

Pull the MadL’s head til it is removed. Sometimes you’ll need to use the hair dryer a few times over, depends on the toy.

3) Strip time! Get your supplies, I use extra strength nail polish remover and cotton balls to remove the initial paint. I never completely remove the paint if I am going to use spray paint, just rub it off until any raised paint is no longer raised. It will have a very smeary ruined look about now.

4) Spray time! I use Krylon spray paint for Plastics. It sticks better and dries faster than other paints. Go outside for this, I take an old cardboard box and set the toy on top. You’ll just want to dust the toy with the paint, it doesn’t need to be solid but everything needs to have some paint on it. Let it dry fully, since it’s only a dusting, it shouldn’t take more than 15 minutes to dry.

5) Time to paint! Take your toy inside and get your paint and palette ready. I use Galleria or Liquitex acrylic paints, they both work very well. Apply black paint to the whole toy, and allow it to dry.

6) Dry Brush Time! Take a medium sized brush make sure it’s dry, and mix up 1-3 colors of your choice, I picked hot pink and red for this toy, and dip your brush in the paint, and then wipe it off on a paper towel til there is just a hint of color left when you wipe it on the towel. Then you’ll just lightly brush all over the toy, push harder if you want a brighter spot of color or lighter for just a hint of color. Allow each separate color to dry before applying the next color.

7) Detail Time! I usually just have it when I paint the face and the stars on, but you can use a pencil to rough in where you want your face. I use a really really tiny brush for the stars. After that it’s done! Don’t worry about brush marks, that’s the whole point of dry brushing, messy is fun!

8) Spray with clear coat to protect the paint job. Voila, you’re done!

Artist name: Squink!
Artist website: squinky.co.uk
Artist location: Sheffield, health
United Kingdom
Toy Name: VintageBird
Toy Type: Kathie Olivas Redbird
Toy Story: Found at the back of the elephants carriage, this has been carefully cleaned and disinfected.
Toy Available for sale: Nope, unfortunately this toy is not available for sale.
Artist available for commission? Contact via www.squinky.co.uk
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Artist Name: Kat Brunnegraff
Location: Ohio, health USA
Personal Blog: kat-scratch-fever.blogspot.com

Kat Brunnegraff may be a new comer to the designer toy scene, information pills but that doesn’t mean she hasn’t been making waves already. Known for her distinct night-like style, for sale she made her appearance to the scene in the beginning of this year starting with her Custom Illazilla which was featured on the cross-country tour. We had a chance to catch up with Kat and ask her a few questions!

Custom Toy Lab:
Please tell us more about yourself Kat that hasn’t been mentioned already?

I’m 25 years old, I live in Columbus, Ohio, I attended CCAD for 4 years and have a BFA in illustration… it’s funny I don’t ever need the thing anymore but the training I got was good.
I originally went to art school intending to become an animator, but switched over to illustration after the mass firings of all the 2D animators from Disney back in 2002-2003.  I remember hating painting when I did it in school, we were never allowed to really draw the way we wanted to, it always had to be realistic, which is fine but I like to experiment with styles.  I all but gave up on painting by the time I graduated from CCAD in 2006 because I found it to be dull and time consuming.

After I graduated did a lot of digital art but a lot of people, my husband included, told me that I should paint.  I never listened to them though, I thought that I hated painting, it was messy it took forever to dry etc…  But after I found Krista Huot (a fabulous artist) on myspace I messaged her and told her how much I loved her paintings. (I eventually bought one from her) I asked her every question about the gallery scene and how to get my art out there that I could think of and she was very nice and told me that she’d give me the same advice that Gary Baseman had given her a while back, PAINT!   So I finally caved and started painting, my first few attempts were lacking, but after a while something clicked and people seemed to like them.

Custom Toy Lab:
What brought you into in the custom toy scene?
I’ve been a toy collector/admirer since… forever, I used to stare longingly at my computer screen on a website called “Sweaty Frog” back in the 90’s (now known as “My Plastic Heart”) for hours, wanting to buy the really cool, really different toys but never being able to afford them. (I was a teenager with no job back then)  It’s been a dream of mine to have toys made after my own characters for a long time, but since I’m so new on the scene people didn’t know who I was as a painter or toy artist.  So I decided to pick a theme that I enjoyed and some popular toys and start customizing them to see if I could make a name for myself in the custom toy world.  So far, so good.

Custom Toy Lab:
What is the toy scene like there down in Ohio?
There aren’t too many places in Columbus,Ohio that sell Urban Vinyl/Art Toys, but we have one really awesome gallery that does sell them called Rivet and there is Shoparooni up in Cleveland.  So, it seems like it’s just starting to get popular here, I mean I only just discovered it myself around two years ago.  Also there is a shop called Anime Palace that sells Tokidoki toys, I go there from time to time to get my cute fix.

Custom Toy Lab:
Your custom toys have a night-like feel to them. What inspired you to customize your toys with this type of style?

Well, I LOVE the night time, love the sky, the moon, the stars, I wish that people were more aware of how the nights sky is supposed to look, so it seemed natural to me to paint a night theme.  Also subconsciously I was influenced by the movie Princess Mononoke that I had seen back when I was 14.  I hadn’t seen it for a long time and only recently while watching it did I realize that the creature in the movie was also called a Night Walker, I thought about that creature often while painting my first toy in this style.

Custom Toy Lab:
If you were able to collaborate with any other artists out there in the toy scene, who would be your first choice?

There are a lot really… Jeremiah Ketner, Krista Huot, Jared Deal, Gnarf Death, Johnny Yanok… too many to list them all! I love all their styles and it would be super fun to collaborate with any one of them.

Custom Toy Lab:
Has this artist inspired you in any way?

All of the artists I listed inspire me to be a better painter, and to work harder, some of the colors I use are inspired by them.

Custom Toy Lab:
What other kinds of mediums do you work on besides toys?

I work on wood a lot when I do paintings, I prefer it over canvas, I just love the way the wood grain shows through, gives it a more natural feel.

I love to work with plush toys as well, they’re super fun to make, also easier than sculpting which I do like to do every once in a while when and back when I  couldn’t afford to buy a fancy toy I’d just make my own!   Still do sometimes.

Custom Toy Lab:
Did you find it difficult to work on a toy as opposed to [medium]?
Vinyl/Plastic is MUCH harder to paint on than wood, a lot more prep time is needed.  Some toys have to have paint stripped off, body parts removed and need to be spray painted or sanded before you can start to paint.  But I’m not complaining I love just sitting outside with some stinky nail polish remover and thinking about what I want to make a new toy look like.  It’s very relaxing.

Custom Toy Lab:
If you don’t mind us asking, what kind of other upcoming projects do you have going on at the moment? What can we expect next?

Weeeelllll I wasn’t going to tell anyone but I was thinking about doing a new series soon after I do a few more Night Walkers, with either a Forest theme or a Snow theme.   I’m also working on some toys and paintings for some upcoming gallery shows.

Custom Toy Lab:
Every artist has a set of tools that they use for customizing, what would you consider yours to be?

Paint, Nail Polish Remover, Cotton Balls, Hair Dryer, Paint Brushes, Spray Paint, and a warm dry day to help the paint dry faster.

Custom Toy Lab:
On average, how long does it usually take you to finish customizing a toy?

It depends on the size/shape/number of parts a toy has, but on average it takes me about 6 hours to do a 5 inch toy.  Sometimes more time sometimes less.  Depends on prep work too.

Custom Toy Lab:
What sort of advice would you give to new artists who are considering breaking into the toy scene?

Pick something you love, it can be anything really.  Something cool or beautiful, or crazy, doesn’t matter what, and just make toys.  It takes time and patience to get noticed.

Custom Toy Lab:
As an artist do you take commission requests? How can you be contacted if people are interested?  Yes I do take commissions, I can be contacted at kat.brunnegraff@gmail.com

Artist name: jonpaulkaiser
Artist website: jonpaulkaiser.blog.co.uk
Artist location: United Kingdom
Toy Name: Bob Marley
Toy Type: Kidrobot 3″ Dunny
Toy Story: This was a specific request from a customer, pharm
and Bob was what he wanted.
Artist available for commission? If you like my style, shoot me an email at jonpaulkaiser [at] hotmail.com cheers!
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Artist name: Squink!
Artist website: squinky.co.uk
Artist location: Sheffield, sovaldi
United Kingdom
Toy Name: Crumpet Eater
Toy Type: Kidrobot 8″ Dunny
Toy Story: This little guy is hungry for crumpets! He will sniff them out no matter where they are hidden..
Toy Available for sale: Nope, nurse
unfortunately toy is not available for sale.
Artist available for commission? Yes, read more
please contact me via www.squinky.co.uk
(more…)

Artist name: jonpaulkaiser
Artist website: jonpaulkaiser.blog.co.uk
Artist location: United Kingdom
Toy Name: Rhino
Toy Type: 6″ Rocket World Affonso
Toy Story: This guy is for the Humans Beware IWG show at Rocket World in San Fransisco on April 10th.
Toy Available for sale: The toy will be for sale at the show itself and through bigcartel. For more info, sale visit http://www.blue77gallery.com/shows/iwg
Artist available for commission? You can email me at jonpaulkaiser [at] hotmail.com to discuss customs.
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Artist name: BELL
Artist website: mynameisbell.net
Artist location: Poland
Toy Name: Golden Rocker
Toy Type: Kidrobot 5″ Labbit
Toy Story: Eats only caviar and drinks pink champagne ;)
Toy Available for sale: Unfortunately this toy is not available for sale.
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Artist name: JonDoesDoodles
Artist website: flickr.com/photos/jondoesdoodles
Artist location: Birmimgham, click
UK
Toy Name: Percy Potts
Toy Type: Kidrobot 4″ Mini Munny
Toy Story: Pacing the dimly lit streets of Victorian London Percy Potts investigates strange goings on and paranormal activity.
Toy Available for sale: Unfortunately this toy is not available for sale.
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