Here is a video interview with my favourite artist and toy designer James Jarvis.
The interview provides an insight into James’s techniques, as well as his philosophy on art in general.
We also get a good look at James’s studio and sneak peeks at some rare sketches and toys.
Fellow Gravity members Shimatani and Hamada came to visit us the other day.
On arrival Hamada produced a little silver box and announced that he had something for me.
I am now the proud owner of a one-off, hand-made Skullboy figure!
We had talked at the last exhibition about how cool it would be to turn my Skullboy illustration into a figure, and unbeknownst to me Hamada has been quietly working on this little fella for many months.
The base is a Be@rbrick (one of my favourite toys) onto which Hamada grafted and sculpted new parts.
I only wish there was some way to turn this into a production piece. If there are any toy manufacturers out there, please get in touch.
The next Gravity show is planned for October 13th-19th. Details to follow.
Here is my paper toy for June. As you can see I went for a remix of the last design.
The title is “The Long Paw of the Law” - an officer from the Chimp Police Department keen on stopping the “Go Bananas” chimp from dropping his banana skins all over the highway.
As hoped the 2 apes look pretty nice chasing each other on my desktop.
My wife recently gave birth to our first boy, so as you can imagine I have been a little distracted to say the least. However I somehow managed to come through on my promise of producing another paper toy for May.
The title of this toy is “Go Bananas”. I decided that everyone loves monkeys, and to make things even better
this one’s in a little red car!
I feel that I’ve upped the ante since my last effort, with a more satisfying shape and a more lively colour scheme.
I’m pretty pleased with the end result and hope you all enjoy constructing and playing with him. I may use this as a platform for my next piece, as I think it would be cool to have a couple of these guys having a race on my desktop.
Here is my latest original papercraft creation entitled “Ghosts in the Machine” - a happy man and his haunted computer.
This time I wanted to create something a little more detailed and complex. I also wanted to eliminate blank spaces, which I think is a problem that plagues all paper model creators.
This fellow takes a little time to put together and the cutting in particular is a bit fiddly. However (though I say so myself) I found it very satisfying to complete.
I would also like to thank Jun at Papercraft X for featuring my last model.
Check out his site for a wide selection of craft from many different artists.
It was also featured on Paperkraft.net, another interesting papercraft blog.
Here is my second attempt at an original paper toy, entitled “Hair!”
I based this toy on my last one and made a few adjustments.
I added a cap and lengthened the legs. I feel that the overall balance is a lot better with this one, and I also think that simple pop designs work best with paper craft. Click here to download this fella and print him out for yourself.
Keep you eyes peeled for more paper fun coming soon.
By now most of you have probably figured out that I am a big fan of papercraft.
I think it is an excellent way for artists to get their work out there and moreover it is an easy way to get your hands on a free toy.
Anyway, here are a few links to more papercraft that I have come across recently:
Though I have blogged about Readymech before, their new project is well worth a mention. Readymech in conjunction with photography site Corbis have created some beautiful and fully functional paper pinhole cameras. There are several different designs - all free and downloadable. They look a little complicated to construct but are still an amazing achievement.
As you will have hopefully noticed I have given Horrorwood a new look.
I had both a blog and a website for a while, but recently realised that the website was a bit redundant. As such I have integrated all of the features of the site into this new-look blog.
Please take a look at the links to the right, which will take you to galleries of my work amongst other things. Every time you visit another page, or refresh this one, you will be greeted by a different character at the top. There is a 1 in 5 chance of Dracula appearing, so you better have the garlic ready.
My new year’s resolution was to stop buying toys, but when these popped on Ebay I had to break my rule.
In my defense this is the rarest release in James Jarvis‘ In-Crowd figure series. It was produced a few years back as a special gift for Nokia customers and was as such never on sale to the general public.
This set is called the “Office Archetypes” and depicts characters that you can find in a typical office. Though a little blander than James’ usual creations, the attention to detail is as high as ever and I even have a soft spot for the chair because of the fact that it is so daringly bland.
As promised here is my first paper toy in what will hopefully be a full series. I am pleased with the design when it is in it’s flat form, but think that the 3D form still needs a little work.
Please click on the above picture for a full-sized version that you are free to print out and construct for yourself.