Two sneaky little devils were found hiding out in the back of the Super7 Store! The Pocket Mummy Boy and Pocket Mummy Gator have been taking it easy, living the good life of R&R, but now it's time to put them to work.
The Pocket Mummy Boy is cast in green vinyl with white and dark green sprays, while the Pocket Gator dresses up in Pearlescent Maroon vinyl with dark red and pink sprays. These two will hit the road Friday, April 29th, 11am Pacific. $25 each.
The vinyl sorcerers at Gargamel have pulled something special out of their sleeve! The Chanmen Zagoran harkens back to an era of collectible foil stickers and video game nostalgia. The blue-green vinyl is sprayed with bright pink-purple with black, white and yellow details. Each figure comes with two foil stickers featuring art by Chanmen. This 9" figure is also available unpainted, showing off the vibrant brightness of the base.
Joining these two is the Pocket Deathra, Gargamel's one-eyed winged demon, packed into an adorable pocket size. The Pocket Deathra is cast in clear green vinyl with metallic silver and blue sprays.Available Friday, April 29th, 11am Pacific.On the eve of the release of LEROY C., the newest addition to SUPER7’s MONSTER FAMILY toy line, we chatted with artist Don Clark from INVISIBLE CREATURE to find out more about his career in art, music, and his cross-generational inspirations.
The LEROY C vinyl figure is available through www.super7store.com and for more INVISIBLE CREATURE goodness, visit their online home at www.invisiblecreature.com for a full portfolio, silk-screened prints, t-shirts, and more.
Let's start with a rundown of your background in music such as your band DEMON HUNTER?
Before Demon Hunter, I was actually in a band called Training For Utopia, which I started in 1996 with my brother, Ryan. We were inspired by bands like Neurosis, Coalesce, Deadguy, Kiss It Goodbye, Today Is The Day, etc. I barely knew how to play guitar, but we were signed just 6 months after being a band. Tooth & Nail Records released our demo as an EP in 1997 and that’s where it all sorta began. We continued to tour and release albums for about 5 years with TFU. During that era we were also listening to a lot of American thrash metal, ie. Machine Head, Sepultura, Fear Factory, Pantera, Prong, etc. Those bands inspired Ryan and I to start Demon Hunter in 2001.
The band started out as a fun side project while we were focusing on our new design and illustration company at the time (Asterik Studio). We released our first LP in 2002 and it quickly became somewhat of an overnight success. We decided to form a real band, closed up the studio for 2 months and hit the road with our friends. 9 years later, the band has released 6+ albums, toured around the world and has sold almost 500K albums - obviously exceeding any of our expectations. I actually made the decision to step down from the band in 2009 to officially focus on the studio (and fatherhood) full-time.
Ryan continues on, writes all of the music - and is an amazing front man. It's nice to sit back and just be a fan at this point. I'm really proud of what we accomplished with the band and I can't wait to hear what he does next.
What made you change to a graphic design career and found INVISIBLE CREATURE?
Actually, music and art was something we were pursuing simultaneously. We started Asterik Studio in 2001, the same year we started Demon Hunter. After 5 years, we mutually split with our business partners at Asterik Studio (2006), and Ryan and I started Invisible Creature that winter.
Aside from sharing creative talents with your brother, it seems that illustration runs in your family – can you tell us about your grandfather Alfred Paulsen?
Our grandfather was an illustrator at NASA for over 30 years. His career and talent played a huge role in what we wanted to do with our lives. Over the last year or so, we've been posting some of his pieces to our blog for folks to check out. We have hundreds of his sketches, drawings and paintings at the office and hope to someday release a book of his work.
What are your favorite projects that you've worked on as INVISIBLE CREATURE?
We've been extremely lucky in the (nearly) 5 years we've been a company. We've had the opportunity to work on some really exciting and different projects over the years. One of the most gratifying aspects of our job is that we get to experiment and dabble in so many different arenas of art. Not just stylistically, but our client base is as broad and diverse as our interests. Being a multi-disciplinary studio keeps our work fresh and pushes us further each time we start something new.
Favorite projects? That's a tough one, but I'd say working with Foo Fighters is up there. Our relationship with Target is something we cherish as well - all of those projects are just a blast. We have a lot of fun here, it’s hard to narrow it down.
Who are some of your favorite contemporary artists or sources of inspiration?
Gosh, there are so many talented and amazing artists that we admire. As far as illustration goes, much of my contemporary inspiration comes from the animation world. Folks like Lou Romano, Teddy Newton, Scott Wills, Ralph Eggleston, Scott Tilley, Craig McCracken and many others. There’s also Tim Biskup, Gary Taxali, Bob Staake, Peter Brown, House Industries, etc. As far as past sources of inspirations go, I love many artists from the golden era of the 1940’s-1960’s like Mary Blair, The Provensen’s, J.P. Miller, Alvin Lustig, Paul Rand, Herbert Matter, Alex Steinweiss, Jim Flora, etc. Too many to name!
What were your favorite toys as a kid, and what do you collect today?
As a kid, I was like most boys in the 80's. Star Wars, Transformers, He-Man, G.I. Joe, etc. But my very favorite was Lego, by far. We didn't have a ton of dough growing up, so we'd get a lot of toys at thrift stores or garage sales. One of the 'toy defining moments' in our childhood was when our mom scored a massive bag of Lego's at a garage sale for $8 (For some reason, I'll never forget the price). Ryan and I would sit and play for hours upon hours. I now have a 4-year-old son and find myself doing the very same thing 28+ years later.
9 months ago, Target reached out to Invisible Creature and wanted to see if we'd be interested in creating a Lego Gift Card for them - featuring the Target Bullseye dog in buildable form that would be released at Christmas time. Our amazing art director, Ted Halbur (who also happens to be a rabid Lego fan as well) locked us in as illustrators and sold Lego on our style and our 'love of all things brick'. That was a special project for us.
My 'adult' collecting habit started in around 2001/2002. I think my brother got a James Jarvis or Pete Fowler set and we were just hooked. Next came Baseman and Biskup. We weren't really loyal to specific artists (save for the 4 I just named), we just started to buy figures/characters that we thought were cool. I started hitting up estate and garage sales, toy fairs, eBay, etc. looking for any figure or character that caught my eye. My passion for collecting actually played a huge role in my career as an illustrator - I found that my love of toys was influencing the way I was drawing - and ironically reconnecting me with my Grandfather's style.
Who are your favorite toy designers/creators?
Biskup is pretty high up there. Jarvis (more In-Crowd please!), Kaws, Baseman, Pete Fowler. And brown-nosing aside, been a fan of Brian Flynn and Super 7 for quite some time, starting with the Neo-Kaiju series, Mummy Boy and Ghostland. I also collect new and old Disney figures, so whoever sculpted those - thank you!
What are the origins of LEROY C – your first character to be turned into a toy as part of SUPER7’s MONSTER FAMILY line?
I designed a shirt for my friend Dave Cuzner, who runs a fabulous modern design and illustration blog called Grain Edit. The shirt features 7 critters listening intently to a storybook read aloud by a bigger, happy yellow monster. Leroy C. (at the time) didn't have a name and was one of the monsters on the shirt. Leroy is actually my father, grandfather and uncle’s middle name.
About 6 months ago, Brian Flynn reached out to us and mentioned he took a liking to some of our characters and was interested in creating a toy with us - specifically the red spiny critter on the Grain Edit shirt. I actually had a few other creatures in mind for our first toy, but Brian really took a liking to that particular guy. I'm glad he did, as he turned out to be a great figure. The sculptors did an amazing job and really captured my illustration style in a 3-dimensional form - something we had not done before.
We ended up making some tweaks to his proportion and body, and gave him a bit more character - but overall he's the same creature from the shirt.
How does it feel to see your 2-D art translated to 3-D?
Honestly, I was a bit scared in the beginning. I'm obviously a toy nerd, but this was the first time one of my characters was going to be translated into a 3D figure. My style is very simple and flat, so I wasn't sure how it would look. The sculptors did an outstanding job and I approved the sculpt each step of the way, with zero changes. As for challenges, I am sure the sculptors had some with his spines, but I can't say for certain. It looked amazing from the very start.
Will we see more figures from IC in the near future?
I actually can't say at the moment, but we have 2 new figures arriving in April. Super 7 is involved this time as well ... and we're really excited about them.
From out of a dream, the Skullwalker blissfully wanders the Earth, oblivious to the destruction his giant footsteps may cause! The Skullwalker is cast in solid bronze, in a numbered edition of 30 pieces.
Brian Flynn sat down with Spanky Stokes to discuss the Skullwalker, check out the interview here. Brian Flynn's Skullwalker sleepwalk's into our world Friday, April 8th, 11am Pacific. 3" tall solid bronze, $300.
This just in - Strange pink beast seen in the woods, sleeping soundly. Fearsome roars from deep in the trees were, upon closer examination, determined to be snores...
The forest-dwelling Clear Pink Garuru might seem scary, but he just wants to be friends, we think. We'll be sure to ask just as soon as he wakes up. Available now, $30 each.
A ferocious beast returns! The Red Jade Mongolion sows fear and mayhem throughout, serving only the D.A.R.K. desires of the evil Snakes of Infinity...
L'Amour Supreme's beast from the east is double cast in ivory inside translucent red vinyl with a dark red paint rub. Don't be fooled by appearances, while the Red Jade Mongolion seems as though it were carved from stone, he just may get you when you least expect. Available Friday, April 8th, 11am Pacific, $65 each.
Super7's loveable mascot, Mummy Boy, tries to keep these monsters in line, but gets all wrapped up himself. Super7's own Brian Flynn collaborates with Naoya Ikeda of Gargamel with the Silver Camo Mummy Boy!
Naoya's spray pattern of green, purple, gold and blue on translucent silver vinyl gives Mummy Boy a fancy new change of clothes from his ancient dusty bandages. Mummy Boy is ready to step out on the town Friday, April 15th, $60 each.
Seattle-based design and illustration studio Invisible Creature is coming to Super7! Invisible Creature will be showing a collection of prints and posters, along with their own member of the Monster Family, Leroy C.
Opening Saturday, April 23rd, 6pm Pacific.
