Author: Kevin Gosselin

Relic Movie Prop

Here are some updated pics of the finished Relic Prop.
There will only be only 10 of these made.  Each one stands nearly 14 inches tall.  They are roto cast by hand, fill with a high density foam, hand painted, signed and numbered.  
 Please contact me if you are interested in purchasing.

The Relic Movie Prop

I have a client who has been dying to get their hands on this movie prop for years and as of yet, no one had made it.  It was a pleasure working on this piece as it gave me a change of pace from doing customs.  It also was a wonderful challenge as there\’s little reference material to work from.  This is the finished sculpt.  I\’ll be making a mold and cast of it and I have a forum thread over at the RPF site that\’s going to be documenting the process. 

Birch Tree Ent

I didn\’t have a moment to create a proper blog post about this piece
before I jetted out on vacation, so here it is now, a little late.
I noticed early on while experimenting with the birch texture and thinking about the colors that the piece would look similar to an old fashion mad scientist so I decided to emphasize that in the personality just a little.  This mischievous fella is looking to get into some trouble at the Urban Decay III show starting in a couple days.  He\’s a regular 7\” Munny customized with resin and painted with acrylic.  He\’s one-of-a-kind and available for purchase, if you\’re interested you can find out more information at http://juxtsaposing.blogspot.com/
I\’ve been meaning to work on birch texture for a while now and I really like it.  I was a bit under the gun with this piece so I\’m afraid I didn\’t get to plan out the design before hand, I just sort of winged it.  I\’m hoping to create more birch tree ents because I really think there\’s a ton of potential there.

From Concept to Completion

You may have already seen this over at Opportunity LOL but I\’d like to have a copy of it here as well.  This is the process I used when customizing the JAWS commission I did last fall.

Here\’s the initial concept proposed to the client. At this point I\’ve no idea what to do with the shark helmet. To be honest, I think the shark is dumb. It\’s enormous and over powers the noop sculpt. The client has faith when I say I\’ll think of something.
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.
At this point I\’ve completed both feet and suneate (shin guards) and I\’m adding the straps.
Here I\’m starting to add the right side haidate(thigh guard). I suppose it not entirely necessary to make the complete guard and the pants beneath as it will be mostly covered up in the end but I like to as it helps me visualize the character and make sure that in the end all angles have been accouted for. In other words, it\’s a big waste of time and another reason why I\’m slower than molasses in completing a piece.
I\’ve now got the legs done with completed feet, hakama (pants) and thigh guard. Now I begin making the kusazuri (tassets). I want these to be rigid and stand off the body as much as possible so I use some vinyl card I had and glue them in place to the sculpt. You can also see that I have cut away the arm wrap and the hips to level out the vinyl.
Here I\’ve finished sculpting the first of 7 tassets.
I now add the leather base of the kote (sleeve armor) along with straps to the left arm. I\’m just adding enough clay to create the edge and then blending it in to the arm.
Above the leather layer I now add the chain mail armor. I use the end of an old sculpting tool and press a repeat oval pattern into the clay as it hardens. I\’ve also added just a touch of clay to represent the hitatare(robe) sleeve under the leather.
Here I have added the do (cuirass). I\’ve sculpted a gouge in the armor to represent somewhat where the old noop bandage used to be. You can see the plug right above my chest plate. I\’ve also sculpted the watagami (shoulder straps).
I\’ve now added the back of the cuirass.
Adding straps that will attached the front of the cuirass to the shoulder straps.
And metal rings to complete the straps.
Now the back straps.
Here I\’ve added the colar of the robe. You can see I\’ve also completed both forearms and added the upper arm guards. 
Here I\’m adding the back of the cloth belt.
I now add the vinyl card to represent what will be the sode (shoulder armor).
Here is the left shoulder arm completed and in the back you can see what was suppose to be a katana blade.
Beginning to add clay to the right shoulder. There\’s that katana again.I decided to removed the katana for two reasons. One it was too fragile on the back. I feared it would not survive shipping and two, Fplus has done a similar sword on the back and it just didn\’t feel right doing the same.
Right shoulder completed.
Here\’s the front of the cloth belt and I\’ve inserted what will be the wakisashi (side arm).
Here\’s the front of the cloth belt and I\’ve inserted what will be the wakisashi (side arm).
Adding the hilt, cloth wrap on the grip, and a scabbard.
Roughing out the head band.
On to the shark head??? At this point I honestly have no idea what I\’m going to do. Might as well sleep on it.
Slept on it and have vague idea. Time to work it out. Ok, nose has got to go. What\’s this?? Interesting. Hot glue and steal ball bearing balancing the shark helmet out.
Cutting about an inch off the nose at least. Plus I didn\’t like his smile so I knocked a few teeth out.
I still didn\’t know exactly what I was going to do or if it was going to work, just sort of winging it but here the vision starts to come to me with the big ole dragon nose. Once the nose is there I start adding japanese style dragon hair. And you can see I\’ve repositioned two of the old teeth.
Here I\’ve furthered the hair on the snout and eyebrows and blocked in the two large front teeth. I\’ve also added armature for two large horns. And last but not least, I\’ve nervously cut away most of the back fin to create what will hopefully be a more dragon-ish tail. Just sorta winging this.
Finished the hair and sanded down the two front teeth. Also took the steal ball bearing from the nose and attached it to the top.
Filled in the hollow tail and added a segmented reptilian underside.
Beginning to block in the horns.
Jumping ahead a bit I\’ve begun to cover the entire head with a thin layer and divided it up into armored plates. I\’ve also made very uneven poorly planned markers for the rivets I\’ll place in. I\’m just now drilling holes for the first plate and plugged 4 of them with glass beads.
Here you\’ll see all I did was place a small amount of magic sculpt in the hole and then pushed the bead into the hole. I then scrapped the extra resin away.
More drilling and more beads.
Adding two more teeth underneath using the old vinyl teeth and wire.
Here\’s a cool shot of the helmet looking like some cartoon swiss cheese. I\’ve just added a bunch of resin that I\’ve need to smooth down and make into armored plates.
Sculpt is all done and I\’ve moved on to the paint job. I start with what will be the bottom most layer. I block in the flesh of the face.
Next add the base coat of the robe.
Now I\’ve added a pattern in a lighter tint of the blue.
Next I paint the leather.
And then the armor.
Here I\’ve already added the sandles, belt and have just finished the armor.
Base coat of the helmet.
All done.
That\’s it. I hope you enjoyed an inside look at what goes into making one of my customs.
 

Amun-ny Ra

It\’s been over a year now since I got this commission.  It\’s just amazing how time flies by.  I really wish I could work faster than this but life as a stay at home dad takes a lot of my time. So to the very patient client who commissioned this piece, thank you.

This Custom Mini Munny was a private commission. The client simply asked me to create something similar to my Golden God PAW commission that I revealed over a year ago.  I said I wouldn\’t do the same thing, but, you know, I\’ve wanted to do something Egyptian.  He agreed and the terms of the deal was that I\’d be able to make a limited series of resin casts(10) off his original.  He gets to keep the first cast but that means I have 9 others to sell.  Well, make that eight because my nephew gets one of everything I do.  And it\’s his birthday coming up so I might as well say to him, Happy Birthday Zinn 🙂

Amun-ny-Ra. It\’s almost like the name Amun-Ra was made to be converted into a Munny.  Each resin munny has been individually hand painted and weathered with care. Each is accompanied by it\’s own resin base inscribed with Egyptian hieroglyphs.  The 4 obelisks read \”1 Munny KidRobot, Kevin Gosselin, 2012\” and the client\’s name.  The base is inscribed with the words, \”Tell me why I had to be a power slave?\” These, to those in the know, are the words to an Iron Maiden song that I was inspired by when creating the piece. Amun-ny Ra is the king of Gods and holds the ankh, the key of life .

Each cast has been signed and numbered.

A funny little story about the making of this piece.

This limited series was suppose to be simply weathered, but in the course of events, a happy accident happened.  I went to make the mold of the original vinyl munny custom and put it in the pressure pot, completely forgetting that the air inside the munny would also pressurize, when I took the piece out I discovered the original had been crushed.   After many curses I began to see the silver lining.  What was remaining looked beautiful.  I couldn\’t have sculpted better cracks.  So I decided to incorporate them into the piece.  But it required more work.  The vinyl  was warped so I had to transfer the pieces to a new munny, of which I didn\’t have one lying around and really wanted to finish it asap, so I took my munny that was autographed by Frank Kozik and used that. Sorry Frank.

back in 08 I met Frank at KidRobot Miami and had him sign this mini munny,
\”Stop Whining, Start Designing\” 
as a way to inspire me to be creative
did you make it all the way down here? congrats,
oh, did I mention I made a different color way? well, I did 🙂

The cover band never hurt anyone.

There\’s been a lot of talk about artists copying artists out there lately and I like to think about it like this.

People will buy my stuff because they want my work. Not someone else\’s work that is similar.  I never believed in the idea that if someone else was copying my work that it would harm my sales.  It\’s not like my work has a functionality to it that can be copied and made faster and cheaper.  My work is not, let\’s say, a vacuum.

Say as a buyer I have a need.  That need is to clean my floors.  I really like the dyson but can\’t afford it.  I go and buy another model that mimics the dyson but is far cheaper. In this type of market where the product in mind has a functional purpose it is possible for someone to come out with a cheaper alternative to my product and still get a similar desired result by that purchase.  But with art, there\’s no real functional purpose to it aside from it\’s aesthetic value and that is in the eye of the beholder.  Each artist and their respective art represents some intangible something that is the sum of more than just their tangible art.  An art collector can not simply purchase a knock off piece of an artist and get that same satisfaction from it.  I\’m not implying that the knock off is any less in value than the original, I\’m just saying it\’s not the original.  People collect art because they value what it is, not what it does.  And only the original can account for that.

In regards to the people who to create and sell copies, I don\’t really worry at all about them.  Now that\’s not to say that it doesn\’t upset me. But I\’m not upset because I think it\’ll reduce my efforts or hinder my success. Far from it.  I\’m upset because it goes against my morals and ethics. I always get upset when I see others making poor choices.  Now copying is a fantastic way of learning.  I don\’t mind copying at all, it\’s the profiting off copying that I mind.  But that\’s between the copier and the copied.  If the person being copied doesn\’t mind then why should anyone else. It\’s really not for me to decide what\’s right and wrong.  Can I have an opinion about it, sure, but let\’s not be so hateful about it.

And to be clear, I don\’t mind people copying me.  Not that they would.  But if they did I don\’t think I\’d mind much, and here\’s why.  When people copy you it\’s because they see worth in you.  It validates that you are worthy of notice.  And if other people are willing to purchase work that mimics yours it just means that your worth is to a level that even stuff that is a just a copy has value.  It perpetuates the hype of the original.  If even a copy of your work will sell, then I don\’t think that you\’re having any trouble selling the original.

Beginner artists usually draw upon a lot of different styles within their favored scene and I think it\’s a very appropriate way of learning.  If the beginner wants to sell that and the people he\’s emulating are comfortable with that I think it\’s all cool.  But eventually he should develop a truly unique style and I think by matter of course that is inevitable.  And here\’s the thing, if people actually want to buy something that is based on someone else\’s work instead of the original then I think that\’s cool.  I doubt that those same people are buying it cause they can\’t or won\’t buy the original.  And if that\’s the case, then it\’s probably because the original is so expensive that a cheaper version is just more accessible.  And I don\’t think that is applicable in this particular market.

So that leads me to my cover band analogy.  The question is, do you want to be a cover band?  Someone who only does tributes, working in dives?  Not many people do.  But a lot of beginners start this way. I think I can say with certainty that every person that picked up a guitar the first time probably learned to play their favorite song written by someone else.  But they eventually build upon that experience and create their own songs and amass their own followers.  And lastly, do you think that any cover band ever threatened the existence of the real band. No.

And that\’s why I think we need to be less hateful.

Final thought.  A few weeks ago I saw some art that was in my opinion a complete copy of a well known toy.  I initially got pretty tweeked about it and consulted my good friend Josh.  I chose to think through my initial negative response with someone whose opinion I respect instead of immediately airing out my reaction in the public forum.  So what I\’m saying is, it\’s ok for us all to be human and have human reactions too things.  But it always helps to slow down the monkey and think things out first before we get hateful.

Custom Munny: Grumpy

A while back I was asked to create a piece as a gift to someone for Christmas, as time drew short the client said that it would be OK to make the gift a birthday gift so I got a little extra time.  The recipient is an artist too and I\’m told sometimes a little grumpy(well yeah, he\’s an artist).  He has a fondness for bulldogs and I was to link the giver to the piece as well.  This is what I came up with.  I have to say that it has always been most rewarding to me when my art has been done with these types of personal connections in mind.

Oh and the pose that the character is in is fashioned after my daughter.  She likes to place her hands within her overall like this.

Well, today was the birthday and I can finally post this piece.
Here\’s Grumpy.

Here\’s a pic of the final with the custom box I was asked to create.

Mr. AZ: Custom 5″ Madl

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

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.