Brian Colin's Paintings, Custom Toys, and Graphic Design

This Saturday the 16th is the opening at Super 7 in San Francisco. If you’re out in that neck of the woods please go and show your support. Here is my piece for the show “Dog Boy”

So the pun was pretty bad, but one of the things that I keep hearing from friends that look at my new sculpt is that it reminds them of skeksis from The Dark Crystal. Yesterday I finished pouring 10 pieces from a mold that I made of my “Swamp Vulturite.” It was such a fun learning experience that I thought I would share some of my process.

I knew that I wanted to make a sculpt of this taxiderny-like swamp vulturite creature when I did the first drawing. I sculpted it with that in mind, leaving a wide base for an easy pour. I took the finished sculpt and sprayed it thrououghly with Smooth-On Universal Mold Release. This is to make sure that the mold materials do not stick to the original piece.

After that I used Mold Max 30 to create a mold. For this I used hot glue to attach my sculpt to a paper plate. I then took a plastic cylinder (old blank cd sleeve case) and glued that down to the plate after cutting a hole in the base where I could pour the mold material into. The Mold Max was a lot thicker than I thought it would be and reminded me of taffy. Next time I do it I will stir it with something stronger than a plastic spoon. You mix 2 chemicals together to make the mold and it should turn a light pink when mixed-through.  I didn’t mix mine as much as I should have and was lucky that my mold came out as good as it did. There were still ribbons of white silicone running through it. Here is the mold material along with the original sculpt, then the mold both closed and open with a pour.

Once I had covered the beak of my sculpt by a good inch I let the mold set for a few days.

I really thought it wasn’t going to work because I hadn’t mixed everything well. Cutting the mold open was quite a feat. Because there are so many nooks and curves to my sculpt it was very difficult to try and slice it directly in half. One of the things I learned is to try and cut it in one slice. I ended up pulling my knife out and when I went back in had a few uneven cuts. When cutting your mold it is important to determine where you want the seam to be, and more importantly where will it be easy to pull your newly poured toy from. You can see in the photo above that I tried to do it in the center.

Once I got the original out I went ahead and made my first pour. I used Smooth-On 300 which is a 2 part plastic that you mix in equal parts. Before mixing up the plastic be sure to spray your mold with the same mold release used before. If you don’t the poured plastic will stick to the mold and tear it apart. Here is an image of the first pour that I also added in some green dye to see how it looked. Then there is the second pour which I did a few minutes later. The smooth-on usually sets up pretty quickly. For me it took anywhere from 10 – 30 minutes. Because I was pouring in my basement the temperature was dropping and slowing the set time.

From there I went ahead and poured my first 10. Each of these is slightly different because of them being hand poured. I like that each is imperfect and unique showing that I crafted it rather than being mass-produced. Each piece will be hand painted and be available starting February 6 at Alcove Gallery for a 3 man show I will be in. Below are images of the first painted version, his name is Bernard.

For the 3 man show in February I am going with a swamp theme for my pieces. I’ve started sculpting a vulture-like head that I will be making a mold of and plan to pour a series of 10 of them. I have about half of the sculpting done. You can see the concept sketch and day 1 of the sculpt. I’ve also begun on my first canvas for the show. The drawing it will be based on is at the bottom of the post.

This May 15th I will be a part of the Kirkwood Spring Fling’s artist market. I wanted to be a part of it last year but had previous engagements. Please stop by between 10am & 7pm to enjoy the festivities.

This March I will be part of a 7 man show at Oh No Doom in Chicago.

It’s got a killer line up of
Charlie Owens
Pariskid
Tyler Coey
Project Detonate
Brian Colin
Toby Stanger
Matthew Ryan Sharp

Keep your eyes peeled for more info about this show it should be great!

On February 6th I will be part of a 3 man show at Alcove gallery in Atlanta. I will be joining Gus Fink & John Fesken for what will surely be a dark & creepy show.

I have decided to explore a swamp theme for my pieces in the show. I will add more news as I progress on the work.

Wajue de Ruchong or Digger of the Worm was unearthed in China’s Gobi desert last week while searching for rumored sand worms. Locals had been telling stories for decades of a small race of dinosaur-like creatures that use the sand worm’s tunnel systems. Only rough drawings and rumors had ever been shown of this great discovery until now. Sadly the team of explorers thad made the discovery were caught off guard and killed this specimen on contact. Further excavations have been approved by the Chinese government to continue the search for more of the Wajue de Ruchong.

Art Basel Miami Beach is the most important art show in the United States – a cultural and social highlight for the Americas. As the sister event of Switzerland’s Art Basel, it is the most prestigious art show worldwide for the past 40 years.  In that spirit, for the duration of Art Basel, WST Worldwide & Kazilla Productions will be hosting the Multiversal group show – a unique series of exhibitions showcasing the works of many talented artists from around the world.

I will be sending a custom Yoka down to Miami for this show.

Check out their site for the latest news and a list of artists that are participating.

Between yesterday and today I finished up the sculpt on this creature which normally lurks below the earth’s surface. Here’s some new photos of it primed and ready to be painted. Hope you dig it.

I got invited to be a part of the upcoming “Multiversal” custom show during Art Basel in Miami. This show is being put together by Wizard Sleeve Toys.

So I looked around the house to see what I would like to send and realized that I really like the shape of the Yoka as a base and didn’t really like how I had customized it for a show back in September of last year. Below are some pictures of the sculpting that I am doing to the piece. I’ll post more updates soon.