Spotlight On: Custom Vinylmation Artist Ryan Marella

Destination Vinylmation: We will let the Princess go first. You designed the Ariel vinyl the way I'd love to see more artists go, especially with the female characters. You used the mold as a canvas and just painted pictures on it rather than turning the whole thing into a character. Is this an approach you like to use?
Ryan Marella: I wanted to try something different from the normal way of painting a Vinylmation character which I already made in a 3" version of Ariel. I find it fun and challenging  to try and use the Vinylmation as a canvas, I would like to create more customs in this way.

DV: I'm thinking because of her hair, Ariel might be a tough character to draw. But on the other hand, you don't have to worry about legs and feet. Where does she rate in terms of difficulty?
RM: Ariel's hair was a challenge, but it was a lot of fun painting all the different shades of red together, in a difficulty rating from 1-10 ...10 being the most difficult, I would probably rank it a 6.5.....

DV: What was the most challenging part of this custom?
RM: For this  custom It would have to be the colors, getting the the right blends of light and dark was a bit challenging.

DV: Now we will move over to the dark side. I Star Wars Weekends, I really enjoyed the series of paintings that featured various characters like Vader or Boba Fett and showed other characters in the reflection. That is the approach you took here and it looks fantastic. You did the same thing with your Spiderman. What attracts you to this style?
RM: Darth Vader was a character I've been meaning to create on a 9". In honor of SW2 releasing soon, I wanted to paint a similar one from the Spiderman custom I made before.

I remembered a painting I saw at D-Street of  Star Wars characters and used that image to create my 9". The style of the reflections in the eyes gives you that illusion which makes it come alive in way that makes it pop a little more.

DV: It seems like it might offer and extra challenge to the artist. If other artists were to attempt this, do you have any tips on what to focus on?
RM: This was a challenge to create, but I think each artists out there should focus on sketching the Image and how they can incorporate it in the canvas they are using. It should be a fun and relaxing experience with no time limitations......just let your  imaginations guide you and anything is possible.