The Sculptor: The Hero of the Artist
by Steve McKinnis
stevemckinnis.com
Unbeknownst to most folk, or of no thought at all is the person behind the Mattel, Hot Toy or Tonner Sculpt of a collectible doll, sometimes a specific celebrity. Many of these companies, like Franklin Mint and Disney too, don’t list, reveal or credit the sculptor of any given doll. More often than not the sculptor like many artists who work on the preliminary dolls (or prototype) have signed a contract prohibiting them from showing the work they have done or even being able to show or post what they did do to any form of media. Be it Facebook, twitter or anything else, they are prohibited from exhibiting their part in the process.
by Steve McKinnis
stevemckinnis.com
Unbeknownst to most folk, or of no thought at all is the person behind the Mattel, Hot Toy or Tonner Sculpt of a collectible doll, sometimes a specific celebrity. Many of these companies, like Franklin Mint and Disney too, don’t list, reveal or credit the sculptor of any given doll. More often than not the sculptor like many artists who work on the preliminary dolls (or prototype) have signed a contract prohibiting them from showing the work they have done or even being able to show or post what they did do to any form of media. Be it Facebook, twitter or anything else, they are prohibited from exhibiting their part in the process.
Noel Cruz has often stated and still states unequivocally,
that the basis for the best possible repaint of a celebrity is the underlying sculpt.
He has also painted many dolls where in that particular sculpt wasn’t ever
intended to be a specific person (living or dead) and the mastery of his craft
is very apparent on both formats.
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Cruz often gives credit where a doll company and production
company would not: to the nameless sculptor who continues to do amazing and
detailed work but without any namesake recognition. So credit must end up going
to the doll company that produced the said doll that ended up being stripped of
its factory paint, then restyled, sometimes re-rooted, then repainted.
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| A generic sculpt Barbie Becomes Oscar Winner Angelina Jolie-Pitt |
Some generic Barbies or other dolls that become someone other than the original intention of the doll company follow (as well as directly above with Angelina Jolie-Pitt from a Basic Barbie Sculpt) below is a Mattel Ghost Barbie as Farrah Fawcett (a non-smiling version) and a Fashion Royalty repainted and styled to become Bo Derek.
