VINYL DS Blog - Interview with Vinylmation Artist Oskar Mendez

[thejessta]

I respect anyone who has an office filled with toys. Click here for the entire article and more pictures!

From The Buzz:

Behind the Scenes: One of the Disney Vinylmation Villains Artists Shares His Tale

By Amy Lin, UGA Online Marketing DisneyStore.com, Jan 27, 2011 4:33 PM

If you haven't received the news yet (or heard the blood-curdling screams yet), Disney Vinylmation Villains are coming to invade your neighborhood Disney Store on January 31st. They've already invaded our Disney Store Headquarters office in Pasadena and we've been busy trying to clean up after them. I guess that's what you get when you invite 12 of Disney's darkest superstars. So in honor of this week's announcement of the Vinlymation Villains release I decided to tiptoe my way over to the creative team and visit Oskar Mendez, character artist for Disney Stores and artist behind the creepy crawly Kaa Vinylmation Villain. Out of all the desk's I have seen here at the office, Oskar's is on top of the list for being the most fun and having the most creative funk. There is no space left unused- he has Post-its with character drawings on beams, toys hanging from his lamp, and art books shelved away next to him. As a lover of art and design myself, I talked to Oskar for a full 2 hours or so soaking in all the artistically inspiring words he had to share. I also made sure to snap a lot of pictures to share with all of you!



A: When did you first become interested in art? Where did it all begin?
O: Ever since I was small I wanted to be an artist. I was very influenced by my dad, Gerald Mendez, who is actually a Senior Character Artist here. My Dad used to work at a top design t-shirt company hand airbrushing designs. I used to work with him on t-shirt illustrations, vinyl stickers and even airbrushing Harley Davidsons! One day a guy came over to teach my dad how to use Adobe Photoshop, so while my dad was learning the program, I'd sit in and learn too. When I was in 11th grade I visited Art Center College of Design for the first time- my dad always talked about it. When I was at junior college my professor was a graduate from there. I took figure drawing and head drawing classes for one year at my junior college then applied to Art Center and got in!

A: What valuable lessons did you learn while at art school?
O: The first half of my education I learned how the art master's learned- drawing by hand, mixing colors, drawing from life. The second half of my education I learned how to take the skills I learned and experiment with them, modernize them. There is so much importance in learning the foundations first before experimenting on your own. I really valued school- it taught me how to think. Some of the teachers I had were completely weird but I learned how to think in different ways. One of the homework assignments I had for a semester was to draw 500 heads! It sounds crazy, but it really challenged me and I love being challenged.

A: How did you come to work for Disney Store as a character artist?
O: After my dad got hired at Disney Store his boss noticed some of my artwork. At that time I showed him a watercolor pieces I did of Scar and Donald Duck. He loved it and I was asked to come in for an interview! In the 2 weeks before my interview I redid my entire portfolio! I was so nervous and I wanted everything to be just right!

A: Well it all paid off because here you are!
O: Yes! The interview went very well. Smiles modestly.

A: What projects do you work on at Disney Store Headquarters?
O: I design Vinylmation and right now I am also responsible for creating the look of Toy Story products for spring and summer.

A: How has working at Disney helped you grow as an artist?
O: At Art Center your sketchbook is more prized than your final piece because you can tell how a person thinks by how they sketch. Model sheets are the sketches artists do in the process of developing a character. I love looking at model sheets and watching the movies. From model sheets I can see what the artist was thinking and through watching the animated movies I analyze the shapes of the characters. At this point Oskar pulls out a book of model sheets for Disney's Tarzan and shows me. I collect almost every single Pixar art book- I love to know the process artists go through in creating their characters!

Click here for the rest of the article and more pictures!

 

[moo_moo_uk]

wow thats gr8, i also wish i had an office like that!!