Storm Shadow Trooper
So, I was surfing around looking at some SDCC pics from this year (2010). I don’t mean to sound arrogant, but this cheeby / super deformed style “Galactic Heroes” Arf Trooper looks strikingly like the Storm Shadow Trooper custom figure that my wife, Angel, and I made last year for our Cobra – lalilulelo. He later appeared at the “Art Strikes Back” Star Wars art show a month later where he was sold.
Rufufu – Short Eared Bunny in Yellow Jacket for SDCC
This year, my wife and I pulled together some strong pieces for the Comiccon this year. One such collaborative piece was this bunny.
Angel, my wife, needle felted this amazing 8 inch figure, but it was missing something. It has great shape and the armature inside helps to assists with some great poses, but this critter needed an accessory. I’d been staring at this bunny in our studio, imagining a Padington Bear style coat, but I’ve also been watching a lot of Star Trek and anime lately. Design-wise Star Trek and Japanese cartoons have one major thing in common: streamline dynamic designs, with a strong color palette.
Being influenced by a constant bombardment of stripped down futuristic clothes, I came up with this yellow Jacket (made from sheets of felted wool). Instead of buttons, it features fabric bars to hold together the two sides of the jacket. It also features three panels of “police badge” shape flaps that descend from the waist. Hopefully in the future we can make a full size variation on this coat for people to wear.
This is one of those characters that I love. It’s difficult to part with, but alas, if you want to design one of a kind toys, then at some point you need to let them go……
Chewie
In an effort to some how archive what I’ve been doing in the last year or so, I thought it would be an appropriate time to blog about this Needle Felted sculpture I made.
The ComicCon is this week (and you now how the geeks love them some Star Wars) and the Star Wars Celebration either just happened or is happening soon, so I figured people would have furry interstellar travelers on the mind. To that end I present to you the Chewbacca inspired piece that I made for last years “The Art Strikes Back” Star Wars themed art show curated by Art Asylum Boston.
Originally designed to fit in with a series of nostalgic ’80′s themed Needle Felted Sculptures, “Chewie” is to date the only one to be inspired by Star Wars. The focus of the series is to re-interpret iconic ’80′s characters into a retro ’40′s “Little Golden Books” flavor. A lot of the artists who worked on those books had a specific simplistic style. Dyed cut out paper, watercolor, colored pencil and pastel, this style not only guided many young imaginations, but also graced the front of cereal boxes and found it’s way into advertisements well up through the ’60′s. It defines an era for me and establishes a classic look that can still be Dynamic.
Camelman Conductor
This is one of my new pieces for sale at the Toy Tokyo Store (in Manhattan). It was difficult to part with this figure after I was finished. I see him as the Train Conductor in our story of anthropomorphic characters.
He was primarily inspired by Camel Turkish Gold Cigarettes and the Wes Anderson movie Darjeeling Limited.
Wild Mancat
For SDCC this year I created 3 OOAK plush figures using the same basic body. I designed a figure form based on “Alice the Goon” (from Thimble Theatre and Popeye). Each figure features a different Needle Felted head that is inspired by different cartoons that I like.
The Wild Mancat is primarily inspired by Ickis from Nickelodeons AAAHH!!! Real Monsters cartoon. That cartoon was so unique and awesome and predates Monsters Inc by years. I imagine the Wild Mancat as being a forest nomad and shaman, like the main character from Mushishi.
The Investor Mancat
For SDCC this year I created 3 OOAK plush figures using the same basic body. I designed a figure form based on “Alice the Goon” (from Thimble Theatre and Popeye). Each figure features a different Needle Felted head that is inspired by different cartoons that I like.
The Investor is primarily based on side characters from Disney’s Talespin. The obvious visual influences here are the business suit wearing Shere Khan and the lanky mechanic Wildcat
Hench Mancat
For SDCC this year I created 3 OOAK plush figures using the same basic body. I designed a figure form based on “Alice the Goon” (from Thimble Theatre and Popeye). Each figure features a different Needle Felted head that is inspired by different cartoons that I like.
This one is obviously Tony the Tiger inspired, I was drawing on the old ’50′s and ’60′s Tony that I love so much. Why Kellogg’s changed him I don’t know. The ’80′s “jacked up” steroid athlete Tony does not feel original at all to me.
Maybe Tony’s current appearance started as a response to Schwarzenegger’s good eating and exercise campaign for children of the 80′s. Like a bowl full of milk and sugar covered corn flakes is a great thing to give to kids before going out and throwing the old ball around…
At any rate here’s my take on a fusion of the 2 Tony’s. Classic face with a hulked out body freshly ripping out of his swanky Tuxedo.
Prince Adam and his Posse
When I first began Felting, Felt sculptures were a mystery to me. I got into it through my wife, Angel. She had seen some japanese books on Dry Felting, and they were always cute Hello Kitty characters or food. The first time I saw a picture of a Croissant made out of wool fiber I think I just laughed out loud in a book store, saying “what” to myself in a high pitched voice. Special Note: Ignore the weird white guy in the Japanese book store.
Moving right along, the third figure I sculpted out of wool fiber was Battlecat. He still is the most perfect sculpture for me. One part Tony the Tiger, one part 80′s cartoon, and one part Powerpuff Girls.
Two years went by and there was no companion (save the Cringor I made) for my perfect Battlecat. And then a little game called the phantom Hourglass came my way. Followed by another stellar Zelda game known as Spirit Tracks. Inspiration struck and I created this Adam based on Link’s design from the game…..
SDCC – Gah! right around the corner!
So, it’s been over a year since I’ve blogged….. oops. I was working at the prestigious Jeff Koons studio last year while I was doing my own thing too. Really overwhelming. SDCC is right around the corner and my wife, Angel, and I have created a ton of OOAK (one of a kind) pieces, several of which will be available only at the Sand Diego Comiccon. 
