Action figures have long been a perfect compliment to comic books, since every kid (or kid at heart) has that natural desire to act out adventures with their favorite heroes off the drawn page. Every so often, a unique style of figure comes along that breaks the mold, so to speak. Each Saturday, Donny B will be showcasing various offerings from Art Asylum’s take on the ‘block figure’, with a weekly spotlight on Minimates.
Longevity in the toy market often necessitates growth and experimentation. Over the years, Art Asylum has managed to infuse a steady progression of new ideas and tweaks into their approach toward Minimate design, essentially breathing new life into their releases.
Few characters provide a better comparison for this concept than Wolverine – especially when you contrast the release of his classic yellow and blue costume in the Giant Sized X-Men Boxed Set back in 2004 with the retooled approach of the same costume in Marvel Wave 28 in 2009.
Last week’s image centered attention on the original Minimate of Wolverine’s iconic look. That focus is brought to fruition here by displaying the evolved product that 5 years of AA’s artistic tweaking has produced:
Behind the Image:
Again, like last week, I wanted to produce an image that was decidedly photoshopped. This time, however, I wanted less of a “graphic design” look and more of a solid and slightly epic look.
From the beginning I imagined the compliment of Jim Lee’s masterful artwork behind the Minimate itself, but it was only through experimentation that I stumbled on the idea of fog to complete the overall feel of the image. It was simple enough to pull off, utilizing nothing more than “cloud” picture tubes and varying layer transparencies.
On Ebay: Wolverine
wow. that fog looks totally convincing! sweet design work
Comment by Doorman — July 31, 2010 @ 4:19 pm