A Little Hedorah

My creative output has fallen off a cliff.   I've been painting some Y-MSF micro-Hedorah to try and jumpstart things.  

The 3D printer has been awesome, but I haven't produced anything I want to show off just yet.  Thanks for reading. More soon.

No love for Swamp Gas?

Swamp Gas Groot hasn't sold, so I closed the store for now.  But he will return as King Groot!

Honestly kinda baffled he didn't sell with the other two.  It's a spiffy paint job, and I didn't think the price was outrageous.  But I don't know such stuff!  I just paint toys!

Bye Jungle!

Jungle Groot on it's way to a new home!  Don't leave Swamp Gas Groot hanging!

Bye Groovy!

Groovy sold instantly!  Thank you very much!  He will ship out Monday.  Swamp Gas and Jungle are still available!  And look awesome!

Groots on Sale!

I'll be putting my three custom Groots up for sale in the Shop, this coming Friday at 12:00PM Pacific time.  Each one will include the original box, tag, and card.  Shipping is free in the US, $20 international.

Groovy Groot will be $200, due to the amount of paint, and the re-sculpted mouth.  Swamp Gas Groot and Jungle Groot will be $100 each.  Each is one of a kind, and pretty nifty.

Painting Journal: Groovy Groot

I've been wanting to do a tie-dye styled design for a while, and Groot seemed like a good candidate!

There is one slight complaint I have about the Hikari Groot sculpt: It's blank expression.  I wanted a smiling Groot!  So I took a hobby knife, and some epoxy putty, and gave Groot a grin :-)

With my now-smiling groot, I set to work with Monster Kolor solids, trying to replicate a tie-dye spiral.  It was a challenge selecting colors that would contrast (and clash!) just right, without looking too out of place.  I may have overdone it with the red.

There are around a dozen colors in swirls, no metallics, since the bold colors would be contrast enough.  I finished the eyes with Jack Kirby-style space bubbles (lava-lamps?) he ended up looking like the wildest dish of Rainbow Sherbet ever.

I'm out of Hikari Groot figures to paint, but not out of ideas, and I'll probably buy a few more in the future.

Funko was kind enough to pick this one up on it's Instagram, where it's gotten a little attention!

Here's Groovy and the whole gang:

Painting Journal: Swamp Gas Groot

I gushed all over the Funko Hikari Groot toy in my last post.  Sufficed to say, after one, I was jazzed to paint more.

I was reserved with the metallics on Jungle Groot, this time, I cut loose!  Again inspired by Kenner's Swamp thing toys, I wanted a heavy contrast between colors and surfaces.  Monster Kolor blues and magenta came through again, pricinding a glowing, otherworldly look.

Copper eyes, pink pearl, and high-gloss clear-coat complete the piece, and there's some cool chiaroscuro effects depending on your viewing angle.

Painting Journal: Hikari Jungle Groot

I really like Funko's Hikari Groot toy.  It's big and hefty, nearly 12" tall, has good proportions, and very nice detail work throughout.  If you've considered getting a Funko Hikari figure, this is a great place to start.  It's not "proper" Japanese Sofubi, despite what the box may say, but the quality is top notch.

I had to paint it, and went all getting three of the standard figure (which, again, looks really nice).  I wanted something more colorful.  Inspiration comes from Kenner's wild 1980's Swamp Thing toys.  While I never had any as a kid (too scary!) they fascinated me then, and their bizzaro schemes are still a great place to start.

Using Monster Kolor, I sprayed both solid colors and metallics at different angles to highlight the details.  Unusually for me, I skipped the pearl effects and high-gloss clearcoat.  That leaves the constrast between the satiny solid greens and teals, and the glossy metallic red and green highlights.  His eyes stand out with metallic yellow.

I had a great time getting into all the little details of the figure, and I hope you all enjoy it too!

Groovy Groot!

Been having a ton of fun painting Funko's Hikari Groot.  Groovy Groot here made it to Funko's social media feeds, and went nuts.  Tie-dye influence obvious, I resculpted the mouth a little to give him a grin. Usual monster kolor paints, and some Jack Kirby style bubbles in his eyes!  More soon.

  

Thank you!

Huge thanks to those that bought kitties from the Nyagira show!  I hope all are happy with their new little monster cats (=^･ｪ･^=)
There are still a few pieces left, and a little time to get them!
http://www.maxtoyco.com/shop_cat.php?cat=7

Nyagira Walks Among Us!

The Max Toy Co Nyagira show is live!  Over a dozen artists put their spin on Mark Nagata and Makino-San's new creation!  I called in help from my Mom Laura, to make my pieces really unique, and she was more than happy to contribute her expert sewing and jewelry skills!

Chestnut on the right has sold already, but Jade still needs a home!  You can find him, and all the other lovely pieces at the Max Toy co Store:

http://www.maxtoyco.com/shop_item.php?id=990

Huge thanks to Mark and Makino-san for letting us play with their toys!!!

Painting Journal: Fun with Funko Hikari

I bought a couple of the cheaper Funko Hikari figures to paint.  They're not bad in and of themselves! At the $20ish I paid for Glitter Optimus and Silver Glitter Batman they're decent, medium-sized Chinese vinyl with joints at the head and arms.  I specifically bought two that didn't seem to be sought after, and that I wouldn't feel bad stripping and painting.  I'm not really fond of clear vinyl with glitter.  I think it looks chintzy, but that's just me (Of course the really packed lame' vinyls are another story!)

The paint did not want to come off these two, which says good things for their durability.  The shiny blue on Batman was clear paint over silver, which I was kinda surprised to see, it's the same thing I do, and takes time (but looks shinier), than just doing metallic paint.  Cool beans!

  

I did Optimus in an 'energon' purple and gold scheme.  Honestly surprised Funko didn't do a purple Optimus already, seems like it would be a perfect color in clear vinyl.

Batman I was going to do in a candy-stripe scheme, but it looked to busy, so I settled with "Rescue Batman" here.  I'm happy with both overall, though Batman's off-center symbol is going to bother me forever.

Painted with Monster Kolor , of course!  Lots of C-Thru and pearls on these two.

Pulsar Delpheyden

This guy has been in the works for a while.  The Delpheyden design head premiered four years ago as a big collaboration. Designed by Glyos' Matt Doughty, Plastic Geek, and cast by Marty Hanson.  This example is in swirls of opaque and translucent blues, and is an incredible display of Mr. Hanson's mastery of all things resin.

Four years later, I finally did a body and paintjob that get close to doing it justice.  Painted (as always), with Monster Kolor metallics, pearl, and gloss coat.  I didn't intend for him to look like a bomb-pop, but I'll roll with it, hope you all like it.

He's still a little hydrocephalic, I had trouble building a body big enough to support that noggin.  Mostly black parts for the base, his pulse-arms glow in the dark.

My What A Busy Year!

2015's fresh Glyos customs

I'm still here!  And I'm still painting things!  I've got a piece in the Clutter Gallery Skullbrainers show, two upcoming pieces for Mark Nagata, and lots of other new stuff, now that I'm back to painting consistently.  Stay tuned for more.