Well, here it is, my last 2 custom toys of the year, and just in time for the Holidays. Last December I ended the year with the wonderfully difficult Bomberman custom Kidrobot munny, a toy which has since imploded on itself, unfortunately. This year I'm more in line with the season, working on the Toy2r platform, 2.5, and 8 inch Qee. The funny thing is I got the 2.5 Qee as a Christmas present last year, and only recently have decided to do something with it -- A quirky moody Santa, and a happy little Elf, a little too happy.
I made these hand-painted Christmas themed toys without even knowing Kidrobot had done something similar with their Holiday Munny, featuring accessories such as a bottle, and Santa hat. Having discovered that well along the production of my own custom toy, I was a bit bummed, but stuck with the bottle idea. I guess everyone thinks Christmas characters should have a bottle of liquor in hand. Who am I to disagree. And being I'm not too thrilled with what Toy2r released as their Holiday 2008, 8 inch Qee, I went ahead, and customized my own. What do you think? Hot or not?
The colors on both the Santa, and Elf, were inspired by ketchup believe it or not, darker than the usual red and green seen on your average holiday characters. I think it was Heinz that released a green and darker red ketchup. Mixing the paints to get the right color took some time, but I like how it ended up.
The blue highlight hair was something I carried over from the Halloween toys I did.
The chocolate liquor bottles were a bitch to find. I literally searched all over Vancouver to find them, and in the end I didn't find them, a friend had found them for me. I searched all sorts of souvenir shops, even drove to the airport to scope out the stores, but in the end it was at London Drugs, a place I completely overlooked.
The Rug, I got off ebay shipped from Ontario. The Santa hat (not pictured), I got from Zellers, and the tree from Canadian Tire. I definitely go all out to find the right items to add to the custom toy. That's the fun of customizing!
Too bad these are one-of-a-kind toys, and not mass produced. I'd love to give them as gifts, but alas I'm holding on to them. But that doesn't mean you can't see these toys up close.
These toys will be featured this Saturday December 20th at the Artist Perspective group art show 'Seeing is Believing' at The Sweatshop here in Vancouver, along with a few other of the customs I've done in the past, like Bonk, and Mutant Monkey. In addition to that, I'll have some wicked paintings to accompany the holiday toys.
Start Time: Saturday, December 20, 2008 at 7:00pm End Time: Sunday, December 21, 2008 at 3:00am
Location: The Sweatshop Street: 1945 East Hastings City/Town: Vancouver, BC
This is a show you don't want to miss, not only because of my toys, but because of the other artists in attendance, DJ's, and overall party atmosphere. I will be posting pictures form the event, so be sure to check back.
JOIN the facebook group to RSVP. Come by and say hi this Saturday!
I'm also focusing more on maintaining my myspace page myspace.com/albertart. It's a great way to stay connected to other artists. Add me up!
2008 was a ridiculous year for me. Life changing in fact since losing my brother back in June. The Holiday's will never really be the same for my family and I after that. I'd always bounce ideas off him, and he'd give me his honest opinion and some creative feedback to get me all excited and enthusiastic about whatever it was I working on at the time. Now my big bro is gone. I guess I'll really have to drink my sorrows away this Christmas, like the Qee.
2009 I hope to continue making quirky characters, and to showcase them in different venues. (I'd love to show my toys outside Vancouver one day.) Hope you can keep tuning in to find out what happens with this artist!
Happy Holidays!
****Update!!! Check out the the pictures and video I took at the Artist Perspective art show.
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