How to Create an Urban Vinyl Art Toy

Decorate your vinyl doll any way you want.

Urban vinyl art toys are blank dolls made specifically for do-it-yourself customization. You can paint them, attach clay parts to them, even make clothes for them. You're only limited by your imagination. They got their start in Asia, where artists use the dolls as a medium for their work. Then in 2002, Robert Budnitz opened Kidrobot, a store specializing in urban vinyl toys in San Francisco. The toys allow you to create a one-of-a-kind design, but before you can let your creative juices flow, there are some tips you should know about.

Difficulty:

Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need

• Vinyl toy
• Soap
• Water
• Sandpaper
• Primer
• Pencil, pen or permanent marker
• Spray paint for plastic
• Acrylic paint
• Artist's paintbrush
• Clear coat finish
• Masking Tape

1. Wash the toy with soap and water to remove any excess oils. This is all the prep work you have to do before creating your toy, but you can also go the extra mile if you are trying to create your masterpiece. In addition to cleaning, lightly sandpaper the toy's surface to ensure that there are no rough spots, particularly in design areas that will be painted. You can also apply primer paint to the doll's surface as another safety measure.

2. Sketch your design on the toy with a pencil, pen or permanent marker.

3. Paint your toy. It's best to paint one color at a time and to use masking tape to mark off the areas you are not painting to avoid spoiling your design. You can use spray-on paint for plastic, or you can brush on acrylic paint, which gives you more control over smaller details.

4. Use a clear coat finish to prevent paint, ink and other applied media from smearing.

Tips & Warnings

• Get creative. You don't have to just paint your toy; you can use a variety of tools to add parts to your toy or even restructure it. For example, Use a craft knife if you plan on cutting into the toy, or make appendages with bake-on clay or wood.

References

• Fast Company; The Artists of Urban Vinyl; Kevin Ohanessian
• Kidrobot: About Paul Budnitz

Resources

• Kidrobot: Munny World