Status Update: Where The Pop Sculpture Authors Are Now, Part 2

I promised this a few months ago, when I spotlighted Tim Bruckner's upcoming projects, but I wanted to shine the spotlight on a couple of my other co-author Rubén Procopio's in-the-works works! The former Disney animator (and provider of Pop Sculpture's bottomless supply of illustrations) has some beautiful items coming out that showcase both his traditional and digital sculpting, and it was seeing Tron: Legacy and a kick-ass new trailer for Green Hornet that finally inspired me to get off my duff and write something.

Rubén does work for several companies, but I first became a fan of his work through Electric Tiki. He handles much of the creative duties on their Classic Heroes line, and now that the company has the Disney license, the line is firing on all cylinders. His glow-in-the-dark statue of Tron from the original Tron from the original movie (created digitally, of course) should hit stores early next year, as well as the statue of Woody from Toy Story that he created from the original digital files.

I'm psyched for both of those, having really enjoyed Tron: Legacy and Toy Story 3, but I'm also looking forward to Rubén's Classic Heroes take on Doc Savage. Despite having only read a couple of Doc Savage books and a handful of comics, I've still got a weird love of this character, and have been meaning to go back and watch the movie they made about him. This piece looks great, although I kinda wish Rubén had gone with his other concept sketch, of Doc riding a shark, because that's just insane.

Rubén must really be feeling the Tron nowadays, because he's also creative director of Grand Jester's line of Disney busts, which has just added that movie's Flynn, complete with jai-alai hand, to their line-up, along with Prince Dastan from Prince of Persia.

Flynn is based on Rubén's design but sculpted by Dave Cortes, but Rubén handled design and sculpting duties on Dastan. Both should be coming out next year.

Rubén also worked on the digital sculpts for Factory Entertainment's classically styled Green Hornet and Kato action figures, which will act as companions to their toys based on the new Seth Rogen movie, which hits next year. Can't wait -- for the movie and these toys!

Another Electric Tiki piece, this sexy Tinkerbell (designed by Tracy Mark Lee, but sculpted by Rubén), is part of a line of sexy animated Disney leading ladies, including the Little Mermaid, Sally from Nightmare Before Christmas and Minnie Mouse. That's right, a sexy Minnie Mouse.

And finally, I can't believe this isn't out yet, but Rubén handled sculpting chores on this awesome animated-style maquette of Spike from Buffy the Vampire Slayer. With vamp and non-vamp heads! I love that Electric Tiki is doing this line, and I hope it continues. With Rubén on sculpts!

Most of these pieces are available through Sideshow Collectibles.

THE JAILHOUSE; Behind the scenes, Behind the bars - PART 1 of 3

"As the flames spread throughout the city, pirates locked in the town jail are desperate to escape before their underground dungeon turns into an inferno. The local constabulary is nowhere to be seen. Only a mangy mutt is around to witness their plight, and he holds the keys to their cells in his mouth. The pirates try to lure the dog within their reach so they can grab the keys and attempt an escape. 'Here, give us the keys, ya scrawny little beast!'" – Ruben Procopio

The Jailhouse Scene statue, based on the Pirates of the Caribbean ride at Walt Disney World, is unique in many ways, among them is the distinction of being the only statue to have employed the talents of three of Pop Sculpture's contributors: Ruben Procopio, Tim Bruckner and Kat Sapene. Ruben designed the piece, Tim sculpted it and Kat painted it. A trifecta!

Ruben faced some interesting challenges in crafting a design that encapsulated the Disney ride experience, as well as creating a backview the public had never seen. "I had to maintain the focus on the characters and their interaction while giving a sense of the mass of their surroundings without overwhelming them," Ruben noted. He succeeded beautifully.

Following Ruben’s designs, and over the course of several conversations, Tim began roughing out the figures in clay. "The original figures themselves are like life-sized puppets with limited expression and movements," Tim said. "The genius of the ride is the full-on experience of lighting, sound and motion that creates, for the viewer, a sensory impression that goes well beyond its component parts. My job was to try and sculpt figures that felt like the ride, not portraits of the audio-animatronics."

Once the scale of the figures was set, Tim built sculpture stands for each figure with a set of wooden dowels as stand-ins for the prison bars. "This was one of the most technically challenging pieces I've ever done," Tim said. "Given the size of the piece and the production material (porcelain), I had to make adjustments to allow the figures to be manufactured without comprising their look. Early on, Ruben and I understood that simple things, like the way the pirates held onto the bars, would have to be modified to work with the various materials used and to anticipate the slight variables that arise from combining porcelain with other materials.”

DESIGN: DON'T LEAVE ANY IDEAS IN THE INKWELL

As you'll see in our Pop Sculpture book, we first had to come up with a design for the Athena statue and the Thor action figure. I not only wanted to have fun with them, but also try out many variations. When I start a design, I tap into gut feelings and do plenty of research. Of course, we all have our own style, particular preferences, inspirations and design sense that we call our own and apply that to our art work as well. I have an animation background so you'll see that influence in my work.

When I sit down and start to draw, I have an expectation that the first concept that comes out will be the "one," as I tend to see the pose in my mind's eye. Well, in some instances your first instinct is best, but you'll soon find out that you'll want to explore more. Don't fall in love with the first thing you do, and don't give up after five minutes either, thinking "I can't do this." On the contrary, push yourself and keep going. When people ask me how do you do that, I usually say "Go to the hardware store and buy a bucket of patience!" 

Allow yourself to warm up, half-hour to an hour or so. Soon, you'll find you're on a roll, like a well-oiled machine. One idea begets another, you start to have "aha" moments, and ideas will link one to another.  Design elements will start to come together. Don't stop. You'll know at a certain point, when you've reached a comfort level, and realize you've done all you can. You've left no ideas in the inkwell!

Now, look at everything you've come up with, as you'll have quite a variety. Sift through and pick the best ones, say the top five or so --- you also don't want to overwhelm your client with too many options. 

Here as an example are some samples for a Zorro statue I did for Electric Tiki's Classic Heroes. An interesting little back story: At the time, Alex Toth was still alive, and we had become good friends. If you've never heard of Alex Toth, please look up his work! He's been coined the Artist's Artist, a master of design and storytelling.  He's one of the all time comic, animation and design masters! You ever seen Space Ghost?  That's Alex' design.  

Well, Alex also illustrated the classic Zorro comics back in the '50s. Who better than him to ask about Zorro? I had told him about my Zorro project and asked him if he had any ideas for a statue. One day, while I was visiting at his home he showed me some sketches he had come up with. One stood out: Zorro simply standing over a roof top, elegant, calm and very Zorro-like. I slapped my forehead and realized, that's the one! So we decided to go with that pose --- it didn't hurt to say that the pose was inspired by an Alex Toth sketch, either!  Once our Pop Sculpture book is out, we hope to share many more designs that didn't make the cut, so stay tuned and remember... "Don't leave any ideas in the ink well! " - Rubén Procopio

CONCEPT DESIGNS

Almost all statues and action figures start out the same way, with concept designs. Its 2D brainstorming, and nobody does it better than Ruben. Here are just a few of his concept designs for our Thor action figure. We narrowed our choices in considering the aesthetic and practical elements in bringing Thor into the 3D world.