Art Whore

Article – Five Artists Involved in Nerviswrek’s ‘Drone Blank’ Custom Show Discuss Their Submissions

13 November 2018

The ‘Drone Blank’ is a platform art toy designed and made by American artist Gabriel Rivas aka Nerviswrek. Platform toys are unpainted toys, usually of a simple design, which are made for the purpose of being customised – kinda like a blank canvas in toy form. What separates Nervis’ ‘Drone Blanks’ from other well known mass manufactured platform toys such as the ‘Dunny’ from Kid Robot is that the ‘Done Blanks’ are all hand made by Nervis himself. This places the Drone Blank in a wholly unique position as the only hand-made platform toy! A true testament to Nervis DIY ethic, sense of community, and craftsmanship!

To celebrate the release of the ‘Drone Blank’ Nervis has put together an amazing and diverse group show featuring 46 artists from all over the world. The artists involved all got a chance to custom a ‘Drone Blank’, and present it to the world – with the show happening at this years Designer Con from November 16th to the 18th. It is not to be missed!

In honor of Nervis’ achievement, and the upcoming show, we thought it would be nice to ask five of the artists who are involved in the show to present their works and also answer some questions about their art, their approach to customising the ‘Drone Blanks’, their thoughts on art toys generally, and some general gossip about Nervis!

So without further ado, read our interview with, and check the ‘Drone Blank’ customs from artists Jason Forbes, Under Our Knives, Dr Barbados, Tasha Zimich, and Nasty Neil of ‘Wasted Talent’, below…

(i) For those at home – please explain a bit about yourself and your art…

Jason Forbes (AKA JFo): 

Jason Forbes is a designer, maker, customizer and mixed-media artist from Seattle. Often integrating custom designed and programmed lighting and other technology in his pieces, he strives to continually one-up himself always experimenting and learning new materials, machines, methods and techniques.
He also finds it strange to talk about himself in the third person, but seems to have come to grips with that since nobody else would write this for him. He’s gonna stop that now.
In addition to the Drone Blank Show, you find me and my work at Designercon in booth #2311 (with Josh Mayhem). I’ll also have limited edition collaborations with several other artists available around Dcon. Artists include Horrible Adorables, Scott Tolleson, The Bots x UVD toys, Josh Mayhem and Nerviswr3k.

Under Our Knives: 

I’ve been doing graphic design for about 20 years, worked in several companies designing things such as wedding invitations, letterpress books, and generally doing very “affluent” artwork. My interest, however, is in gritty comic art, tattoos, low-budget horror movies, creepy imagery, the exploration of excess, bizarre tv programming, and psychology. These two competing personalities pressed together so hard for years, that I knew I had to create artwork that was more internally fulfilling, and I would do whatever it would take to accomplish it.
We were introduced to epoxy clay about the time we learned about the art toy galleries near NY. I tried out every version of epoxy clay I could get my hands on, Greenstuff, Milliput, Freeform air, Apoxie sculpt, Magic sculpt, and landed on the last two for my preference. I’ve always loved sculpting but I was unimpressed by how fragile, messy, and easily damaged they were, usually at multiple steps during the process. I pulled out some small riffler tools that I used for a stone carving class at MICA years ago and applied much of the same thinking to this stone-like material.
Armed with the same tools I used to grind away limestone in an incredibly tedious manner, I started making some pieces.
I have a passion for things incredibly tedious, to a fault. The first munny I customized with epoxy clay, I remember adding and subtracting, filing and sanding for a solid 2 weeks, totaling about 39 hours. It was then I knew that this was something I probably had the patience for.
I’m always improving my process, I’m always looking to be more efficient. I want to produce things that I would be driven to own, no matter what. I don’t ever want this to be easy. I want my efforts to be apparent in the work that I produce, regardless of whether or not the individual likes my work or subject matter.
My art tends to fluctuate between the absurd and the creepy, and sometimes they both meet. Whether it’s a burger monster, a disembodied clown resting on a giant coil of his extra long tongue, or a skull-faced woman with tendrils sprouting from her chest, it all belongs in the same place in my opinion. Some are trying very hard to be upsetting, others are content with just being playful, while spider legs, giant teeth, strained expressions of forced happiness, implications of mental anguish are some things that I see reoccurring.

Dr Barbados: 

I have been sculpting/model making for about 7 years now. I got the bug when a friend of mine asked me if i wanted to customise a kid robot figure for a charity show which sold almost as soon as the show opened. That gave me the kick i needed and haven’t looked back since.
My work usually revolves around pop culture characters and reference because movies and PC games are my obsession.
I generally get an idea in my head during the middle of the night and have to build it immediately the following morning to get the idea out of my head to make room for more, sounds weird i know but it works for me.

Tasha Zimich: 

I’m a Canadian-based painter & illustrator with a penchant for making cute, creepy artwork. I studied at Simon Fraser University’s School for the Contemporary Arts, and began painting & exhibiting custom toys.
I’m most interested in the unlikely intersections where fantasy & horror, and whimsy & the macabre combine.

Nasty Neil of ‘Wasted Talent’:

My name is Nasty Neil. I have an art/clothing company called “Wasted Talent”. I’m a multi talented one man team.
I’m also funny and cool as a mutha fucka. Watch my stories on instagram for some of the best real life everyday entertainment. @WSTDTLNT You’re gonna love it. I promise. I’m crazy. And I’m the number 1 stunter.

(Photos below of Jason Forbes’ custom Drone Blank figure)

(ii) How are you approaching the Drone Blank platform artistically with your piece in the show?

Jason Forbes (AKA JFo): 

As soon as I saw the blank, I knew exactly what I wanted to do, but the original idea evolved into something that feels much different from that first picture in my mind.

Under Our Knives: 

I felt it was only right that the subject matter of this first custom matched the background theme of the character I first created. An adorable little straight-jacketed creature with a forceful smile, probably not put there by choice.
There’s an odd juxtaposition of the drone blank where it’s just as creepy as it is adorable, and I wanted to play off that as well. It could be a baby animal, or it could be a maggot, depending on your perspective. This character has a hellish landscape beneath him, restrained by belts and cloth, with tentacles that could pull him under at any moment. He also has a sense that maybe there is some peace to this position he is in, and a sense it may also just be in his head.

Dr Barbados: 

To be honest I am going totally overboard with this piece without changing the overall silhouette of the Drone Blank to much. It’s such a nice flowing shape that hiding it under an inch of clay would be doing it a disservice.
The moment I saw it I though dragon so I had to go down that road.

Tasha Zimich: 

I approached the Drone Blank show with the same mentality I approach all my paintings, by asking myself “How would I want this to look, if I were going to keep it forever?”. I make things the way I’d like them to be, as if I were going to collect them myself.
When I reflected on the shape of the Drone, it reminded me of one of my favorite cartoon characters from Invader Zim. I took inspiration from the original character design, and interpreted it for the Drone platform.

Nasty Neil of ‘Wasted Talent’:

I’m making Shamu, the Killer Whale from Sea World.
The overall design is simplistic. I wanted to keep my sculpting flow with the original sculpt, nice and smooth, but still make it innovative enough to show you what your imagination can do.

(Work in progress photo below of Under Our Knives’ custom Drone Blank figure)

(iii) What do you think is the current status and role of the platform-toy in the overall designer toy scene?

Jason Forbes (AKA JFo): 

For me, the platforms are an amazing opportunity to share my work with an existing fan base.
That said, I will customize whatever you’ve got, bring it on.

Under Our Knives:

I think currently the platform-toy is an ingenious way to both encourage creativity, but also done so inside a box of implied boundaries. It fosters creativity but also limits the artist in what they can, and should accomplish. If your piece is totally over the line, perhaps you did an amazing job, or maybe it’s a little too far removed from the platform.
In my opinion, the platform-toy reminds us all that while artists have their own unique path, sometimes we all have to follow the same rules, and I think there’s something beautiful about that.
I also think it’s a service to consumers who can see the platform-toy, see all of the ways it has been used, and they are floored by the possibilities that something so featureless can produce. All of which builds a healthy art scene.
Currently, there are only a few platform-toys that are popular, and I’m in favor of additional platforms to give creators more canvases to work with.

Dr Barbados: 

I really like the Drone and I believe we need more blanks in the scene, the majority of blanks I use are Kid Robot or the White Cell from Plastic Cell. Although I love to work on them they don’t suit every project and we need more variety in forms. Vinyl or resin, it makes little difference to me.

Tasha Zimich:

Platform toys make valuables contribution to the designer toy world on many levels.
At the surface, they’re the objects of our affections, and the building blocks of the collector community’s passion. For creative individuals, they’re amazing starting points to contribute new perspectives to. And for creative producers, they’re a vehicle to tell our stories, share our insights, and connect with new people.
I think it’s great that a whole community and economy can be perpetuated on our shared love for toys.

Nasty Neil of ‘Wasted Talent’:

I think its one of the best fucking things in the world for an artist to create something with.
A canvas is cool, but a toy is soooo much cooler, especially when it’s big. Toys as platforms are pretty much limitless to what you can do to them. It’s challenging, fun and different. I like being different.
STUNT ON ‘EM!

(Work in progress photos below of the Dr. Barbados’ custom Drone Blank figure)

(iv) What to you, makes a good platform-toy for customising and why?

Jason Forbes (AKA JFo):

It’s a delicate balance, the base form needs to have enough of a unique silhouette that it stands on its own, doesn’t get lost when customized, and has enough “generic” elements that the customizer/designer isn’t forced into any particular direction.

Under Our Knives: 

One, I think they should have minimal features. If a sculpt has too much information set forth, it’s human nature to bottle up imaginary efforts and come out with something where there just isn’t much change. Also if a platform prescribes too much, then it can sometimes be unclear where the custom started and who’s really responsible for the best parts of it.
Separated from a show, does your piece have fantastic anatomy? Or was that in the original?
Second, it should have an interesting shape. I think there’s a reason why there are only a few well-known platform toys. To create something universally interesting is difficult, and requires a truckload of revisions and scrutiny. It has to have a shape that inspires creativity and makes everyone want to be a part of their own customized works involving that piece.

Dr Barbados: 

Very little detail on the toy so you are not fighting against the toy to get the product you can see in your head, removing/moving ears and noses becomes tiresome when they don’t fit the idea you have.

Tasha Zimich: 

For me personally, I love the marriage between unique character forms, and smooth surfaces that I can treat like a canvas. Some of my favourite platforms to paint achieve both, like Kidrobot Dunny, Freak Store’s Fonzo, Camilla d’Errico vinyl Kuro, and Andrew Bell’s Android.
They’re open platforms with a lot of creative freedom, while still maintaining individual presences.

Nasty Neil of ‘Wasted Talent’:

I’ll always love the classic Munny and Dunny. Those are favorites, but I like anything that’s high quality soft vinyl. To me, it’s the best to work with.
Overall the shape and size matters most though. I prefer bigger platforms as its just easier on my hands. Working on too many smaller toys make me feel like I’m gonna arthritis.

(Photos below of Tasha Zimich’s custom Drone Blank figure)

(v) Are art toys for the kids?

Jason Forbes (AKA JFo): 

You see with your eyes, not your hands.

Under Our Knives:

Rich kids with unlimited shelf space, sure!
Seriously though, I think there’s a transition to art toys. The way I see it, it starts with small blind boxes or licensed vinyls, then people realize there are vinyl toys done by incredibly great artists that are slightly more expensive. They buy those.
Then they realize there are galleries that exhibit fantastic works of art that they can own but, those are custom, and therefore pricier.
Sometimes they even realize those artists are open to commissioning work, and then it’s all over.

Dr Barbados: 

I would say it totally depends on the kid and the type of toy.
Mass produced art toys are a good hook into the hobby for younger kids who may well end up being a custom figure customer in the future.
I have some customers who have bought some of my work for their kids but the parents do give them the “It’s for looking at not carrying around in your pocket” lecture.

Tasha Zimich:

Art toys are definitely a children-of-all-ages kind of fun. Which suits me just fine, because I don’t plan to outgrow any of my vices that keep me young at heart.

Nasty Neil of ‘Wasted Talent’: 

Hell yeah! Oh wait, I think I read that wrong. I think customizable DIY toys are for all ages, the limited edition production pieces, no way.
A kid doesn’t know the value or difference between “art” and a “toy”. Just cause its a “toy” doesn’t mean it should be played with. No kids just gonna get such a cool looking toy and just let it sit on their shelf.
FUNKO POPS ARE FOR KIDS.

(Photos below of Nasty Neil’s custom Drone Blank figure)

(vi) Any gossip, facts or interesting tidbits about ole Nerviswrek that you would like to share with our readers?

Jason Forbes (AKA JFo): 

Our limited digital interactions have been quite cordial up to the point of this writing.

Under Our Knives: 

He doesn’t talk about it much but, the story behind the pilldrones/drones/hybrids is an fascinating story of isolation, defiance, government surveillance, alien invasion, and assimilation.
Also, during a live video in which Nervis gave out his personal cellphone number, I’m pretty sure “Kermit the Frog” called up to enter for the giveaway.

Dr Barbados: 

** an eerie silence fills the room **

Tasha Zimich: 

The year we both ended up at New York Comic Con, Nervis did his signing at Sub-Urban Vinyl’s booth wearing the coolest Drone full-face mask. Because I think I heard from a little birdie that he can be a bit shy.
Well, the Drone mask probably the exact opposite of its intended effect, because everyone passing wanted to stop and know what that cool mask was, and how do they get one.
I hope Drone masks make a reappearance a another show some time!

Nasty Neil of ‘Wasted Talent’: 

Back in like 2006-2007 I met Nerviswrek on myspace (yeah, remember that shit?) where I had already discovered the world of customizing designer toys and had already been making a name for myself in the scene. He used to hit ME up for tips and shit when he first started and now years later, now look at him. I find myself asking HIM for tips now. HAHA!
Hella proud of dude for how far he came. Got his own signature style and characters. Has a following of people who support his work. And I would say he’s well respected in this scene as he’s a super humble dude and hella talented.
He even got his own original run of production toys.
He’s the man! Let that boy STUNT ON ‘EM!

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