Friday, July 17, 2009

Reppin' tha 626

What happens when you're given this:


and you throw in resin, a dremel, an x-acto chisel, a bunch of paint, some fake flowers, twine, bamboo shoots, plastic mini-coconuts,and a whole lot of beer into the mix and lock yourself in a windowless room for 2 weeks? Well you get this little guy here:





A bunch of the artists at work were invited to transform a "blank" vinyl Stitch into their very own version of the crazy rascal for the Experiment 626 vinyl project which will be shown at the upcoming D23 convention in Anaheim, California. The vinyl is actually pretty big so it was definitely a challenge to complete. I wanted to tie whatever i did to the film's story and setting so I chose to make my own Stitch Tiki Idol. His huge helmet is based on the one worn by the Hawaiian king, Kamehameha. There's a styrofoam block in crest and resin was sculpted over it. All the other added elements (eyes, nose, teeth) are also resin. The wood grain was created by carving directly into the vinyl with a linoleum block cutter. My coworker Tiffany, was nice enough to assemble the lei's using a bunch of fake flowers.

Although it took a lot longer than anticipated, I really got a kick out of working on it every day. There was something cool about stepping completely away from the computer and getting to work with real materials and paint again. That, and just locking myself in a room with all that beer was cool little bonus too. Now I gotta sleep off my alcohol/paint fume/resin particle-induced headache before moving on to the next project.

29 comments:

Brittney Lee said...

He is absolutely fantastic! Wow.

Daisy Church said...

whoa!! that is AMAZING! Love it!! :D

Vince M said...

I really love the way you 'dug in' on this exploratory meal. You're an amazing influence in our workplace. Thanks for always raising the bar.

Natalee Tan said...

awesome job. the work definitely paid off. i like how you made the stitch very solid tiki statue like yet making the stitch still look like it's capable of movement. two thumbs up.

jPrice said...

Very nice... I WANT ONE :D

Whitney Pollett said...

Hey you forgot to mention that it's a bobble head, it makes julian fries to Elvis hits and breathes fire.

Cafe Pasadena said...

You make the 626 area code proud.

Eric Hutchison said...

Luckily I got to see this in person. I have to say... I don't get moved by much but this piece floored me! To say you raised the bar would be a understatement. Congrats, pal.

Tanner said...

Thanks Britney and Daisy! I love all the art on your respective blogs. You guys are too good!

Thanks Natalee, JPrice, and Cafe Pasadena! I'm glad you guys approve!

Vinny and Hutch - It really is an honor for you guys to say that a bar was raised. A lot of the effort I put into it is directly related to seeing everyone at work and all the other Stitch artists out there, really go crazy on the vinyl and make it their own. That's all the inspiration I needed.

Whitney! The bobble-head aspect was a complete accident! But the fire thing was totally intentional ;)

Nicolette Davenport said...

SO GOOD, TANNER!!!!!!!
I want to kidnap it.
If Chris hasn't seen this yet, he's going to love it.

tikistitch said...

Wow. I saw the Stitch show at FX in Florida, and this is one of my favorites! Will your piece be on display at Comic Con? I had heard they were going to bring the show there, but haven't heard anything lately.

flatelephant said...

dude, duuuuuuuuuuuuuude, dude.

FUZZBUG said...

That's really awesome! Any tips can you give on the type of resin/sculpting material you used to customize the vinyl? Played around with some DIY figures with varying results.

Patricio OLiver said...

U are amazing! HE LOOKS TERRIFIC!!!!!

Dorota said...

Amazing!!!!!!

Tanner said...

Thanks Nic! I'm glad an authentic Mulaka, I mean, Hawaiian such as yourself approves.

Sorry tikistitch, the Stitches that the Disney folks produced were late for the comic-con. But they should all be at the D23 convention and another show in Hawaii.

Fuzzbug, I used a two part compound calle Magic Sculp. I found it really nice to work with and it smoothes out with water which helps. The only thing is that it hardens on its own in about 3 hours so you don't have nearly as much time as super sculpey. But in the end, it's a lot more durable and you can sand out any imperfections. Give it a try. I think it might work for you.

Thanks Patricio and Dorota. I'm really glad that you dig it!

FUZZBUG said...

Thanks for the tip! Keep up the great work, I am a big fan of what you're doing.

Unknown said...

DOH! Someone forgot to tell me you were comming down to San Diego!!! You know I'm your NUMBER one FAN! :) Hit me up..foo!- Gigi

mark g. said...

Nice Tann-O!

I've already mass produced these and are selling them from the back of my trunk in the DCP parking lot.

You can buy one from me today for only 3 installments of $19.99!

Great work!

Tanner said...

Thanks Fuzzbug, I'm glad I could help!

Damn Gigi, how could I forget you?? I'll definitely see ya the next time I'm down there and there's no convention to consume me.

I wish I thought of that 1st Mark! Genius!! Can I at least get a little discount for all the pain I went through to make you that Stitch??

Elizabeth said...

This is pretty amazing, Eric! So impressed...

Capcom said...

This is fantastic, and the perfect motif for Stitch. The Kamehameha headress is a great touch, and makes it look like a vintage Coco Joe piece. :-)

Your Host, Matt said...

I was pleased to see your piece prominently featured at the Expo; it's even better in person!

Jonathan Paine said...

I love this tiki sculpt! Well done Eric.

xenos said...

ah-may-zing! the 626 is best represented, you know! this so rocks that its no surprise it was picked to be produced. kudos to you...

Elysa Castro said...

fantastic!!!!stitch tiki version!

Unknown said...

That is amazing!! Loving the Hawaii Alien too!!!

twentyfirstcenturywife said...

I wish I knew how you did this or came up with it! I love him and wished I owned him and the Toy Story Alien HulaAlien! lol

Wendy Tetreault said...

Where can I purchase one? Seriously?