The Workshop

Sometimes called the kitchen. In a studio apartment, you do what you can. Which sometimes means a big mess to be cleaned up when you're not exhausted from doing all the creating + the stuff you do to survive to create another day. The second cloud cast is in the front of the ranks (The Lady got the first one, cause she's The Lady). The purple thing is the mold, with a curing cloud inside (super hot that stuff, don't touch!). The paper cups are for the mixing/pouring, and the two plastic jugs are the two parts of the plastic mixture.


The thing that I think is just amazing is that for the longest time as a kid, I had wanted to make my own toys. I was always making paper action figures and lamenting their lameness. I got a knife and tried to carve action figures out of wood, and gave up because they would never EVER be as cool as the stuff you could buy. But years later, and even though I'm not necessarily going to be able to make jointed toys that have great articulation (maybe, but not with my current skill set) I'm still able to come up with a concept and put out something that's pretty darn cool, in a durable plastic that I can pour in my own kitchen. That's something that just blows me away.

I think once I get a few more clouds cast (which means buying some more casting material) I'll post the process of making a mold. I'm going to make a large mold with six or eight clouds in it, so that I can do a larger batch all at once. The other reason, besides just the larger quantity, is that this first mold was flawed because the original was flawed in a couple ways that I didn't see (and one that I did). The original had some space under the sides where the silicone crept in during the moldmaking process. So the mold ends up making some crazy looking bases for the toys. A little sanding on all of these castings, and then a new mold will get rid of that, and make the next generation a bit more easy to finish once I pop them out. With these I'll really have to do some heavy sanding to make them look nice.

Also not sure about the black eyes and mouth. Thinking I might do them in powder blue instead. The Lady was saying I might consider molding faces for them on top. That's definitely a possibility. I think though, that I want these to be customizable, if one wants to do that, so I may do some customizations like that on my own, and encourage others to buy blanks to do such a thing, but that the mass produced ones that I'm putting out (or as mass as I can do in my kitchen) should be smooth. That would allow for if you wanted to do a custom job of your own and not be married to one of my molded faces. I like the Munny for that reason, and that's definitely the reason Munny works so well for customizing.

If you're into toy customizing, let me know what you think of these. I'd love to get some feedback from people who do this stuff too.

Sanded and ready for molding

So tonight, I sanded down the cloud-y guy, and put a new face on him. This one has the eyes a little farther apart. I'm not sure if I like it better or not. I'm so happy with the way this guy looks now. I wasn't sure it would sand down as well as it did. Can't wait to see how he looks in white. Think this is gonna be really nice. I'll blog the molding and casting process soon.

cloudy days ahead.

Here's the strangely hued prototype of a cloud toy that I'm going to be producing soon. The actual toy will be white, with a couple variations planned which will be obvious when you see them. I did this one in yellow partly because it was the clay I had at hand, and partly because it made sense considering that it would be harder to see imperfections in white clay. So I'll be able to sand this one down and make him closer to perfectly round, and then go from there to making the mold. I'm pretty happy with this as a first attempt, but I may make a few different ones to see if another configuration works better stylistically. Or maybe I'll just make a few to make a few, and have a cloud family. I don't know yet. I'm thinking I'll likely do a short run and then maybe an extended run once I see if people dig them and are interested. Thinking about cute packaging too. Excited by the prospects, as I've always wanted to make my own toys, and this is a good start.

New advertising stuff.

So I'm trying to get more people to show up to my shop, and I'm trying Project Wonderful, but I'm also thinking I'll provide some buttons, for if you want to get in on the action, and put a button on your site to help me out.


Once I get my brain in gear, I'll find the code to give you the whole shebang as an embeddable object, but till then, here are the buttons I've made so far.

Redcap Oranda - Koi (foamboard and acrylic)

Just posted this for sale on ChilledMonkeyBrains. It's for all those of you who needed a foamboard fish painting to put on your wall next to your fishtank, so that people passing by know what's in there. (you know you can't see anything for all the algae that's accumulated over the years. Get a pleco, for God's sake! That's what they're for!)

Almost Baby-ocalypse

Here's one that's almost done. Just needs a caption. I've got a few brewing, but nothing that's solidly smacking me in the face with how well it fits.

New Banner for Etsy!

Click for the full size version, but I just wanted to share the new banner that I made for my etsy.com site ChilledMonkeyBrains

The original was garnering criticism for being too graphic, and too dark, so I decided to choose a different tack. Ordinarily I wouldn't give a damn, because I think all art offends somebody somewhere, but in this case it just seemed like bad marketing. I mean, Etsy is largely peopled by moms who knit, so why piss them off right off the bat? Why not draw them in, and then have them click around before pissing them off?

hehe.

Seriously though, I hope it's a little more palatable, and makes me a few more customers than the last one did. I'll make a zombie monkey brain print for the true aficionados

ACEO - Henry

This was inspired by Cloverfield, even though it looks nothing like that monster. I was just on a roll with drawing ACEO cards that day, and this one came out of the pen. Not setting the world on fire or anything, but I think I'll post it on ChilledMonkeyBrains as an original that someone might want. If you're that someone, snap it up!

Baby-ocalypse

Soon for sale on etsy.

ACEO #5

Like I said, I'm not going to be posting every single one of these, so the numbers won't be consecutive here on the blog. But you'll get a taste for what I'm doing. I've decided to try something else with these cards as well. I'm sure I'll sell a few on Etsy, but for the majority, since I want to do one every day, I'm going to give them away or leave them on tables around the city, or wherever I go. I'll put my website on the back, along with the suggestion that whoever finds them keep them for a week, and then pass them along to someone who might need a pick me up. I'm also going to suggest that if they find one, they might take a picture of themselves with it, and send it to me. Perhaps I'll create a photomosaic of people who found my cards or something. Anyway, this one is called "Brief Respite."

Enjoy.

Baby-ocalypse

So I came up with this idea that wouldn't let me sleep the other night. It's going to be an ongoing feature of my etsy store. I'm going to do prints and other items (perhaps magnets and t-shirts) of drawings of babies with comments next to them that show them for who they really are in some moments. Sure, everybody loves babies. I love them myself. But there are those moments where you look in their eyes and you can just tell, they'd disintegrate you if they could. Or perhaps it's more of a look that says, "I tolerate you because you feed me, and my hands don't work so good yet." Anyway, I just had this idea that wouldn't sit still, to show babies as our slave-masters, little kings and queens that barely put up with us stupid grownups. And here's the first example of that. I'm still working out the wording for the etsy description, so it's not going up there until later tonight or tomorrow probably. Gotta figure out if my printer is actually capable of making archival quality prints. I haven't the foggiest what the qualifications are if I wanted to say that. I see it everywhere, but does that mean that everybody has an archival printer who's selling that kind of thing? I dunno.

Lindsay Lohan mistakes quilt batting for crack cocaine.

Okay, so I lied. She didn't really. But I think maybe she should, if only because it would further my delusion that the things I think somehow come to pass.

Of course, if that were always true, then this morning, there would have been a little old lady on the bus who was inexplicably eaten by a gigantic purple monster that was sitting next to her. And really that would happen on an almost weekly basis. Someone would always be getting eaten by something on the 147 express bus to downtown.

Perhaps a giant Macy's Thanksgiving day parade balloon of Lindsay Lohan would snort that little old lady and then float away on the gases of her own celebrity-swollen head.

No?

Then perhaps you should just visit my etsy.com shop instead.

ChilledMonkeyBrains

Go. Now. Enjoy. Buy. Love.

Study Buddies

I just posted some more in my etsy.com shop:

ChilledMonkeyBrains

They're cute, they're workin' hard, and they're inspiring you to work hard too.

So go buy a couple, or buy a set and give them to everyone in your office, or class.
You know you want one. You know you'll work harder if you see someone else doing it. We're all just monkeys anyway. Monkey see...

I'm Etsy-ing now.

The site is called ChilledMonkeyBrains.etsy.com, and you should go there and buy a snowman or a painting. I'll be posting more stuffs this week so the shop looks a little fullified.