Welcome to the December edition of Reactor-88's Custom Corner. This month we're highlighting Rask Opticon. Rask is a full-time artist based in Los Angeles, CA. He mainly focuses on customizing vinyl toys, but also creates a lot of 2D work — paintings, digital art, tattoos, and graffiti/spray art. Rask started painting toys in November of 2012, when he was introduced to the Disney Vinylmation platform by a friend. In the beginning the bulk of his client work was Vinylmation toys, but earlier this year he jumped over to the Munny platform to create some personal pieces for Kidrobot’s annual Munnyworld contest.
With that he began taking toy customizing a lot more seriously and really began immersing himself in the toy community. His style is influenced from graffiti, video games and cartoons/anime. Rask used to airbrush at a mall shop that he and a friend ran for five years, so it makes sense that he primarily uses one to create his pieces. Though he will come in with a regular brush for all the sharp edges and line work. He likes to keep the integrity of the toy, so if possible he’ll usually keep sculpting to a minimum. To contact Rask or check out more of his work, head over to his website at www.distortionoflife.com. He can also be found over on Facebook and Instagram.
