Custom KAWS Dunny.

Sorry about the recent bombardment of KAWS-related posts. Much like how young children go through their "cowboys and indians" phase, I'm going through my "KAWS" phase. I have some other projects and films in the works as well, but more details will come later.



One of Brian Donnelley's most sought after vinyl toys is his "companion" figure. The piece loosely resembles a zombified Mickey Mouse character with a skull for a head and X's for eyes. On eBay, KAWS Companions can go from anywhere between $1,000 to $1,500, so it's no surprise people love this design. One day, I hope to add one to my collection, but for the time being, the cost is way too much. But alas, there is a short term solution to feeding my KAWS appetite, a custom KAWS Dunny.

I've seen it done once before on Flickr, but in the black/white mono color scheme. So with the help of my girlfriend, who is a master of clay sculpting and detailed painting, we decided to make our own. We used multiple photos for reference and began sculpting the teeth, cross bones, and buttons. The next day we began primering and painting. A few hours of meticulous detailed painting and we were done. Jenny did a great job on all the little accents, including the iconic KAWS X's, which I think she got down perfectly.

So now, even though we don't have a real Companion to add to our collection, at least we have a 3" custom version. Because we had so much fun making the custom dunny, we plan to make the two other colorways (black and mono) in the next few weeks!

Below are some of the "making of" photos for our custom KAWS Dunny!





























And here he is in all his glory.





And here he is in our collection.

"Rise and Shine"

In an earlier blog post, I mentioned that I was working on a short film for a class I was taking at UC Santa Cruz. Well, I'm done. Boy, does it feel good!



This film was a challenge to say the least, but that was sort of the idea. What's the point of making a new film if it's just like one you've already made? So for this film, I wanted to merge both live-action footage with stop-frame footage into one connected narrative. My other challenge was to stop frame a person, rather than a mound of clay or an inanimate object.

I definitely cannot take all the credit. This film was a collaboration between a few highly talented individuals. The main actress Kat Brown was as dedicated as they come. She had to perform every movement in the stop frame bit with her eyes closed, as well as having to keep her body extremely still. I still don't know how we were able to pull off some of the movements that we did in the film. Jennifer Kehl, my girlfriend and animator, spent as much time as I did behind the camera grueling over the animations of all the objects you see moving around onscreen (i.e. iPod, toothbrush, bagels, etc.). She also was a huge help in coaching Kat on how to move in slowed down movements. Lastly, David Lockwood did a brilliant job in creating an original score for the film. The music is phenomenal! I was honored when my teacher asked if it was copyrighted because I guess it sounded that good! I cannot wait to work with these individuals again on future projects!

A big thank you goes out to all the extras and people who made this film a reality. I'm extremely proud of the way it turned out. I hope you will enjoy it as much as we enjoyed making it for you!