Nick & Daisy

I love when people come to me requesting customs that are going to be a surprise gift for someone. In this instance, the receiver is a pro gold medal winning racquet ball player (crazy, right?!) with a great big fluffy dog named Daisy. It was fun emailing back and forth with his mother to get the details just right. She gave me creative freedom of course, but was a great Art Director. Here are the pictures they took and sent me after the robots arrived safely in time for his party. Daisy-bot has a little felt collar and tag, and her leash can be held by her owner's arm or can fall freely. Lately I've been creating special customs without the base.

Punkin' Bot

Okay, so maybe I lied about the next post being finished Spider Bots. These are the bots that stare at me all day while I work. I wouldn't have it aaany other way.

All Shiny

Shiny metallic coats have been added. At this stage onlookers think they're finished, but they're not. Besides the trademark white-eyed gaze, they need to be dirtied up. Like they've been dug up from the earth! Rusted, old, worn and dirty. My favorite part. :) Next post they'll be finished!

189 Days Until Halloween

Have you ordered your custom spooky bot yet?

Basing Out Spiders

 Finally, I was able to get the base coats painted onto my Toyrantula/TRF spiders. Next step is to add the shiny metallic paint and then dirty him up!

Priming and Sanding

Finishing up sanding in preparation for the primer.

Leg assembly

Second stage of primer

Starting to base them out

After the molds are ready, they must be sanded for a smoother finish, but also adds some grit for the primer to stick to. The grey primer makes it easier to see what parts still need to be smoothed out, so I can go back and sand some more. The legs have to be assembled, so at this point the toys still have a level of individuality in them.

TRF Meets Toyrantula

For the past few months I've been working in an animation studio in Burbank, CA on illustration & character design, songwriting, and have the incredible opportunity to have my own TRF storefront on an upcoming online toy store called Toyrantula. The site will soon feature various independent artists' collections. Each of us have been given the task of creating our very own tribute spider so I've been taking pictures throughout my process of sculpting, mold-making, and all of the painstaking steps involved (forgive the photo quality). By painstaking I mean totally awesome if you love that sort of thing. Which I do. Currently, as you may know, each Tiny Robot is a one-of-a-kind piece of artwork, and can get a little pricey. The vinyls produced through Toyrantula will be limited editions, but will allow the opportunity to purchase more than one of the same design! Fun, right?! Behold, my TRF Spider! Here's to Toyrantula!