1. WHAT CHARACTERICS MAKE THESE TOYS SO DESIRABLE? WHO IS TIM BISKUP? TIM BISKUP Just a guy who likes to make things. WHAT ARE YOUR INFLUENCES? HOW DO YOU START ANY PROJECT? WHAT DOES ‘URBAN VINYL’ MEAN TO YOU? Lately, modular design, knives and swords, kind girls, drawing all the time, just taking in random images and figuring out what they mean to me. Everything starts with drawing. I fill a sketchbook about once a month. I also draw on big pieces of paper whenever I can. It helps to draw in different scale because I draw very differently depending on how far my hand and arm move. I have not done a lot of illustration or animation work, lately. I love being free to do whatever I want and I get that when I’m just drawing and painting for my fine art work. I try to pick out the sketches that have the most energy and then figure out how to turn them into finished paintings without loosing the energy. Sometimes that means projecting the sketch onto a canvas. Sometimes I’ll make printouts and transfer them with graphite. I think the best case scenario is when I just do the sketch directly on the canvas with a brush without transferring a sketch. It’s really hard to do it that way, though. I have to be in a very specific state of mind. I usually sketch for about an hour and then pick up a brush and go for it. After the basic shapes are in place I start to add details straight out of my head. Sometimes I pin sketches up around the canvas for reference. I tend to get closer and closer to the surface as I work. At first I stand back a lot to try to take in the whole thing. Near the end I am usually right up close. That’s when I sip scotch and relax while I work. I think that term came from someplace else. I got interested in toy making from looking at old Japanese monster toys and mid-century design. Urban vinyl seems to be more about street art and style. It’s cool, but it’s just not my world. I’d like to think it’s pure aesthetics. I know that is my first preference when I buy art. I want it to be something that I will want to keep looking at. There are a lot of conceptual ideas incorporated into the designs, but that feels like a secondary concern. Why do you think this phenomenon is taking place now and what direction is it moving? It’s a very fun format. I’ve always liked good sculpture and plastic offers a lot of options for color and shape. It’s inexpensive enough that almost anyone can afford to buy it. I’ve been fooling around with bronze and wood lately and it’s also really fun. I think the most interesting work going on in the toy world is where people are adding interactive elements to their designs. Toys that make you want to pick them up and play with them are the most successful in my opinion. Tim (born September 21, 1967 in Santa Monica, California) realized he wanted to become an artist when he visited the Pompidou Center in 1984 with his family. He enrolled in Otis College Art and Design's Fine Art department in 1986 only to drop out in 1988. He stated in an interview that he was frustrated with the fact that there was an excessive emphasis on conceptualizing art, rather learning how to make art. HOW DO YOU CROSS OVER FROM DOING THIS TO DOING THAT? TELL US A LITTLE ABOUT YOUR PROCESS. (ILLUSTRATION, PAINTING, ANIMATION, ETC)