designer toys dunny munny qee bearbrick trexi
Tell us a little about yourself
I’m a graphic designer/illustrator from a small isolated town in the middle of a desolate industrial wasteland I call home. I’ve been customising since starting Squink! in early 2006 and really enjoy it now more than ever! I find creating small and unique characters compelling. This is my little world, it’s great to have full creative control over the inhabitants.
How and when did you get into designer toys?
I remember the first thing I bought was a Monsterism capsule figure, a fair few years ago now, at a guess i’d say it was around 2003 but I can’t be sure! Those spray paint fumes really kill the old memory! haha. I have a small collection really, as my tastes are quite focused. Oddly I don’t collect custom figures even though I paint my own.
What are your favorite toys and/or artists?
I’m definitely a huge fan of Tim Biskup, his characters are absolute genius and never fail to make me smile (even the ones with dangerous looking blood smeared weapons) Also I quite like Devilrobots and Friends with You. As far as toys go, my all time fave has to be the Biskup Pollard. That’s a winning smile!
Tell us a little about your collection
As I said previously, it’s very focused, and I don’t have pieces by a huge number of different artists/designers, it consists of mainly Biskup, Baseman, Devilrobots and Touma Skuttles! I do love Japanese vinyl but obviously can’t afford to fill a display cabinet full of the stuff! The smell though……mmmmmmmmmmmm…………
When did you start customizing?
My first custom was done in early 2006, I think it was partly done because I had a couple of dunnys I had doubles of and couldn’t trade or sell. They sold pretty much straight away, I hadn’t previously sold any of my artwork so I was quite shocked at how popular it had become without any real promotion of my work! I started by using a brush for all work including the main priming, more recently though I’ve started using spray and this obviously makes life a lot easier and makes for a finish I could lick!
What are your favorite toys for customizing
To be honest I haven’t really customised a great range of sculpts, though more recently I have started branching out to items like the Bwana Killer, and other Japanese Kaiju items, the spray works really well on these. My favourite sculpt to work on so far has been the Horvath Little Inky, But I do enjoy working on Dunnys due to the lack of features meaning there’s more space to apply character to the shape.
What materials and techniques do you use?
I use acrylic sprays mostly as they give a great finish and allow for shading, which looks fab! All detail is acheived using Games Workshop acrylic paints as they come in the perfect consistency without needing to be watered down like tube acrylics, they also give a smooth application with not very many evil brush marks! I usually work straight onto the toy without planning the design in advance, it’s much more fun to work that way!!
How much time do you spend customizing a toy?
It depends on the sculpts and complexity of the design really. Some of the more kind natured relaxed characters can take about 2hr to spray and allow to dry, then the brush work takes 1-2 hours. I can usually have 2-3 customs done per day.
Do you make other art besides customizing toys?
I use Illustrator for design work, but this is generally not in any specific style and definitely not limited to the cute and wacky characters I use in my customs. I have produced a few limited prints which have been a tad more character based, as well as limited t-shirts. I enoy the toy painting more than anything though and I find nothing more relaxing! I just love working with colour!!
What other interests do you have (besides designer toys)?
Hmm, good question!
I’m a music obsessive so spend a lot of time digging deep into the musical underground, there’s nothing more satisfying than finding music you’ve never heard before and realising it’s what you’ve been searching for, for years! I watch an incredible number of films/movies, and eat a stupid amount of Twiglets!
Seriously though, most of my time is spent, painting, or designing on the computer. It drives me.
Do you take on commisions?
Of course, I have a few lined up for later this month but am never too busy to take on more work. I have had a few commissions I’ve had to turn down in the past, as I don’t like to do customs of existing characters by other people. It just doesn’t feel right, I don’t enjoy it.. I you’re after something original and unique though, I’m always happy to listen.
Where can people contact you or see more of your work?
My Flickr account is probably the most frequently updated place to see my customs and artwork, that resides here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/blaupraust
Otherwise, contact details and more pics can be found on my website www.squinky.co.uk
Thanks for the questions…now back to the coffee!
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