Collectable Kid

I found this customs artist awhile back on Myspace and we liked his work so much here at Wreckhouse we just had to get in touch with him. Well we got an opportunity to sit down and talk with him about his customs. You can see some his work and even contact him about custom work here www.Myspace.com/CollectableKid.

1. First off can you tell us who you are and what you do?

Ryan Purvis, the artist behind Collectable Kid and one of the biggest geeks you'll ever meet.

2. Who and what are some of your inspirations?

Some of my biggest inspirations come from comics, film, animation, and of course toys. There's just this wonderful world of infinite possibilities in those fictional universes to explore, tap into, and expand upon. The most notable inspirations were my grandparents in both art in general and love for toys. Both of my grandmothers were painters. One grandfather made wooden toys for awhile and the other has been an avid collector of antique metal toy trucks. I guess it just runs in the family.

3. What tools and equipment do you use?

I use a lot of the standard sculpting tools like dental picks, exacto knives, sandpaper. My dremel tool is my best friend when I'm working. I also work with some less conventional tools like broken kitchen utensils, odd scraps of just about anything, and, uhm... rocks. As far as sculpting compounds, I primarily work with either Super Sculpey or Aves Apoxie Sculpt.

4. What is your creative process like? Do you plan out what you're going to do first or do you just jump right in?

I usually just start by getting together visual references, sometimes I'll draw out the design myself. I get all my materials together and just start.

5. When did you get into sculpting/customs? Were you always interested in comics and cartoons and such?

I've been a comic book/cartoon geek all my life, I used to be primarily into 2D illustration - in fact I hated sculpting in high school. It wasn't really until after college that I really got into sculpting, prior to that I had done some simple repaints of figures, but nothing complex or noteworthy.

6. Do you have professional schooling or are you a self taught sculptor?

I studied art all throughout high school and following that, Studied illustration at the Columbus College of Art & Design. My sculpting skills are all self taught, be it from books or good old fashioned trial and error.

7. What are some of your favorite pieces that you've done?

To date, I'd have to say my Ed McGuinness style Thundercats Lion-O, a Chris Bachalo style Sabertooth, Legends style Cade Skywalker (from star Wars Legacy), and a Neca Ninja turtles style Casey Jones. The most interesting figure I've made would have to be my Barack Obama as Superman.

8. How long does it usually take for you to do a custom?

Anywhere from a week to a month. It really depends on the complexity of the piece, the size, and how many projects I have going on at once. I have a bad habit of working on like 5 or 10 projects at a time, haha.

9. Do you only use preexisting figures or do you do full sculpt figures as well?

I do both, but I get a lot more commissions for customs. This coming year I plan on placing the majority of my focus on scratch built work.

10. Do you have any words of wisdom for aspiring sculptors/custom artists out there?

I won't give the generic, "never give up! You can do it!" pep talk that I've heard all too often, obviously determination is a no brainer. Be it customizing or sculpting, it's a rough competitive business, and not everyone will be successful, regardless of how talented you are. Do it for the love of the work. If you want to get better, you have to devote a lot of time and hard work, and it isn't going to happen overnight. Everyone has to start somewhere, and that's usually the bottom.

Also, some people may disagree with me on this, but you don't need to go to school for art to be a successful artist. Some of the best artists never went to college. I'm not condoning dropping out of school of course, just that what you need most is a desire to learn and to use the resources you do have available to you.

11. Where can people get a hold of you for custom or commission work?

If you have a myspace page, contact me through my page at www.Myspace.com/CollectableKid or email me at visual_nature@yahoo.com.

12. Seeing as we deal with movies as well as comics, what are some of your favorite movies and comic book characters?

Superman has to be my all time favorite superhero of all time. I could on on for days talking about my favorite movies, but at the top of my list more recently would have to be The Dark Knight.

I'm really looking forward to the new Star Trek, Terminator:Salvation, and the Wolverine movie. After the disappointment that was X-Men 3, I'm really hoping for a revitalization of the franchise. And did I mention Watchmen?

13. Any special projects coming up?

Yes...I'm not saying what though, but it's definitely one of my largest, most ambitious projects to date. Also I have a baby on the way, so I'm definitely psyched about that.

--Interview by Shaun May